Author: subwayblogger

How messed up is this headline?

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In a nut shell, a guy was killed yesterday when he was struck by a 2 train in the Bronx.  At this point, no one really knows what the hell he was doing on the tracks.  Sad..yes, but simple enough.  So what the hell is the Daily News doing with this story?

Here’s there headline:  Train wipes out young dad’s promising life

Umm…what the hell does him being a “young dad” have to do with anything?  Does that little tid-bit of info have anything to do with the story at all?  Nope.

But it gets better (or worse)…

Here’s the Daily News lead: 

A young Manhattan dad who grew up poor but recently graduated from college was struck and killed by a No. 2 train in the Bronx early yesterday, cops and family members said.

Is it me, or are they reeeeeeeeeeally digging for this one.  “A young Manhattan dad who grew up poor but recently graduated from college…”  Apparently the fact that he was hit and killed by a train wasn’t enough for the Daily News.  For some reason we first need to know that he is a father, young, poor, but a recent grad.  Ohh, by the way, he was hit by a train. 

We later learn that he was one of 14 children, so we guess that explains why he grew up poor.  Maybe if his parents stopped popping out kids, he would not have been poor, a young father, and later killed by a train?

Bottom line, so far the police and family have absolutely no idea how the guy ended up on the tracks.  So all we know is that he’s was found face down on the tracks.  So what is a newspaper to do with a story like that.  You can’t just write that a guy was found dead on the tracks and no one knows why?  In the mean time, we’ll just have to dig into the poor guy’s family life and history…cause that’s what we really wanted to know.

Delays uptown due to water?

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The 1, 2, and 3 trains this afternoon were experiencing major delays due to “an emergency water condition” north of 79th Street.

What the hell does that mean? I assume water on the tracks, but it hasn’t rained at all today. The only thing I can think of is that a water main broke.

I guess I will peak out the window when we go by. Right now, all I can see is a stopped 3 train next to us. We are both stopped between stations.

I sense an upcoming service change. Either all the trains are gonna go express or all off us are going to go local. We’ll see.

How vague is this, “Ladies and gentlemen, we are delayed because of train tracks ahead of us. Please be patient.”. That’s what just came over the train PA.

Uhhh…tracks in front of us is normal right? I’m no MTA engineer, but I always assumed tracks in front of the train meant we keep rolling.

Just once I would like them to be honest and blunt about it. “Listen up everybody, some shit is broke further down the tracks. Hopefully, we’ll get movin’ soon. Hang tight.”

The info they blab over the PA never actually describes what the problem I. After they are done with the announcement, all we know is that we are stopped, and will at some point begin moving. Well no kidding. I could tell that by looking out the window.

So instead of annoying us over the PA, just leave us guessing. Besides, you can’t speak understandable English anyway, and it always sounds like you are three cars away from the microphone.

Live from the subway, back to you in studio…

The International Platform

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There is a youth hostel a few blocks from where I live, and we share the same subway stop. So every now and again, you’ll run into a group of international tourists on the platform. The funky style and NYC tourism books usually give them away.

This morning, there are dozens of internationals on the platform. Today was one of those crowed mornings that makes you want to punch things. On top of that, however, there were all of these foreign students. Many seemed to be Austrailian, and there were a bunch of Germans too.

The Aussies were easy to pick out because they all wear black since the death of The Croc Hunter. (Kidding)

I live in a nice neighborhood on the UWS. Personally, I love the area. However, it is NOT a tourist destination. (That’s part of the reason I like it so much). So it always suprises me to see this many tourists up here. What on earth are you up here to see?

I guess since the hostel is like $12 a night, it is attractive. Although, the tourists must be pissed when they get there. American hostels are trash compared to the European hostels.

Otherwise, the rest of them must have gotten on the wrong train or something and ended up here. We have some nice bagel shops, but otherwise that’s it.

So everybody, get back on a downtown train and pay attention for 42nd Street…you know that’s where you meant to get off.

Live from the subway, back to you in studio…

You boys must be union workers

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So I arrived at the platform a couple minutes ago and immediately realized that the construction down here is growing like a weed. Every day there are more and more temporary walls and roped off areas. It is getting a little crazy. There’s less and less platform open every day.

Also, they have another project going on near the token booth. They are putting down new tile. In the course of one week, they have only managed to put down a 15×15 foot area of tile. What’s even funnier is that it is right in the middle of everything. On all four sides, there are hundreds of square feet with only bare concrete.

The new tile area is roped off with caution tape. I walk by this area every day. Each morning there are 6 guys working on it, yet they only manage to lay abou 15 new tiles in an entire day. Its not like these are huge tiles either. They’re just the little 1×1 foot square tiles.  This must be a union job or omething because they could have tiled the entire West Side Highway by now. So maybe by 2010 we will have this project finished!

Live from the subway, back to you in studio…

Not so bad

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Running late for work is pretty cool…at least as far as the subway commute goes. Of course, the boss probably has a different take on it.
This morning, there was actually some emergency work that had to be taken care of from home, so I have a good reason for getting to the office late. Technically, I was working…it just wasn’t from the office.

Anyway, the nice thing is that the rush seems to calm down right around 9am. So getting on and getting a seat was pretty easy.

That triggers a thought though: Why do some people feel like they are entitled to a seat no matter what? If you are pregnant or have a physical injury/handicap, ok, you can have my seat. However, just because you are older than me does not mean that you automatically deserve this seat. For that matter, if youl are so fat that your ass needs a seat and a half, you don’t get to sit. PERIOD. You could use the exercise of standing upright a little.

Old people, I don’t have that much sympathy for you either. Just cause you are old, doesn’t mean you automatically get a seat. If one comes available, go ahead and take it. But don’t stare the rest of us down. Wait your turn. “Oldness” is not a handicap. It is your body saying that you are too old to keep using public transportation.

Live from the subway, back to you in studio…

Packed like cattle

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Can you tell it is back to school season or what! Holy smokes.

It has been a while since my regular afternoon train has been this packed, and it is quite obvious why: students. The colleges are back and so are the high schools. Tons and tons of young people on board.

I say young person as if I wasn’t one too!

Of course I am not complaining that I have to be pressed up against some hott little dish. That’s not bad at all. If you play your possition right, you can “enjoy the scenery” during your ride. Play it wrong, and you’ll be stuck behind smelly dude while he gets the coed pirks.

Although, I must say that I do luck out in the morning in that the high schoolers are already off the subway by the time I need to get on. That’s a very nice benefit to having the public schools start nice and early.

Live from the subway, back to you in studio…

Where’s a Starbucks when you need it?

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I know you never thought you would ever hear a New Yorker say, “I can’t find a Starbucks,” but I really think I might be on to something here.

This morning was a fairly insane morning so I did not have time to brew my own cup of joe. I’m also running a little late so I don’t have time to run into the Starbucks on the corner. So what am I to do?

All of a sudden, it hit me: Why isn’t there a Starbucks in the subway? 

I’m not saying we need something extreem like a Starbucks car in every train (that would be cool though.). However, a Starbucks on the platform would be awesome!  They would make a killing. Plus, the fresh brew might help mask the subway odor. There would be dozens of people lined up on every platform. Think about it. There aren’t many businesses where your customers are going to litterally be dropped off inside your store.

We could start my renovating a few of those platform newstands into little coffee bars. Sweet!

Now, I am by no means a Starbucks advocate. As a matter of fact, SUBWAYblogger doesn’t even think Starbucks is that good. However, they do seem to be the most likely to buy into a concept like this. Afterall, they have already run out of above-ground places to put more locations.

We could even take this to the next level by having them open all night. How cool would it be to be on your way home from the bar, drunk as hell, and be able to get a coffee fix right there on the platform?

Ohh we’re going places with this one!
Live from the subway, back to you in studio… 

Rain catches subway riders off guard

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So this afternoon’s rain continued right into the evening commute time, and I don’t think people were prepared. I have a feeling that tons of people left their apartments not even thinking that there was a chance of rain today.

I have to admit, this morning did seem pretty promising.

As I look around myself right now, I don’t see many people with umbrellas. There are a lot of riders sporting the “wet cat” look where they are completely soaked to the bone. I did see a woman in blue hospital scrubs coming out of the subway station as I was going in. She was SOAKED. It looked like someone hosed her down. But hey, who’s gonna argue with a nurse in nothing but wet scrubs, right?

I’m also noticing a lot of people with their sweatshirt hoods pulled up. Nothing like a wet towel on your head.

Luckily for many (mostly women) it has been a little colder lately, so many ladies left the house with light jackets. Now those jackets are playing double duty as rain slickers.

Where are all the simple white t-shirts on the ladies when you need them most?

Live from the subway, back to you in studio…

Happy Tuesday! :-/

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Gooooooood morning New York City. Ok, yeah…that was a little much. I know…I forced it. I just forced myself to be that cheery and it was obvious. Let’s try this again.

Welcome back to the morning grind New York. Hope you enjoyed the long weekend because the next paid holiday is a long way away. Alright, now I’m depressed.

Well after an extended weekend of gross laziness, I am back in the subway. My line wasn’t set on fire or anything, so I guess that is a good thing. We even managed to survive the West Indian Parade!

I love how tense people get around the ethnic festivities. People always get sooo tense as if there was going to be a huge race riot. Of all the ethnic celebrations in the city, the West Indian Parade is the least of my worries. It is a well known fact that you must smoke weed for 24 hours straight on the day prior to the parade if you wish to participate. So in essence, this is a congregation of people who are the LEAST likley to start a fight.

When was the last time you heard of a group of pot heads starting a riot? (Unless it was to raid the 7-11 for munchies.)

Live from the subway, back to you in studio…

Harlem Week 2006: Aug 29th – Sept 30?

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Nothing says good, clean, family fun like a neighborhood event sponsored by Miller. 

Ok so we admit that we don’t know anything about Harlem Week other than it really isn’t a week.  It is actually a month.  Harlem Week runs from Aug 29th thru Sept 30th.  Soooo shouldn’t it be called Harlem Month?

The MTA is apparently supporting Harlem Month Week by linking to the site.  We also assume that they are trying to get more people into Harlem via MTA transportation.  Of course, we have nothing against Harlem.  SUBWAYblogger only lives a few blocks from Harlem.  We just find it funny that Harlem Week is really…well…more than a week.  We hope we aren’t the first ones to notice. 

HarlemDiscover.com is the website.  We also wonder if it should be DiscoverHarlem.com instead, but who are we to judge.