Tag: nyc subway

Halloween Freakshow 2008

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Well folks, we’ve survived (most of us) another Halloween in NYC.  It never ceases to amaze me how seriously New Yorkers take Halloween.

Even if you didn’t make it down to the Village for the parade, you can still see the “interesting” costumes underground.  The subway becomes it’s own parade all night long.

Most people take the subway downtown for two reasons:  1) it’s fast on a busy night like Halloween.  2) Seeing everyone else dressed up on the train is half the fun of the night.

Here’s just a very, very small sample of what you missed last night.

If you’ve got some interesting subway Halloween pictures, we’d love to see them.  Post a link in the comments or send them to submit [(at)] subwayblogger.com.

Photo Credits:  One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine

Well, that’s comforting

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Just when you finally managed to stop pondering all of the things that could go wrong when riding the NYC Subway, it turns out that the computer system that controls the trains crashed for a few minutes yesterday.

It was only “down” for a few moments.  However, when it came back online, the system was unable to find many of the trains in the system.

The system that crashed only controls the numbered lines.  While the system went down and recovered, many trains were forced remain in stations or mid-tunnels while dispatchers manually radioed individual trains to determine their location.  Yikes.

Perhaps some of the MTA employees that read SUBWAYblogger could enlighten us on why the computer can’t locate trains after a reboot.  I assume the trains have to pass some sort of sensor on the track.  So if the trains weren’t moving, they hadn’t passed over a sensor since the reboot.

BREAKING NEWS: The Subway is Dirty

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Further proof that the MTA is an embarrassing bureaucracy.

The MTA released the results of a comprehensive study that found the subway is dirty.  Folks, I wish it was a joke.  The MTA’s advocacy group’s 61 page [gasp] report said the stations are dirty aaaaaand many of them are literally falling apart.

Read the report for yourself.

Honestly, why do we need to study this stuff?  Can we just take a weekend, ride around to all the stops, and identify the ones that need the most work?  Oh wait, that’s all of them.

In other news, the new MTA Headquarters fire emergency plan was released:

(STEP 1)  Deny the existence of the fire as long as possible.

(STEP 2)  Ignore the first 100 emergency phone calls (min) related to this “alleged” blaze.

(STEP 3)  Mount a task force headed by an MTA Board member.  Call it the “Matchstick Committee.”

(STEP 4)  Hold a press release to announce the results fire existence study.

(STEP 5)  Hold emergency budget meeting to discuss fire extinguisher purchases.  Turns out, the ones in the building from 1932 are filled with seltzer water.

(STEP 6)  Increase fares.  New fire extinguishers won’t pay for themselves.

(STEP 7)  Perish in blaze.  Luckily, no MTA board members were actually in the office.  They were off hiding their government issued EZ Passes.

Ikea Threw Up on the Train

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Thank goodness this is not a NYC subway car. However, I’d imagine it can’t be that far behind.

Ikea Train

This little gem is from the Toronto subway system, and I discovered it on this Canuck blog. In a recent advertising move, Ikea launched a campaign up there in Cana-dee-a.

They took over an entire train and decorated each car in “Ikea style” decor. You can see the pictures, if you can stomach it, by clicking here.

How long until that crap shows up on the S train?

New NYC Subway Fares

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If you went to the MetroCard machine today to buy a new monthly card and felt an odd sensation in your rear, that was the MTA raping you.

Ok, perhaps a bit strong, but the point remains the same.

The new fare increase kicks in today.  That means your $76 monthly card just jumped to $81.00.  Meanwhile, the single ride card didn’t go up a dime.  I’ve always supported the fare increase because I think something needs to be done about the crumbling system, but I think that all the fares should have gone up…to be fair.

Here’s the new rates:

New NYC Subway Fare Rates