Tag: subway

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.

Seatless Trains a Reality!

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Holy crap!  Was the MTA listening to us?

Remember back in June when we were talking about how cool it would be to have train cars without seats (aka standing room only)?  Yeah, guess what?

They’re doing it!  (Read Here)

In about 6 months, retrofitted cars will hit the rails as part of a pilot program.  Among the trains involved in the pilot program, 4 out of 10 cars will be the standing room only cars.

These cars will have all flip-up seats.  Back in June, one of SUBWAYblogger’s commenters suggested that the seats lock in the upright position during rush hour.  Then, at other times, they could unlock, and people can sit down.  Well, that’s exactly what they are going to do!

Apparently, the Straphangers Campaign thinks that the public will oppose the seatless cars, but I couldn’t disagree more.

The seatless cars allow 18% more riders during rush hour.  There will be less jockeying for position as well because certain people (you know who you are) won’t be battling for seats.

Can’t wait to find out what lines are involved.

NYPD Flaunts $32,881 Salary?

subwayblogger7 Comments

Is the NYPD really flaunting the new starting salary for recruits?  It’s $32,881.  Where in Manhattan can you live for $32k a year?  Hell, it hard to make ends meet with twice that.

Well, the NYPD is making sure you know about it with half takeover ads on the subway.  If you haven’t seen them already, they’ve released a big campaign to promote the new increased salary.

From NYPDRecruit.com.
From NYPDRecruit.com.

No wonder other states are recruiting our officers out.  On the one hand, the NYPD is probably one of the most elite police forces in the world, but they are also grossly underpaid.  Read More »

Turns out that part of your body sweats too

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Nothing beats the feeling of sweat running down your leg while you stand perfectly still on the train platform.

And how about those train cars you walk into without air conditioning.  It’s like walking into an oven.

At first you get in the heat car and you’re a little shocked.  Then you think to yourself, quick…switch cars!  Just then, the doors close.  Damn.

“Well, this isn’t too bad,” you think to yourself.

Then the panic sets in.  All you can think about is the mad dash you are going to make at the very next stop.

Finally, the train gets to the next stop, and you bolt out.  Hopefully you are spry enough to make it to the next car before the doors close again.

Bon Jovi Subway Changes

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Bon Jovi Subway Sign

You know you are a rockstar when your concerts cause the New York City subway to reroute in advance.

Apparently, there won’t be any C trains running along the Upper West Side.  Concert entrances are at 72nd Street.  Your ticket says which side (Central Park West or 5th Ave) you have to enter.

You can only enter the concert on the side on your ticket.

Photo orangejuicy.  Story Gothamist.

Striking Similarity or Pink Copycat

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You Be the Judge…

Fat People:

Subway Gal and Here
SUBWAYblogger and Here

Homeless:
Subway Gal
SUBWAYblogger and Bums Category

Sleeping on Subway:
Subway Gal
SUBWAYblogger

Emergency Exits
Subway Gal
SUBWAYblogger

Pee
Subway Gal
SUBWAYblogger

Fare Increase, Same Crappy Service
Subway Gal
SUBWAYblogger

Heat and Air Conditioning
Subway Gal
SUBWAYblogger and Here (same headline) and Here

I mean, I’m just sayin’.  🙂

Subway Security Bag Checks are Optional

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In case you get stopped by an officer to search your bag on the subway (chances are extremely low), just keep in mind that letting them check is completely optional.  You don’t have to let NYPD officers go through your bag.  It’s totally up to you.  All the police can do is refuse to allow you on the train.

I always knew that…hell it says so right on the sign they have at the table.  However, I never really thought about it that much until I read this from a SUBWAYblogger commenter.

So if a terrorist were to get stopped for an inspection, all they would have to do is say no, and get on the train somewhere else.

Kinda scary.

Expanding SUBWAYblogger?

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So we have been kicking around the idea of expanding SUBWAYblogger to include other cities around the country and around the world.  However, we would keep each city separate.

SUBWAYblogger.com would remain the New York City portal.  However we would create additional subsites.  For example:

dc.subwayblogger.com
boston.subwayblogger.com
london.subwayblogger.com
etc.

In essence, a network of SUBWAYblogger sites would be created, but you wouldn’t lose your local flavor.

There are some challenges, mostly having to do with money.  We wouldn’t be able to pay someone to run the other sites from a content point of view.  However, we could easily provide all of the hosting, technical space, coding, etc.

So we would probably want to find existing subway sites to absorb into SUBWAYblogger.  The publisher could still have complete control over content and advertisement revenue.

It would be nice to find, for example, some Blogger.com sites that wanted to make the jump to WordPress and become a more legit player in the space.

Perhaps the idea is a bit too ambitious.