Subway Soup
I realized right after I posted the last blog that I'd egregiously left out a hideous aspect of subway riding. The Service Advisories. Or, more accurately, the lack thereof. I know that I shouldn't complain too much because the shiny silver 6 train comes quite often, but it does feel like the 4/5/6 line is always under construction, especially on the weekends. And really, it's not the construction that bothers me, construct away I say, it's the fact that the information is VERY poorly distributed. How come I never know a subway isn't running until I'm just about to swipe my MetroCard and see the dreaded yellow tape roping off the entire platform? There needs to be many more signs posted and way more in advance. I'd take some upcoming service advisory warnings to read while riding the subway, of course after I've already read the "Poetry in Motion" and rolled my eyes at the Courvoisier ads.
But really, my frustration is not just at the annoyance of when certain subway lines aren't running at all. Arguably even worse is when the subway that you're already on makes some freakish change in service or decides to skip like 9 stops in a row. That's just messed up. One time, a local train I was on decided to go express until 125th street and so I had to get off and get back on the downtown train and thus learned the never-get-on-a-subway-if-you-have-to-pee lesson the hard way. I think my two best examples of shocking subway maneuvers come from subway rides home from Brooklyn. I agree with the Brooklynites who claim that adorable Brooklyn is actually not that far away, but the case for Brooklyn-proximity really loses steam due to the undeniably consistent subway irregularities.
One time, I was on my home from Brooklyn on an F train, when the garbled conductor man announced that the train was turning into a C train. Unfortunately, I didn't have any plans to go to the West Village or the theatre district or to the Natural History Museum. Susie just wanted to get home. Perhaps even more offensive was what occurred about a month ago - when the 2 train I was on turned into a 4 train (shout out to Dean, who experienced this debacle with me). I didn't even know that this was possible - for the 2 and 4 trains to switch - that at some point, their tracks intersected. All the years of strife and competition between the East Side and the West Side, the East Siders and the West Siders - poof, in an instant, the divide was melted into a puddle of inconvenience and confusion. (I'd like to take this moment to mention that in high school, I was deemed an honorary West Sider - YEARS of playdates with the likes of Katie RoRo and Laura Koo, all of which took place on the UWS - serve as proof). Anyways, to sum up - the subway changes are often without proper warning and sometimes they boggle the mind. The term Service Advisory sounds actually sarcastic to me.
I now feel the need to admit something pretty embarrassing. Just yesterday, I found myself in an almost-jog to catch the Shuttle. I did have a reason for being in a rush, but this is no excuse! I realized what I was doing and slowed my pace, and sure enough, when I looked up, there was a family of S trains just waiting for me. And all with new, sparkling red seats. Ooh La La.
This morning, due to the snow/rain/slush/ozone-weep, I decided to forgo my walk to work and opted instead for the genius subway route I concocted last year. It takes me 17 minutes, entirely underground, to take the 6 to Grand Central, the S to Times Square, and then the 1/2/3 one stop downtown to Penn Station. I only enact this master plan when inclement weather forces me to, but after about a half-dozen times, I can say with pretty good authority that the Times Square station has a bit of a leakage problem. When "they" referred to New York City as a melting pot, I don't think that they necessarily meant to call upon the image of a melting pot of Subway Soup - diverse/frantic/rushed/disheveled/wet/warm/cold/tired/layered crowds of people ALL trying to avoid the gigantor puddles all over the ground and the heavy stream of water coming down from the ceiling - even directly over the subway tracks. The last time I witnessed this, during God's punishment (probably for a certain re-election) of 8 consecutive days of rain, I spotted a police officer on the platform and said, "um, excuse me sir, there are GIANT puddles of water and major leaks up there" and he dismissed me with a "we're aware of the problem." Well, this morning I noticed that the Times Square station still looks like something out of Waterworld, and we all know that that's just wrong.
WAIT. SERIOUSLY. I am not kdding you, RIGHT NOW, as I am writing this blog, the woman who sits at the cublicle next to mine just said out loud "what is this I'm hearing about a transit strike?" WHOAH. So I just googled it and check it out:
"The snow made for a messy commute, but if the MTA and the Transit Workers Union fail to reach a contract agreement, it could be even messier this time next week. The transit workers contract expires on December 15th at midnight and the union says workers are prepared to walk off the job in an illegal strike at 12:01 a.m."
That is weird. Now I feel kind of bad. I mean, as much as the subway can be annoying, and as silly as I think some of the new rules are, obviously NO subways or buses at all would SUCK. I hope the MTA and the Transit Workers' Union work it out. I hate a strike. Especially that giant strike rat float thing that, even though it's huge, always seems to come out of nowhere. I take it all back. I love you MTA.
But really, my frustration is not just at the annoyance of when certain subway lines aren't running at all. Arguably even worse is when the subway that you're already on makes some freakish change in service or decides to skip like 9 stops in a row. That's just messed up. One time, a local train I was on decided to go express until 125th street and so I had to get off and get back on the downtown train and thus learned the never-get-on-a-subway-if-you-have-to-pee lesson the hard way. I think my two best examples of shocking subway maneuvers come from subway rides home from Brooklyn. I agree with the Brooklynites who claim that adorable Brooklyn is actually not that far away, but the case for Brooklyn-proximity really loses steam due to the undeniably consistent subway irregularities.
One time, I was on my home from Brooklyn on an F train, when the garbled conductor man announced that the train was turning into a C train. Unfortunately, I didn't have any plans to go to the West Village or the theatre district or to the Natural History Museum. Susie just wanted to get home. Perhaps even more offensive was what occurred about a month ago - when the 2 train I was on turned into a 4 train (shout out to Dean, who experienced this debacle with me). I didn't even know that this was possible - for the 2 and 4 trains to switch - that at some point, their tracks intersected. All the years of strife and competition between the East Side and the West Side, the East Siders and the West Siders - poof, in an instant, the divide was melted into a puddle of inconvenience and confusion. (I'd like to take this moment to mention that in high school, I was deemed an honorary West Sider - YEARS of playdates with the likes of Katie RoRo and Laura Koo, all of which took place on the UWS - serve as proof). Anyways, to sum up - the subway changes are often without proper warning and sometimes they boggle the mind. The term Service Advisory sounds actually sarcastic to me.
I now feel the need to admit something pretty embarrassing. Just yesterday, I found myself in an almost-jog to catch the Shuttle. I did have a reason for being in a rush, but this is no excuse! I realized what I was doing and slowed my pace, and sure enough, when I looked up, there was a family of S trains just waiting for me. And all with new, sparkling red seats. Ooh La La.
This morning, due to the snow/rain/slush/ozone-weep, I decided to forgo my walk to work and opted instead for the genius subway route I concocted last year. It takes me 17 minutes, entirely underground, to take the 6 to Grand Central, the S to Times Square, and then the 1/2/3 one stop downtown to Penn Station. I only enact this master plan when inclement weather forces me to, but after about a half-dozen times, I can say with pretty good authority that the Times Square station has a bit of a leakage problem. When "they" referred to New York City as a melting pot, I don't think that they necessarily meant to call upon the image of a melting pot of Subway Soup - diverse/frantic/rushed/disheveled/wet/warm/cold/tired/layered crowds of people ALL trying to avoid the gigantor puddles all over the ground and the heavy stream of water coming down from the ceiling - even directly over the subway tracks. The last time I witnessed this, during God's punishment (probably for a certain re-election) of 8 consecutive days of rain, I spotted a police officer on the platform and said, "um, excuse me sir, there are GIANT puddles of water and major leaks up there" and he dismissed me with a "we're aware of the problem." Well, this morning I noticed that the Times Square station still looks like something out of Waterworld, and we all know that that's just wrong.
WAIT. SERIOUSLY. I am not kdding you, RIGHT NOW, as I am writing this blog, the woman who sits at the cublicle next to mine just said out loud "what is this I'm hearing about a transit strike?" WHOAH. So I just googled it and check it out:
"The snow made for a messy commute, but if the MTA and the Transit Workers Union fail to reach a contract agreement, it could be even messier this time next week. The transit workers contract expires on December 15th at midnight and the union says workers are prepared to walk off the job in an illegal strike at 12:01 a.m."
That is weird. Now I feel kind of bad. I mean, as much as the subway can be annoying, and as silly as I think some of the new rules are, obviously NO subways or buses at all would SUCK. I hope the MTA and the Transit Workers' Union work it out. I hate a strike. Especially that giant strike rat float thing that, even though it's huge, always seems to come out of nowhere. I take it all back. I love you MTA.
posted by Susan Goldberg at 1:44 PM
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