The MTA Network: Working On The Railroad

Are We There Yet? Nah, Not Even Half Way

190th on the 1 train in Uptown Manhattan. I always have such a feeling of reflection and introspection when I walk through this tunnel. I think it’s the length and the singular-ness of the path. When you get to the end of the path, there’s a great sense of accomplishment.

Only In New York.020810: So The Platform’s A Bathroom Now?

The worst thing I’ve ever seen on public transportation has definitely have to be seeing a bum taking a shit in on the platform, using a railing a balance bar. *shudders*
One day I was at High Street station [insert joke here] coming from school. That station’s platform is about ten stories underground because it’s the first/last stop in Brooklyn, it’s basically part of the tunnel that links with Manhattan. So when you’re at the surface, then through the 150 yard walkway and then at the escalators, you can’t really know if the trains are coming. You don’t know until those last two stories that lead you to the platform. It’s the very beginning of the platform, so once you’re at the bottom of the stairs, you can only walk forward. This is where that bum was… After running a half-marathon to catch the uptown A-train was never really there, the first thing I see is the shit literally escaping this man’s ass. It was horrible. And in true New York fashion, I pretended like it didn’t happen and kept walking…but on the inside, I died a little bit.  I ALWAYS was a little wary about taking those stairs ever since…

That was the worst NYC moment, but there was definitely some strong contenders.

Only In New York.020310: An Intro

I have seen some real crazy stuff riding these NYC buses and trains throughout the years. I couldn’t even give you a legitimate list, there have been so many “Only In New York” moments to recollect, but there have been that were etched, burned, drilled and imprinted into my memory. They weren’t all bad, the bad ones just make for better stories… I bet you have a story too…

I’ll be sending random burst thoughts one by one…

The Chinchilla Lady

Doesn’t she look like a big ass gerbil from the MTA Pet Shop…? When she first walked into the train with that floppy canvas hat, I almost fell on the floor. Some people just baffle me (At least she’s not wearing uggs, I would have no choice to openly laugh out loud WITH POINTING.) What happened to the rules about fashion, I know it’s not after Labor Day, but there should be a common sense rule that says if you have enough money to buy a full-length fur coat, you should also be riding in a taxi cab. When she first sat down, it was between to people in the middle seat, it looked so awkward and out-of-place. Look at this fool, the whole train car gave her ‘side eye.’

One thing, you make yourself more of a target for the seedier characters that ride the train because you look like Mrs. Howell on the wrong 3-hour tour. Easy money. Secondly, when is it ever ok to sit down on public transportation when wearing all white? I don’t care if it’s fur, cotton, suede or lycra, the dry cleaners will rape your wallet when it comes to the cleaning.

…And then she gets of in the ‘hood–Harlem 125. This lady is a bag full of contradictions, tied with a irony bow. She’s probably heading to the post office now to mail some peaches to her nephew in Georgia and oranges to her niece in Florida.

Rag Couture [designs by Bag Lady]

So this is new. People using sheets as coats, is this European? Please don’t catch on in New York. I know there are people out there that see this as fashion or something, but it looks like the bag lady caught an episode of Project Runway. Yeah, the lady on the left does look kind of chic, I think she was actually from Europe, but the guy on the train on the right was the classic FIT student from the city. When I first walked on the train, I thought he was the boogie man or the son of Candyman, minus the bees.

Next from the House Of Bag Lady, shower curtain bathing suits, Summer 2010 show in the Washington Square Park fountain, coming soon.

Sleep.NYC

In the city that never sleeps, New Yorkers have an uncanny ability to ‘nap’ wherever, whenever they want. [note: all of these pictures were taken between the hours of 12 and 7pm.] If you’re from here like I am, you also know about sleeping on the train and miraculously waking up right at your stop (even though you have headphones on.) But this here, doesn’t even make any sense.  This man was literally laying-out at the entrance to Penn Station smoking a cigarette, without a care in the world. I don’t even know (and I didn’t care) what was going on with that. The two guys on the platform benches are drunken day-laborers around Time Square/Port Authority-they go IN with the 12-packs and sit in the dining areas of deli/buffets along 8th Avenue after 5 and just drink until they’re red in the face and stumbling the 2 or 3 blocks to the train. Fat Bastard on the F-train was just f*cked up, I thought he was dead until he farted…

N-Y-Symmetry

These are two pictures I really like for a couple different reasons.

Yeah that was me who stopped; dead in front of you at the top of the subway steps to snap a picture with my blackberry. Shoot, I don’t care, when I see something that needs to be captured, I do just that. The first picture was taken at the 125th Street on the concourse level going down to the platforms. I think what what attracts me to these pictures and photo opportunities is the shape of stairs themselves: they always create symmetrical pictures, which makes your eyes dance around to find the subtle differences. The stairs also create an interesting perspective, it’s the instant wide angle effect- look how small the guy in the white shirt looks even though he’s only about 15 feet away. The second picture was taken from outside of my school…you would think I went to Pothead Academy, or something based on the name, right?.. You wouldn’t imagine how much of a temperature/atmospheric change it is once you get into that shade at the bottom of those steps. It’s drier and like 5 to 10 degrees cooler, with a breeze. But that’s in the summer, it’s probably 5 to 10 degrees warmer now.

All I See Is Crotch And Gut…This Ain’t Right!

For every action has an equal and opposite reaction- Sir Isaac Newton.

This is true about anything. Take the MTA for example, you’re tired, it’s been a long day, you see that the train in started to get packed, but you manage to get a seat. A few seconds go by, you get your bearings, adjust the ipod, whip out the blackerry… Then you look up and this is what you see, swaying to and fro on a rocky C train eight inches from your face: Would you rather stand, or is it worth it?

Random MTA.12/11/09 (You Were Sexier With It On)

I hate it when an article of clothing make a woman look Significantly more attractive than without… Damn “illusionists.” You can expect her to wear a fadora and stilettos forever…

Whoring Out Subway Trains To Pay The Bills.2

Apparently the MTA is really following through with this capitol idea. [click picture to read previous post]

Astor Place.

That’s the uptown 6 train down there and it’s running express in The Bronx- that’s my kinda’ train. And what am I doing, trying to get the perfect shot through the bars so I can tweet and blog about it later. HA! Me and my tech addictions…but, yeah I made the train *long legs and I through them ‘bows like a natives* And if I didn’t, the good thing about the 6 trains is that they run pretty frequently, but every other one is express.