Public Transit Adventures

An update

Mon, 03 Dec 2012 10:42:04 -0500

I haven’t posted in five months! But somehow I’ve still accrued new followers.

Just to update you all, the reason I’m not writing here anymore is because I’m writing about transportation for Untapped New York. Mosey on over there to see my posts about the Transit Museum, Arts for Transit, subway events, photo essays, etc. And Untapped in general is an awesome site for urban-livers and urban-lovers of all stripes, so stick around to read about the hidden gems, undiscovered places, and community activities tracked down by intrepid city pioneers. Thanks for reading!

thecuriouscity: A Curious Collection. Hmm, an unexpected...

Fri, 08 Jun 2012 19:13:05 -0400

thecuriouscity:

A Curious Collection.

Hmm, an unexpected choice for the NYC skyline. Doesn’t look as iconic as one would expect… Lady Liberty, where art thou?

As a Bay Area girl, I was tickled to see San Francisco lookin’ good.

As an ex-Angeleno, I really liked this fact: There is a building code in LA that has been in place since the 1970s that requires all skyscrapers to accommodate a helipad. That’s why LA’s skyline isn’t as jagged as other cities!

Is your city represented? We at The Curious City are pretty well covered (NYC, LA, Atl, Bos, SF)… hold the phone! Where is our nation’s capital?

I thought it was odd but no one else seemed to notice. At Grand...

Fri, 08 Jun 2012 15:29:27 -0400

I thought it was odd but no one else seemed to notice. At Grand Central this girl had apparently clambered up onto the table to reach the electrical sockets that are on the same lines as the lights, and then plugged in her iPhone whose cord was just long enough so it dangled above her head. Like a little glowing technological halo. And then she’d reach up awkwardly and type on it. The dedication we have to these things is pretty impressive…

Know’s what’s awesome? Subway-themed tattoos. That...

Fri, 08 Jun 2012 11:44:49 -0400

Know’s what’s awesome?

Subway-themed tattoos.

That shit’s awesome. (And this fulfilled my wish! Although, they’re right—a NYC subway map would require one dedicated tattoo-ee)

(Via @TransportNation)

thecuriouscity: A Curious Intervention. We go gaga over street...

Wed, 06 Jun 2012 11:44:20 -0400

thecuriouscity:

A Curious Intervention.

We go gaga over street art that challenges us to rethink (and re-green) the concrete urban jungle.

Candy Chang: bravo! Keep at it!

Curious followers: got any other creative interventions that inspire a more livable city?

mythicalbodies:

Artist Candy Chang is a new inspiration for me.

HOW TO MTA

Wed, 23 May 2012 11:44:20 -0400

I”ve done the car service thing when the L stops running, but you definitely have to move away from the subway station or someone will steal your car. And I quite like #3.

jukeboxgraduate:

The L train got taken out of service at Bedford Ave. this morning around 9:30. That happened to be when I showed up to go to work and this was the first time I watched hundreds of people act like they had been abandoned in the South Bronx in the 80s. It is illogical to me that people who move to this city and either hold down jobs for which they are paid cash money or go to institutions of higher education don’t have the sense God gave a goose when it comes to riding the subway. But I am here to help.

1) KNOW MORE THAN ONE ROUTE. You can’t just know one way into Manhattan. You have to have several at your disposal that you have actually used and are comfortable with so that you don’t PANIC when the L train goes out. At Bedford you could have: taken the B62 south to the M train, taken the B62 north to the 7 train, walked to Lorimer (which is not far) and taken the G to downtown Brooklyn and transfer to the A/C/F, taken the G to LIC and the E or the 7… you get my point? I had any number of ways at my disposal. Instead, panicked people stood outside the subway entrance making phone calls about how they were stranded and didn’t know what to do and came to blows when the local car service pulled up. If you cannot right now tell me three ways to get to your job from your apartment, your job this weekend is to find them and ride them so you know the station and the route and feel comfortable with it.

2) CAR SERVICE: The only smart woman I saw said, “I’m going to Midtown, does anyone want to share this car with me?” and had three riders immediately. Everyone else just argued over every car that came. Why would you not share a cab in this situation? If you were smart you would have gotten out of the subway, announced your destination and did anyone want to share a cab, and then walked over to Northside on Bedford and waited for a car there (in these circumstances better to walk over to the dispatcher and wait for the car there than to call and say “I’m at Driggs & N7th” where there are now a hundred hipsters who can’t get to work and don’t give a fuck that you called this car.

3) GET OUT OF THE FUCKING WAY: I took the B62 down to the M, and when we got there, it took 6 times longer to unload the bus because some douchenozzle with light blue pants and drinking a latte wouldn’t step off the bus like a normal person and made everyone go around him. I finally yelled GET OUT OF THE WAY DUDE and only then did he seem to notice that the entire bus was trying to get off and he was BLOCKING THE DOOR.

3a) PUT DOWN YOUR PHONE AND PULL YOUR BAG IN FRONT OF YOU. I understand that everyone has to call their office and tell them they are going to be late and that requires a hand, but once you’ve done that, PUT THE PHONE AWAY and pull your bag in front of you so it stops hitting everyone around you. Seriously, people, you would have lasted 5 minutes in the 80s because your bag would have been slashed open while it was on your back, or you would have gotten the shit beaten out of you for hitting someone in the head.

4) LEARN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD: First were the hordes of people getting off at what used to be the B62 stop to go to Marcy, which was changed a couple of years ago. Then there was a line from the first subway entrance at Marcy & Bway all the way down the stairs and down Broadway TO THE FUCKING CORNER, because the idiots who rode the bus didn’t know that there were TWO OTHER ENTRANCES as well as an elevator. The other three access points were completely clear, had no line, so even if you are one of those people who HAS to be in the first car of the train, you could have walked another half a block, gone up the stairs, and been at the front of the platform before the stupid line got there.

explore-blog: With advance apologies for linking to The Daily...

Tue, 22 May 2012 19:11:19 -0400

explore-blog:

With advance apologies for linking to The Daily Mail… but these newly released never-before-seen photos of New York City from 100 years ago are an absolute treat.

This is the sort of thing that happens to me when I’m try...

Tue, 22 May 2012 15:31:11 -0400

This is the sort of thing that happens to me when I’m try to overplan my commute, too.

But I would have taken pictures of the new bus also!

Did you see the little feature in New York magazine about the...

Tue, 22 May 2012 11:45:51 -0400

Did you see the little feature in New York magazine about the plans for Time Square? I am timidly hopeful, although I still don’t see myself going there willingly.

butisitartphoto: Some Kind of Verb. Some Kind of Moving Thing.

Mon, 21 May 2012 19:17:03 -0400

butisitartphoto:

Some Kind of Verb. Some Kind of Moving Thing.

Train > plane

Mon, 21 May 2012 12:04:09 -0400

On Friday I had to be in Buffalo for a conference. Because I couldn’t miss work on Thursday, I took an early morning Friday flight: 6am from JFK, landing in Buffalo at 7:18am. But on Saturday I didn’t have to be back at a certain time, so I booked the Amtrak Empire service, leaving Buffalo at 7:34am and getting back to NYC at 3:45pm. Sounds awful, right? Here’s why it wasn’t, and why the train part of this trip was better than the plane part:

Free wireless on the train
The ability to get up and move around whenever I felt like it
The empty seat next to me
The electrical outlet next to me, below the large, clear windows
The wide, comfy seatbelt-less seats
I only had to get to the station 5 minutes before the train left
I didn’t have to wait in a check-in line, get out my ID, wait in a security line, take off my shoes, or get patted down
I was deposited by the train in the middle of the city, not way out in Queens or Newark
I was able to look out the window, and learn about the changing landscape between the cities
If a baby started screaming, I could get up and change seats
When we were paused in Oneida, the lady in front of me pointed out a river snake and a muskrat in the pond we were next to.

I could go on, but I’m about to do some work, watch a crappy movie, and then stretch out and take a nice nap.

Now, obviously, planes are awesome, and necessary. Can’t get to Cairo from here on a train (yet). Trains have less flexibility, and if it’s a long trip the time it takes starts to become an issue, blah blah blah. Nevertheless, for short trips I’ll stick with trains, not the “commuter flights.” Give me a slightly longer (although not much, when you factor in all the airport nonsense), comfortable train trip upstate any day.

joelzimmer: Escalator

Sat, 19 May 2012 15:03:15 -0400

joelzimmer:

Escalator

This is what I do on the subway: watch other people watch other...

Sun, 13 May 2012 18:25:56 -0400

This is what I do on the subway: watch other people watch other people. This guy was so oblivious that I was lurking over him taking a photograph because he was absolutely entranced by the woman playing Temple Run on her iPad; she didn’t seem to notice either of us staring.

I really don’t get it—I think the only thing more boring than playing Temple Run would be watching someone you don’t know play it.

brooklyntheory: John Morse, Curbside Haiku, Midtown

Fri, 11 May 2012 11:36:01 -0400

brooklyntheory:

John Morse, Curbside Haiku, Midtown

There are no words. (Via Streetsblog)

Thu, 03 May 2012 19:16:22 -0400

There are no words.

(Via Streetsblog)

My first spotting of the recently restarted Poetry in Motion...

Thu, 03 May 2012 15:31:35 -0400

My first spotting of the recently restarted Poetry in Motion series. And I thoroughly enjoyed it.

WHEN A GUY INVADES MY PERSONAL SPACE

Thu, 03 May 2012 11:46:06 -0400

This is how I feel on the subway when I’m standing by the door then some guy decides to loom over me, trapping me with his arm on the pole.

howdoiputthisgently:

Public [Transit-ish] Adventure #24: the second celebrity sighting

Wed, 02 May 2012 19:13:54 -0400

On 33rd-ish St and 3rd Ave. So adorable. I love him in this interview.

humansofnewyork: The city continues to make deep cuts in its...

Wed, 02 May 2012 15:31:52 -0400

humansofnewyork:

The city continues to make deep cuts in its Waste Management budget.

UPDATE: http://facebook.com/MobileHomelessHomes

Oh, that MTA. Always so professional.

Sun, 29 Apr 2012 17:04:03 -0400

Oh, that MTA. Always so professional.