The MTA has to be a favorite. If you’ve ever taken a trip to New York City or watched any movie ever made in the city, you know what the MTA is. The subway is a quintessential part of every New Yorkers life. While it may seem dirty, crowded, hectic and smelly (it is) you won’t encounter a New Yorker who doesn’t kind of actually love it.
In high-school I had to take the subway to and from school an hour and a half each way, that accounts for 3 hours of my day spent on the 7 and the G. What’s interesting is that I didn’t mind it at all. The subway was at times a peaceful place, key words: at times. From about 7 to 9 in the morning and 3 to 6 in the evening; you’re lucky if you even get on the main trains going to The City (I commonly will refer to Manhattan as The City). Walking down to the Manhattan bound platform during rush hour is a death wish, but one that I had to take every day for the past 4 years.
My hour and a half commute normally consisted of a nap, sometimes a standing one, or finishing homework. Everyone keeps their Airpods in and minds their own business, right up until some guy is trying to get on but there is no physical space and he’s holding up the whole train and everyone on there is annoyed because they’re the track fire on 42ndand Herald Sq. made them late, yea that’s when problems arise.
Aside from the bad, there’s a lot of good. “ITSSSSSS SHOWTIME” might be one of the best. Street performers in The City also do train performances where the flip and do crazy stunts for about a stop. They are incredibly talented and do such amazing things for a few bucks per cart. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_X5YYmWdzU
They’re part of the heart and soul that makes NYC what it is. Showtime normally are targeted on trains that tourists take like the Q and B lines, but a lot of working people take those everyday as well.
One of the most controversial parts of the MTA is the fare evasion problems goin on. The way you get onto the train is through these turnstiles.
A lot of students and New Yorkers in general will “hop” the turnstile and not pay the increasing fare of 2.75. I will not comment on whether or not I condone this but there is a lot of push rom the NYPD to stop this from happening, like the 100$ fine recently put in place. A lot of the fare evasion repercussion efforts target communities that are generally minority based, so there’s a lot of backlash from the community. A lot of ads like these have been posted recently.
Of course, New Yorkers respond appropriately with love. These guerilla ads were created by people in the community to help out others who don’t have the money for the fare and also make a statement. Rather than threatening subway users with punishment they show the ways in which some can help others in a legal way, they mimic the MTA logo to set an example of what they should be advertising. 2.75 is a lot for some people and there’s no help by the city even with immense negative feedback by people.
Seeing things like this on the train has always shown me what New York is all about.
The subway definitely is a quintessential part of New York City and it is really interesting to hear a local’s perspective on it. Looking forward to hearing more!
I really like your blog! That’s so cool you lived in New York City!! I can’t wait to read more about what it’s like to live in the city! And wow I can’t imagine spending that much time on the subway each day.
Having lived in a very small town for my whole life, reading about New York from an every day perspective makes it seem like a different world. I only had to walk 7 minutes to make in to my high school and 10 or so minutes to my middle school, which I kept up for 6 years. At any rate, the window into some of the great parts about living in New York is really cool, and, if your are looking for suggestions, I think hearing about the food culture would be really interesting. Best of Luck!
I love hearing about your experiences in New York City, you build show a great narrative!