Henry J. Stern
June 29, 2007

Wednesday, a moderately hot day in New York, there was some discussion about conditions on the Lexington Avenue subway as the result of Con Ed’s power failure de jour.  In a rather breezy, some might see cavalier manner, Mayor Bloomberg said: “Get real.  This is New York. So you have to stand up next to people.  With regard to the blackout, he said:  "The worst problem I had was resetting my clock."   The News and the Post criticized him for his nonchalance, but I kind of like his attitude, even though it is inconsistent with the sentiments of the boots under the ground.  Then again, I have had years of experience explaining why mayors did not mean precisely what they said when they spoke.

We want warriors, not woeful wimps or waffling weasel worded whiners at a wailing wall.  .  Sir Winston died in 1961, andt I think the Mayor was trying, in his own way and probably unconsciously, to evoke Churchill's spirit of resistance in the face of difficulties greater than ours.  New York is an exciting city, and people could believe that the Mayor was trying to channel the spirit of his feisty and talented predecessors, Ed Koch, Rudy Giuliani and the great LaGuardia..
 
Since the Mayor told the press about his own pleasant experiences on the downtown 6 train, which he takes most mornings, I will take the liberty of reporting my own daily underground adventures, also on the Lexington Avenue line.  Each morning, I get off the eastbound M-86 (at Third Avenue, for a healthy walk) and descend the stairs at Best Buy..
 
First, one passes the homeless man sleeping on the mezzanine of the 86th Street southbound station, down one flight from the people giving out AM New York and Metro at the entrance.  I make it a point to take one paper from each vendor, rather than from the piles lying around, because I remember the days when I gave out literature, and the small spark of pleasure I had when someone accepted a leaflet.  The homeless man is quite peaceful and doesn't bother anyone; basically he confers a sense of place to the arcade.  One more flight brings you down to the station level.  You walk past the neatly-dressed unfortunates, lined up in front of the machines, who don’t have monthly or weekly or even daily passes.  You feel sorry for them, but on the other hand they know the calendar.  The lines are particularly long on Mondays, as if people thought that day might not come, so why get a pass on Friday afternoon.

The next challenge is swiping your card through the turnstile.  You have to be quick, but not too quick, and apply the right amount of pressure with your fingers.  Most days it works well, but it can be a problem, and you see other people struggling with their cards.  The most frustrating  outcome is when you get the little green message: Swipe card again at this turnstile, and you do so, and you get back the message: Just used. If that happens, go to the kindly station attendant.  She will swipe your card through her machine, and if the card works, let you in through the service door.

You are now on the platform, free to proceed to locate the best place to wait for the train.
A number of factors must be considered: 1) which car of the train is closest to the exit that you want to use.   2) which door has the fewest people waiting at it.t.  3) how crowded is the car that you intend to board.   4) are there any obstacles, messes or EDPs in the car   5)who are the people who will be standing in front of you on the platform.
 
I walk down another stairway to take the 4 or 5 south to Grand Central – just two stops from 86th street .  Originally, the express did not stop at 59th street, but in 1972 the MTA began digging for
a new station where you could transfer to the Queens trains, now the N, R, Q and W.  Later they added a free transfer to the F station at 63rd and Lex, but you have to walk three blocks to get there after leaving the station at 60th.   You should visit the 63rd St F station, it is one of the deepest in Manhattan, crossing Lex below the express level.  The other Queens trains cross Lexington Ave above the express tracks but below the local ones.  There is still an underground entrance to Bloomingdale’s basement from a stairway on the east (northbound) platform.

 New Yorkers should be pleased that the Mayor rides the subway so frequently.  He is the first in recent memory to make it a habit – at least on the way to work.   Among other advantages, the subway brings you in touch with people you would not otherwise see..  It is also by far the fastest way to get downtown.  Being a senior citizen makes it an even better value. Automatic renewal on your credit card is the easiest way to pay, and every couple of months you get a list of all the rides you have taken.  Call 311 to find out how to enroll.  If you don’t get a proper answer, call
NYCivic.
 
Nonetheless, the 4, 5 and 6 trains are unquestionably overcrowded and uncomfortable during rush hour.  The Mayor is an early bird, rides the train during the 7 o'clock morning hour.  I ride during the 8 o'clock hour.  At that time, the platform fills up between trains, and gets really jammed if a train is behind schedule.  Passengers cluster in small knots at places where they have learned from experience the doors are likely to open.  I usually walk to the first three cars, which are less crowded than the middle cars, and closer to my exit.
 
While waiting for the train to arrive, it is helpful to place yourself in a position where there are the fewest people between you and the door.  A well-timed gentle push can help is helpful if the person in front of you is too shy to advance on his or her own. Being a good sport, once I enter the car I move in as far as I can to give other passengers a chance to enter. a chance to get a spot.
 
In my mind, this daily underground routine is the urban equivalent of escaping from a crashed airplane, which is about to burst into flame. Some passengers will survive and some will burn.  Those who are quickest to find the exits and use them will have the best chance of living..  The slow, the fat, the clumsy and the elderly will be disadvantaged.  I am old but I am not slow or fat.  I try to be strategic in choosing where to stand on the platform, even scanning the people who are between me and the door I hope to enter.
 
Once on the train, look for a pole that you can hold.  If the car you are on is really packed,  it is possible that a fellow passenger will complain that you stepped on him or near him, and he may  push at you or your backpack, which has not been inspected and contains mostly newspapers.  If you are accosted by someone who feels you are in his or her space, smile politely and move a bit backward.  You do not want to incite rail rage.
 
Consider your subway ride as something like playing a survival video game, say "Frogger" as my youthful staff explains.  You needn’t play if you don't care to, just get up earlier and the crowd will be lighter.  Your commute is a kind of expedition.earlier in the day.    Use your eyesight, your foresight and your insight to make the journey as comfortable as possible. The results are defined by Rule 21-U: "You win some, you lose some."   From experience, we all know there are some days, fortunately relatively few, when you will be unable to board the incoming train no way.  But you will get a better spot from which you can wait for the next train.  Hopefully, it will come soon.

What can we do to solve the problem of an overloaded subway system.   On Monday, June 25, the MTA released statistics sowing that the 4, 6 and L trains were operating at 103 per cent of the trains’ capacity, the 5 train was at 102, and the 3 and E trains at 100.  The 2, 3, 4, 5 and E trains were operating at 100 per cent of the tracks’ capacity, so no new trains could be added.  The next day, NYC Transit president Howard Roberts backpedaled as if some gentleman had explained the matter to him.  He then said that the lines had ample off-peak capacity, and that congestion pricing would help mass transit by helping to save the $2 fare, even though no more passengers could fit on many trains during rush hour.

In another article, we will make a modest proposal, in the tradition of Jonathan Swift, to deal with the issue of subway overcrowding.  Do not fear, it will not involve eating any passengers.


#389  6.29.07  1539wds