I was changing trains the Chambers Street Subway station last week and saw this unusual poster:

It’s obviously a riff on this standard MTA poster seen in many stations: (more…)

The last time I took the Amtrak to D.C., in May, I shot some pictures of urban decay seen from the train. There was one particular sign I wanted to photograph—on the side of a warehouse between Trenton and Philadelphia—but it always goes by so fast I’ve never been able to get a shot of it. Until a recent trip to Maryland this past Saturday.

This is a poster for the long-defunct Eastern Airlines Air Shuttle. Note the classic Eastern logo in the lower-left part of the sign. How old is this sign?

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Once, this scar on the side of North Beacon Mountain, New York, was an inclined railway. Built in 1902 (toward the end of America’s short-lived funicular railroad craze) it shuttled tourists to a hotel and casino at the top of the hill.

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Everybody in New York has a different favorite train, but everyone has the same least-favorite: The G. Short, slow, infrequent, and weird, the G Train seems unworthy of New York. It goes through some rough or obscure places, and makes stops on streets you’ve never heard of unless you live there, like Classon Avenue. The G’s lazy, L-shaped route from Brooklyn to Queens makes it the only line in the whole system that never stops in Manhattan. This train is hard to love.

But nobody hates the G more than Park Slopers. Only we understand the frustration of standing in a packed F train at the end of a hard day, three stops from home, waiting for a G ahead of us turn around. Can’t they clear that train a little faster! We’ve got takeout and craft beer waiting in the fridge!

Some of the best stories happen when a group of established characters have to react to a sudden change in their environment. A week ago, the MTA extended the G route by five stops in Brooklyn. Like an unwanted kitten left on our doorstop, we in Park Slope have to claim the G as our own. We’re no longer an F neighborhood. We’re a F/G neighborhood. How are we supposed to react to this?

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There are at least two constants when you take a long-distance bus. You always arrive at your destination late. And you always have to witness people yelling at one another. The way to cope is to sit down, shut down, go limp, be invisible, and let the bus beat up on your spirit for however many hours it takes.

My latest transportation adventure was a round-trip ride on Coach USA’s Megabus from New York to Washington, D.C. Along with Greyhound’s BoltBus, Megabus is one of a several ultra-cheap scheduled buses that recently started plying I-95. The first few tickets on each bus are $1 or $3. My tickets were $18 each way. (more…)

A few Holga photos along the New York City subway’s West End Line. Shot last Sunday in Brooklyn.

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The remake of “The Taking of Pelham 123,” I have to admit, is better than the 1974 original, which I own on DVD and have seen at least five times. But nobody said the original was a great movie. What made it notable was it’s attention to detail. Almost every reference to New York City geography in the original is absolutely accurate. It was one of those rare New York movies that respected the intelligence of trivia-obsessed New Yorkers.

I follow trains the way some people follow sports, so I was interested in whether the film was accurate in regard to the New York City subway, the setting where all of the action takes place. How did it do?

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This weekend I rode the Amtrak from New York to Baltimore and back, as I’ve done many times. This time I took some snapshots of some of the beautiful/ugly urban decay visible through the windows of the train.

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According to The Daily News, the MTA did a test-run of an F Train with eleven cars, instead of the usual ten (or eight, depending on the kind of car they’re running). The Long Train would help alleviate overcrowding on the F line, one of the slowest, twistiest and most problem-prone subway lines.

Difficulty: The platforms aren’t long enough to accommodate 11 cars. And the MTA can’t invest any money in making things better right now.

My prediction is that crowding will go down once 30-day Metrocards go up to $103 (from $81). A lot of people will start walking, driving, riding bikes, or hopping turnstiles.

(Pictured: Manhattan-bound F Train departing Smith and 9th, 2005)

It takes four minutes for a New York City subway train to cross the Manhattan Bridge. I usually listen to music and take in the view as we soar over East River. After countless express trips between Brooklyn and Manhattan, I’ve been wondering: Is there a perfect four-minute song to play on the ride?

Here’s my current favorite: “All Will Be Well” by The Gabe Dixon Band. The song is the right length and its gentle reassurance is perfect for starting and ending the day. You can play the song here and download it on iTunes, etc.