Last Friday, I thought I was looking for a job, but it turns out I wasn’t. I was learning the New York subway system, once and for all.
I bought a day-pass for $8.25 at the subway station at Beverley Road, five minutes from my door. Then I took the B train to Atlantic Avenue in downtown Brooklyn and changed to the Q train to Union Square on 14th Street in Manhattan. I took the L train at Union Square to 6th Avenue and changed to the V train to W 4th Street. I took the A train at W 4th Street to Chambers Street and then I took the 3 train at Chambers to Wall Street, where I walked to Broadway and then a long distance underground to the 2 train which I took to Penn Station and changed to the 6 train which took me to W 112th Street. I ate a bagel and caught the 1 train at W 110th to 79th Street, where I got off and then got back on the 1 train and took it to Lincoln Center, jumped off and then jumped on the 1 train yet again and took it to Times Square, where I changed to the 7 train to Grand Central Station and there I caught the 5 train and took it to E 86th Street. At E 86th Street I caught the 4 train which took me all the way to Borough Hall in Brooklyn where I got off the train and walked east to Smith and went north on Smith until it became Jay and then at Jay and Fulton I took the F train to 7th Avenue where I walked from 8th Avenue to 7th Avenue and 7th Avenue to 9th Avenue. Eventually I returned to 7th Avenue and reboarded the F train and took it to 14th Street back in Manhattan. I was hungry so I had a slice of pizza for $2.25 at 12th Street and 6th Avenue, a street which is called the Avenue of the Americas. After finishing my pizza I went to a movie on 12th Street about global warming and then I took the F train to W 4th Street, changed to the B train, and took it to Beverley Street. I walked home, arriving at 10pm, and fell into bed, exhausted.
Tell me about the last time you took the train.
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the train the train? because the max could count as a train, and our last ride was on the max.
ReplyDeletewe got off work a tad early and hot footed down from 10/burnside down oak to 6th, where the max stops right there in front of big pink. well, two lines stop there, so we waited for the wrong one, the yellow, to go by and got on the right one, the green line.
moving through old town/china town, the train goes pretty slowly. the stop before the bus/train station is where all the homeless kids park their shopping crats, in front of sisters of the road cafe. then it turns a big corner and heads back the way we came, we get a good view of the rail station,outbuildings,and condos, then another corner and we're off over the steel bridge.
when the train stops under the freeway there by the convention center, usually enough people get off that we can both get a seat, sometimes together, we did this time, a sideways seat, which is preferable to a backwards seat for some reason.
max stops twice more and then runs wildly down sullivan's gulch, where it really picks up some time and we laugh at all the cars crawling along headed east.
at gateway, even more people get off, some get on, but there tends to be more room, and off we go along I-205, laughing at all the cars crawling along headed north and south, though north is generally slower.
at the powell stop, two fare inspectors get on and roust off some kids who had no idea they needed to pay to ride, or how to buy a ticket, or something, anyway, two fewer people on the train.
our stop is holgate and (roughly) 92nd, where we barely miss the #17 bus and wait for the next one. it's still the bus before the one we would have caught downtown, so, after our 4 block walk, we're getting home earlier, which is nice.
don't forget, daylight savings ends this weekend!
briando
Hi Peter,
ReplyDeleteI think i recognize the new photo you are showing in this new posting. Is it when we were having some "chipirones" in Barcelonas's "Boqueria"? It was great to recall that day !!
About trains: As you know, the Metro system in Barcelona is a simpler one than the one in Brooklyn or the huge one in London, England. In Barcelona, if you are on a platform, you know that only one line goes through that platform and therefore you get on the first train that stops there.
When I was is London, a very long time ago, I assumed that this was the case there too. I was looking for a job too and since distances are also considerable in London, I got a monthly pass from day one. That was lucky. The London Tube is also very expensive compared with Barcelona's.
I was on that one platform and got on the first train that stopped there confident that I was going to be on time for my appointment. The train went on and on for quite a time when I realized that the names of the stops were not what they were supposed to be. At first I thought I was going backwards and simply changed trains to the next one in the opposite direction. After a while I realized that something was not really working at all. It took me too long to see that many lines could use a same platform and that you had to pay attention to the trains destination before getting on it. By the time I figured it out my appointment was long lost. I learnt the hard way but I did learn anyway.
By the way, is this bog an English only place or do you intend it to be bilingual? As you know I've recently decided to become a civil servant here in Spain and at the moment I am very immerse into everything Spanish, I mean Constitution, law and so on and so forth. I believe that preparing for civil service is, more that a job in itself, a whole attitude of mind.
It was, anyway, very refreshing to bring to memory this misadventure.
Greetings to all from Barcelona,
Manel.
hi peter,
ReplyDeletethe last experience i had on a train was on the berlin subway on san frutos day. i was visiting there with my friends mila, eva, laura and rosa. we had planned to visit the longest remaining stretch of wall with graffitti by different artists that morning so we took the train we thought would take us straight there. we were chatting and having a laugh at milas funny comments when we suddenly realised the train had reversed directions and, as a result, we were going backwards. we had heard something through the loudspeakers but, as it could be expected with so basic knowledge of german by all of us, we didn't understand a word, so we returned to the station of departure. there we noticed a sign which we guessed said something about changing trains at a particular station due to works on the line. eventually we got to our destination after changing trains twice. as a spanish saying goes, los hombres proponen y dios dispone.
it turned out a fun but tiring day.
lots of love,
lu
test comment
ReplyDeletemay, 2006
ReplyDeletea long day travelling by plane from portland to dulles, dulles to frankfurt, frankfurt to milan. destination varenna on lake como. took 45 minutes just to get out of the airport (it was as simple as opening the correct door) and to the bus that would take us to the train station in milan. arrived at the train station just in time to watch our train depart without us and to wait two long, sad, tired hours and shed a few tears of exhaustion before the next one. when the train arrived, we boarded and rode standing and carrying our heavy packs to the small station in varenna. we wandered dazed through town until we found a place to stay then took a boat to the other side of the lake. got on the wrong boat coming back. the ticket taker called us "stupido" which is easy to understand in any language.
i finally figured it out!
Getting on a train in Isplip, I realized I didn't have my phone. Got off before it headed out, called the hotel to see if it was in the shuttle that had dropped me off. Why yes, it was there. Could I wait for them to bring the next guest to the station? Certainly. NYC without your cell phone would be hell now. How did we do it before?
ReplyDeleteWhen settled on the next train, I met a newly retired nurse who was on her way to upstate NY to see her daughter and grandchildren. She loves retirement! How did she manage her life when she had to work.
My friend Liz calls and give me instructions on meeting her in Ft. Greene. I'm excited to see her office and place her in the city (and in my mind). Meeting her means getting off the Long Island Railroad and onto a subway but what the hey: I'm city smart. No problem.
Before I get off the LIRR, I have the pleasure of hearing an old married couple from San Diego talk about shopping. The wife, a native NYer, explains to her husband why they must visit Macy's in NYC. Why, it's the Powell's of department stores. I was unsure that this was what I heard so I asked her and she asked me if I knew Powell's. Funny.
Last part of the trip was going into Brooklyn with many sports fans who discussed the world series. Felt like I was in the right place, at the right time.
After a visit to the Metropolitan Museum with a first-time-in-NYC friend, it was time for him to jump subway out to the airport. I was explaining how he could get there ("get off at the stop after the one I get off, and watch for the E train...") when I could see the fear in his eyes. I didn't want to go with him out to the airport but I was beginning to worry that I might need to. Just then the train we were going to go on together pulls up and voila'!: My old friend Rebecca, a St. Johns neighbor, and her mom were there. On their way to JFK. I sent Brian off with them and felt pretty smug about my small world.
ReplyDelete