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Friday, November 21, 2008

The Subway Platform, 59th Street

Waiting
Photo by myself at the 59th Street subway platform.

All eyes are on the end of the tunnel.

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One thing I noticed in Boston, was how clean the subway stations were. And modern. And well-designed.

Most of the underground stations had signs showing when the next train would arrive. And the tracks were elevated to the same level of the platform, so there isn't the equivalent of a gutter filled with trash.

The subway here in New York suffers from constant change, methinks, due to bad management. One year the rates will be hiked, the next year there will be rumors of discounts and added subway lines. Yet for the most part, the tracks and stations look the same, that is, a mess.

I don't mind the grittiness so much. It's perplexing, though, that we compare so poorly with other major cities.

Related posts: Transit for the Masses,Finito and Tempting Fate.

15 comments:

Olivier said...

bel alignement. il y a pas foule ;o)

Anonymous said...

From what I recall back in my college days, depending on where you were in the city, the T stations could be pretty grubby. But that was eons ago, so they may have cleaned up their act since then!

dianasfaria.com said...

the subway...I can't live with it, but I can't live without it!

Anonymous said...

Ahhh the NYC subway system....it encapsulates both the best and the worst of this city.
MTA politics truly boggle the mind. Yet, compared to other world cities,it's remarkable how far 2 bucks, or soon to be $2.50, will get you...

Anonymous said...

No other city in the US has a 24 hour transit system. I'll take dirty platforms over trains that stop running at 12:45.

Ken Mac said...

that is the cleanest subway platform in NYC!

Fredrik said...

Nice angle and depth in this picture. Good work!
Today it snows in Ystad.

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Wayne said...

The state of stations varies a lot from city to city doesn't it. I'm constantly bugged by the grungey state of our stations.

There must be lots of people without work who would be happy to earn a fair wage for the responsibility of taking care of one or two train stations.

Just as the musicians make us feel better about the experience of using transit, clean safe stations, trains and buses would make us feel better too.

It doesn't take much to get me started does it?

Anonymous said...

Subways entice me. I hate and love them, all the same. In Paris the system isn't that impressive either. I mean it works but it is not always real pretty.

Terry at Blue Kitchen said...

As a Chicagoan, I am in awe of the New York subway system. We have subways and els here, but they don't cover the city nearly as thoroughly as New York's do. And only a couple of the lines run 24 hours a day. So for all its problems, the MTA does a bang-up job moving millions of people a day, I think. Every visit, I buy a pass and ride the subways everywhere.

On another note, the Boston subways may be clean and modern, but the downside is, if you're riding them, you're in Boston.

humanobserver said...

I loved this picture very much...The platform's design and colour is unique indeed.

Mike said...

I love trains and subways. I have not been on them since the 1970s really since I left Brooklyn. I have a new blog on New York Nature Photography More colors when snow comes and next year.

tr3nta said...

Nice perspective... I love subway shots... the yellow line is powerful...

Ian Thal said...

"One thing I noticed in Boston, was how clean the subway stations were. And modern. And well-designed."

The irony is that Boston's subway is the oldest in North America-- some of the stations have been in operation since 1897. As far as the cleanliness, that might have more to do with the general fastidiousness of New Englanders. People regularly eat and drink on the T. By contrast, Washington D.C.'s Metro is kept clean in part by a ban on food and drink and dim lighting, that hides any grime in between clean-ups.