Archive for the ‘Subway’ Category
bubbling steps
It’s National Egg Cream Day, in these United States.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One has always had an odd dream, inspired by that old television series “The Wild, Wild, West.” The two leads of the show lived on a train which carried them to their adventures, specifically in a sleeper car that had been modified for their usage. One has always wondered about the specialized rolling stock which might be attached to the end of a subway train. I’ve seen some of MTA’s more esoteric kit over the years – their work trains, a specialized unit which analyzes the tracks, once or twice I saw the actual “money train” shooting by on an express track. I’ve always desired a private sleeper car on the Subway. This would be selfish, and more than I deserve or could afford, so it would need to operate like a hotel.
So, here’s my idea: we attach a car to each and every subway train that has blacked out windows and a custom interior, whose doors only open with a key card swipe. There can be several types of these private units, used for a variety of purposes which currently elude officialdom on the surface.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A certain percentage… say 70%… of these Subway rooms would be luxury units (the LUX line). The State would list availabilities for these units on AirBNB type sites, and found within would be all the amenities expected at a high end hotel. The walls are lined with mahogany panels, the floor lushly carpeted. There’s a king size bed, a heart shaped hot tub, and a commode with fine finishes. Naturally, there’s a mini bar as well. 25% of these short stay residential cars could also be set up as dormitory style hostel cars (the ECON line), designed for students and European tourist cheapskates.
The remaining 5% would take its interior design cues from either 19th century slave ships or Soviet era army barracks, and these could function as homeless shelters – accomplishing the “out of sight, out of mind” policies of both Mayor de Blasio and Governor Cuomo nicely. The Mayor doesn’t take the train, and neither does the other guy.
Alternatively, should Riker’s Island ever get closed down and cleared of jails so that the real estate guys can develop it, a couple of cars on each train could repurposed to serve as mobile jails. This would be the “DFPS line,” named for the Mayor, our very own Dope from Park Slope. The big guy would probably love this, as it would completely eliminate NIMBY’ism from the creation and placement of homeless shelters. “It’ll only be in your neighborhood for 3 minutes…”
– photo by Mitch Waxman
On a non sarcastic note, I finally filled in one of the two holes in my photographic catalog of NYC’s Subway lines with a shot of the Times Square Shuttle, as seen above. I just need to get to Brooklyn to get a shot of the elusive Z and then I can move on to other things. Perhaps, someday, when this current cold waste has retreated…
Go have an egg cream, lords and ladies.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
escaped patient
It’s National Pizza Day, in these United States.
One seems to get around a lot, visiting all of these distaff corners of New York City, and always traveling either on foot or by Subway or some combination of the two. It occurred to me, suddenly, to take stock of my “ABC’s” and figure out which Subway lines have escaped my camera. As it turns out, I seem to have zero shots of the “Z,” “L,” “6,” or the Staten Island lines in my library, and there doesn’t seem to be anything representing the Times Square shuttle in there either. I do seem to have most everything else, and will make it a point in the coming weeks to fill in the missing stuff. Hey… it’s not like I just ride the trains taking pictures… well, OK, I do that occasionally… I get these shots when I’m going back and forth to places.
OK, this post is going to display a towering amount of nerd.
A is for aardvark, I’m told. It’s also the designation for the IND Eighth Avenue Express of MTA’s B Division, and the A ranges between 207th street in Manhattan and either Far Rockaway or Richmond Hill in Queens – depending on its mood. Service on the A line started on the 10th of September in 1932.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The B line, over in Brooklyn’s Sheepshead Bay Road station.
Another IND line, the Sixth Avenue Express has an extremely complicated schedule that changes at seemingly random parts of the day and week. On weekdays, between nine in the morning and eleven at night it’s likely going to be somewhere between Brighton Beach in Brooklyn and 145th street in Harlem, but then there’s the rush hour exception which takes it to the Bronx. Service on the B line started on the 15th of December in 1940.
It’s all very complicated, and B is Byzantine, and for B Division.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The C, at some transfer station deep under central Brooklyn.
Nineteen miles long, the route of the IND Eighth Avenue Local is. One end of the line is all the way uptown in Manhattan’s Washington Heights at 168th street, the other is at Fulton Street in Brooklyn. It’s also in the MTA’s B Division. C is for counting the days until the MTA finally retires these 1964 era “R32 model” trains from service. Service on the C line started on the 1st of July in 1933.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The D, out at Coney Island in Brooklyn.
B Division, R68 cars, IND, incredibly long route to service – that’s the Sixth Avenue Express, or D train, at a terminal stop in Brooklyn, and the other end is found up in the Norwood section of the Bronx at 205th street. D is for “damn, there’s 41 stations on the D.” Service on the D Line started on December 15th, in 1940.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The E, rolling into LIC’s Court Square in Queens.
Service on the E, or IND Eighth Avenue Local, line started on the 19th of August in 1933. It goes from Jamaica in Queens to lower Manhattan (with a couple of late night extras, depending on time and such) and is part of MTA’s B Division. E is for “Express” when it’s running along the IND Queens Blvd. tracks.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The F at 34th street, over in Manhattan.
Another IND B Division train, the Sixth Avenue Local or F line is a local train that has an impossibly long route. It spans from Jamaica in Queens to Coney Island in Brooklyn, crossing through 45 stations. Service on the F line started on the 15th of December in 1940. F is for “how ‘effin long is this ride to Coney going to take?”
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Franklin Avenue Shuttle, Brooklyn.
A BMT line, this four stop long shuttle itself was created in 1963, and formally became called “Franklin Avenue Shuttle” on the 1st of November in 1965. The cool thing here is that these tracks were part of the original BMT Brighton Beach line which opened in 1878. FS is for “fs, how long am I going to wait here, I could have walked it by now.”
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The G entering Smith/9th street, high over Red Hook and the Gowanus Canal, in Brooklyn.
The G Crosstown Local is only 11.4 miles long, is an IND line in MTA’s B Division, spanning from Queen’s Long Island City to Brooklyn’s Church Avenue. The G has 21 stations to hit, and opened for business on August 19th of 1933.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A twofer, with the J and M side by side on the Williamsburg Bridge over the East River.
The Nassau Street Local/Express is what the MTA calls the J train, which goes from Jamaica Center to Manhattan’s Broad Street, covering some 30 stations along the route it shares with the Z. The B Division train follows the route of an original 1893 BMT route, but J service as we know it didn’t exist until November of 1949. J is for “Jesus, how do I not have any shots of the Z?”
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A proper shot of the M, under Astoria’s Broadway.
The M, or Sixth Avenue Local, in another IND B Division line. It starts and ends in Queens, at Forest Hills on one side and Middle Village on the other, but along the way it loops through midtown Manhattan and Brooklyn while servicing some 36 stations. Service started on July 14th in 1914. M is for “Marcy,” and “Myrtle,” and “Metropolitan.”
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Also on Broadway in Western Queens’ Astoria, that’s the N entering its elevated station.
The BMT Broadway Express runs from Ditmars Boulevard in Queens to Stillwell Avenue in Brooklyn’s Coney Island, serving 45 stations. The line opened on June 22 of 1915. N is for “Nice lighting up there.”
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The Q, at Brooklyn’s Coney Island.
The BMT Broadway Express used to live in Astoria, with the N, but when the Second Avenue Subway opened it started hanging around with the rich kids on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. It travels from 96th street – along the Second Avenue Subway tracks – then switches to the Broadway Line tracks, and heads all the way out to Coney Island. There’s another complicated 1878 story I could tell you, but the modern day Q started service on the 1st of August in 1920. Q is for “damnit, I get a Q every damn time I play scrabble.”
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The R, entering Queens Plaza.
The IND Broadway Local has another huge route, moving between Forest Hills in Queens and Bay Ridge in Brooklyn, covering 45 stations. Service on this B Division line started on January 15th in 1916. R is for “aging rolling stock.”
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The Rockaway Park Shuttle, out on some sandbar in Jamaica Bay.
It’s only got 5 stations to cover, and is a relative newcomer to NYC having come into service on June 28 in 1956, but this IND shuttle line connects the western end of the Rockaway Penninsula to the A line. I haven’t got anything an “RPS” is for…
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The 1 line, at 14th street in Manhattan.
Moving between Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx and Manhattan’s South Ferry, this A Division train started service on October 27th of 1904. It’s the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Local if you ask the MTA.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The 2 line, on elevated tracks in the Bronx.
The IRT Seventh Avenue Express is an A Division line. Providing service between 241st Street/Wakefield in the Bronx and the Flatbush Avenue Juction nearby Brooklyn College, the 2 covers 61 stations.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The 3 line, entering either the 72nd or 96th street station on Manhhattan’s Upper West Side.
The IRT Seventh Avenue Express moves between 148th street in Manhattan’s Harlem and New Lots Avenue in Brooklyn. Service on this A Division line began in 1904, on the 23rd of November.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The 4, entering the Bowling Green station in Manhattan.
That’s the IRT Lexington Avenue Express, an A Division line which services traffic between Crown Heights in Brooklyn and Woodlawn in the Bronx. Service began on June 2, 1917.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
That’s the 5, heading south into Manhattan’s 59th st./Lexington Avenue station.
IRT Lexington Avenue Express, that’s what MTA calls this A Division line. It’s another one of the lines which has differentiated routes depending on what day or time it is – but it goes from either Nereid or Dyre Avenue in the Bronx to Flatbush Avenue Junction or New Lots Avenue in Brooklyn after passing through all of Manhattan and services 45 stations. Service began on October 27th, 1904.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Last – but never least – the most photogenic of NYC’s subway lines, the 7 as it curves out of LIC’s Court Square station in Queens.
The IRT Flushing Local and Flushing Express are A Division trains, operating between Flushing in Queens and Hudson Yards in Manhattan. Service started on June 22 of 1915.
Now – it seems that I need to conjure up some reason to go to Staten Island, ride and photograph the L, Z, and 6 lines, then take that shuttle at Times Square… and then I think I’ve got them all… am I blanking out on anything – oh Internet hive mind?
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
general credence
It’s National Frozen Yogurt Day, in these United States.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Not too much to tell you today, lords and ladies, other than to describe and share photos from a recent excursion which took me to Flushing for a social event. It’s on evenings like this, when I’m not consciously “working” that my pathologies are most fully on display. One just cannot stop taking pictures, as Queens is just too marvelous for words and nobody believes it until you show them. My journey from “Point A” in Astoria led me to Jackson Heights, where one secured a transfer from the sepulchral depths of the IND lines to the elevated IRT Flushing Line which carried me eastwards.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
My arrival in ancient Flushing, at the so called “Main Street” stop, coincided with the local gendarmes performing their duties. My assumption, based on observable behaviors, is that the small statured fellow in the shot above had overly indulged himself with intoxicating beverages. NYPD didn’t seem overly concerned about the situation, treating it with a characteristic world weariness and the laconic mannerisms one normally sees the City’s uniformed security forces display.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
At my destination, which was at a fairly new hotel that sits alongside the local precinct house which the fellows in the second shot would call “the office,” there was a rooftop deck – which despite frigidity – was available to visit and explore. The shot above was captured some nine stories up from Northern Blvd. in Flushing, and looks westwards across Queens towards the Shining City of Manhattan. That’s the Queensboro Bridge you see just to the right of center.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
baffling lack
It’s Setsubun Day, in the nation of Japan.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As described in yesterday’s post, the 21st of January was a pretty foggy day, which is something I consider pretty. One made it a point of visiting several distaff locations around Long Island City to capture the scene. The shot above is something that all of you reading this will be able to personally enjoy sometime in the very near future, when the Smiling Hogshead Ranch expands its operations up to the abandoned trackway of the Montauk Cutoff.
The photo above depicts the most photogenic of NYC’s subway lines – the IRT Flushing, or 7 line – exiting the elevated tracks of the Court Square Station and traveling on its way to Manhattan.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One spent a bit of time up on the tracks, as I ran into an old friend while making my way up there and we spent some time catching up while I waved the camera around. The cutoff is brutally bare during the winter months, as all of the self seeded vegetation surrounding it is deep in hibernation. During the warmer months, it’s positively verdant up here – an island of green amidst the concrete devastations of Western Queens.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Disturbingly, the Queens Cobbler seems to have visited the Cutoff recently, leaving behind one of the totemic “single shoes” signaling that he or she was here. The “Queens Cobbler” is the name I’ve assigned to a likely serial killer who claims human lives all around the Newtown Creek watershed, leaving behind a single shoe to announce that their latest hunt has been successful.
Someday, the NYPD will happen upon a hidden warehouse room in LIC or Maspeth filled with footwear and gore, and on that day – the metaphorical and literal “other shoe” will truly fall. Back next week with something completely different at this – your Newtown Pentacle.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
enjoined to
It’s National Tater Tot Day, in these United States.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
For a maritime city, New York doesn’t actually seem to get foggy all that much. Sure there’s mist and murk occasionally, but it’s actually pretty seldom that we get a full on “inversion” and the sky fills with straight up pea soup. Whenever fog conditions do occur, however, one makes sure that the camera is out and about.
Nothing I like more than some atmospheric diffusion.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
These shots were gathered on the 21st of January, when just such an atmosphere permeated and propagated across the neighborhood. As I’m wont to remind everyone around Newtown Creek – constantly – if you can smell it, you’re breathing it. On this foggy Saturday in January, we were all breathing New York Harbor for a day.
Speaking of Newtown Creek, check out how the new Kosciuszcko Bridge’s cable stay towers are visible from the corner of 39th street and Skillman Avenue in Sunnyside.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One left HQ relatively late in the day, hoping to catch that particular moment when the burning thermonuclear eye of God itself would angle itself properly to create sculptural lighting for the industrial landscape of LIC. Win!
The shot above looks down 47th avenue, as you travel down off the shallow ridge that Sunnyside and Woodside straddle towards the alluvial flatlands surrounding the Dutch Kills tributary of Newtown Creek, just for the curious.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As part of my “winter strategy,” which allows for taking some sort of transport in one direction to or from “Point A” in Astoria, a short ride on the “7 line” carried me to Queensboro Plaza where I transferred over to the Astoria bound “N line.” Glad that I did so, as the photo above was my “shot of the day” for the fog occluded 21st of January.
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