Showing posts with label subways. Show all posts
Showing posts with label subways. Show all posts

Wednesday, August 01, 2007

MetroCard Mike? Yeah, Right

Michael Bloomberg likes to pride himself on taking the subway to New York, pretending to be the average billionaire New York straphanger. But is it really true? This is definitely not an average commute to most that ride the rails.

From The New York Times:

On mornings that he takes the subway from home, Mr. Bloomberg is picked up at his Upper East Side town house by a pair of king-size Chevrolet Suburbans. The mayor is driven 22 blocks to the subway station at 59th Street and Lexington Avenue, where he can board an express train to City Hall. His drivers zip past his neighborhood station, a local subway stop a five-minute walk away.

That means Mr. Bloomberg — whose much-discussed subway rides have become an indelible component of his public image — spends a quarter of his ostensibly subterranean commute in an S.U.V.

“I never see him,” said Namela Hossou, who sells newspapers every morning at the downtown entrance to the mayor’s nearest stop, at 77th Street, four blocks from the mayor’s house. “Never, never.”


He campaigned on being an average guy in the city. But Mike Bloomberg is no average New Yorker. The media mogul turned Mayor makes a mockery of the subway system and those that ride and wait to make transfers, sometimes two or three on the way to work. Bloomberg takes the express to City Hall. Riding the subway as a commuter is not about being on an express for three stop, that's a joke. And when he tells people to stop complaining that the subway cars are too crowded??? Mr. Mayor, try getting on the 6 train at 28th Street at rushhour, it'll teach you the definition of "cattle car."

Wednesday, May 02, 2007

Sleeping On The Subways

After the end of a long day, it isn't surprising to see someone that fell asleep on one of the subway lines. The dozers probably missed their stop, but once awake they can turn around at the next stop and go home to their warm comfortable beds. Unfortunately that is not the case for many of New York's homeless.

A recent survey showed that over 1,600 people regularly sleep on the trains, a 30 percent increase from last year. That is a real problem for many different reasons. First off it is a danger for the homeless that are preyed upon by certain criminals. Secondly many of these overnight riders tend to oversleep, leaving a foul stench inside the cars. I can recall at least one time where I got on the subway in the morning, saw a relatively empty car to get into, only to find that the reason no one was in there was because of an over-powering odor coming from a guy sprawled out on a bench.

On the bright side, there was a decline in the total amount the homeless in city. Nevertheless, it is still a problem that must be addressed so that these less fortunate members of society can get the help they need.