Commuting in New York
by jamie at 6:09 am on January 23rd, 2004 in GeneralI pretty much love my job. I like the fact that I get to go to all the boroughs and re-live a high school existence that I never really lived in the first place. The New York public schools are an interesting place to spend a morning. One of the drawbacks of my job though (aside from the bathrooms, click here and here to read about that!) is getting to and from the various schools we service all over the city. Here are some things you SHOULDN’T DO while moving around the city:
DO NOT STAND in the left side of the escalator! This morning I watched as two men were talking while on an escalator. One was standing on the left and the other a step or two down on the right. There was JUST enough room to pass between them, but not comfortably. I was standing on the right and my boss was behind me. A woman came down on the left and politely said “Excuse Me.” The man on the left made this motion as if to say “go right ahead,” and continued his conversation with his friend. My boss and the lady and I all expected the man to move to the right and let her and all the people behind her pass. I wondered if the man knew about this particular convention and didn’t care, or if he were completely ignorant to this social code. I bit my tongue.
IF IT SAYS DON’T WALK, DON’T WALK - I don’t care if the light is green.
I work just up from 42nd Street on the West Side of Manhattan. All along 42nd Street in my neighborhood there are delayed walk signs which allow cars to turn left off of 42nd street BEFORE pedestrians cross. Listen people, this is for your own safety as well as the flow of traffic. If it says DON’T WALK you DO NOT have the right of way. So don’t look all indignant when that Big Apple tour bus comes crossing in the crosswalk - YOU’RE the one that shouldn’t be there!
And another word on littering:
If you’ve been following my ramblings on this site you will know how I feel about people who litter. I was amazed at an incident that took place while I was riding the 9 train last week. (By the way, I am a huge opponent of the 1/9, so while I find this event alarming, it makes perfect sense to me that it happened on that line.) I was on the train sitting across the way from a woman eating a stinky/smelly sandwich. She finished up, wiped her hands and her mouth, put her napkins in a brown paper bag and put the bag on the floor next to her feet. I assumed that when she left she would be taking the bag with her, so I didn’t think much of it, but a woman next to her didn’t miss a beat.
“You’re not going to leave that there, are you?”
“Don’t worry about it!” the litterer snapped.
“That’s not right,” the first woman said and left it at that, but I could not let the dog lie. I broke out my digital and announced to the train car as a whole but directly to the first woman:
“I write about subway litterers. I’m going to take a picture and write about this.”
To my amazement the litterer said, “Ooohhh, I’m going to be in the pictures?!”
I was horrified! This, as you can see, is an adult, a grandmother, possibly a great grand mother! I didn’t know what to do, so I did the only thing I could think of. I picked up her trash and took it with me. She yelled an obnoxious “Thank you, lady” as I exited the train and Sam yelled something back. What the hell is this world coming to? I’m just trying to do my job!
photosuperstar wrote:
You should have picked up the trash and placed it in her shopping bag. Telling her not to forget to throw it out. People truly are amazing.
Posted 23 Jan 2004 at 6:56 am ¶
jamie wrote:
makes ME glad I don’t pack heat!
Posted 23 Jan 2004 at 7:15 am ¶
Another Matt wrote:
I like the 1 train because when I lived in Brooklyn and worked at Licoln Center during the very hot summer of 1989, it had the icy-coldest a/c of the entire transit system.
Posted 23 Jan 2004 at 7:26 am ¶
adam wrote:
I don’t mean to be a spoil sport, but..
Again, Pixburghers can’t handle new york! Look, there’s really no such thing as a walk/don’t walk sign in both the pedestrian AND the car driver’s mind. If there are no cars, you walk. If there are cars, you don’t walk.
The NYC subway tends to be a very unique phenomenon, especially during rush hour. You are crammed in there up against 5 different people, all not trying to make eye contact with one another. This picture looks like it wasn’t very crowded at all, and this poor lady was probably just relaxing not really expecting to deal with anyone else’s shit, which is your right. So when rude lady #2 starts to give her shit about a bag she probably just placed temporarily on the floor, of course she is going to get all nasty. Really I’d bet 100% that she was going to throw it out, but because you and rude lady #2 gave her shit for it she decided to give you shit back - hey, that’s new york. :)
Posted 23 Jan 2004 at 7:39 am ¶
matt wrote:
We need to have a contest on who’s the most new yorkest.
Posted 23 Jan 2004 at 8:09 am ¶
Forager wrote:
she had nice boots on… NOT
I have to kind of agree with adam, I cross the street whenever I want, if there are cars coming sometimes I’ll step out and wait and as they’re half way by me I’ll start walking again. This way I don’t hold up traffic and I get across the street without waiting. I don’t expect people to stop for me (unless I have the cross signal - then all bets are off), I expect to find enough of a break in the traffic to let me get across. Likewise, when I’m driving, I don’t expect to (and I hope they don’t expect me to) stop for people when they’re crossing without the cross signal.
I’m not from NY though, from Boston
Posted 23 Jan 2004 at 8:18 am ¶
jamie wrote:
adam adam adam, i’m starting to get testy with you! i refuse to accept that littering is a fact of life in new york, or anywhere for that matter. (and while i see your point about the fact that the woman MAY have been planning to take her trash with her, we will never know, and from her attitude about it, I’m guessing not).
and as for crossing the street, i think you missed my point. on 42nd street there is a DELAYED walk sign so that cars can make left turns(they have a green arrow for the same purpose) however, when the arrow turns green, pedestrians think they should have the right away even though they still have a Don’t Walk sign. It’s a counterintuitive thing, but really very smart, and it could and should work and make life a lot easier for everyone. (this coming from a girl who regularly crosses 42nd street mid-block to get from my office to the bank without walking to the corner, so I’m a self admitted jay-walker, however I respect the delayed walk sign so as to avoid being hit by a bus.)
Posted 23 Jan 2004 at 8:46 am ¶
Sharon wrote:
Sooo…Adam. Explain to us how supporting litter and rude behavior makes you more of a New Yorker? sounds to me like it just makes you a crappy New Yorker. or more to the point, the New York stereotype.
Sounds like Jamie can certainly “handle” New York just fine.
Posted 23 Jan 2004 at 9:33 am ¶
Anthoney wrote:
Jamie I feel your fustration. Litterer’s make me sick. The worst part about it is I see people who litter only a few feet from a garbage can. WTF?? You can plainly see the recepticle a few feet away yet you decide that the ground is a better place for your trash. You should see the looks I get sometimes when I challenge people on their litter. They look at me all crazy and say “Well if your so concerned why don’t you throw it away yourself.” Ah the degredation of society. You gotta love it.
Posted 23 Jan 2004 at 9:48 am ¶
Jessica wrote:
Even in Berkeley, mythical citadel of patchouli-scented people’s rights, folks know better than to cross against the “don’t walk” at turn-only lane intersections. Duh. And while it’s a $171 ticket if your car enters a crosswalk while a pedestrian is also touching it, normally, it’s a $104 jaywalking ticket for the dork who steps into the intersection before the little green guy starts his beeping chorus.
Posted 23 Jan 2004 at 9:54 am ¶
jamie wrote:
we got a really interesting comment on the last litter article - http://www.1115.org/archives/000207.html#557
i think it is an interesting take on this issue, if not a little too general.
my fiance sam thinks littering is about entitlement (sp?) - but i think it might be the same sort of thing as smoking when you’re 12, you know it’s bad, you think it makes you look cool/defiante/bad-ass, so you do it inspite of knowing better, you know what i mean?
Posted 23 Jan 2004 at 9:56 am ¶
jamie wrote:
jessica, there you are again! i just linked back to your last comment. cool!
Posted 23 Jan 2004 at 9:57 am ¶
Coolfer wrote:
My theory: no way in hell was that lady going to take her trash with her. I run into too many rude, selfish, lazy people to think otherwise.
Many New Yorkers don’t care a bit about trash and don’t care about the appearance of their communities. Have you seen some of junkyards in front of apartment buildings and brownstones? It’s disgusting. In small, more rural towns they park their beat-up trucks on their lawn and we call them white trash. What do we call people who have a junk heap in front of their building?
Posted 23 Jan 2004 at 3:07 pm ¶
adam wrote:
Okay okay okay. My response to the first article was really that there shouldn’t be a whole article about someone littering - if this is such a shocking thing then you’re bound to lose your mind, temper, etc even more at much harsher realities that you’re sure to encounter, such as homeless guys taking a piss on the blue mail collection box that you take your mail to.
It’s not that I’m asking you to accept that littering is a fact of life - I personally do not litter or condone it - rather, in NYC, you should expect this and much worse. I think that NYC is the best city in the world, but all the good it can do for people in terms of making them feel alive, granting access to good pizza and bagels, etc, it can do quite the opposite and really numb people, make them apathetic, and become the type of people who litter and just don’t care anymore - which is how the person in your first litter article sounded.
As far as this one goes, if there is something that says “delayed walk” and people choose to ignore it then they are basically saying “okay bus, hit me, I accept the risk” when they are crossing, and many people will indeed take their chances after growing up being trained to ignore the signs. If there is no “delayed walk” sign but its on a delay, then whatever, you can’t expect anyone to really go along with it just because thats the reality :) Theres the agreement that exists - “I won’t hit you with my car, if you’re not directly in front of it when I’m driving” .. and that’s basically how it works.
As far as the littering thing is - really, my point is, don’t bother people until they’ve actually done something. I mean the poor lady experienced an anti-littering pre-emptive strike from 2 seperate strangers. That’s insane. if she got up to leave and didn’t pick up her shit, that’s when you say something.
Posted 25 Jan 2004 at 12:14 am ¶
kameal wrote:
Hey guys, I have to admit i am a literbug myself, i know it’s wrong by i have a tendancy to do it. don’t mean to sound stupid but OTHER PEOPLE DO IT TOO! So just because one person doesn’t do it that doesn’t me another person won’t. point blank. not made but blank.
Posted 25 Oct 2004 at 1:25 pm ¶