SUBWAY

....Something that amazes me about some New Yorkers is there ability to sense their train. I mean I can sense a train come when I am underground waiting but some people know at street level. You can tell because you will see someone just start running and if you happen to be going to the same area you will understand why they are running - their train is coming. I don't know if they feel a vibration or hear something through the grates in the sidewalk or maybe they smell it. Either way I hope one day I gain the ability...

...Many people in New York have Coney Island stories. These are stories about coming home late on the train and falling asleep. Next thing they know they are awaken by someone sweeping out the train and they realize they are in Coney Island at like 4 or 5 in the morning with no one around. Now I don't think I could fall into a deep enough sleep not be conscience of the stops but I am starting to understand sleeping on the train. The more I am on the subway the more I find myself in a very relaxed state riding the train. For me it feels like those few moments right before sleep like when taking a nap in the afternoon. It is a strange out of body feeling and you can feel reality just slipping away a little while the voices and sounds keep you grounded. I am feeling sleepy just writing this. Mainly I just want to say I like that feeling on the train and part of me doesn't want to get off at my stop. Part of me would like to ride on to Coney Island or at least Rockaway Parkway if I am riding the L...

...It is quite common to find people doing something for money on the subway. Some beg, some play guitar, some play guitar with a karaoke machine playing backup, some play other instruments, some use pieces of trash as instruments, some paint themselves head to toe in gold or white with a can in there hand so people will drop in some change to make them move, and then there is the guy who dances with a Spanish looking mannequin. Of all the things I have seen in the subway, this is the most entertaining. This guy has a car battery hooked up to a boom box hooked up to a amp that cranks out salsa music. He dances not by himself or with another live human but a mannequin dressed up in this hot little salsa number. This isn't any mannequin either - this one is very flexible. He has her feet attached to his and the rest of her body is free. This guy flings her, spins her, makes her do things little children shouldn't see. It is beautiful...

...Timing is a lot more noticeable in New York.  It is the public transportation that makes you more aware. Just a few seconds make a difference of missing or catching the bus or train.  The tricky part is that there is no exact schedule.  The bus has estimated times but if you get to the stop at that time you don't know if you just missed it or if it is running late.  The train is total luck.  The crazy thing is that it can be a difference of 20 or 30 minutes it you just missed your ride.  Don't get me wrong, I love public transportation, it's the lack of control that drives me nuts.  Either you have a good day where you are weaving in and out of people, glide down the stairs and bam jump right in the train. Then get off the train and the bus drives up as reach the top of the stairs.  Other times you are surrounded by women with strollers and you can hear the train coming.  You reach the stairs but the stairwell is filled with old people using canes creeping up a step at a time as you here the train pull away.  Then you have to wait another 45 minutes for a train because there was a "sick passenger" at the stop before yours that had to be removed.  Once the train finally comes you barely squeeze on.  After 10 minutes of being trapped next to a bum that shat their pants you finally reach your stop.  Off you dash to catch the bus but of course the stairwell is bottle-necked and you can faintly hear the bus stopping then diving off...