Two nights ago, I had the distinct pleasure of driving on some of the worst roads in the area. I had just dropped my parents off at the 4 terminal at Woodlawn so they could journey down to Yankee Stadium, and I had to get our car back to its garage on the Upper [...]

On and off over the last few months, I’ve posted about the remake of The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3. Today, we have some pictures. An intrepid Subchatter with insider access to some of the subway cars used as set pieces posted a whole bunch of neat photos. The photos include an old R62 car dressed [...]

The 7th Ave. station along the Culver line in Brooklyn has seen better days. (Photo by Benjamin Kabak)
A state of good repair. The MTA tosses that phrase around a lot these days, but no one really knows what it means.
New Jersey Transit defines it as follows: “‘State of Good Repair” is achieved when the [...]

We’ve had a busy week what with the MTA’s Board shenanigans and the forthcoming service enhancement plans. I’ve missed a few good blog posts in the interim. So let’s do it up, bullet-point style.

Ephemeral New York, quickly rising on my list of new favorite blogs, remembers the subway token, five years after its demise.
Pardon Me [...]

The most useful poster nowhere to be found. (Courtesy of Vignelli Associates. Click to enlarge.)
In 1966, the newly formed Metropolitan Transportation Authority was busy planning for its subway system takeover, still two years away. Within the five boroughs, the Metropolitan Commuter Transportation Authority, as it was originally called, faced the challenge of rebranding a subway [...]

Where: The last car of a Canarsie-bound L train
When: Yesterday evening, shortly after 6:30 p.m. at Lorimer St.
Pardon the blur. It’s tough to grab a photo and sneak out of the subway doors as they’re closing. It seems that some enterprising prankster or some oblivious MTA worker had some issues with the subway map. Or [...]

Where: Express tracks on the 7 at Shea Stadium
What: A discarded green MetroCard thrown out by a Mets fan heading back toward Manhattan.
For some reason, I don’t think this is what the MTA had in mind when they started their green campaign. A MetroCard thrown on the tracks is litter even if it’s yellow, green [...]

Man overboard! (Photo courtesy of Reuters)
Last Tuesday, I noted the impending reefing of a bunch of old subway cars. Well, bad weather postponed the sinking of the old cars until Friday, and three days ago, Reuters reporters and photographers were on hand to capture the subways going down to the sea bed. The news wire [...]

As the start date for the Culver Viaduct rehabilitation project nears, more architectural renderings of the proposed changes to the Smith-9th Sts. station are finding their ways to the Internet. Above is rendering posted on Curbed yesterday, and frankly, it’s tough to guess what the MTA’s construction folks were thinking with this one.
My biggest problem [...]

There once were some placards with rhyme
To destroy them would be quite a crime.
But the MTA
They did say
Poetry in Motion simply ran out of time.
After 15 years of verse in our heart,
SubTalk will now turn to history and art.
E.B. White and Galileo
Don’t flow quite like Longfellow.
But now we’ll know more about Descartes.
Train of Thought this [...]