The Times heads underground

For those subway buffs among us who still read the newsprint-and-paper edition of The New York Times, today’s Sunday edition had a special treat: As part of the celebration of the subway’s 106th anniversary, the Metropolitan Section featured a Subway Issue. The Times’ Metro Desk went all out in covering the trains, and as many of the articles touch upon topics which I’ve covered lately, it’s a fun read.

The centerpiece of the section is an interview with Jay Walder that reflects upon the MTA Chair and CEO’s first year in office. He talks about his battles with labor, his drive to get technology underground and his efforts at reforming the MTA in the wake of its gaping budget hole. As we know, Walder wants to serve his full term as MTA head, and he reiterates that desire again in the paper today.

The co-centerpiece, if you will, is a photo essay from The Times’ archives. The print edition does this multimedia piece no justice, but the online version is a sight to behold. The pictures range from 1917 to 2010 and feature some true historical gems.

In the regular Metropolitan Section columns, we’ve got extensive coverage of the quirks of the subway. Ariel Kaminer looks at the new scooter-equipped subway cops while Corey Kilgannon profiles the secret library at 50th St. and Lexington. Elissa Gootman profiles Gene Russianoff in her Sunday Routine column. In the piece, the Straphangers Campaign head takes a shot at weekend service changes. “Taking the train on the weekend,“is like Russian roulette,” he said, but I’ve found it you read the service advisory posters, weekend travel is slow but not impossible to figure out.

Friend-of-SAS Jowy Romano who writes the Subway Art Blog gets a New York Online profile and spoke with J. David Goodman about the inspiration behind his site. “It’s so important to document this subway art,” Romano said, “because it’s probably going to be whited-out or blotted out within an hour.” Eric Molinsky talks about his iPhone art and the subways.

Dvora Myers writes an amusing piece about the quest for a subway seat. She spills the secrets that everyone has and tries to answer a key question: At what stop along your commute do you know you can get a seat? For me, it’s usually De Kalb Ave. as the crowds empty out of the B train to head to Downtown Brooklyn, Long Island University or the nearby hospital. James Estrin gets the low-down on subway preachers.

And then of course, we end with the complaints. I’ve burned many a pixel writing about subway etiquette over the years, and The Times picks up that vein today. Ron Lieber calls out door-blockers in his Complaint Box piece while readers offer their views on the typical subway faux pas. The best part of the section, though, has to be the Complaint Box Cards. Print out the cards and deliver them, if you dare, to those door-blockers, pole-huggers and seat hogs as you seem during your daily travels.

Most Straphangers could use some underground etiquette lessons. (Click to enlarge)