Riding That Train

Traveling the Empire State's Metro Muddle

“Stand clear of the closing door!”


Whether you’re taking the Long Island Rail Road or suffering down below on a New York City subway, it is almost impossible to ride a train in New York without hearing that phrase at least twice. Or be forced to stand due to lack of seating during your journey at least once.


For New York City’s five boroughs and Long Island, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is the circulatory system that keeps life moving and people connected. Everyday, New Yorkers spend a significant amount of time on the train, commuting back and forth between work and home.


However, in most cases, it is not an expedition taken with enthusiasm, which is evident by the jaded expressions on the faces of daily commuters.


“It’s not the best way to start your morning,” said Gabriella Padilla, 22. “Everybody would be more pleasant if they did not have to experience it. By ‘it’ I mean the anger inducing experience that is commuting the MTA.”


Padilla is a graphic designer and a Brooklyn native who commutes from Williamsburg to Midtown Manhattan at least five day a week. She is one of those commuters who, having spent much time waiting on a crowed platform, truly appreciates when the train stops and the doors open right in front of her by chance. Being one of the first to board the train greatly improves her chance of getting a seat.

"If you're not gonna move fast then get out of the way."

“When you combine rude, smelly, pushy, angry New Yorkers in what seems like a sardine can, it’s not refreshing. And don’t forget the men rubbing up on you in a crowed train—and sometimes women,” she said.


However, don’t think that it is New Yorkers alone that makes train travel miserable. The dreaded tourist is a commuter’s worst nightmare. They are easily recognizable, especially since they are prone to be the only people elated and smiling during peak travel times. They can usually be spotted in large groups wearing bright matching t-shirts (often neon in color), carrying NYC souvenirs, or gazing up toward something apparently fascinating and inevitably slowing down everyone attempting to bustle around them.


“If you’re not gonna move fast, then get out of the way,” Padilla said.


In addition, the train ride is rarely aesthetically pleasing. “You will see advertisements for storage partially covered up by an ad for experimental diet pills or penile implants,” she said.


SUNY New Paltz senior Jordan Yue, 21 has a less hostile outlook on commuting. He rode the train frequently this past summer while completing internship.


“I mean, it wasn’t that bad,” he said. “Although the prices have gone up, when I was younger, it was worse.”


It is not difficult to imagine how the experience could be terrifying for a small child, since it often proves to be rather grim for adults. Yue also said that the weekend service is especially bad, since there are fewer trains running and one can expect to be left waiting longer than anticipated.

The LIRR has a slightly different feel than the subway—starting with the music provided by those situated at random nooks and crannies in Penn Station. The tunes include amateur covers of Brian Adams, Bob Marley and songs from the Titanic soundtrack. Courtesy of these starving artists (or just starving people in general), played out melodies are often the first thing you hear when walking through the LIRR’s main concourse. That is not to say that you can escape the subway without having to experience the torment of a musical interlude of similar nature. From guitars to drums, people have found ways to scrounge change in the underground concourses while riders seek to exit or transfer.


Nick Fusco, 21, commutes via the Long Island Rail Road every day into Manhattan to get to Wizard Studios where he works as an event coordinator. Some days, he takes the train up to four times.


“It sucks,” he said. “The trains are always leaving on time but never arrive when they are supposed to get there.”


Fusco also has other concerns regarding the train. “The pricing in not terrible, but the service should be better,” he said. “It’s not like the train is a new technology, they should know how to keep it running when the tracks get a little wet.”


He is referring to the fiasco this past summer when some heavy rain and flooding caused mass-transit to shut down for a few hours resulting in long delays and many people calling in late to work. With talk of price hikes in the upcoming years, one can only hope that this will improve train service and frequency.


Despite all this, safety is one area that warrants no complaint from a seasoned commuter—or even a green one. With the current “if you see something, say something campaign” that was launched after 9/11, travel security is at its height and most likely discouraging criminals.


“I will say this though, I’ve never been mugged or assaulted on the subway,” Padilla said, which is some-what comforting in retrospect considering the stigma of danger still attached to city life.


She has however had to experience discomfort caused by other riders who possess no sense of personal space. On various occasions, she has jumped out of the way of a running commuter desperate to catch a train.


“At this point in time, commuters themselves are the most dangerous part,” she said, implying that while she may have had the good fortune to never have been robbed, getting knocked down by a frantic commuter is nevertheless an unwanted experience (among others like sewer rats and dripping underground water) that remains perilous to train travelers.