Bits from my day

Day three of the transit strike (thankfully, the last). I put the little point-and-shoot camera in my pocket this morning. Not all of the photos are terribly good, but, if you can bear with some blurriness, I'll be happy to share a few photos.

First, a shot of the train station as I walked to the elevated platform in the morning to catch my train to Manhattan...



Normally, when I get to Penn Station, I take a back corridor to get to the part of the subway platform I want (so I get on a particular part of the train and I'm in the part of the 14th Street station I want when the train gets down there). On an ordinary day, there'd be lots of people taking the same back corridor. Today? ...



In a part of the station that was open, the ordinary crowd of commuters was increased by the many subway commuters who were using the railroads to try to get around. It's hard to give you a real idea of the scale of this crowd. This is the best I could do...







After the fun of Penn Station, I walked a few blocks to the PATH station...



I walked the mile to work on Tuesday--and still have had a lot of added walking--but a colleague mentioned the alternative of taking the PATH train, and it sounded like a good idea. So that's what I did. It cut my walking by 10-15 blocks (shortened the north-south walk a lot but added a bit of east-west).

Was the PATH train crowded this morning? Um, nope...


Old looking beast, isn't it?

After getting off the train, I walked a few blocks to a place near work where I could buy something for breakfast...



Then it was on to work. Fast-forward to lunchtime. I went here for some nice Italian food...



In this same area (and right near where I work) are tiles that were made post-9/11 by many different people who contributed to the effort...





So then I went back to work. At the end of the day, I headed back to the PATH station. The uptown entrance near 14th Street is actually in the side of a building...


Not a lit sign--just highly reflective

I used my special $3 Metrocard ($1.50 each way for the PATH train)...



And then I waited in the station...



Until the train came...



It wasn't empty this evening...



Even getting out of the PATH station was a challenge tonight...



Now, at the end of a hard day, I know I can count on the Long Island Railroad and their compatriots to make things worse.

Yesterday, they had changed the "how to get into Penn Station" rules to make things a little better than they were on Tuesday. So then what did they do? They changed it all around again. Today, all LIRR passengers had to enter through the door at 8th Avenue & 33rd Street. To do so, passengers had to go to 7th Avenue & 33rd Street and enter a serpentine line set up with police barricades. Then you had walk to 8th Avenue, then back to 7th Avenue, then back to 8th Avenue. And then?

Then, when you once again got to 8th Avenue, they let everyone loose to push toward the entrance in one big crush. Nice plan, guys.

Here are a couple of shots taken while I was standing in the huge line with literally thousands of other passengers...




Approaching the final pre-entrance crush

Some other lovely moments this evening. There was this diminutive woman who was pushing her way through the crowd, because her life and appointments were far more important than anything the rest of us had to do.

It was so adorable when she went to push past me. Having noticed her coming, I just planted my feet. Yeah, she was so cute trying to get past. She was maybe 90 pounds. I could lose what she weighs and still need to lose more! The poor thing came to a sudden stop. :)

Then there was the guy waiting to see what track his train was on. It will be hard for me to properly describe this. Basically, there was just one pathway through the crowd. My train had been called, and this putz looked around, clearly saw what he was doing and, with a fuck-all-of-you look, decided to block the way (and not just for a moment) just so he could stand where he wanted. I'd venture to say that his side is still sore from where my elbow, backed up by the rest of my body moving at a good clip, accidentally connected with him. I quickly said, "oh, sorry," and kept moving. Such a terrible accident. :) I don't think he'll do that again anytime soon. Bastard.