This recent ad on the NYC Subway caught my attention. I grew up riding the L.I.R.R. between Manhattan and my home town of Valley Stream on the south shore. Far Rockaway is the eastern terminus of my line, and where I suspect many LIRR and Subway riders over the years have found themselves after a little in-transit catnap. So to me, this McDonald’s ad is pretty funny. Residents of Far Rockaway didn’t see the humor and demanded that the ad be pulled. Mickey D’s gave in. I still find the ad funny.
Hey, is it just me, or does anyone else think there are far too many McDonald’s ads on mass transit? I’ll have to do a post on that.
I grew up on the south shore of Long Island — about a half-mile walk from a Long Island Railroad station. As a teenager without a car I could leave my sheltered suburban Cape Cod style house, and in less than an hour be smack dab in the center of Manhattan. Not only that, but for just a dollar extra I could reach just about any corner of New York City’s five bouroughs by hopping on a subway car. Can you imagine if New York City had scrapped it’s subway in favor of a highway?!
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After the Erie Canal was rerouted south of downtown Rochester, the Rochester
Industrial & Rapid Transit Railway (the “subway”) was built in
its place as a link between the five different railroads and interurban trolley
lines that served the Rochester area. As the industrial landscape of Rochester
changed, and highways replaced the railroads, the Rochester subway gradually
became a relic of a bygone era. In 1956 the subway was abandoned and much of
its route was converted into Interstate 490 — built to connect Rochester
with the New York State Thruway (I-90). Read more about the history of the Rochester Subway.
RochesterSubway.com exists to help spark
public dialogue around how we can better connect the neighborhoods of Rochester
NY, surrounding communities, and their cultural offerings. Rochester’s
future is written in her past. Let's rediscover it.
![McDonald's pulled this ad because it may have offended residents of Far Rockaway. [PHOTO: NY Daily News]](https://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/mcdonalds-rockaway-ad.jpg)
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