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.
One of the wonderful things about living in New York City for an artist is having the opportunity to share your work with any number of people at a moment’s notice. No matter the time of day, whether you’re in the park, strolling along the sidewalk or traveling via mass transit, there’s always someone around, always a captive audience…
The West Village artist behind these subway etiquette signs, Jason Shelowitz (aka jayshells ), is being embraced by the masses for his good deed/public art project. He’s created around 400 of the posters, all calling out straphanger’s on their unsavory underground habits. So far only 50 are up, and the NY Post notes that he used double-sided tape that won’t leave a mess once the sign is removed (he is the etiquette artist after all!).
Yet another reason to bring back the Rochester Subway… We’re missing out on No Pants Day! Hundreds of New Yorkers stripped down to their skivvies on Sunday for the ninth annual No Pants Subway Ride. The event, organized by a Guerilla group called Improv Everywhere, has grown from 7 or 8 people riding the NY Subway in 2002 to over 3,000 people taking part in 44 cities and 16 countries around the world.
Until now I’ve tried to keep the subway stories I post limited to those out of the abandoned Rochester Subway. But recently there have been a rash of great stories from the underground I’ve just had to share. There was the drunken lady who fell onto the tracks in the Boston Subway. Then the unfortunate murder on the “D” train in Manhattan. And here’s another one. We’ve all heard stories of people living in New York’s subway tunnels. And you might immediately conjure up an image in your head of what such a person would look like. But how about a mild mannered 13 year old boy? Watch the video…
I admit I’m a bit of a news junkie. And with all the violence reported in the media I’m also a bit apathetic to most stories. It’s not that I don’t care—it’s quite the opposite actually. I’m just numb. Occasionally though I come across a story so horrific it sends a chill thru my veins. Like this one for example. At about 2am Saturday morning (11/21/2009) a man was stabbed to death in the NYC Subway—over a seat.
Now I’ve done my share of walking in Manhattan and I can empathize with just about any New Yorker who complains that their feet hurt—but I just can’t imagine killing someone because of it.
By now everyone knows that if you want to project yourself as an über-urbanite, you need to have a subway map hanging on your wall. And if you want to take your überness to the streets you need something like a subway t-shirt. But if a transit t-shirt sounds more über-geek than über-chic, feast your eyes on the new NYC Metro Cuff…
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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)
![Francisco Hernandez Jr., who has Asperger's, a developmental disorder that affects the ability to socialize and communicate, disappeared on October 15, after he thought he was in trouble at school, according to his mother, Marsiela Garcia of Brooklyn. [source: CNN]](https://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/new_york_subway_boy.jpg)
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