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mad men
Ads For Ad Show Swallow Commuters
The New York subway system is taking full advantage of its plan to sell all flat surfaces for advertising, including the outside of trains. The latest and most appropriate sponsor of the metal cattle car that you squeeze yourself into every depressing morning: Mad Men, the acclaimed show about advertising! Even if you barely miss your train as it pulls away, leaving you frustrated and abandoned, you'll still be educated about the existence of Mad Men. Sweet. More pics of the hellaciously busy interior of these message-wielding cars, after the jump. More »
"If you don't have any change, I accept bills"
Did you know that there's an annual competition of NYC street performers to determine who gets the right to the lucrative spots in the subway system? There is, and you can listen to it here. These are the musicians you will feel the urge to assault in a few months. [Time]
things we actually like
Master Subway Poster Artist Shows His Oeuvre
The mystery NYC subway poster artist whose works have instilled in us a new respect for cut-and-paste vandalism has a Flickr account! And it's chock-full of impressive works that have heretofore been seen only by those commuters lucky enough to happen upon them. But now we're bringing you five of the best new ad art remixes from his collection. Help "Fight marc ecko with one hand," after the jump: More »
psychology
You Have Hopscotch To Live For
How many times have you gazed out on the subway tracks during your daily commute, wishing only for the sweet release that hurling yourself upon them would provide? Plenty of times; you're reading this site, so we know your job sucks. Some people do throw themselves in front of trains, which represents not only a wasted life, but also a hugely inconvenient municipal clean-up job. So Washington, DC has ordered up some stuff to keep your mind occupied while you're on the platform—games like Hopscotch and "I Spy." The slogan on the games reads "Life is fun. Keep on living. Use caution around the tracks." Perhaps hopscotch was not the wisest choice, then? And let's be honest—the slogan of this campaign should really be, "Anything to Momentarily Distract You From Suicidal Thoughts." After the jump (ha), one of the "I Spy" games. This would only cure a very minimal level of depression: More »
Toilet Paper That's There When You Need It
An entire car or cars on the New York subway's S line are reportedly done up in advertising for Cottonelle toilet paper, including this: "the very walls are sheeted with faux toilet paper wallpaper." A terrifying precursor to covering the outside of the train in toilet paper as well? Or merely a thoughtful nod to subway poopers? Either way, everyone now knows what the "S" stands for. (Too easy?) [Guest of a Guest/ Earlier]
things we actually like
Is The New Banksy Loose In The New York Subways?
Last week we showed you the supremely artistic "Darth Vader Meets Murakami" work of the anonymous vandal whose canvas is poster advertisements in the New York subways. But as impressed as we were by that, new photos—purportedly by the same vandal—have surfaced that, conceptually, make the earlier work look like a quickie plaything. This anonymous person has messages. All with only the ad posters themselves to work with. We're told these are all genuine, and not Photoshopped. Well, anonymous vandal: You are really fucking good. The six new photos [via And I Am Not Lying], after the jump. More »
advertising
Good News: Even More Subway Ads
Not content to simply line the subway station entrances, station walls, station signs, and interior of buses and trains with advertisements, New York City transit is reportedly set to enter the final frontier: ads on the outsides of subway trains. They're already testing out the idea with Continental Airlines ads on the 42nd St. shuttle [NYP]. Subway officials think this idea will go great with their existing "brand cars," where one advertiser takes over the interior of a whole car. As terrifying as this practice sounds, we know they need the money. So we'd like to strike a compromise: they're allowed to sell every last inch of the trains to advertisers, but in return they have to bring back this practice: More »
disasters
Walking Yourself Out Of The Subway: Awesome?
When a Chicago subway train got stopped for an hour in a tunnel yesterday morning, riders there did what many of us have thought of doing many times, but have not for fear of our lives: they got out and walked. That is just awesome. Less awesome: when officials heard people were walking along the tracks, they shut down power to the entire line as a safety precaution (for third rail zapping possibilities), which automatically stranded thousands more riders. It's a grassroots revolt ethical quandary! More »
i have to take this
Subway Cell Nightmare Coming "Soon"
Good news for crazed narcissists who think the world should be able to reach them AT ALL TIMES because they're just that important: The MTA is set to announce a deal to wire all 277 subway stations over the next six years. Sadly, your cellphone will only work in the stations, but hey, at least that time you spend sweating on the platform waiting for a 6 train that never comes will now be scored to a soundtrack of, "So then I was all, 'Why won't you tell your friends we're dating?' and he was like, 'Let's not cheapen it with labels,' which kind of makes sense?" Even better, the terrorists will only be able to remote-detonate their bombs in the station, so you can kick back and relax while you're cruising through the tunnels at 3 miles per hour.
MTA To Announce Deal On Cell Service for Subway [NYS] [Image via]
We're hearing from tons of people bitching about their morning commutes. Apparently an "incident in Queens" has played havoc with our fragile subway system. Naturally, there's nothing on the news. Did you have to take four trains to get to work today? What the heck is going on?
know your customer
Subway DVD Hawker Takes Salesmanship To Next Level
Observed this weekend on an uptown A train: a typical subway scene. An entrepreneurial sort was selling DVDs from a canvas messenger bag slung over his shoulder; titles available included Rush Hour 3, Mr. Bean's Holiday, and The Bourne Ultimatum, all for the low, low price of $5 each. "That won't even get you in the door of the theater!" he proclaimed. Which is true. Have you been to a movie lately? Jesus Christ. Anyway, deals were available if you were interested in purchasing more than one movie. Also, if you were leery of the quality of the DVD, this resourceful man had a solution. More »
renzo piano's gold star motel
'New York Times' Commenters Are A Surly Bunch
What sort of person reads the New York Times? The comments section from a post about this morning's commuting issues on the paper's City Room blog might provide a clue. Since the Times doesn't seem to do it, we've gone ahead and picked out Gold Star recipients from the wealth of worthy insights the paper's readership provides. Enjoy!
Its a good thing we've spent all that money after 9/11 to fix up the communication system on the subways.Nobody at Atlantic Ave. knew what was being said.Were they speaking Chinese,its a joke !Oh,yes, plenty more where that came from. More »
the plutocracy
Mike Bloomberg Is A Fake Commuter
Michael Grynbaum—Harvard boy, former New York Observer intern, former New York Sun intern!—spent the last five weeks tailing Mayor Bloomberg. And guess what? Everyone's favorite subway-taking, straphanger advocating, public-transportation loving mayor is a total fraud. Yes! Is crazy! Two big-ass S.U.V.s wait outside his house every day, and sometimes then they drive him 22 blocks to an express stop, passing two locals. Also? He only takes the subway twice a week at this point. The N.Y.P.D. pays for the cars and drivers, and no one's quite clear on why he needs two. Unless his giant head is detachable from his little short body?
From our commenter Senor_Wences: "A female coworker at a previous job told me this story: She was out late and drunken at a post-work cocktail thingie, then began her long subway ride from Midtown to Brighton Beach or Sheepshead Bay or wherever the hell way down there she lived.
So, she passed out, as drunken girls do. She came to just as a "homeless" man was about to finish in her face. The doors were open and she ran out, up the stairs, and a cop happened to be there on the street. She was breathlessly telling her tale, when the cop recognized her.
Turned out they'd gone to high school together. She found herself saying, yeah, yeah, things are great, I'm doing good!
Thinking to herself, I'm a person who passed out on the subway at four in the morning with some stranger jerking off on me, and feeling the lie that was her life.
I wish I'd stayed in touch with her. She drank a lot."
"Almost every New Yorker has a subway horror story, whether it's a midnight 'flasher' or something more bizarre. But are these moments just 'the typical New York experience,' or do they represent a crisis in the transit system?" Um, who says they're mutually exclusive? [Metro]
the big crapple
Don't Crap In The Subway, Darling
Our pal Cajun Boy passes along the following correspondence. It's an ominous warning for those of you who venture above 14th Street:I want the MTA to launch an investigation on the poop bandit at the Fifth ave/ 53rd st station. Every morning this week, some HUMAN has taken a shit somewhere in station. Monday and Tuesday it was on the stairs, then wed. it was right as you got out of the train, and someone had already stepped in it. I have been disturbed by this every morning, as it could be the most revolting thing I have ever seen!!!!You know, say what you will about the mallification and Disneyization of New York City; so long as we've still got citizens who are willing to take a dump on the subway platform, we're still the greatest town on Earth. More »
Adventures in commuter anality: Should one take the local or wait for the express from Union Square to Grand Central? Should one get a life? [Ask MeFi]
