New York subway: how to always keep up everywhere
'01.09.2017'
Source: Emigrantvideo.us
American Life Stories from Ksenya Konovalova
This morning. I'm on the subway. The subway in New York, so you understand, is one of the largest in the world. 469 stations and 34 train lines carrying almost 6 million passengers daily. Each station located on a certain branch can be reached by several trains, but some train runs by express (that is, stopping at the main stations - transfer points and passing others), and some trains run "local" (from the English. local - local), stopping at each station. Usually these two types of trains arrive on one platform, where express trains stop on one side and local trains on the other. But sometimes at the stations there are several levels, and, for example, in order to change from an express train to a local one, you need to go down or climb to another platform. Young New Yorkers like it, because it allows you to stay in shape, and the elderly - not so much, because not all stations are equipped with elevators.
So this is the case this morning: I recently moved to Brooklyn, but I got used to getting there quickly: I took the express train to Manhattan (two stops, while the local is six), which takes me to Essex metro station (Essex street) and which then goes to Lower Manhattan, and I need to Upper. So I have to take the train to Uptown (Uptown - the upper part of the city). At this station, two trains go in my direction - express and local. But the platforms are on different floors, and if I take the express train, and my local arrives earlier, then I will not have time to quickly overcome the span between the platforms and be in time. In New York, everything is tied to time: here they use every opportunity to save time, to get somewhere faster and be on time. For a New Yorker, skipping a train that arrived earlier, and you are standing and waiting for your train on another platform, is like a nightmare.
So what is the solution found enterprising New Yorkers. Passengers who come to any of the trains going in the direction of Upper Manhattan, which comes early, are in the middle of the aisle between the platforms. And when the right train comes first to one of the platforms, one of the respectable New Yorkers from the other side will always shout: “F train is coming!"(" The F-train is coming! "). And passengers have 30 seconds to run to the approaching train! Like this.
It is worth saying that it is the same everywhere: the style of life of New Yorkers is such that you either get along with the habits of the city, or you have no place here. But even in such a big city, they will always offer you a helping hand: whether the car broke down and you stand on the sidelines, or you feel bad in the subway, or you have nothing to eat and ask for alms on the street. In this city, as nowhere else, compassionate residents will always come to the rescue. And this is the law.
