I thought the MTA regulations of prohibiting soliciting on the subway were harsh until recently.
I've noticed that metro cars and stations are lacking a human element, especially with the monotonous color schemes. One think of the solitude and isolation found in Edward Hopper paintings.
As a Marine Corps veteran deployed twice in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, I can attest that there is nothing like being around other veterans -- especially when we gather for a shared cause.
On the subway we try our best to ignore each other. We set our faces solid as stone, and get irritated at anyone who interrupts our bee-line to wherever we're going. We sit next to each other and don't acknowledge each others' existence.
Voters will and should hold a mayor's feet to the fire on mass transit. Our commerce, in fact our entire citizenry, benefits from mass transit.
The world was allegedly created in six days (God rested on the seventh day), so why is it taking New York City so long -- some 90 years, or possibly longer -- to create the Second Avenue Subway?
Would you believe me if I told you there are hundreds of people living below New York City? The idea of mole people is depicted as mythical in pop culture, but they're as far from fantasy as can be.
When Joseph Lhota served as Rudolph Giuliani's deputy mayor he was so active in combatting the city's rodent problem that Giuliani christened him the "rat czar." So why is he now opposed to an eating ban on the subway?
Enrico Miguel Thomas takes his moniker, "The Subway Artist of New York," seriously. He sets his easel on platforms and draws as people rush by and the wind from arriving trains whips his canvas.
Here are some retail events I'd like to see in the year(s) ahead. Some are more likely than others, but the holidays are a time for dreaming, aren't they?
If a temporary personal income tax hike is the price we pay for long-term reforms that enhance infrastructure, encourage job growth, and make the tax system more equitable, then it is a price worth paying.
Dear Transit Workers of NYC: As you sit down to enjoy your Thanksgiving meal, I hope you will take a moment to think about the rest of us here in NYC who depend on public transportation to get to and from work.
MTA chief Walder had a number of good reasons for his secretive flight from New York and the MTA.
Truly committed car-haters try one scheme after another to make using a car in the city expensive, uncomfortable and, where they can, illegal.
For me, leaving LA doesn't mean losing touch with the progress of America Fast Forward. In fact, I find these regular outings give me some helpful perspective on what Angelenos are trying to achieve transit-wise.
Congratulations to Governor Andrew Cuomo and his legislative colleagues for completing a session marked by significant fiscal accomplishments. But more hard work lies ahead.