Branded by the People

The NYC Subway is iconic. Images of the subway map have found their way onto everything from shower curtains to condoms, t-shirts to onesies. Posters depicting station names have found their way onto the walls of many adorers.

But these items don’t do the NYC Subway brand justice. Ride the subway through any of the five boroughs – Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, the Bronx or Staten Island – and you’ll see stations and trains that reveal the hearts of the people and cultures that pepper the city.

During the week, I travel back and forth from Brooklyn to Greenwich Village and can choose from as many as seven different train lines. Each line has its own personality. My preferred route is the R line from Union Street to the Atlantic-Pacific Station northern tip of Park Slope. From there, I change to the Q and head via the Brooklyn Bridge, through Canal Street to Union Square in Manhattan.

Each segment of my trip is marked by scenes, smells and people unique to that particular stop:

• Union Street – The Manhattan-bound station entrance is located just outside of the Brooklyn Lyceum, papered with posters of forthcoming concerts or film retrospectives. The subterranean station is quiet, but the narrow platform is crowded with a mix of hipsters, artists, moms, dads and children from every income bracket. Most subway ads include mentions of Bravo reality show premiers, the latest blockbuster movie and family-friendly Brooklyn events.
• Atlantic-Pacific Station – Though I only cross the platform to board the express Q train, the station is much more bustling. It is a transit hub, connecting a dozen subway lines and the LIRR. It is a newly renovated station and has a cleanliness to it (if you can say the subway is clean.) There is a marked increase in transit workers present at this station who are either directing passengers, cleaning or changing shifts. You also might see modern art in place of typical subway ads.
• The Brooklyn Bridge – This is the highlight of my ride. And it seems to be everyone else’s too. No matter how many times I pass over the bridge on the subway, it never fails to please. There is a quiet that comes over the car as people look out of the windows onto the NY Harbor. You can see the Statue of Liberty, the NY skyline, the East River barges. It is truly a New York moment.
• Canal Street – The last stop before I reach my destination, Canal Street is always, always jammed with people waiting to shoehorn themselves onto an already tightly packed subway. It is the opposite of my time on the Brooklyn Bridge. And there are the familiar smells of Chinatown – vegetables from the Chinese market or dim sum from a favorite restaurant.
• Union Square – This is another bustling stop with the typical commercial ads on the walls. There is also a multi-media ad on the wall that incorporates light along with images, maybe more fitting for the Times Square stop. The people are mostly New York-types dressed in all black for a look that can be both trendy and professional. Exiting the station leads you onto Union Square where you can browse street vendors or the green market depending on the day of the week.

This is all to say that there isn’t any singular brand that I can identify for the New York City subway. Rather, it is a conglomeration of cultures and lifestyles with each station taking on the personality of the neighborhood in which it resides.

However, there is one thing I think we an all agree on: you never know what you are going to see when you ride the NYC Subway.

No Pants Subway Ride 2010 courtesy of Improv Everywhere