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

Is that legal?

In response to my first blog post, some of you asked some valid questions about whether offering a disabled or pregnant person a seat on the subway is required by law. To be honest, I didn’t think for a second that it was a law. If it is, then there are a whole lot of people breaking it.
So, I set out to do some research this week. Before hitting the internet to do some investigating, I wanted to search the NYC subway to see if there were any instructions or commandments about subway seating.

Seat Sign

There was the familiar ‘priority seating for people with disabilities’ seat sign. I don’t know if these signs have much impact, nor do they say if it is enforceable by law.

Campaign Poster

The MTA has launched its annual etiquette campaign, which includes a poster encouraging riders to give up their seats to people with disabilities. According to the MTA, it is also the law. I don’t think this includes pregnant women or those carrying a baby.

T.V. Show Ads
I also remember seeing a series of ads for the T.V. show, Nurse Jackie, which gave riders etiquette advice. One of the posters told riders to get up for people who need a seat. Nurse Jackie certainly isn’t enforcing any laws, though.

The Law

I later searched on the MTA Web site. Under the Rules of Conduct, it states that:

“No person shall refuse or fail to relinquish a seat on a conveyance which has been designated as “PRIORITY SEATING,” “WHEELCHAIR PRIORITY SEATING”…, if requested to do so by or on behalf of a person with a disability…”

The penalties for not relinquishing your seat as appropriate range from a fine of $25 to time in jail. It is the law.

But that leaves a question as to what constitutes a disability. I don’t consider pregnancy a disability, nor do I consider holding a child one either. What do you think? What is a disability?

Sharp Elbows

Anyone who rides the subway on a daily basis has undoubtedly developed the telltale sharp elbows with which to carve out personal space. Mine have dulled a bit as I carry my son from platform to train. I tend to let crowds push past me to avoid being pinned in the middle of a packed car. This means that I'm usually one of the last people on and rarely score a seat.

I'm not going to ask

Unless I was physically unable to stand, I would never ask a stranger if I could have their hard-won subway seat. If they wanted to/were able to give up their seat, wouldn't they just offer it? And, even if a person looks generally healthy, you never know what their personal situation is. Maybe the well-dressed man reading the Times has a back injury that makes standing difficult. Or maybe the woman listening to her iPhone is seven weeks pregnant and trying not to vomit. Hence, I never ask.

What's more, I would never expect someone else -- a stranger -- to a) take notice; b) have a cause mentality about who should have a seat on the subway; and c) actually care enough to get involved. Why not? When so many people pretend to be sleeping or just plain ignore you when you are standing right in front of them, you'd never guess that the woman getting on the train with you was going to tell people to evacuate the area so that you can sit down.

But someone else will

It happens this way at least once-a-week:

At Fourth Street, I slink on to the jammed subway car with the rest of the sardines, a baby sleeping on my chest and a bag on each shoulder. All seats are taken. No one "sees" me, so I stand. And I'm happy just to be on the train, on my way home.

At Broadway/Lafayette, a woman slips into the spot next to me and asks loud enough for everyone in the three closest seats to hear, "no one asked you to sit down yet?"

I say loud enough for the same people to hear, "no, but I'm fine standing." Without hesitation, the woman will look at the closest seated man and tell -- not ask -- him to give me his seat. I'm amazed (and grateful).

The results of my poll last week suggest that I am the only one who can't believe it. Every person who responded agreed that it was appropriate for a third party to ask seated riders to offer their seats to pregnant or handicapped passengers. So, you all agree with the notion. Have you ever negotiated a seat for someone else? What were your train mate's reactions? Would you do it again?