We recently mentioned the new hotspot in Grand Central, and it appears Hawthorne train station has its very own hotspot too–the bike rack that TJ had sole us for for the past year.
Not only was the black Vespa–heretofore known as the Black Rider–there again today, but there was a sleek gray mountain bike as well. Suddenly getting into the rack is like getting into Moomba circa 1995.
(For all potential bike thiefs out there, the rack is in a highly trafficked area, is exceedingly well-lit, and is rimmed by razor wire and cancerous Tasmanian devils.)
The jam-up at the rack got me thinking: Are more people biking/Vespa’ing due to the price of gas? The Journal News noted recently that Metro-North ridership was up around 5% of late. I must say, since they’ve mentioned it, the train indeed seems much fuller; note all the vestibule-standers at White Plains these days–what used to be 2-3 is now 6 or 7.
Mind you, it’s still preferable to riding an autorickshaw through Hyderabad with 14 of your closest friends, but things other than gas tanks seem to be filling up these days.
[image: arwen-undomiel.com]