Archive for November, 2009
Monday, November 30th, 2009
A Much Better Ending for ‘The Grinch’
It’s that time of year again, when children’s attention turns to seasonal favorites like A Charlie Brown Christmas, Frosty, and The Grinch; in fact, How the Grinch Stole Christmas is on ABC tonight at 8.
I found myself reading The Grinch to Little G the other day, and, as I have in years past, took serious […]
2 Comments » - Posted in Little G, The Grinch by TJ
Monday, November 30th, 2009
Saluting The Vacant Bronx Station Houses
The Sunday “Real Estate” section of the NY Times has a big story on the vacant Bronx station houses of the old New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad.
A dozen stations were projected in 1904, when the railroad began upgrading the Harlem River Branch from the southern Bronx up to New Rochelle. But not all […]
No Comments » - Posted in Bronx, New Rochelle by TJ
Tuesday, November 24th, 2009
Blitzin’ Blitzen
From JerseyJim’s CleverCommute inbox late last week:
[NJTT-MandE] This morning a Gladstone train hit a deer, kept its speed & barely even hit the brakes w/ no delay!! Watch out, there’s a new conductor in town!!!
No Comments » - Posted in Clever Commute, jerseyjim by TJ
Tuesday, November 24th, 2009
Asperger’s Kid Spends 11 Days Hiding in Subway System
There’s a heartbreaking Page 1 story in today’s NY Times about a 13 year old boy who, fearing a scolding at his Bensonhurst home, ran away and spent the next 11 days riding the rails. Francisco “Franky” Hernandez Jr. eluded both the police and his frantic parents until a transit officer paired the boy up […]
No Comments » - Posted in Coney Island, D Train, F Train, Subway by TJ
Monday, November 23rd, 2009
You Don’t Want to Hear What Happened 30 Seconds Later
This week’s edition of the NY Times’ “Septuagenarians Say the Darndest Things” “New York Owns the Market On Witty Passers-By” “Metropolitan Diary” shows a teeming mob about to trample a not-exactly innocent 2-year-old.
Dear Diary:
There was an unusually long line of rush-hour commuters impatiently waiting to exit the subway stop at Broadway and 79th Street. There […]
No Comments » - Posted in Metropolitan Diary, Subway, Subway Platforms by TJ
Monday, November 23rd, 2009
Locked in the Train With a Murderer
Some of us experience intense anxiety when thinking about being stuck in a locked subway car.
Add a knife-wielding maniac to that bete noir, and you’ve got a fairly miserable evening commute.
That’s what happend for 30 unfortunate straphangers on the D train Saturday after Jerry Sanchez stabbed a man in the neck with a steak knife, […]
2 Comments » - Posted in D Train, Subway by TJ
Friday, November 20th, 2009
Subway Gropes on Upschwing
Sexual harrassment on the subway is on the rise, reports the NY Times’ City Room. The worst stretch of subway for the gropage is the 4-5-6 between Union Square and Grand Central, and the typical molester is a 39-year-old male.
The most common times for the molesting, reports City Room, are– not surprisingly–rush hours: 8-10 a.m. […]
2 Comments » - Posted in 4 Train, 6 train, Grand Central, Union Square by TJ
Thursday, November 19th, 2009
Tick’d Off
Here’s a fun exercise in corporate management.
Say you’re the MTA president. (Uh, don’t actually say it, duh.) Since everyone’s about trimming slashing costs these days, let’s see how many places in the following anecdote you can find an opportunity to save the railroad–and, in effect, your customers–a bit of money.
I received a letter from the […]
1 Comment » - Posted in Mail & Ride, Metro North by TJ
Thursday, November 19th, 2009
Eyes of the World
A woman got on in White Plains this morning.
She wore a neat black and white checked suit, the three buttons on her jacket clasped.
She had straight brown hair with a touch of grey (Grateful Dead reference intended). It was clear that her eyes, not covered by dark glasses, did not work. She also had a […]
1 Comment » - Posted in Grand Central, Grateful Dead, White Plains by TJ
Wednesday, November 18th, 2009
An Open Letter To:
The guy holding up the line on the stairs at Hawthorne station because he was playing Connect Four on his smartphone.
Sir.
It was the end of the long workday, and we all just wanted to get down the stairs at Hawthorne station, climb into our cars (or, in the case of three people in the whole […]