Author Archive

Monday, September 8th, 2008

Cuddly Jamaican Kittens on N Train

From today’s “Metropolitan Diary” in the NY Times…
Dear Diary:
After picking up my wife’s dry cleaning, I boarded a crowded but not crammed N train at 57th Street to join the evening rush hour. To keep my wife’s sweaters above the fray, I held them aloft in the same hand I used to grip the train’s […]

No Comments » - Posted in Metropolitan Diary by TJ

Friday, September 5th, 2008

Enjoying a Little Cheesecake on the 6:59

The 6:59 ambled along toward Hummerville and Priusville as the sun went down.
I shifted in my seat, perhaps to take something out of my pocket. Stiffening my back a bit, I happened to peer over the seat in front of me.
My gaze caught some pure, unadulterated cheesecake: a playing card featuring a naked guy in a very […]

No Comments » - Posted in Priusville, Valhalla by TJ

Thursday, September 4th, 2008

Bus-ted For Obnoxious Cellphone Use

Interesting story in the NY Times on a New Jersey commuter bus line that forbids cellphones except for emergencies–and actually enforces the policy.
Mike Richard writes:
The New Jersey commuter bus heading to New York City last week rolled to a stop on the side of the highway. The morning holdup was caused by a passenger who […]

No Comments » - Posted in New York Times, cell phone by TJ

Thursday, September 4th, 2008

Blue Wall at 125th

If you thought you saw a substantial show of force at the 125th Street stop this morning, you did indeed: the NYPD was massed to show potential terrorists they’ve got the turf covered, reports Yonkers Man Mugged…I mean, the Journal News.
The daily reports:
The joint effort by the New York City Police Department and officers from […]

No Comments » - Posted in 125th Street, Journal News, Metro North by TJ

Thursday, September 4th, 2008

Don’t Fry For Me, Argentina

Commuters in Buenos Aires torched a train today because it was 20 minutes late, reports Reuters.
“[The Buenos Aires] consumer action group set fire to a train and hurled stones at a ticket office,” says Reuters.

No Comments » - Posted in Reuters by TJ

Thursday, September 4th, 2008

Grand Central As Tourist Destination

The Metrocards holding unuseable amounts were starting to fill up my wallet, so I ducked into the 6 station at 33rd to run the cards through the reader. Alas, the reader could read none of my three existing Metrocards, which means it’s not much of a “reader” at all.
Resigned to hauling $1 Metrocards around for […]

No Comments » - Posted in Grand Central by TJ

Thursday, September 4th, 2008

Money Free

Some days you walk to work and see nothing. Nothing but pure, unadulterated New Yorkness.
 
Like this morning. I come upon the vagrant who many days can be found lying on the sidewalk outside La Cocina, an old bodega on the corner of Elizabeth and Houston. With shorn dreadlocks and a wiry build, the man is […]

No Comments » - Posted in Foot It by TJ

Wednesday, September 3rd, 2008

Sweet & Sour Shower on the F Train

A few Crazy Commute stories from around the globe for ya:
 
I was on the F train going from Brooklyn to Manhattan, about 10 a.m. The train was full, and a man got on at Delancey Street. He was about 60, wearing a worn but clean suit and tie, scuffed shoes and a trench coat, and […]

No Comments » - Posted in F Train by TJ

Tuesday, September 2nd, 2008

Yes, We Do, You Twerp

From this week’s edition of Octagenarian Ladies Who Say “Isn’t New York Wonderful”…I mean, the NY Times’ “Metropolitan Diary.”
Dear Diary:
It’s 7:45 a.m. on a hot, sultry July morning. I’m standing on the platform at the Larchmont station waiting for the train to Grand Central.
I notice a girl about 17 or 18 years old wearing […]

No Comments » - Posted in Larchmont, Metropolitan Diary by TJ

Friday, August 29th, 2008

Blood on the Tracks, Flood on the Derailed Blog

Bobby the Conductor is back on the job after scoring an Irish tan in Myrtle Beach, and he obviously came back with his batteries supercharged.
In one memorable week, Conductor Bobby gets duped by a woman holding the train doors as she waits for a phantom baby, gets his daughters’ photos leered at by a toothless riders, gets […]

No Comments » - Posted in Derailed by TJ