hot-car heroes

It is now the last weekend of October and according to the posters that have been placed on and around the 1 train over the course of the past month, this should be the last weekend of construction on the northernmost stations that have necessitated a transfer to the A train, and a shuttle bus in order to get in and out of the Bronx. But, no. Today, it was observed that a new posted has been made up, stating that the construction will extend through next weekend as well. I don’t bring this up because I am so surprised that the work was not finished by the time it was stated that it would be finished. I bring it up because it is annoying that they would even try to have us believe that this wouldn’t be the case in the first place. I am not expecting service to be normal any time soon on the weekends here in the western Bronx. In fact, I am pretty certain that by the time service is restored on the weekend, we will be so thoroughly accustomed to the process of getting to the A train that the restoration of Bronx 1 service will come across as an inconvenience in some way. Maybe you’ve developed an affinity for passing Isham Park. Maybe you like stopping off at Piper’s Kilt for a drink on your way to the Bronx, etc. You won’t have cause to do those things anymore if the 1 were actually working correctly…

The MTA has invested so much space and paper in announcing service delays and changes.

Meanwhile, getting on the 1 train today at 18^th street, I was hit with the oppressive heat of the non-climate controlled car. At times, it is possible to tell before even walking in the train if either the car has an especially pungent homeless person in it, or if the climate control is not working. These cars will be empty. Not today. Today’s commute was filled with hot-car heroes en route to a sweaty coronation. I walked between cars, despite its being illegal, and arrived in a less crowded, more climate controlled car. I’m not saying I’m Captain Air-Conditioning, but something must be done in terms of making the process of traveling through underground tunnels appear acceptable and unlike a horror movie. Actually, when in Stockholm over the summer, I was aghast to find out that their metros and trams did not have air-conditioning (and to boot, they had windows that opened like the windows on our subways, that is, they pull open in and down from the top so that the window angles all of the air up towards the ceiling where it does nobody much good). In Stockholm, the issue was that summers are so short that it was not worth the investment in climate control technology. I happened to visit during one of their hotter weeks, so I was given a bad impression. Apparently, it is the same throughout much of Europe.

In New York, though, why be a hot-car hero? Are people so lazy that they can’t be bothered to go to the next car to alleviate a situation that is bad (hot cars are always compounded by the fact that people rarely open the windows in these situations (I can recall a time when I opened the window on a hot car (which I stayed on only because the next car was jam packed) and the looks and comments I got from people were those that should be reserved for political liberators and true artists who’ve spoken for the disenfranchised). Are people beaten down by continual inconsistencies in service? Is there value to suffering? Or is it a way of protesting - like a hunger strike – people hope that an MTA official will come by, see the sweat dripping and the displeasure in people’s forehead rumples, feel bad, and change things? This will be a long wait…