1. miss u the most
Without a doubt the thing I will miss most about New York City when I eventually leave it is the public transportation. And I’m not talking about the accessibility of our subway system and how we can bop all across town, high, drunk or whatever, without a concern for ever having to be behind the wheel of a motor vehicle, no, I’m talking about the experience of riding the subway. There’s a lot to be disgusted by: trash, rats, the abundant homeless people without access to a shower or any sort of bathroom, the non-stop fragrance of piss, and so on. But none of that is unique to the NYC subway. In fact, you can find all of those things all over NYC and many other cities. Go, America!
What you can’t get anywhere else in the world is the hierarchal diversity of an NYC subway car during commuter hours. I swear I have never witnessed something so beautiful as all walks of life being contained into a 60 foot metal enclosure on wheels. Where else in the world can you find a CEO of a financial company, seated next to a TikTok content influencer, seated next to a nurse, seated next to a creative director, seated next to a tech entreprenaur, seated next to an off-duty firefighter, standing next to a hasidic jew, all while a half naked homeless man that’s been on the train since last night is sprawled out taking up an entire bench? No where. Because it wouldn’t make sense anywhere else in the world. But it does in the beautiful city of New York. Not the state, but the city.
And why is it so embedded into the cultural architecture of NYC and no where else? Because of the access to industries, the economy, the cost of living and the sprawling landscape of New York.
Only in New York (and some other cities but NYC is by far the worst) can you can make soooo muchhh money, be so successful, and still, the most efficient way to get to the office could be to ride a subway train. And I know, I know, LA has traffic too. But LA has too many people on the road, NYC has too many people in one gridlocked area. Being able to afford a car isn’t the issue here. It’s that there’s no where to go. When you finally do get to your office there aren’t cushy sized parking lots for you to park in. You either have to pay more money for a parking spot or figure out where to park every day. And lastly, NYC has one of the most extensive public transportation systems in the world so when you inevitably arrive late due to driving in, you don’t really get to use the excuse of “traffic” when everyone knows there are extreme efficiencies you could take to get into the office.
You can see all of New York in one single subway car. You can see the nurse who worked the night shift and is finally headed home. You can see the single mom with a stroller filled with toys and treats to coax her infant into being quiet, knowing she had to carry her stroller down stairs to get here. You can see the off duty firefighter coming into Manhattan for a doctor’s appointment on his day off. You can see the aspiring content creator on their way to a meeting with TikTok, potentially their big break. You can see the girl who’s wearing sunglass to cover up the bags under her eyes due to an early morning break up with her partner. You can see the homeless man and hear his stories of how he got to be homeless. You can see the three brothers who have been performing on the train for cash since 7 stops ago. You can see the hasidic jew checking his flip phone as he gets a call from an unknown number.
You can witness an entire world of people contained into one 60 foot metal enclosure on wheels, only in New York City.