The Subway

As someone who has visited every subway station in Manhattan, I feel qualified to give a holistic picture to those who are less acquainted. In the summer of 2022, I made it my mission to determine the depth of the Manhattan subway lines to answer the question “how deep am I underground right now?” In addition to getting those answers I became one of the subway rats, lurking around beneath the streets for nothing other than my own enjoyment.

Although the subway might feel like the great equalizer of NYC, the stations each maintain a different character representative of their location and vibes. For example, the times square 7 train platform smells just like a McDonalds. I have no idea why this is—or how its possible since the train runs 49 feet below the surface—but there wasn’t a second where I questioned the fried-chicken-mc-sauce smell.

Something I’ll never understand is how people can stare at their phones while the train is moving. There’s no service, so I know the “for you pages” aren’t loading, yet the people refuse to move their eyes away from the blue light. If they happened to look up, they might see the work of Faith Ringgold or Tom Otterness amid the grimy, tiled-covered tunnels in the stations. But, of course watcing the loading animation on social media is far more stimulating.

Being able to pop up in a completely different part of town, severely disoriented in terms of directionality, and covered in sweat is one of the many things I love about NYC. Public transportation is everything it’s cracked up to be. Now I just have one last thing and then I swear to god I’ll shut up about this forever, there’s nothing quite like the thrill of risking death every time I venture underground. Will I come back out? Will I join the rats for eternity? Not even I know the answer.