Questions about the (1) train

[Tokkemon]

I believe few weeks ago I transferred there to get the train and there was a lady there operating the elevator... Not sure why they're needed for? Is it that hard to press a button??

 

 

Would you want to be operating those elevators alone with only one or two people there....at 2am...?

[CDTA]

Damn, they still have operators? I thought they got axed back in 08. I remember once when everyone was complaning how hot it was the operator said "It's OK, let me turn the A/C on!" and he pressed (A/C) for the trains... Made everyone laugh...

 

 

And also whats this look you guys are reffering too? Never gotten it.

[B35 via Church]

I believe few weeks ago I transferred there to get the train and there was a lady there operating the elevator... Not sure why they're needed for? Is it that hard to press a button??

like CDTA, I didn't know they still had em.... News to me.

 

The question I always had, is/was.... are they MTA employees?

 

 

And also whats this look you guys are reffering too? Never gotten it.

From Dominican women: A look of interest (although IMO, I think some of them be knowin I aint dominican, but they interested in a brotha anyway... but that's a whole nother topic)

From Dominincan men: A look that would suggest "These are OUR women, your black ass aint entitled to them"....

[Via Garibaldi 8]

Would you want to be operating those elevators alone with only one or two people there....at 2am...?

 

 

Yeah I don't know how long they stay there for but who knows... Maybe they have them at 02:00 in the morning. Better them than me though. One black lady that was operating it had a big dirty looking fan blowing air on her. Those elevators are really hot. They need to re-do them and put some AC in them, but fat chance of that happening in that neck of the woods. Maybe they'll get around to it if the area further gentrifies.

 

Damn, they still have operators? I thought they got axed back in 08. I remember once when everyone was complaning how hot it was the operator said "It's OK, let me turn the A/C on!" and he pressed (A/C) for the trains... Made everyone laugh...

 

 

And also whats this look you guys are reffering too? Never gotten it.

 

 

Yeah, I've seen one each time I've been at the 168th street station and they're employees.

 

As for the look, I think B35's experiences and my experiences have been different. There are quite a few Dominican males working here in my office building (janitors) and they'll usually speak to me in Spanish or speak in Spanish and look at me or look like yeah I know you know Spanish or with curiosity, but I try to pretend like I don't. lol The thing with me is my dress is more European in style and some of them try to dress like that as well (Dominicans have a love affair with Europe (probably moreso that other Latinos, especially with Spain)), so that combined with my mixed background and my way of being and they'll assume I'm Dominican. I know all of this from having living with a Dominican in college and having been around them. Some of them insisted that I speak Spanish with them, esp. knowing that I speak the language.

 

There were some in Zabar's and this one Dominican lady insisted that I was Dominican. She's like well you have to be Dominican... The way you look, act, etc., you're Dominican. I had a few Dominican guys in my old office and they said the same thing. I don't take offense to it. In college I got the same thing... I was either Brazilian or Hispanic. Some folks will stop me and ask if speak Spanish and since I do I'll help them. I think I tend to have more a mixed look even more when my beard grows in. My old passport from years ago which I no longer have... I had facial hair in that one (I was around 23 at the time)... I looked so foreign... I was like Holy cow!! Look at me... Not bad looking or anything, but not necessarily American looking per se. My father is Sicilian but he was born here, but I definitely took up some of his features, esp. the hairiness. LOL Interesting enough I saw a few Italians in Italy that were mixed like myself and we looked similar in terms complexion, hair texture, and other features that tend to be associated with mixed folks.

 

There are some at the supermarket I go to there in Riverdale... I heard talk of "papi chulo" and I'm sitting there pretending like I don't understand, but I knew they were referring to me. There's a Dominican guy who is always grinning when he sees me. Cool guy, but I'm sure he was wondering if I was Dominican or not, but I've tried to pretend as if I'm just an average gringo, so no Spanish. lol

 

The kids I tutor up there are usually Dominican and the parents can be kind of cocky, but once you speak Spanish with them, they're okay.

[Grand Concourse]

lol... I was thinking the exact same thing yesterday while waiting for the doors to close at that station. I said no way in hell would I wait in those areas. It doesn't take much to go over. One misstep in fact. The thing about the new renovations at some of the elevated stations is they're too open in that regard, having the spacing and such between the walls.

 

 

I agree, I'm not a fan of those small gaps either. Not a big fan of those metal chain linked fences either, but would prefer those over the half height barriers.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

I agree, I'm not a fan of those small gaps either. Not a big fan of those metal chain linked fences either, but would prefer those over the half height barriers.

 

 

Yeah I was on the train a few Saturdays ago and I noticed most of the stations have been re-done or are being finished and they all have that set up... Small gaps or those metal chain linked fences...

[checkmatechamp13]

3. lol... Not happening. I'd just cancel my session. Taking the subway over there is okay, particularly the train with the colleges and such, but there is no way I would take the Bx7... Not only is that line unreliable from what I've seen but way overcrowded. Would be nice if they had MetroNorth or something up there rather than just the subway.

 

When East Side Access is done, they might reroute a few Metro-North Hudson Line trains to Penn Station (since some LIRR trains would be diverted to Grand Central, freeing up track capacity). When they do that, they'll probably make a station around 62nd Street on the UWS and 125th Street, but I don't know if they'd do anything for the Washington Heights area.

 

Would you want to be operating those elevators alone with only one or two people there....at 2am...?

 

I don't see what you're saying.

 

There are quite a few Dominican males working here in my office building (janitors) and they'll usually speak to me in Spanish or speak in Spanish and look at me or look like yeah I know you know Spanish or with curiosity, but I try to pretend like I don't. lol

 

If they see you walking into the office of the language company in your building, I'd think they could put 2 and 2 together.

[Grand Concourse]

Would you want to be operating those elevators alone with only one or two people there....at 2am...?

If you mean the presence of an MTA worker would make getting on an elevator late at night 'safer', there's some truth to it. However, since they are exposed (backs to the riders), they could be targets as well. What is needed is a cop stationed around the elevators rather than an MTA employee pushing the buttons. If there is a problem with the elevators, then there should an elevator repairman on stand by. Basically there should be a person stationed in the MC booth to take a call from a person stuck in the elevator.

Not to put those elevator operators down, but you can't pay me enough to spend 8 hours to sit in a crowded, hot elevator doing a boring job to push a button day after day... I would lose my mind after 30 min.

[trainfan22]

 

When East Side Access is done, they might reroute a few Metro-North Hudson Line trains to Penn Station (since some LIRR trains would be diverted to Grand Central, freeing up track capacity). When they do that, they'll probably make a station around 62nd Street on the UWS and 125th Street, but I don't know if they'd do anything for the Washington Heights area.

 

The ROW of where that Amtrak line is at is really isolated from Washington Heights, and you gotta walk up some brutal hills just to get to the area where the 168th Street station is located.

 

There's a Park that goes along side the Amtrak line up there, its a PITA to get to it from the mainland.

 

Its not worth it to build a station in Washington heights IMO, no one will use it!

[Vistausss]

Yeah, that's true. Why take MNRR if you can take the cheaper subway? Don't build a station just for the sake of building a station.