Loving the Subway

Some subway news to end the week: The Post reports that with the taxi fare hike, more people are riding the subway, based on some ridership numbers. The TLC thinks the dip is "seasonal," since more taxi-loving people are out of town. Gothamist agrees that could be it, but, really, sometimes the subway is the fastest way to get to the other place - unless it's weekend service. And it seems like subways are the new way for R&B sensations to "keep it real," as the kids call it: The Daily News gossips made fun of Usher for not knowing that MetroCards are not called "tickets" and not knowing they cost $2 while trying to impress a lady. Yeah! Then Cathy from lost and frowned asked us if we had seen the new crazy person on the F train, "...on the morning rush on the F.... she comes in and starts with:' If you are under 16, I am crazy and don't listen to me.' Then goes on the point out that the CIA killed JFK Jr...She looks like a nice church lady, clean, no bags of waded up newspapers with her or anything..." We haven't yet, but we did see an extremely inebriated man talking to himself, but those are a dime a dozen. And Gothamist hopes that reports saying MTA's deficit might not be as bad as thought is true - maybe we can avoid another MetroCard fare hike. In the mean time, we'll ride on.

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By Jen Chung in News on July 23, 2004 9:15 AM

Comments [rss]

andy

Oh man, she's one of the most entertaining things on the subway. I even snapped a pic:

http://moblog.co.uk/view.php?id=19779

Gary

First, you can blog while on the subway (sort of) if you have a Verizon cellular and a connected PDA, but it seems like too much trouble to me.

Second, with all the additional riders you'd think the MTA could get the 1 & 9 trains to run on time when it counts most (during rush hours) or ventilate the stations so there's some air flow during the half hour between trains. I'm really getting tired of returning home drenched after work, on days when its not raining.

Jones

If we could blog while riding the subway, we would be in a sorta of heaven, I suppose.

Mumbles

Only in Park Slope Moment:

Yee ha! After the conspiracy mormon Farenheit normal looking lady was done with EXACTLY the same rant one evening on the F train at 7th Avenue...A very cute girl started giving the Crazy Lady advice on how her "train presentation" could be more powerful and um...coherent. There we were on the 7th Avenue platform, the cute political activist girl, giving Crazy Lady tips on hand outs, bullet points, talking points...me (listening to the two of them)...when the Crazy Lady said that "I have so much more information to tell everyone!" I interrupted and told Crazy Lady that, "As a 'viewer' of your rant...you come off a little "nutty"...now if you streamlined your babbling and made it a bit "punchier"..."

The political activist girl smiled at me, and I thought of getting her phone number and having a beer with her at Ginger's...but then the Crazy Lady wanted to tell us more about which movies we should see. Good Times...

JeffD

Yeah, I saw her too, about a month ago on an A train around 42nd st. You don't normally see someone this normal-looking start spewing such strangeness. Like Erin said, she was going off about CIA agents who don't want to pretend to be Jehova's Witnesses anymore, talking about "when people walk into your meeting this afternoon and hand you an Airborne or FedEx envelope, don't worry, it's just white powder and you shouldn't be alarmed." Etc.

I've seen all sort of people, including smelly, half-naked "homeless" people on a train with no A/C, but nobody has ever cleared off a train as fast as this lady did. And I'm telling you, she looks totally normal. Sound like someone might need a refill on that prescription.

paul

The day I saw this crazy lady was the day Tenet resigned; the swirl of current events made her seem more credible, or at least kind of Cassandra-esque.

Jackie

Is she any crazier than Rumsfeld? At least she probably knows she may be nuts and is harmless. I can't say that for Rumsfeld.

nate s

OMG--she's my new favorite subway character. And she doesn't even ask for money! Take that Sonny Page!

Chris

Oh, except when I saw her it wasn't on the F - it was on the R; she got on at Pacific and was still there when I got off at Whitehall.

Chris

The Mormon Mafia lady!

Missed that part about White Chicks being a government propaganda movie, though.

erin

Yes, I have seen that crazy lady, but in my case it was midday and she was saying "Mr. So-and-So, an actual CIA agent with an office in Brooklyn Heights, is tired of coming to your front door pretending to be a Jahovah's Witness. He is tired of it! And to all of you African American youth, DO NOT go see the goverment's propaganda movie: White Chicks. Go see Farenheit 9/11 and find out where Bush was when those planes hit the towers. Find out where he was!"

Then her stop came and she got cut off, but said "You'll be hearing from me again!" She looked like such a nice, normal lady. I am still trying to figure out why Mr. So-and-So is going door to door pretending to be a Jahovah's Witness.

Jon

I've seen that conspiracy theory lady. In the speech I heard her give, she mentioned that the FBI was watching her and that she wouldn't be surpised if the government tried to get her. I took her flyer just to see what she had to say, since she seemed so utterly bonkers - it was a letter-sized sheet filled completely with 6 point type and some of the funniest nut-job prose I've ever seen.