Inspiring Ways to Pass the Time on the Subway

Last week, the NY Sun mentioned Cully Long in an article about websites documenting people's thoughts about the subway. Long uses his commute between 125th Street and 59th Street along the A in Manhattan to sketch commuters he sees and posts the ballpoint pen sketches on his site, a child of atom.

Drawing and taking pictures on the subway is so common that it makes the attempted (and laughable) ban on subway photography seem almost quaint. But did you realize that the PATH system not only forbids photograph and videotaping but drawing also? The NYCLU told NY1, "People have been [taking pictures and videos] for a very long time. There is nothing wrong with it... We have never heard before of a prohibition on drawing in a public place. But it would be in the same category as a prohibition on photography, and we think that both of those prohibitions would be improper and perhaps illegal." And NY1 notes that the Port Authority wouldn't say if anyone had been "cited for drawing."

And Long, who works as a set designer, has compiled his sketches into a book called A Line: Sketch Portraits From The New York City Subway. It's $20 and available on Lulu.com.

Drawing by Cully Long