Everybody knows that you aren't supposed to walk between subway cars (in fact, it is a crime and a $75 fine). But sometimes—when a fight breaks out, say, or that guy with the incredible BO keeps following you down the car—you have to. Which is why city councilwoman Letitia James is demanding that the MTA start unlocking those doors. more ›

Forget the days of colorful, clunky seating filling up the subway cars—the future is here, straphangers, and it looks mighty uncomfortable. The new flip-up seats arrived late last year, and we finally spotted them this morning on the E train (as you can see, the perfect line to test the rush hour seats on!), so we thought we'd check in with the MTA on their fleet of ten testing cars. Deirdre Parker, Deputy Director of Public Affairs, tells us they were brought in for "a test to see if it would add capacity on crowded lines during rush hour. Those seats are locked in the down position and will remain that way. There is no plan at this point to run those cars in the up position." Parker wouldn't answer why the seats were remaining locked, or if they would ever be unlocked, so for now we'll just assume they had some extra cash burning a hole in their pockets. more ›

While old subway cars becoming reefs for the life aquatic is well documented, it seems less frequent that we get to witness new subway cars arriving for us humans to use. But look at this, new cars have arrived! So shiny and clean! They have that new subway car smell, with plenty of fare hike topnotes. more ›

It's that time of year again—the Straphangers Campaign has released its 11th annual report on subway cleanliness. The latest and greatest "Shmutz" Survey found that between 2008 and 2009 there has been a steady decline in underground cleanliness, which probably means this hairball is still at the West 72nd Street 1/2/3 station. Of 22 subway lines, 50% were found dirtier than the previous year, when the R train was rank. Avert your eyes, D and M train riders, here's the basic breakdown (full tables after the jump): more ›

Subway cars that spent their lifespan serving New Yorkers often retire at the bottom of a watery grave in Delaware and New Jersey, creating artificial barrier reefs. Why not dump the old cars in our own rivers and waterways? Technically, it's not allowed under current environmental codes, but just because the fish in the Gowanus canal likely have gonohorrea, doesn't mean they don't deserve a little reef love as well! NY1 reports that "Congressman Anthony Weiner held a news conference yesterday to call on the state to revise environmental codes to allow the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to dump retired subway cars into city waters." Not only will it help our marine life, but the MTA will save money, you know, the opposite of what they've been doing. Wiener says "the agency has spent more than $6 million to ship more than 2,000 retired cars" out-of-state. Currently the State Department of Environmental Conservation is taking his suggestion under consideration. more ›