My Love Affair With the Subway

I don't know if New Yorkers realize how lucky they are to have efficient public transportation. As a newbie New Yorker, it is one of the things I am most thankful for! I cannot imagine traversing this big city without it.

The guts of New York City, the subway is the lifeblood of this metro. It carries over five million people everyday and unlike the underground systems of London, Paris and Tokyo it runs 24/7, 365 days a year . No doubt it is one of the most extensive public transport systems in the world. I recently discovered that although it's called a "subway," over a third of the systems run above ground and it is primarily in Manhattan that it runs almost entirely underground.

I was in my twenties when I first came to New York on my own, and the subways were very intimidating to me. I didn't grow up in a city that had efficient public transport, and the idea of not seeing where you were in a city so unfamiliar was quite freaky. I would rely on people's very detailed directions "take the 4/5 to Grand Central and switch to the 6." My annual visits to New York helped a little, but because I was on holiday mode and not really in a rush, buses were still my preference. This way, I could see where I was and knew right away if I had taken the wrong bus!

My beau much prefers the speed and efficiency of the subway, and going around the city with him has made me get to know the subway a lot better. I observe how the stops differ in the different sections of the city, how some of them are just horrible and others are quite pleasant. The 72nd Street stop in the Upper West Side, for instance, announces itself with a cathedral-like aesthetic and twenty-four streets up the 96th Street stop is dirty and grimy and rather unpleasant. Why is that, I often wonder.

Beyond the efficiency and history this eighty-something year old New York institution, what amazes me the most about the subway is the absolute democracy it preserves. On the trains, it doesn't matter who you are, where you're from, what your salary is. On the trains, we're all just people on our way to or from somewhere. This power to escape into anonymity, if you want to, is quite something. Because really, on the trains we are all just the same.

The current state of affairs between me and the subway is probably best described as a love-hate relationship. Some days, I love the efficiency and the familiarity of it. I enjoy observing the microcosm of New York in my car or on the platform. I love the idea of going somewhere. On other days, I really miss my car. I miss having greater control of my routes and schedules. I miss the road, and the view from the driver's seat. I miss the tension of Manila traffic, the dance of the undisciplined. And yes, I even miss the horn-blowing.

I am in New York now, and the subway will continue to play a major role in my days. Love it or hate, it is there to stay.