Still on the Downtown C Line: 34 Street to Broadway-Nassau
So, my initial thoughts were that the subways were going to be running on a "holiday/weekend" schedule, which is usually slower and more annoying than usual, but to my surprise, they were running on normal schedule..YAY #1! YAY #2 was my thinking they were going to be crowded since most people were off due to it being a holiday, but I was wrong again. They were pretty quiet, but I think this was due more to the blistering cold weather. And it was horribly cold out. We weren't even above ground and we were feeling the painfully cold air seeping from above. But we put on a few more layers and managed to accomplish what we needed for the day.
Our first stop of the day was a big one, 34th street otherwise known as Pennsylania Station, otherwise known as the house of Madison Square Garden. Due to it's many levels this station has an elevator. Although convenient to some, I, myself, am not a fan of subway elevators. I was in one once and only once and it was gggrrrosss. Just think of being in a subway toilet and you get the idea. We did find some art on the upper level that i had never seen before. It was a mural of circus characters portrayed by the artist Tom Fischel. I wondered why circus animal's in the subway? Then I thought maybe the infamous Barnum & Baileys Circus was held at Madison Square Garden..maybe? We also found the Lost Property Unit is located at 34th Street, I assume the Lost Property Unit is where you come if you've had any items lost or stolen on the subway....YEAHHH I wonder how many people actually have had their things found or turned in for that matter..
Next on our route was 23rd street. Nothing much notable here. A darker, dingier station than most. There were stairs on the platform, which stood out as a unique feature, otherwise nothing spectacular.
The cold was setting in as we made our way to 14th street and 8th avenue stop. This is a pretty large station and I found it to be fairly quiet as compared to the others. I find that the further away from midtown you get at 11am on a Monday, the less people you're gonna find. We did find more art at this station and not wall murals this time. Bronze scultpures of what portrayed Teletubby-looking creatures were scattered throughout the 14th street lair. These cute little creatures playing in the subway seemed almost like little guardian angels. One such creature was even sculpted sitting on a subway bench. I was surprised none of the artwork had been destroyed or vandalized since it wasn't fixed on a wall and was out in solid form..Maybe even the craziest people have an appreciation for art.
After a bit of time at 14th street, we made our way to West 4th Street. I like this station. Mainy because I like the area where this station is located. It;s a nicer station than most. Newsstands are here and is usually a very active station. You'll typically find musicians playing here, but today no such luck, again mostly in part to the bitter coldness. There is not elevators at this station, but even better escalators. I love escalators. Reminds me of the European tube stations. We also came upon an area where icicles had formed on the subway steps. Yes, it was THAT cold.
We took a break and grabbed a coffee at a diner outside the West 4th station. It was exactly what we needed to defrost and rejuvenate. We decided to just finish the C stops in Manhattan and call it a day because when you're up against the cold there is only so much you can take.
So, off to Spring Street. I'm not a big fan of this station. It's in a nice area of Soho, so you would think the station would be nicer, but not so much. At the end of the platform we noticed boxes set up and a person's legs sticking out. We assumed it was a homeless person and got some pics and video footage, but did not get much closer than that. A little creepy I must say. We didn't stick around too long and headed off to Canal Street. A cleaner station than I had anticipated, but nothing really notable here. I did notice that downtown and uptown C trains were both on the same platform.
After Canal comes Chambers. Again, this station was nicer than I thought. I think we were getting it confused with the JMZ Chambers stop, which we haven't hit yet and which is fug. More artwork at this station, which consisted of mosaic eyes throughout the station. Very beautiful, very eerie too. Some blue eyes, some green eyes, some brown eyes circle the station watching your every move. We couldn't seem to find the artist credentials though. We found a nest of birds in a structure atop a stairs. My first signs of life besides the infamous rats in the subway. We also got some great footage standing over the vents of the train coming through down below. It was kinda scary at first standing over the vents and then hearing the rattle of the train coming from down below and imagining yourself falling through onto the tracks.
I managed to exit the station and get some pics of huge skyscrapers being that we were down in the financial district area. I did not want to take the focus away from the subway itself, but these structures were literally right in view from the station. They were breathtaking.
Our last station of the day was Broadway Nassau. This station usually gives me the creeps. It is dark and dingy and you'll usually find more crazies than normal lurking down here. Not too many today, but I'm sure as the day goes on it gets goofy. We did see some nice artwork and what seemed to be an old entrance gate, maybe from a prior station, but is now turned into an art form.
Good day, Nothing too crazy went down. On the way back uptown, we rode in the very front car and I got some cool footage as if I was conducting the train myself. At 59th street as we were standing on the platform, we were approached by a guy that seemed to be either severely disturbed or on a drug of some sort. I mean you always see crazy people, but this guy was out of his mind, We managed to avoid getting in the same car as him, but as the train took off he found us in the next car. I couldn't help but think he was targeting us. Christi and I got off at 110th street and Broadway and as we exited I was looking out for this wackjob hoping he had not gotten off with us. I turned around and found him staring directly at me from the train smiling creepily as if he was telling me "I know where you live." Christi saw it too and with that, put an end to our day in the subs...til next week..over n out, Linz
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