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NYC Transit

The worst things about the NYC subway

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  • We've all been there: You run down the stairs, get through the turnstile and sprint to your train, only to see its doors close a second before you're able to cross the threshold. It's one of the few times it's acceptable to yell (or at the very least issue a low growl) in a subway station.
    Photo Credit: iStock
  • even if it’s rarely enforced. Just don’t be that guy (or girl), OK? Just don’t.” data-id=”112637013″ data-link=”https://amnewyork.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/7731_image.jpg” class=”wp-image-1.12637013″/>
    Photo Credit: Alison Fox
  • It's bad enough subway carts are crowded, but when they don't come on time, the station becomes packed and it turns into a case of survival of the fittest on who will board the train first.
    Photo Credit: iStock
  • Throwback to March 2008 when a 30-day card was $81. Or 10 years before that, 1998, when it was a mere $63. To compare, a Chicago CTA 30-day pass costs only $100 and student discounts are available.
    Photo Credit: iStock
  • We're late because of a what? What's happening? What?
    Photo Credit: iStock
  • Sometimes there's the occasional subway rider taking up seats sleeping who makes you want to shout,
    Photo Credit: iStock
  • Is there a desperate cat tied to the bottom of every subway car? Why are the rails so deafening? That can't be safe.
    Photo Credit: iStock
  • Sure, there's MetroCard machines, but sometimes you're stuck with two cards that both have insufficient amounts, but combined they equal the fare, and only way to do that is with the help of someone in the booth.
    Photo Credit: iStock
  • We've all been there. Especially the Staten Island Ferry riders, who just miss the ferry by a minute and have to wait a half hour for the next.
    Photo Credit: iStock
  • After you freeze from waiting for the train in all your layers you're way too hot and sweaty in your parka and suddenly it's summer and you're melting but wait the A/C just turned on and now you've turned to ice. Repeat.
    Photo Credit: iStock
  • “Ah, the smell of Manhattan” – where subways have the mixed aroma of garbage, urination and the unknown. Whether you’re on the subway or at the station waiting, it is never nose-friendly.

    ” data-id=”121976394″ data-link=”https://amnewyork.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/7850_image.jpg” class=”wp-image-1.21976394″/>

    Photo Credit: iStock
  • Photo Credit: iStock
  • OK, that basically sums it up.
    Photo Credit: iStock

What time is it? Time to whine about the subway.

In a city that loves to complain, don’t expect New Yorkers to rave about the MTA: New York’s most necessary evil is just so terrible to us.

From sights to smells to sounds, the NYC subway can get pretty awful.

Here are our least favorite things about it.

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