It's Your Journey, Man, But Let Me Give You Some Advice

One of the first things I noticed when I came back to New York was how overwhelmingly efficient and totally abundant the MTA is. After the wasteland that was SF Muni transit, even the little things seemed totally remarkable, like being able to buy a 30-day monthly pass anytime I wanted (instead of having to wait for the first three days of the month) with my credit card (instead of needing to have $40 in cash) at any subway station anywhere in the city (instead of waiting on line at one of the three or four designated Muni-pass kiosks, which are all located in one area of the city). So imagine the sheer joy the first time I took the subway, and heard the robotic MTA voice call out:

“This is forty-second street. Transfer is available to the 2, 3, 7, A, C, E, N, Q, R, W trains. Transfer is available to the Port Authority bus terminal.”

My eyes glazed over. Holy shit, I thought. I could go anywhere.

Which is why, I believe, New Yorkers are so eager to give directions to confused tourists. There are simply so many ways of getting somewhere, that the very path you follow becomes a matter of deep interest and aggressive debate.

Like this morning, for example. On my way down to work (a straight shot on the 1, unless I’m running late in which case I walk to 96^th and take the express to 14^th street, then transfer over – even simple routes have multiple options), I sat reading while two girls stood over me, chatting. I wasn’t paying particular attention, until I noticed that they had gone quiet and were looking around nervously. Then one of them whipped out a map. They started talking in hushed tones. Ah, tourists, I thought. I was not alone.

“Hey, where are you trying to get to?” said the man across the aisle.

“Oh, um... well, we’re trying to get to South Ferry,” said the girl, looking worried.

“Oh yeah. Well, yeah you’re on the right train but you gotta be in the first five cars.”

“What?”

“Yeah, it don’t work otherwise.”

“What?”

“Um, excuse me? We have to be in the first five cars?” said another group of tourist sitting across from me.

“Yeah. You’re in the second to last car right now. You gotta go up in front of the conductor.”

All the tourists look perplexed, and nervously consult their various subway maps.

“Does this train even stop at South Ferry?” the one girl said to her companion.

“Oh yeah” chimed in a man to their left. “You just have to get out at Chambers street and walk down to the first five cars.”

“Yeah,” said man #1. “Then you’ll be right near the World Trade Center Site.”

“Yes, that’s where we want to go,” said the girl.

“Yeah, you just walk out of the station, turn right, then you’re gonna want to walk a few blocks but its right there. You’re on the right train.”

“Oh ok. So... Chambers street.”

“Yeah,” both men agreed.

The other group of tourists still looked perplexed, but comforted by the fact that there would at least be an entire entourage getting off at Chambers street to travel down the platform towards the front of the train. And the girls were busy ticking off stops.

“What is this? Oh, Christian Street.”

“No, Christopher Street.”

“Right OK. Next up is Houston.”

We’re not in Texas, I thought, but I figured they’d already gotten enough advice for the day.

And I did miss that. How to get from A-B is important; it’s part of it the whole event. If New Yorkers didn’t care about the journey itself, we’d all ride around in cars. But the ride (or the walk) is what makes the city interesting. You make smart and stupid decisions en route every day, like transferring to the express, or deciding to take a different train when the usual isn’t running, and the whole process requires enough savvy and consideration that it almost makes the morning commute into an art form.

Sort of.

But giving directions is definitely an event – you usually find out where the tourist is from, the exact address where they’re going, not to mention three or four different ways to get to the destination, and various opinions on all of the above. In the end, the tourists are probably more confused than they were before, but it has inevitably enlivened the subway ride for everyone in their vicinity.

Which is really the point, afterall.