Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I take the 5 every day to work (less crowded for my commute and fewer obnoxious kids than the 2, plus it's express), but if I'm out late at night in downtown Manhattan or Brooklyn and I don't feel like shelling out for a cab, I have to take the 2. Never had any problems late at night except for bums and occasional loud drunks.
Worst experience I've had on the 2 was actually on a Sunday afternoon-- a lady sat down next to me at around West Farms Sq. and gave me an aggressively pitched sob story about how she had a son and needed $20 to pay for something important, otherwise she'd have to go into prostitution (cue crocodile tears here). She also showed me a photo of her "son" on her cell phone (why the hell didn't she pawn the damn thing if she needed the money so bad?). When I told her I didn't have any, she hissed, "Don't tell me you don't have any, 'cause I know you do!" I probably should've just gotten up and changed cars, but I wound up giving her a couple bucks just to get her to go away. Callous as this may sound, I hope she chokes on it.
I would have to agree with the fact that riding the 5 is a much better experience than riding the 2.
The 5 is usually less crowded and the people on the 2 aren't as nice or as friendly.
However, the teenagers on the lines can act like fools (especially those coming to/from the 4 train at 149th St-Grand Concourse since most of the high schools are along the 4 line).
The trains aren't as bad as years past, but you still need to be very cafeful riding the rails. Some lines you have to be VERY careful at night. IMO, the E ( especially getting towards Jamaica )2,5, 4 ( riding on the 3 because it doesn't run in Brooklyn late at night) Bascially, any line that runs through some bad nabes at night.
I would have to agree with the fact that riding the 5 is a much better experience than riding the 2.
The 5 is usually less crowded and the people on the 2 aren't as nice or as friendly.
However, the teenagers on the lines can act like fools (especially those coming to/from the 4 train at 149th St-Grand Concourse since most of the high schools are along the 4 line).
Are we talking about a certain area? Maybe the 5 is better than the 2 in the bronx, but the 2 is far better than the 5 in Manhattan, the 5 is so much more crowed more frequently than the 2 all over Manhattan.
It'll be interesting to see what kind of effect the Recession in NYC will have on the Subway lines, the police department is already looking at cutbacks for 2009, my guess is they will scale back police presence on the Subways, especially at night, and in the low-income boroughs.
Are we talking about a certain area? Maybe the 5 is better than the 2 in the bronx, but the 2 is far better than the 5 in Manhattan, the 5 is so much more crowed more frequently than the 2 all over Manhattan.
It is just the Bronx. I don't go as far as Manhattan for my commute, and because the 5 runs express through the Bronx, it doesn't pick up all the kids that board the 2 around Prospect and Jackson Aves.
I take the 5 every day to work (less crowded for my commute and fewer obnoxious kids than the 2, plus it's express), but if I'm out late at night in downtown Manhattan or Brooklyn and I don't feel like shelling out for a cab, I have to take the 2. Never had any problems late at night except for bums and occasional loud drunks.
Worst experience I've had on the 2 was actually on a Sunday afternoon-- a lady sat down next to me at around West Farms Sq. and gave me an aggressively pitched sob story about how she had a son and needed $20 to pay for something important, otherwise she'd have to go into prostitution (cue crocodile tears here). She also showed me a photo of her "son" on her cell phone (why the hell didn't she pawn the damn thing if she needed the money so bad?). When I told her I didn't have any, she hissed, "Don't tell me you don't have any, 'cause I know you do!" I probably should've just gotten up and changed cars, but I wound up giving her a couple bucks just to get her to go away. Callous as this may sound, I hope she chokes on it.
Glad you came out okay.
It's amazing the things that happen on the trains. I symapthise with the young girl who was attacked/robbed.
I was once accosted at 2:00 a.m. on a Sunday night on the # 2 after a night out . The trains were almost empty and I was the only one in my car. Suddenly a middle-aged woman opened the door between cars, ignoring the notice to not ride between cars, and approached my direction. She was dressed in several layers of unwashed T-shirts, a worn-out overcoat, and a pair of beach slippers with no sock on. The incongrous nature of her attire in the dead of winter was supplemented by cackling laughter (which also bared the fact that she hadn't seen a dentist in years) and a powerfully malodorous scent.
But while all that was indeed unappealing, I was taken back when, after cracking a few jokes to herself and intermittently responding with raucous laughter, she hung over my seat and muttered, "Handsome, you wanna go?"
Well, I know that if a woman, no matter how bad a shape she herself is in, ever calls me "handsome," then something is amiss and my antennas went up immediately.
I feebly responded, "Go where?" to which she countered by pointing to the space between the two cars through which she had made entry to my car. I responded kindly that I wasn't interested and that I knew where I wanted to go and it had nothing to do with standing between two cars with a woman I had never met before. For full measure, I mentioned to her that I was also short of cash.
It was the last statement that got her into a rage, in which she called me several unprintable names laced with profanity and including the words "cheap," "ugly," and references to my "mama."
You can well understand how relieved I was to see her exit my car at the next stop and I sincerely hoped that she also exited that #2 train and did not solicit any more business - or worse yet pull a gun on someone and rob them.
Last edited by Moderate Guy; 12-14-2008 at 04:16 PM..
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
