I'm happy that other riders yelled, ‘Jumpers!’ My faith in New Yorkers is strengthened.

Oh please. You love these riders, but when a little kid tells a cop about someone smoking weed we get 200 posts saying what a loser he is.

i remember some ####### annoying quirk about the Philly subway: if I recall correctly the price was some stupid amount like $1.60. but the workers in the kiosks couldnt give you change! you had to have exact change or lose the $.40 . you'd think if you werent going to give change (even though you have a guy working there in an enclosed booth) than the price would be some round number rather than the asinine $1.60. Also the philly subway pulled off the amazing feat as being more decrepit and depressing than the sprawling slums above-ground.

i take the Boston T every day, on the orange or red lines. Its not bad, but pales in comparison to NYC in coverage and hours. All the lines are basically from somewhere to downtown. Ideally there would be a line from Dorchester through JP, Brighton and then across to cambridge/somerville.

i once saw a guy smoking crack on the platform at chinatown.

This never would have happened if Barry Bonds had been a better defensive centerfielder...

I wish I could tell some stories about troubles and travails in the Tokyo and Nagoya public transportation systems, but I got nothin'. The trains run on time, and the turnstiles are models of efficiency, whether you use a pass or buy a ticket. Public transportation in Japan is ######' awesome.

The Tokyo subway system is the most difficult to master of those I have experienced, but I am sure this is mainly for reasons of language difference. Other Asian networks are easier to use for the English speaker and are cheaper (eg Hong Kong, Singapore, Bangkok), but are newer and much smaller, so that's not surprising. Tokyo is really impressive when compared to other big networks, say, the lamentable London Underground network or even Paris, which is also miles better than London.

It's mostly been covered already, but I wanted to add that I rode what were probably the two busiest lines in Japan on a daily basis (Ginza-sen and the Shinkaisoku from Himeji to Osaka) during rush hour and had to wait for a second train...once.

Sure, it was crowded--like short people being wedged with their legs off the ground crowded--but everyone smelled fine and would let you read your book on their shoulder. Actually that was the main difference--in Tokyo everyone had some intellectual manga and in Kansai there were a lot of manga and MD players.

Gotta love the crush of humanity though.

There's a thrilling movie about this issue called "Kontroll", set in Budapest.

The Budapest subway is, in fact, marvelous. Those Communists really knew subways.

SF is a ####### pit, though. MUNI is a worse bus service than even Minneapolis, and BART, while reliable and generally fast, is for commuters only. Best of all of course is the (typically San Franciscan) fratricidal self-interest that keeps the various transit agencies from working together in any useful way. So, unlike any reasonable city (London, Hong Kong, &c;.), you have one pass for the bus, another for BART, and yet a third for Caltrain.

The best and by best I mean worst thing, of course, is the self-satisfied preening that the political class engages in, congratulating themselves on how they're keeping the city safe from cars. A ####### CAR IS THE ONLY ####### WAY TO GET AROUND IN THIS ########, DAMMIT!

This never would have happened if Barry Bonds had been a better defensive centerfielder...

What does this ahve to do with Williamsburg?

Speaking of which...A friend of mine who works on animated shows for a living is going to ahve an exhibit of his art at the Abbey bar on Saturday. The art is mock comic book covers of Williamsburg inpspired characters. For example, there's Captain Hipster whose secret power is to detect the next big fashion trend and Madame Mainstay, an old Italian lady who fights development from an astral plane and Luxo, The Living Condo. It could be worth checking out. And there's beer.

This never would have happened if Barry Bonds had been a better defensive centerfielder...

This is the best (if jesting) attempt at gratuitous provocation I've ever seen. Well done. And kevin's not even in this thread.

Speaking of which...A friend of mine who works on animated shows for a living is going to ahve an exhibit of his art at the Abbey bar on Saturday. The art is mock comic book covers of Williamsburg inpspired characters. For example, there's Captain Hipster whose secret power is to detect the next big fashion trend and Madame Mainstay, an old Italian lady who fights development from an astral plane and Luxo, The Living Condo. It could be worth checking out. And there's beer.

My god. If you could distill the essence of Williamsburg's suckitude into one short paragraph....age it in oak so it was smooth, golden, and perfect, and bottle it and sell it to the masses, this paragraph would be it.

Kill yourself, sir.

My god. If you could distill the essence of Williamsburg's suckitude into one short paragraph....age it in oak so it was smooth, golden, and perfect, and bottle it and sell it to the masses, this paragraph would be it.

Geez. He's actually pretty good. He and a few other friends are the only reason I even head back to Williamsburg. If it makes you feel better, he's lived in the neighborhood forever and, like a good Brooklynite, hates hipsters. Or you could just go #### yourself.

'Zop is in rare and cranky form these days, isn't he?

I was probably overly harsh on the DC Metro, but it just seems to be like so much about DC, set up for the sole purpose of benefitting tourists and government employees with only occasional regard for the people who actually live in the city. (Which, I will grant, is pretty much nothing but college students planning to vacate ASAP and those too poor to move out the SE so maybe that it explains.)

My pet peeve about the Metro is those signs telling how long it will be until another train. It's fine in London because trains are seemingly never more than a few minutes apart, but in DC it's really depressing to go in see that FRANCONIA/SPRINGFIELD...27 MINUTES messaage board.

you'd think if you werent going to give change (even though you have a guy working there in an enclosed booth) than the price would be some round number

The Rome subway has been both cheered and lamented upthread, but this Philly comment reminded me of an experience there. The ticket machines wanted 77 cents exact change, and would not give tickets if you put in 80 cents or one euro -- even if you didn't want change. Of course, nobody was buying tickets anyway, and there was no barrier. But then there was no train. The whole thing had a lovely gratuitous feel to it. And the bus service was great, so we didn't feel stranded ...

I don't think 'zop will be at the Abbey Saturday.

I don't think 'zop will be at the Abbey Saturday.

Ironically, he'd fit right in. You hear a lot of complaining there these days about hipsters and how the neighborhood has changed. I was glad I was still there when all my neighbors were either Puerto Rican or Italian, but it is what it is now. The neighborhood kind of lost me when my hardware store turned into a clothing boutique. I headed to Hell's Kitchen where the fights between the pimps and their ho's outside my window made me feel like a real New Yorker again.

The Tokyo subway system is the most difficult to master of those I have experienced, but I am sure this is mainly for reasons of language difference.

Really? Not coming from a subway city (grew up in the Twin Cities), I was a little overwhelmed when I moved to Tokyo. Then I realized the trains are color-coded. After that it was easy; just a matter of living in Tokyo long enough to get a sense of where things were.

Best of all of course is the (typically San Franciscan) fratricidal self-interest that keeps the various transit agencies from working together in any useful way. So, unlike any reasonable city (London, Hong Kong, &c;.), you have one pass for the bus, another for BART, and yet a third for Caltrain.

In Tokyo they just introduced...PASMO! Look at all the integrated services. Tokyo's the largest city in the world, and with that little sucker you can ride any train and any bus. The city is your hassle-free public-transportation oyster.

Since I live in East Williamsburg/West Bushwick/whatevs, most of my neighbors are Puerto Rican but that's quickly changing. I look out my front window and see no less than three brand-new buildings under construction, literally across the street from the projects, no less. Out my back window, I see no less than five. It isn't just hipsters, families are starting to move in, Khim's opened a new branch on Bushwick Ave and the Montrose stop now has a bar nearby.

I don't see myself leaving the 'hood any time soon, unless I strike it rich or sumpin. I live in a new building where my rent is well below market value and I'm joined by quite a few friends from either college or back home. Despite all its pretentions, I've grown very fond of Williamsburg over the last three years, although I avoid Bedford on weekend nights and Union Pool always.

Why am i not shocked that Primer is filled with Williamsburg/Greenpoint cocksuckers? At least y'alls are baseball fans so you don't get up early on saturdays to root for your carefully-chosen-for-coolness EPL team which you've been lifelong fans of because you second cousin thrice removed once lived in Liverpool or some ridiculous horseshit excuse like that.

Yeah yeah yeah Chelsea Scum blh blah lick me.

Taipei's subway system is pretty good.

In Tokyo they just introduced...PASMO! Look at all the integrated services. Tokyo's the largest city in the world, and with that little sucker you can ride any train and any bus. The city is your hassle-free public-transportation oyster.

We have that too

Yeah, well, I once saw the one on 86th and Broadway screaming " NO HABLO ESPANOL" to a bunch of German tourists, obviously just being an #######, but, like, so it goes.

Yeah, I lost a bet with my friend once, I had to yell "GODZILLA!!!" whenever I saw a large White person.

Yeah, I lost a bet with my friend once, I had to yell "GODZILLA!!!" whenever I saw a large White person.

I would think that you would do that simply for fun.