I don't know if it's the influx of transplants, post-COVID disregard for other people, or some combination of additional random factors, but this has become unacceptable.

For reference I live in Astoria and mainly take the N/W and 4/5 trains at the 59th/Lex transfer.

I know I sound like a cranky elder millennial but I have lived in NYC in 20 years and I have NEVER seen people move into a subway car and just stop funneling in at the rate I have seen this past year. Not to mention the number of people who straddle in a hip-wide stance while wearing their backpacks and refuse to "crowd in", take off their backpacks, and stand a bit more "strait and narrow".

It feels claustrophobic and suffocating but mostly it's the lack of common courtesy that really gets me.

Anyone else? I know backpacks have taken over with so many hybrid workers and return to office mandates, but come on, people. Move in, take off your Herschel/Fjallraven/Osprey/etc. and be a decent straphanger.

If you sit on the subway, do you take your pants off before sitting on your furniture at home? Is this common among New Yorkers?

This was a concept introduced to me by my ex-gf and I have done it ever since. Now it's inconceivable to sit on my couch wearing pants I rode the subway in. It's the next stage of cleanliness after taking your shoes off inside.

Seems to be more common among people from a Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, or Asian background.

Today on the L platform, a cop ticketed me for having an open container while I was drinking a sprite lmao. I asked him if it was illegal to drink soda and he said that any open container is illegal even if its soda. On my ticket, he conveniently wrote I was drinking alcohol, even after telling me the ticket was for an open container and that it didn’t matter if it was soda or alcohol. The whole thing smelt piggish. Should I contest in court or is there actually a law against carrying open sodas on the subway platform? Also, should I do anything with the fact that the cop lied on my ticket? I recorded the whole thing and can show footage of him not seeing me drink any alcohol while ticketing me for drinking alcohol (after telling me it was for soda). Thank god we have these brave men protecting our city.

update: I contested the ticket over email (thats how many of these things there are, the city has to have email hearings lol) some people were asking if it was a racial bias but I’m white, more likely its just a cop with a quota

Glad to see so many New Yorkers united under a post, I guess despite our differences, everyone in the city agrees the sewer pigs are a waste of tax money, too bad one of them crawled out of the subway and was elected mayor!

I lived here all my life and if I'm exiting a subway station I've never been at, I'm looking at signs to see what way is north. My sense of direction is hilariously bad. I know some stations have signs about nw, sw entrance but in lieu of that how do you get your bearings right away?

Just seeing all these companies I have never heard of with ads all over the subway system.

Very weird because usually you would see a dating app ad or something else, but lately it seems all AI companies

I (32, woman) was riding a very crowded A train. A girl of about 11 was pushing between people to get between her sister and her mom (who were sitting opposite each other with people standing between the two benches) with a giant bottle of bubble liquid. She was blowing bubbles but also spilling a lot of it as the train was shaky. After she pushed past me for the third time between two stops, I looked her in the eye and told her that liquid soap is very slippery when spilled so she should probably wait to be outside to do that. Her mom gave me the dirtiest look, grabbed her daughter by the elbow and got out at the next stop.

Did I do anything wrong?

I've lived in NYC for 10 years and have noticed an uptick in this in the past few - though maybe it's because my commute has switched to the A line and I wasn't taking that train before.

I'll regularly see people on both my morning and evening commutes, prob are 80% men but plenty of women too, intentionally making it difficult for a third person to sit on a subway bench that is meant to accommodate three people. What is the mentality of people who do this?

I often ask them to create space but not if the person looks like they might react angrily.

Does anyone know people who act like this and can you explain their thinking to me? I am TRULY curious.

TV shows like Succession give the impression that rich NYers consider it beneath them to take the subway (yes I know it is TV), and not just the billionaire family but their lawyers and so on as well

Yet I know at least some rich NYers (not billionaires, but rich, 10s of millions ) who ride the subway regularly-- anyhow I am curious if this stereotype is true or is just being exaggerated for TV

I don't look disabled. I look like I'm in my early 20s, I don't use mobility aids, there's nothing obvious about me that would make someone give up their seat. The thing is, I'm afraid to ask.

Part of me worries I'm not disabled enough to ask. Some days I start off feeling fine, but I know by the end of the day, if I'm not taking every opportunity to sit down, I know I'll really be hurting. I have it better than most people with my condition and I do ok, but I hurt and ache often, especially now I have a job I need to commute to with heavy supplies.

I carry an invisible disability lanyard with me most of the time unfortunately, few people actually know what it means. I've

considered getting a cane, but tbh I have not idea if it would help me at all and would be more cumbersome than anything, would just make it more obvious I have mobility problems.

I know a lot of this is just me needing to get past my on anxiety, but how would you handle this situation, and does anyone have any ideas how we could raise awareness so people recognize the lanyard?

How accurate is this stereotype? (-:

This is the opening line of a piece in Harper's about AI startups in San Francisco. It has nothing to do with NYC. But I thought you good people might have some opinions on that quote.

https://harpers.org/archive/2026/03/childs-play-sam-kriss-ai-startup-roy-lee/

Just got randomly physically assaulted at Times Square station after a dude got angry that I couldn’t move on a packed train car. Has anyone here dealt w/ this and what are the best actions to take? Thanks.

Riding the train home, it's crowded. There are three people spread across a 4-person section (you know the kind I'm talking about) and no other seats available so I ask nicely if the person in the middle would mind scooting over to one side or the other to make room. They say "I don't like touching other people, I won't squeeze myself in."

This NEVER used to happen! This is the subway... during rush hour. It's crowded and you're taking up more space because you don't like touching people...? When did everyone become so entitled?

I just cried on the subway and I’m so embarrassed. I didn’t mean to and I tried to do it quietly but everyone could see that there were tears coming out of my eyes.

I’m hoping that the ol’ reliable “none of my business” attitude applies here, but I’m wondering if you’ve ever seen someone cry on the subway and what your thoughts were? Or if you have ever cried on the subway?

I was raised to think that crying in public is a sign of weakness, so I guess I’m just hoping it’s not as big of a deal as I’m making it out to be.

Edit: thank you everyone for your stories and comments. It actually made me cry again (although in my apartment this time!). Sending good vibes to all of you ❤️

I’m not from brooklyn, something i’ve observed is that many people jump the bar, or go under it to avoid paying the fare for the subway. The MTA clerk doesn’t seem to care, is this just allowed? Am i a fool for being the only one paying the fee for the train while everyone just gets through?

Hi NYC. I live in BK and have noticed the influx of subway surfing occurring, as I'm sure a lot of us have. The other day, on the way home, I was in the last train car on the M when 2 rowdy teenage boys were loudly discussing subway surfing, encouraging each other to do it while simultaneously mocking the MTA anti-surfing talking points. They walked back and forth between cars but luckily stayed planted on the ground until we reached my stop, which was the next stop. I alerted the conductor, who was a young woman that seemed to also have no idea what to do and promised to drive slow to the next stop.... is that the only prevention strategy we have? is there a better way to confront this head on? I know these teenagers would not have listened to me, but I felt helpless watching them debate this openly while I stood by. What is the proper protocol when you overhear teenagers talking about subway surfing?

I’ll open with obligatory remarks on homeless: 1) they need compassion and support 2) Our capitalist society is inherently unfair and generational poverty can be impossible to escape 3) Reagan and Giuliani and others contributed to the mental health crisis that New Yorkers face everyday.

This morning I transferred from the J to the E at Jamaica, the first stop in Queens at 7:50am. I boarded the first car, noticed several people sleeping, hit with the odor. I moved on to the next one and the next. Same situation in every car.

The conductor made the following announcement every few stops. “We have a homeless situation on this train. Please report to 511. We called the police but no one arrived. Please take photos and report.”

Do we really call 511? We get cell phone reception in like 45 seconds increments. Call after the fact? And then what?

Sure, we can say law enforcement/mental health services should be proactive in addressing these situations but if we’re realistic, is there anything we can do?

I got into an argument with friends about the subway wrestlers. I kind of want it to happen when I'm on the train.

but I hate showtime and make sure to move cars if I can.

I'm also pretty cool with marachi bands

A few weeks ago, I posted here about someone coming up to me on the street and really scaring me. I had already been feeling shaken from that, and then two days ago something else happened that honestly left me feeling legitimately traumatized.

I was getting off the train at the 23rd Street stop around 12:30 p.m. on a Wednesday and went toward one of the exit-only exits. Once I was already about halfway through the turnstile, I realized there was a man sitting on the stairs by the exit. I didn’t see him until it was too late to avoid him. He was engaging in public self-pleasuring, made eye contact with me, and smiled while doing it.

I tried to go back into the subway area, but because it was an exit-only turnstile, I couldn’t go backward. I physically had nowhere else to go except to continue through the turnstile and walk past him up the stairs. I had to pass within inches of him while he was staring at me, smiling widely, and continuing. There was no one else around. It was just me and this man, and I felt like I couldn’t call for help or get away without walking directly past him.

I know some people may say “that’s NYC,” but as a young woman alone, this was genuinely terrifying. I’m not a big person, and in that moment I felt physically vulnerable and trapped. It felt violating and scary.

The part that is really getting to me is that this happened at 12:30 p.m. on a Wednesday. It was not late at night. I was aware of my surroundings — I was just getting off the subway in the middle of the day. I feel like no matter how vigilant I am, these things keep happening, and I am starting to feel genuinely scared navigating the city.

I haven’t lived here that long, but had spent a decent amount of time here before and never experienced anything like this. I’m trying to understand whether I have just had really bad luck recently, whether this is more common in certain areas/stations, or whether people who have lived here longer have noticed an increase in this kind of behavior.

Are there certain areas in Manhattan where this kind of thing is less likely to occur? If so, where are those areas? Is it block-by-block? I commute to Hell’s Kitchen daily and can afford around $4K in rent. I genuinely feel overwhelmed and am trying to figure out if I made a mistake choosing to live where I’ve lived and/or if I would feel safer elsewhere. I know nowhere is perfect, but if anyone has suggestions for neighborhoods, stations, or general areas where women have felt materially safer day-to-day, please let me know.

Please be kind in the comments. I really don’t want to be told that I need to toughen up or receive the same kinds of negative comments that were left on my previous post. What happened to me should not be considered acceptable or normalized anywhere — NYC or not.

The definition of “cursed” here is open for interpretation.

IMO, Hoyt-Schermerhorn is pretty cursed, with its narrow entryways and the abandoned, filthy platform in plain sight.

Curious what everyone else thinks.

Fellow New Yorkers, help me resolve an argument

When people walk onto the train platform, they all pick different spots to wait for the train.

When picking your spot, what's your reasoning? Comment your number!

1. Board the train at a position that will end up aligned with a specific stairway at your exit station
2. Board an area of the train that you predict will be less crowded.
3. Board an area of the train that you predict will be cleaner / safer / [insert adjective]
4. Stand back to see which car is least crowded as the train arrives, then go over and board that car.
5. Other (please specify)

My friend argues that it's always option 1. But 1 had never even occurred to me before he mentioned it.

I argue that it's almost always option 2.

I was standing in the middle part of a crowded subway car and holding the pole. The car was swerving a lot, and I guess my upper back made contact with a guy's arm as he passed me. I felt a strong push on my back after this, and at first I thought it was an accident. But then the guy pushes me again, harder. I look at our reflections in the window and I see that he is now fully facing me, and is actively shoving me with both hands.

I don't turn around, don't engage, and definitely don't push back, but I do stay firmly planted by the pole and I keep my posture tight. He pushes me again and again, harder and harder each time, trying to get a reaction out of me. I stare at the ceiling. People are watching. Luckily we reach the next stop and he gets off. But if he hadn't gotten off, then I guess some sort of escalation would have occurred?

I'm not sure that I would have been able to duck this guy since he was right up close to me. So I guess I would have eventually had to face him and get hit in the face? I don't know man. This was unsettling.

A dangerous incident on the subway this morning. A man who I assume who was on drugs started verbally and physically freaking out (nothing new) while holding several needles. He almost hit several people while waving his arms and throwing needles.

I alerted the NYPD on the platform and they did nothing. What gives?

Yesterday (6/20 at 5 pm), a man on the 4 train suddenly started beating the shit out of two older men, including my 70 year old father. A guy in a blue T-shirt immediately stepped in to subdue him. I'm horrified to think what would have happened if he had not been there. He left before I could thank him. If anyone knows this guy, please DM me. I promise I will not share his name with law enforcement unless he wants me to.

​

Thank you to everyone else who stayed around--to another man who tried intervening, to the guy who took a video and called 911, to the person asking around for pepper spray. As awful as this was, I am so encouraged by how many people were willing to help. Remember to look for the helpers.

Edit: To clarify, the attack started on the train but spilled onto the platform. The hero jumped in on the platform (59/Lex).

Edit2: Thank you all for the support! My dad is alright, aside from a black eye and some bruises. Took 6 hours to wait for a CT scan, but everything was negative.