My first few apartments in New York were near the 6 Train. Using the 6 Train as your primary train is like eating from a salad bar and filling your bowl with only croutons. It may work for you, but only if you have specific, limited requirements and a tiny imagination.
It was several years before I felt comfortable with the rest of the system. If I was on the West Side and I needed to get to Yankee Stadium, I had to actually consult the map and think twice.
Now I live Uptown, work in Midtown, and have a wide variety of routes at my disposal. The labyrinth went from over-my-head to back-of-my-hand, though I can’t pinpoint the moment when the information fully settled. But it’s there now and it feels good to master something that seemed so complex at first.
As long as we’re not talking about Brooklyn and Queens. That’s just a mess.
You got something against the J and Z? Lol
[1] Used to take those all the time from Wall Street to Brooklyn. Not sure why, but I always enjoyed those rides most.
I am pretty sure I've been on every subway line and most of the shuttles, but sometimes still find myself checking that map, especially when waiting on the platform. There's always a route you never thought of waiting to be discovered. It's also a fun way to refamiliarize yourself with the city's geography.
How about the G at Franklin Avenue. You needed your wits about you to ride that train.
I always loved how when I lived in the Bronx, the same borough as Yankee Stadium, I would have to take the 1 from 242nd (or 231st later on) to 168th, take the elevator down to the A which I would take downtown for 2 stops to 145th where I would then grab an uptown B/D to the Stadium. By the time I was a sophomore in college I had it down to a science...but damn was that a lot to do to get to a place that was LITERALLY 10 minutes away via car.
[3] For a brief assignment, I took the G to Astoria and never liked the layout of most of the stations. It is, however, the only train that can take you from the heart of Brooklyn to the heart of Queens without travling through Manhattan.
[4] I always took the Bx9 across to the 4 train. Takes about 45 minutes. Now, though, that they've opened the Metro-North station at the stadium I usually take that instead. 7 minutes, baby!
[1]
Did Jay-Z get his name from those lines?
As an aside, I predict the first 2nd avenue subway train with paying customers will embark in 2021.
[7] He denies it, but in fact the Marcy Houses where he used to live and, um, do his business in are close to the J and Z trains.
Jon, that's my story, too (except now I live in Westchester). I don't know when exactly my epiphany occurred, but I realized that like Einstein's theory on parallel lines, all the trains connect to each other at some point, so it was safe to get on any train to get to the one you really want. Of course it's better to know the system like the back of your hand...
[8] now that i have potty training to contend with, i have to re-learn the system w/ usable toilets. or just never go anywhere i guess....