Six Cabs to Superior Understanding
Foreign correspondents love to interview local cab drivers for their political opinions. Or sometimes just to hear the best jokes.
masstransit
A collection of 20 issues
How the Dead Live
There’s a peculiar odor to burning hope—it’s the smell of exhaust fumes, human sweat, and a fast-food container interred under a seat cushion.
My Country, My Train, My K-Hole
There are plenty of good reasons to ride a train cross-country, but for our correspondent and his attention index, hitting the rails has one purpose: to escape the merciless internet.
Bus Bus Riddim
Bus lines across New York are being rerouted this summer, if not cancelled--and where buses go, so goes the city.
Careful, the Doors Are Closing
Last month's suicide attacks in Moscow shocked anyone who studied Dzhanet Abdullayeva's photo. But it wasn't her baby face or cold blood that impressed our writer. It was her choice of metro stations.
Get Hyphenated
Branding a Brooklyn subway station is greater than a typographic concern. Weaving a brief history of the dash in America, the Czech Republic, and John Wayne's poetry.
The Mumbai Limited
Middle-class life in India requires two wheels. Our local correspondent adapts to rage on the road and learns about purchasing underwear while commuting.
The 11:11 to Penn Station, or Exodus
The Long Island Railroad is New York’s lifeline in the summer—a fleet of rescue vehicles destined for the beach. For some, though, it’s also a means to find freedom. Reporting from every station down the line.
Kingsbridge Road, 4 Train
Once clear of Yankee Stadium, the 4 train runs north toward Van Cortlandt Park along a thoroughfare named by a society matron in a fit of pique.
Cypress Hills, J Train
Turning an elevated corner, in the crook of which stands a decaying apartment, shades drawn to half-mast, darkness inside where life is shared with a world not paying attention, our writer does light research.
The Unwritten Code of Subway Performers, Written
Experts answer what they know. The Non-Expert answers anything. This week we reveal the unspoken rules that govern the work, relationships, and processes that take place every day amongst the city's many subway musicians, ventriloquists, acrobats, and the like.
Cloaks and Daggers
When half of the world's Hasidim live within a subway ride of each other, the disappearance of two teenage girls is big news, especially when they've run away to escape.
How to Walk in New York
Walk or don't walk? In New York, there is rarely a choice. The ground rules for how you should maneuver the pavement, always showing your best side under special circumstances, and what to do when sidewalk rage hits.
Diamonds Aren't Forever
New York City's Q Diamond train was retired from service this weekend, and a merry group of mourners held a party for its last ride.
New York Do's and Don'ts
With budget crises, unemployment, and wild animals on the loose, New York can be a difficult place to navigate. Luckily, we have some tips on how to make contemporary Gotham life more bearable.
Lost in Translation
The Chinatown bus network: offerring inexpensive transport between the major Chinatowns of the eastern US. The New York Times coos over the novelty; we actually take a ride on the bus and have a decidedly different take.
What Lies Beneath
New York and Washington have their differences, but the greatest disparity (at least to someone who just moved from Manhattan) is in their subway systems.
Gillian Zoe Segal
The photographer and author of New York Characters on farts, the infamous Dr. Zizmor, and losing her husband to the kindness of strangers.
From Here to There
Stalking may not be in right now, but don't let that deter you. Spend a day following people around New York.
New York Solitaire
New York is a filthy place, through and through. So how have we convinced ourselves that it’s such a beautiful city? A game to sort through the trash and find a better life.