[Previous entry: "Willoughby Wasteland"] [Next entry: "Needled"]
12/01/2004: "My Way or the Subway"
The 4 train is my favorite in the New York City subway system. It's the only one that I've ever dressed up as for Halloween -- I think that was when I was four years old, in fact.
When I was growing up, the R62s were the cars used on the 4, and they were shiny and new. They still are among the nicer trains in the subway system, but you don't see a lot of 4 trains that look like this anymore.
That's because they're now using the latest edition of shiny new trains, and to be honest, I kind of miss the "old" ones, because it was nice to see the illuminated green circle charging into the station.
I took that picture last week, when they were using those cars on the 4 train because they had extra 4s running to make up for the fact that there was no 3 train service.
Anyway, there are only two stations I haven't been to on the 4. Woodlawn in the Bronx and Utica Avenue in Brooklyn. The 4 gets extended to New Lots Avenue late at night to replace the 3, but the odds of me taking a 4 out to New Lots during late night hours is nil.
It's been my goal for a long time to travel to all the subway stops in the city, but I won't go to any place just for the sake of going. I've got to be going somewhere. If I take an interesting route to get there, as I did last week going from Jamaica to Union Square via the J and L trains, that's OK. But I'm not going to take a train for all of its stops just for the sake of doing it.
Of course, at this point, I've realized that there are certain places that I'll just never go. So, I've got to look for things to do in places I've never been. The Internet is helpful this way, but also misleading. I went to Jamaica ostensibly to shop for holiday presents, but I wound up at a weird mall full of shady jewelry stands that sold gold teeth.
Is this whole thing kind of silly? Sure, and I'll gladly admit that. But I'd like to finish my subway tour of the city by the time I'm 30. There comes a time when it goes from silly and a little cute to being immature. Maybe that's just my mental perception of it, and it's already immature. Not that I'm going to stop riding the subway once I've gotten to every stop, but I'd like to get it done, certainly before the Second Avenue line opens. That's supposed to happen around the time I'm 30 anyway, so I think it works as a goal.
Here's the list of stations I still need to go to. If you know of any interesting things to do near any of these stops, let me know!
Manhattan (2)
145th Street (3)
148th Street (3)
Brooklyn (26)
Marcy Avenue (J, M, Z)
Hewes Street (J, M)
Lorimer Street (J, M)
Flushing Avenue (J, M)
Myrtle Avenue (J, M, Z)
Central Avenue (M)
Knickerbocker Avenue (M)
Kosciuszko Street (J)
Gates Avenue (J, Z)
Halsey Street (J)
Chauncey Street (J, Z)
Atlantic Avenue (L)
Sutter Avenue (L)
Livonia Avenue (L)
New Lots Avenue (L)
East 105th Street (L)
Rockaway Parkway (L)
Utica Avenue (3, 4)
Sutter Avenue/Rutland Road (3)
Satatoga Avenue (3)
Rockaway Avenue (3)
Junius Street (3)
Pennsylvania Avenue (3)
Van Siclen Avenue (3)
New Lots Avenue (3)
95th Street (R)
Queens (23)
Lefferts Boulevard (A)
Aqueduct (A)
JFK Airport (A)
Broad Channel (A)
Beach 90th Street (A)
Beach 98th Street (A)
Beach 105th Street (A)
Rockaway Park (A)
Beach 67th Street (A)
Beach 60th Street (A)
Beach 44th Street (A)
Beach 36th Street (A)
Beach 25th Street (A)
Far Rockaway (A)
179th Street (F)
169th Street (F)
Parsons Boulevard (F)
Sutphin Boulevard (F)
Van Wyck Boulevard (F)
Seneca Avenue (M)
Forest Avenue (M)
Fresh Pond Road (M)
Metropolitan Avenue (M)
Bronx (19)
Woodlawn (4)
205th Street (D)
Bronx Park East (2, 5)
Pelham Parkway (2, 5)
Allerton Avenue (2, 5)
Burke Avenue (2, 5)
Gun Hill Road (2, 5)
219th Street (2, 5)
225th Street (2, 5)
233rd Street (2, 5)
Nereid Avenue (2, 5)
241st Street (2)
Morris Park (5)
Pelham Parkway (5)
Gun Hill Road (5)
Baychester Avenue (5)
Dyre Avenue (5)
Buhre Avenue (6)
Pelham Bay Park (6)
About
