The Subway & Thoughts of Mortality

thesubwaychron:

It’s pretty hard not to think about your own mortality when you are faced with a hulking death machine hurtling towards you at least twice daily.

It seems that 2012 is a particularly bad year for what first responders colloquially refer to as “train jobs.” An MTA spokesman is reported to have said that so far this year, there have been 21 fatalities caused by oncoming trains. Last year almost 150 people were struck my trains in the NYC subway system.

I’ve had numerous conversations about what would be worth going into the tracks for (answer: nothing) or the best survival strategy for if you were unlucky enough to end up in the tracks.

I read somewhere that the mortality rate once you’re in the tracks is 50%.

There are several approaches:
1) lay down in the middle of the tracks and hope a stray low hanging piece of metal doesn’t cut you in half.
2) crouch in the space under the platform next to the train.
3) do your best to avoid touching the third (electrified) rail and stand in the space between the two tracks.

The first seems the most terrifying but also the most likely to result in survival if you only have a few panicked seconds.

The second is more or less viable depending on what stop you’re at and how much clearance there is under the platform. Also, I feel like this wouldn’t be a very popular option as if you are so close to freedom and getting out of the tracks I think most people are tempted to go up rather than down. It seems that a lot of fatalities occur in this manner - as people are desperately trying to climb up out of the way of the oncoming train. I guess getting out of the tracks seems like a more appealing option than huddling in a tiny dark space as a giant piece of metal comes and momentarily blocks you in there.

The third seems to be the MTA (Metropolitan Transport Authority) preferred option. In between the tracks or on the side opposite the platform there are usually spots marked with red and white stripes and signs stating “No Clearance”, i.e. “Stand here when a train is coming, you die, stand elsewhere, not so much.” There are sometimes even inset spaces in the wall to duck into (survival pods as I like to call them.) I feel like this strategy requires the most cool-calm-collected-ness to locate the nearest survival pod and negotiate the third rail to get to it.

Given the disturbing amount of accidental fatalities in the subway I’m surprised there aren’t any “What to do if you fall in the tracks” PSAs. Or if there are they are well hidden. I think the closest I’ve seen is a “Don’t drink and ride the subway” campaign.

In Japan there was a barrier between you and the tracks, the subway doors aligned with doors on the barrier which opened simulatenously.

You would think a more lax attitude towards safety subway would be fine if fatalities were few and far between but they’re really not.

Perhaps it’s just a symptom of a city of 8 million and the death rate only seems high to me. Maybe it’s a case of Darwinism at its finest.  All I know is that crossing the invisible line between the platform and the tracks is like sticking your head under the blade of a guillotine with a jack in the box trigger.

Half a pound of tuppenny rice, half a pound of treacle, that’s the way the money goes, POP! goes the weasel you’re dead.

I definitely pondered the best way to survive if I ever fell/was pushed onto the tracks. Overall it seemed pretty hopeless, especially if it was rush hour and you literally had 60 seconds between trains. 

This whole ordeal was especially evident when I was transferring from the N, Q or R train to the L train (which was like everyday from Times Square back to my apartment). The L train was on a lower level to the NQR trains so I had to walk a long day down the platform to reach the stairs. Along the way, there were stairs going up that blocked 90% of the platform so you had to walk on the tiny space between the stairs and the platform edge! Especially scary late at night when you’re walking and a drunken guy comes up behind you - you don’t know when they might decide to stumble and grab onto you for support. 

I love New York and I love the ease that the subway provides but something definitely needs to be done about people falling onto the tracks! 

new-yorkcity:

Midtown Manhattan.

Click through for a larger version

(Source: Flickr / ryanbudhu)

thirteenth blog: SPACE Tour 11/26/2011

Starkid SPACE Tour with Guest Star DARREN CRISS

Saturday November 26th, Irving Plaza. 

By some miracle, I managed to obtain a ticket to this gig, which involved my awesome brother waking up early on a weekend to get online and nab for me whilst I was at work! The show was an immediate sell out, so I am forever grateful for that! I have been a fan of Team Starkid for years, since the early days when AVPM was released online (I’m a total nerd, whatever!) I’ve been a fan of Darren Criss for even longer since I stumbled across his covers on YouTube. 

I’ve spent the past couple of years watching YouTube videos of various Starkids playing small gigs for their loyal fanbase. Sitting there being completely jealous of the Americans who got to go! But my chance was finally here, 12pm, 26th November 2011 was the day I joined the lucky few! 

Outside Irving Plaza

The beautiful Charlene Kaye opened for Starkid. I was enjoying her act, but looked down at my camera to adjust the settings for better photos and everyone just went mental! Girls were screaming in my ear. I looked up at the stage and saw this guy just standing there:

Darren Criss! At least give a girl some warning before her idol walks onto the stage. I felt myself grin so much and I stayed like that the entire show. I had a total fangirl moment and couldn’t believe I was breathing the same air as Darren Criss.

Darren left the stage (presumably to get ready for the show) and Charlene finished off her fabulous act. It was time for the Starkids to take the stage!

What a talented bunch of people they are. I enjoyed every moment of the show, singing along as loud as I could and laughing at all their hilarious sketches. Highlights included:

- Joey Richter and Lauren Lopez singing ‘Granger Danger’
- Dylan Saunders EVERY TIME HE SUNG SOMETHING. The man has a voice like an angel.
- Jaime Lynn Beatty and Brian Holden just generally being hilarious
- Meredith Stepien singing ‘Coolest Girl’
- Darren Criss and his solo songs
- Sobbing my way through ‘Not Alone’ and ‘To Have a Home’ 
- The boys ‘sexy dancing’ in ‘Boy Toy’ 
- Back to Hogwarts (and shouting GRYFFINDOR really loudly)

Here, have some more photos!

The crew!

After the show, I went back to my apartment to figure out what I was going to do with the rest of the day. I decided I should head back before the evening show finished and maybe try grab some autographs. I wasn’t terribly hopeful but I had nothing else planned to sit up the barriers at the stage door. The result:

Brian Holden and Myself

Lauren Lopez and Myself

Dylan Saunders and Myself

Brittany Coleman and Myself

Elona Finlay and Myself

Meredith Stepien and Myself

All in all, not bad for a kid from New Zealand who had only been living in the USA for a few weeks! I also got a video message from Dylan for some of my friends. Darren was not signing that night, word going round was that he was ill which is totally fair enough. I did however snap a creeper photo of him leaving the stage door.

In the blue beanie

Total spoiler, but I met Darren not once but twice a month and half later. Boo and yah.

I decided to get my ticket signed as a souvenir. 

Overall, it was such an incredible day! I am just so lucky that my trip coincided with SPACE Tour and that the Starkids decided to play NYC AND that my all-time favourite Starkid was able to join the gang for the show. Best day ever!

twelfth blog: Thanksgiving

A childhood dream of mine has always been to see the MACY’s day Thanksgiving Parade and in 2011 I was able to make that dream a reality! 

One of my roommates invited me to go along with her and her friends to watch - I was glad, company is always nice! The thing with the parade is, there are literally millions of people who line the streets of New York to see the parade, therefore getting there early enough to get a prime viewing spot is key. In this case, a 5am arrival for a 9am parade start. Luckily the apartment was close to where we intended to stand, so after taking the subway a couple of stops to 72nd street opposite Central Park (on the C train) and making a stop at Starbucks and waiting in a very long line, we claimed a spot at the front of barrier! 

The parade itself lasts for two and a half hours, and features various floats, balloons, celebrity guests and performances. It definitely lived up to the hype! Here are some highlights:

So many marching bands! They all represented different states and so dressed in representation of their state. Hawaii had traditional island dress on (over track pants in the cold NYC weather!) Southern states were adorned in sparkles and sequins - just like in beauty pageants! 

You can kind of see Avril Lavigne behind the white car here. 

Pikachu!

Cee Low Green

There are literally hundreds of photos of the parade on my computer - it was like nothing I have ever seen. A parade that goes for over two hours!? Incredible. 

After that I hightailed it to the train station to head out to Long Island to spend Thanksgiving with my friend. Penn Station was CHAOS. I have never seen anything like it. We take for granted in NZ that it is relatively easy to drive to relatives houses but people are very spread out in the USA. Eventually I made my way out there for my first traditional American Thanksgiving dinner. 

I had never tasted turkey before. I know. Shame on my name, right? It was amazing. The food, everything was amazing. And the atmosphere. Like I’ve said before, take every stereotype you’ve ever seen/heard about America and apply it. It is all true.  So my first Thanksgiving was also my best! 

Side note: on Thanksgiving I vaguely remember hoping that I would see Squirrels at some point in NYC. Well it wasn’t NYC but the very next day I saw squirrels at my friend’s university campus! So exciting!

Squirrel 

eleventh blog: aaaaand we’re done. but not quite.

Hello guys! So once again I failed at regularly updating my blog. I mean really failed, as in, I am currently on the plane back to New Zealand. The adventure is over!

Luckily, everything is still relatively fresh in my mind and I jotted down some notes at different events so I’ll try and do a write up about everything over the next few weeks. I tend to go overboard with details so I’ll try to fix that, otherwise I will still be writing this blog this time in 2013! I think the fact that I didn’t have any time to update this is a testament to how crazy the past few months have been. It was a rare occasion when  I was siting still long enough to sit down and write a blog. I definitely kept busy! When I was at my apartment, I was on Skype with my family (who I am so very excited to see in about 13 hours!)

I know I did a little reflection blog after I left NYC, but I feel like I should write another one. I’m pretty emotional at the moment, I can’t wait to get home. I can’t believe what has happened the past few months. I’m overwhelmingly proud of myself for taking up the challenge of moving to NYC. I feel so lucky that I had the opportunities that I did to travel around and see so many different parts of the USA. I feel like when I step off the plane in Auckland (or on my Tahiti stop-over, whatever) I’ll be holding my head the highest it has ever been. Travelling solo means you have to learn to put yourself out there. You have to trust yourself otherwise you’ll go nowhere. Trusting myself and my judgement was something I have always struggled with. I’ve always second guessed myself but when travelling you can’t do that – especially when you’re by yourself. You don’t get second chances (at least not until you make the very long trip back). The one thing that stood out for me the most was that I made a point of becoming a ‘yes’ girl and taking up each and every opportunity presented to me. The pay-offs were huge.

I guess in sticking with my ‘trying to make these shorter’ theme, I’ll write up a summary of highlights from the past few months.

Darren Criss - Is it sad that this is number one? Probably. But I don’t care. Seeing Darren Criss and Team Starkid perform live was amazing. Especially because it was an intimate concert and not many people get that opportunity. Seriously, they’re an amazing group of performers and Darren Criss is well, Darren Criss. Seeing his opening night on Broadway was a HUGE honour as well. It was incredible to be there to support someone who inspires me so much. And of course this happened:

Heck yeah I met Darren Criss!

Times Square – I’ve mentioned this in an earlier post but stepping out of the subway station and seeing it for the first time was a moment that I will never forget.

Broadway – Because where else can you see a professional musical whenever you want? Seriously though, I loved being so close to all the Broadway shows. Thank god for student/general rush tickets though, otherwise my bank account wouldn’t love it so much.

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Does this need an explanation? Pretty self explanatory. If you’re a Harry Potter fan, get here ASAP! Word of warning though: bring plenty of Galleons. The shopping on Hogsmeade easily beats that on 5th Avenue or Rodeo Drive.

Disneyland – I’ve been waiting for this since I was four and it didn’t disappoint. Everything about it was amazing. The downside was that I chose to visit during President’s week! Yikes – apparently a lot of states get the entire week off so it was a little busier than I had hoped for a Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. However, I still managed to get through everything I wanted to see and meet some of my favourite childhood characters! Mickey and Minnie, Donald Duck, Cinderella and Alice. Hollah! Definitely utilize the fast pass service if it is available on a ride, along with the single rider line if you don’t mind being split up from your friends. A two hour wait for Splash Mountain was a five minute wait for me! Also, if you don’t want to get wet on Splash Mountain, try sit in the very bank (if you’re in the single rider line you’ll get put here anyway). You hardly get a drop on you. Other honourable mention for rides is the Hollywood Hotel at California Adventure. Freaky and fun, but hold on to your bags (you have to take them on with you or leave them with a non-rider), they’ll go flying when you drop. The ‘World of Colour’ show at California Adventure is also definitely worth a watch! 8pm every night, it is a water and lights show that is indescribably good. Fast passes for prime viewing areas are available however these tend to go before the park even opens! Be there at 9am when the doors open and go straight to collect one – you’ll have to wait around for everything else to open at 10am but worth it. Alternatively you can buy a $16 lunch box that comes with the fast pass. Food wasn’t too bad and that is not much more than you’d pay for a burger and fries elsewhere in the park. If those have fun out before you get there, you can book for table service at Ariel’s Grotto, but you’ll be looking at upwards of $40 USD per meal! Yikes.

So the adventure is over, but I’m so excited to see what is in store next! Back to uni Monday for my last year of my BA. Can’t wait to see all my friends and Whanau again. And hear New Zealand ‘ekcents’. I’ll probably cringe at first but I’ll be so glad to be home.

Until next time [or when I decide to finish blogging about this trip]

Xoxo Jade

tenth blog: an update.

Hello hello!

So I know that I am like two months behind in blogging, but I will try give you a summary update the best that I can!

I just moved out of my apartment and into a hostel for my last four days in NYC, then I’m off to travel! The thing with living in NYC is that it really sucks your time, there is always something to do or see so what little computer time I had left between working, touristing and being a good roommate and doing my share of chores was dedicated to keeping in contact with my amazing friends and Whanau. I guess I set myself some pretty big goals and had some pretty big dreams for my time in NYC, and I can proudly say that I’ve achieved all of these and more, things I didn’t realise I would learn here. I feel like my whole world view has opened up. I would absolutely be lying if I said there weren’t challenges adjusting to life in a new country, but overall, it has been the most incredible, crazy couple of months of my life. 

I think this reflection is being provoked by the fact that I am back in the hostel I was in when I first arrived in NYC. It was so good I decided to finish my stay here (and it was like 3 minutes from my apartment, so moving my very heavy suitcases was a lot easier). When I first got off the plane, I was really overwhelmed by NYC, and I think that (as much as I denied it at the time), there was a part of me that doubted I could do this. Who was I to successfully undertake setting up a life in NYC when so many others had tried and failed? 

I feel like a different person now. My self belief is the strongest it has ever been. I feel so confident that I achieved my dream by working really hard for it. Anything is possible guys, as long as you try! At the risk of sounding cliche, don’t just sit there and expect that you’ll do it one day (whatever it is you want to do/achieve). Because that day may never come. Just do it. Make it happen! 

I had an awesome job, decent places to live and a chance to see everything I’ve always wanted, but tribute must be made to all of the AMAZING people I’ve met since I’ve been here! From my Glee Project crew, to the crazy kids from New Years Eve, How To Succeed stage door crew, to my work homies. It has made this experience so much better, I can’t wait to get back to the USA and hang out with you all! 

BUT the trip isn’t over! Whilst I might no longer be able to say that I ‘live’ in NYC, I have another four days to cram in the things that I’ve missed. Then I am on to Kentucky/Indiana to stay with the wonderful Lauren, back to NYC for one night and one last expedition to Times Square, Orlando; Florida (WIZARDING WORLD OF HARRY POTTER), San Francisco, then LA: four days in Hollywood and three at Disneyland. Followed by what will be a very exhausting flight back to Auckland.

I am so excited to see what 2012 holds for me back home in New Zealand, but until then I have 27 days left to enjoy this fabulous country. 27 days to make the best ever! 

ninth blog: Taylor Swift ‘Speak Now’ Tour

Date: November 21 2011
Location: Madison Square Garden

I had been waiting a very, very long time to see my girl Tay-Tay live. When it was announced that she was finishing her ‘Speak Now’ tour in NYC in November, I made it my mission to ensure I was in NYC in time to see the show. This mission also involved getting the ticket. She sold out all her NYC shows in less than 20 seconds. 20 seconds. By some miracle, waking up at 2am NZ time allowed me to be successful in nabbing a ticket. 

I headed over to MSG after jumping off the train at Penn Station, running back to the apartment and dropping my suitcase off. As I was walking towards the stadium, look what I found!

Taylor Swift Tour Busses

The famous entrance to the MSG!

Tourist Life

Inside MSG! 

The show itself was just incredible. It had been described as reminiscent of a broadway show, and I definitely saw why. Taylor’s show included tap dancing, ballet, jazz, hip-hop, costumes, lighting, sound, magic, everything. She has gone all out to give a stunning show. 

We had a guest star, being the last stop of the tour! John Rzeznik, lead singer of the Goo Goo Dolls! John and Taylor sung an incredible duet of ‘Iris’. It was stunning. Definitely a nice little surprise, as I had forgotten that we might have a guest star! 

I don’t want to spoil the show too much as she is bringing it to NZ in a few months, but we are ALL in for a treat seeing her at Vector! 

This city is incredible. I love it so much.

(via new-yorkcity)

eighth blog: Long Island

So whilst waiting to begin work, I headed out to visit my bestie Annie at her school on Long Island! 

We headed up to Port Jefferson to hang out for a bit and it was seriously beautiful. It reminded me of a NZ beach town almost, like Whangamata or something. Lots of quaint little stores and ice cream parlors, along with the beautiful shoreline, of course. 

Getting in the Christmas Spirit already

The beautiful shoreline 

“It’s so American!” 

A yellow school bus! [Definitely rated as a highlight of my adventure so far!]

Such a contrast to the hustle and bustle of NYC, but so beautiful

One of the more amusing train stops on the train back to Penn Station

I had such a great time during this weekend. I took the train from Penn Station out to Long Island and it was only about $12.00 each way, so definitely a fair price to pay if you’re wanting a small break from the city at all! It was good to be in the company of a great friend as well, one with a New Zealand accent! 

I would definitely recommend a trip to explore Long Island a little bit if you’re in NY and have a couple of extra days!