I'm an enormous fan of mass transit and rarely a day goes by that I'm not riding the New York City subway system. Is the subway system elegant? Rarely, but it's quick -- usually -- and three million rides take place every day, moving New Yorkers through the system and around the city. Yesterday I got to Penn Station in fifteen minutes and today I rode to downtown Brooklyn for the Brooklyn Book Festival in just about twenty minutes.
But my favorite ride this week was on Thursday. I paid a visit to the newest subway station in the system, Hudson Yards, at 34th Street and Eleventh Avenue. I can genuinely describe it as elegant. It extends the "7" line and gives this West Sider easy access to the Javits Convention Center. The station opened earlier in the week, and it still looked pristine when I visited on Thursday.
I'm not sure how long it will continue to look pristine. The High Line is the most visited site for tourists in New York City and I'm sure people will soon discover how easy it is to get there via subway. I'm definitely overdue a post about it and promise one for this fall.
The beautiful mural at the entrance to the station. I was entranced by it.
But my favorite ride this week was on Thursday. I paid a visit to the newest subway station in the system, Hudson Yards, at 34th Street and Eleventh Avenue. I can genuinely describe it as elegant. It extends the "7" line and gives this West Sider easy access to the Javits Convention Center. The station opened earlier in the week, and it still looked pristine when I visited on Thursday.
I'm not sure how long it will continue to look pristine. The High Line is the most visited site for tourists in New York City and I'm sure people will soon discover how easy it is to get there via subway. I'm definitely overdue a post about it and promise one for this fall.
Still immaculate. I promise there were more people in the station, besides the Transit employees in this picture.
Most of the visitors to the station joined me in photographing the murals at the entrance.
This may be the deepest station in the subway system and reminded me of the underground stations in London. I felt a little wary going up the escalator and knew I would be very wary looking down on my return trip. I opted for elevator for my return trip and was fascinated by what I found and experienced.
A selfie while waiting for the elevator
The station is so deep that it's not a standard elevator, but rather runs on escalator tracks. During the ride I felt I was in a funicular going up a mountain, rather than in a subway station on 34th Street.
The view down during my elevator ride.
I hope you've enjoyed our visit to the Hudson Yards station. In the interest of truth-in-blogging I need to add that I was a long-time employee of NYC Transit and was fortunate to combine my love for mass transit with my career, and I enjoy riding subways all over the world.
I'm happy to join my friends at Pink Saturday with this post. It's not all pink anymore, but I'm still looking out for pretty in pink posts to share.
As ever, thanks for visiting and have a sweet week!
6 comments
Whoa!!! Love it!! I am a fan of mass transit as well...not that we have a subway here in western NY (use too have the train come through and drop off commuters from NYC). But I do take the bus/shuttle into school/college everyday. I prob would ride the subway everyday if I could, smiles. Blessings
Thanks for taking me along for the ride:) Looks like a wonderful addition to your daily travels! Have a blessed day dear friend, HUGS!
The extension of the 7 is very convenient and makes travel to the High Line a lot easier. From what I've seen the station's mosaics are very pretty and extensive.
What I fail to understand is, with the MTA billions in the red, showing no signs of changing, and fares rising, why did the MTA spend so much money on artwork for the station? Even if money came from corporations, it still could have been used for something other than art.
Frankly for those of us who pay to ride, I would have liked to see the money go elsewhere. Just saying.
I rode the "rails" in NY all the time when I grew up. Now, living in the country side, I can't get anywhere unless I drive. I sure wish I had the convenience of public transportation, especially as I get older.
It certainly is a 'hold on tight, we;re coming down' sort of a ride!
Wren x
Seeing this via your eyes makes me want to visit even more strongly! That's pretty interesting about the funicular-like elevator.
I imagine there's lots of pride by the Transit System employees ... as there should be!
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