First World problems! And 85 degrees is far from sweltering but may rank as balmy.
1
I worked in Manhattan one summer before they had air-conditioning in the cars. I remember we rode in between the cars to get some air. No cops gave out tickets then.
I've got a better idea: leave New York City.
I've got a better idea: leave New York City.
3
The windows opened then, and the stations and tubes weren't as hot b/o no AC units exhausting heat into the air down there. I used to stand at the front window of the Broadway BMT and would open it - got a nice breeze that way. I don't remember it ever being as hellishly hot then as the system is now.
2
Well as they say, "If you can't stand the heat . . . Leave NYC."
I guess you were not NYC material.
I guess you were not NYC material.
6
It's just another one-political party town. This situation will only get worse.
Remember, the same guy calling the shots here is the reason you can't get across Manhattan in less than 40 minutes.
Now, if you could get the mayor's close political minorities to sponsor cars, the pink and green ones would probably get new air conditioning equipment.
Remember, the same guy calling the shots here is the reason you can't get across Manhattan in less than 40 minutes.
Now, if you could get the mayor's close political minorities to sponsor cars, the pink and green ones would probably get new air conditioning equipment.
3
Suggestion for MTA: re-brand these cars as "mobile saunas" and sell memberships with tie-in to Perrier.
12
The worst part about this debacle is that the 6 train line as a whole approximately a year and a half ago consisted of 6 trains that were of the newer variety rather than the old. I suspect they slowly switched the old-type 7 trains in for the newer 6 trains, due to some of the earlier 6 trains still bearing '7 line' signs. If this is the case; why? The ratio of old 6 trains to the newer models is about 4:1, and serves absolutely no purpose to the 6 line. I curse the MTA every time I have to board one of the older trains.
5
This!! The 6 train was the first line to get the updated cars many years ago since it is the busiest and oldest line in the city. Once DeBlasio came in, BAM, back to the crap trains from the 80s with broken AC and doors that won't close, causing entire trains to be taken out of service in the middle of rush hour!
1
There was little or no A/C until the 70s or 80s. Before that we opened the windows and let the breeze in. Also, the tunnels and stations were cooler because trains without A/C did not exhaust heat into them. We've made it worse by trying to "improve it".
13
I wonder how much hearing loss I recieved taking the IRT back good old days.
2
We have become such a soft society. There was a time when there was no A/C in subways, or personal cars either. People just sucked it up and dealt with it. They survived. I rarely turn the A/C on in my place. A fan does just fine, even if it is 90+ degrees.
3
I agree about the increasing softness of society, but seriously the people of NYC deserve the right to get on an air conditioned subway. Say this as someone who commuted from the Bronx in the nasty 70s and 80s.
Oh sure, you could put up without A/C for a couple of stops, but try doing that for an over an hour ride up to the Bronx and car packed to the gills? Should you have comprised health or anxiety, then you are in serious TROUBLE. People pass out and I've gotten pretty close, and that should NOT be happening. In fact. once at Grand Central Station - or what used to be known as HADES if you routinely used it - I saw a train come in the station. Doors slide open, and a young girl pinned to the exit collapsed and spilled to the ground. No, this is NOT acceptable.
Oh sure, you could put up without A/C for a couple of stops, but try doing that for an over an hour ride up to the Bronx and car packed to the gills? Should you have comprised health or anxiety, then you are in serious TROUBLE. People pass out and I've gotten pretty close, and that should NOT be happening. In fact. once at Grand Central Station - or what used to be known as HADES if you routinely used it - I saw a train come in the station. Doors slide open, and a young girl pinned to the exit collapsed and spilled to the ground. No, this is NOT acceptable.
12
Yes, but when there was no A/C, there were giant fans in every subway car. And it was miserable - we forget that.
Also, the NYC subway is experiencing its highest ridership since the 1940s, so the cars are far more crowded now making things worse.
Also, the NYC subway is experiencing its highest ridership since the 1940s, so the cars are far more crowded now making things worse.
10
What makes the heat even more unbearable is the congestion on the trains. In my many decades in NYC I can't remember the trains being so packed. It's unpleasant to be packed like sardines with sweaty folks. The city can't continue to increase it's populations of residents and tourists without addressing the overcrowding. Surely the MTA could run the trains more frequently and prioritize passenger safety and comfort.
11
The smell of simmering homeless, unkept bro and fish from China town.
One more thing you only get in NYC.
One more thing you only get in NYC.
9
Seems like more of the smell of inept left wing mayor.
3
One more reason to walk (or bicycle) to your destination if at all practical.
2
I know right, if you're going to cook, why not do it outside where it has been in the 90's, with the addition of a relentless sun. So much better.
3
Stations are hotter than ever for thr trains with airconditioning trow off heat.
I guess i'm older than many here. I remember riding the subway when there was no air conditioning, only a ceilling fan that went in a slow speed. Men had to wear jackets and ties everyday, and women dresses. No tank tops or flip flops.
We all got through it. So you may have a car here or there with no air conditioning. just be glad you are not living in days past.
I guess i'm older than many here. I remember riding the subway when there was no air conditioning, only a ceilling fan that went in a slow speed. Men had to wear jackets and ties everyday, and women dresses. No tank tops or flip flops.
We all got through it. So you may have a car here or there with no air conditioning. just be glad you are not living in days past.
10
The inadequate infrastructure we must live with in the U.S. is a direct reflection of our grotesque over-spending on the military and our endless wars. Other major countries in Europe and elsewhere can afford to upgrade their infrastructure, pay for educating young people, have universal medical care, etc., because they are not pursuing endless unnecessary wars, that benefit only the military-industrial complex. It is time to look at the big picture so we can understand how it is affecting our day to day lives.
41
We're paying their military protection bills, so why shouldn't they spend on making things nice for themselves?
5
Of course, the windows don't open. That leads to a more important question: if there's a wreck, fire, or derailment, can they be kicked out? We lost scores of healthy young men and women (18-22) when a passenger train derailed and caught fire. No one on that train could kick out the emergency-exit windows. They did not die of smoke inhalation. They burned to death. (The track was nearly inaccessible to fire and rescue because of its distance from roads, and would have been without two feet -- and still falling -- snow.)
Heat is bad, but make sure basic safety features work. While it's just heat, many of those commuters may not keep a change of clothes and toiletries in their office, even if they have access to a shower. This is a quality of life issue.
Of course, you can come to DC and try the Metro for a real adventure. Derailments, fireballs, even escalators that kill (when they're turned on) all add to the fun. And people wonder why folks around DC don't use public transportation. Maybe the most recent attempt at maintenance will improve things, eventually.
Heat is bad, but make sure basic safety features work. While it's just heat, many of those commuters may not keep a change of clothes and toiletries in their office, even if they have access to a shower. This is a quality of life issue.
Of course, you can come to DC and try the Metro for a real adventure. Derailments, fireballs, even escalators that kill (when they're turned on) all add to the fun. And people wonder why folks around DC don't use public transportation. Maybe the most recent attempt at maintenance will improve things, eventually.
4
But Sec Kerry says that air conditioning is destroying the planet. Sweat for Mother Earth!!
8
These malfunctioning, broken down, metro subway systems all have one thing in common. The socialist prog democrats run them down as they have run their cities down !!!
7
Really? Maybe it's that Congress refuses to fund public transportation. It's not socialism that kills good transit, it's the obsession with capitalism and that everything must pay for itself, which no public transit system in the world does. The socialist countries in Europe all have far better transit systems than anywhere in the U.S. does.
7
This may sound odd, but the subway would be cooler all the way around if the cars had windows that opened and NO air conditioning.
4
Have you ridden in a NYC subway car without AC and the "windows" open (the windows are tiny, about 3-4" high and 2-3' long. And they often don't open.
The tunnels and subway stations are HOTter than the outside temp (some over 100 degrees), and open windows don't do much to cool off the car, especially when people are crushed together inside the car.
The tunnels and subway stations are HOTter than the outside temp (some over 100 degrees), and open windows don't do much to cool off the car, especially when people are crushed together inside the car.
7
Just returned from vacation in a global European city with clean, well functioning transit systems that put us to shame. Hot cars are a nuisance. But the MTA's failure (which our elected leaders share in) to appropriately invest in modern infrastructure for our subway system is the real culprit here. NYC has no chance of competing on a global stage with other cities until we upgrade transit. Other cities actually use COMPUTERS, not electrical switches, to run their subways. Imagine that!
24
'NYC has no chance of competing on a global stage with other cities'
Yea, because am sure we're lagging way behind in ... nothing
Their pretty cars up in Montreal might look awesome, but they also carry less than a 5th of the capacity of our own. We move how many people daily? and your 'global European city' (what the heck is that anyway) might not come close either.
Apple and lemons, not in the same ball park.
Yea, because am sure we're lagging way behind in ... nothing
Their pretty cars up in Montreal might look awesome, but they also carry less than a 5th of the capacity of our own. We move how many people daily? and your 'global European city' (what the heck is that anyway) might not come close either.
Apple and lemons, not in the same ball park.
1
MTA has a much bigger footprint and the system is very old. Billions of dollars have been invested into the system to make it more efficient however the fact of the matter is we don't pay enough for a subway ride. MTA is forced to rely on debt to fund its large capital program. Combine that with already high labor and pension costs and you can see why the number of hot subway cars keeps increasing.
3
Lagging behind in "nothing"? Really? How about a mayor that can lead?
4
Although I perversely enjoy the smell of a NYC subway in summertime, folks should remember back to the 80's when the air conditioned car was a new novelty. Many lines still had cars from the 60's that were a square box cattle car covered in graffiti. At least the big square windows opened.
It should also be considered that more breakdowns in hot weather makes complete sense since the systems are working much harder.
Hot time, summer in the city. Where would that great iconic song have come from if all the cars and stations were air conditioned?
It should also be considered that more breakdowns in hot weather makes complete sense since the systems are working much harder.
Hot time, summer in the city. Where would that great iconic song have come from if all the cars and stations were air conditioned?
19
That's not correct. Air conditioned subway cars were added to the system beginning in the Lindsay administration. He served from 1966 to 1973. One of his campaign slogans for re-election was "They said it was impossible to air condition the subways, but Mayor Lindsay did it anyway."
I remember years ago when the subway cars AC kept breaking down they discovered that the problem was that they never cleaned the filters. Maybe that's happening again.
I remember years ago when the subway cars AC kept breaking down they discovered that the problem was that they never cleaned the filters. Maybe that's happening again.
I have ridden the 6 train since I can recall (md 1980s ) and I have never seen the orange or red colored seats on them. I thought those were reserved for the letter trains and the 1 train.
3
The 6 got a serious service downgrade last year, for reasons that remain inexplicable.
for days, here in central texas the temp has been over 100 deg F; and only down to the low 80s at night sometimes.
our family turned off all the house A/C, and began acclimating (or acclimatizing?) to the new normal, as they call it.
NO a/c; and one or two hundred less USDs in Utils monthly too.
anyway; just a note, i have a mild COPD, manifest in wretched coughing up phlegm in mornings, dry mouth during nights trying to sleep.
guess what? that's gone away (after over 5 years).
i am thinking, maybe there is something salutary, beyond accepting the fateful new normal, in acclimatizing, and living in the natural given conditions.
of course i speak from down south, in texas.
ok, all: 'chill'!
our family turned off all the house A/C, and began acclimating (or acclimatizing?) to the new normal, as they call it.
NO a/c; and one or two hundred less USDs in Utils monthly too.
anyway; just a note, i have a mild COPD, manifest in wretched coughing up phlegm in mornings, dry mouth during nights trying to sleep.
guess what? that's gone away (after over 5 years).
i am thinking, maybe there is something salutary, beyond accepting the fateful new normal, in acclimatizing, and living in the natural given conditions.
of course i speak from down south, in texas.
ok, all: 'chill'!
6
But you opened the windows, yes? On some cars, windows do not open or are easily opened, and the cars are underground in a tunnel.
A home with open windows is not the same as a closed subway car filled with 20-60 people, without an air source in the hot heat of the summer.
A home with open windows is not the same as a closed subway car filled with 20-60 people, without an air source in the hot heat of the summer.
12
When it's 100 outside I hardly see how open windows help much, unless you can catch a breeze.
4
yo. copy that.
I run to the next car, means crowded car, I would stand but it's ok. There are type of body that wouldn't mind heat , I have a sister who is like that so I understand those people sit through it. The one thing I don't understand though : people sit in the stinky car with stinky smell , garbage or some homeless . That I don't understand, maybe they don't smell what most people ( those who move to the next car ) do ?
5
Eliminating air conditioning on the subway would dramatically reduce the carbon footprint of mass transit. If we simply did away with the excessive clothing required of business types (under shirt, dress shirt, tie, jacket) and opted for shorts and something like the south and central american guayabera we could quite easily tolerate these so-called "hot cars."
7
Do you have a suggestion for the rider who was worried about her cake melting?
2
you clearly haven't been in the NYC subways recently
4
Maybe a guayabera is the hot trend up in Boston. Let's keep it that way.
4
Can the MTA address the heat in the 125th Street Metro North train station & the building is surrounded by panhandlers & homeless?
4
oh the MTA --- bigger fares every other year, and less quality of service.
NYC so isnt this great city everyone likes to pretend it is.
(while theyre at it, can they remove all the homeless and mentally ill people from the trains, and all the "entertainers" on the Shuttle - this isnt some free government service, we pay money for it)
NYC so isnt this great city everyone likes to pretend it is.
(while theyre at it, can they remove all the homeless and mentally ill people from the trains, and all the "entertainers" on the Shuttle - this isnt some free government service, we pay money for it)
10
“They always raise the fares,” she said, “and they don’t do the right maintenance to the trains.”
It all goes straight to pensions and benefits. It's easy to support the ever rising costs of public and qausi-public employees but not so much fun when it comes time to pay the bill and certain items have to be prioritized.
It all goes straight to pensions and benefits. It's easy to support the ever rising costs of public and qausi-public employees but not so much fun when it comes time to pay the bill and certain items have to be prioritized.
7
So... anyone not see the good idea for cutting costs? Have one or two hot cars per train, seeing as how some people don't mind? Turn off the AC in areas where there are fewer passengers, in crowded areas turn the AC back on.
You get the idea..because.. AC uses electricity! If some people don't need it... then cutting back on a few cars will save the TA some money! The savings can help to postpone the next rate hike? Or.. used for putting some get-it-done funding into the Second Ave subway? I could go down the list here, it's pretty long.. (unrolls the hefty scroll across the table and down onto the floor)
You get the idea..because.. AC uses electricity! If some people don't need it... then cutting back on a few cars will save the TA some money! The savings can help to postpone the next rate hike? Or.. used for putting some get-it-done funding into the Second Ave subway? I could go down the list here, it's pretty long.. (unrolls the hefty scroll across the table and down onto the floor)
Right, save money by making the passenger even more uncomfortable. What a good idea!
5
Nothing will postpone or stop the next rate hike. Any saved money from using less electricity will just go toward paying off the bottomless pit of the MTA's pension and benefits debt. It's been this way for years. And the Second Ave subway? My dad, who would have been 92 this year if he were still alive, remembered voting for a proposition tax to fund it, back when he was in in his 30's!
7
Hot? How about the troops in full combat gear on the front lines of Afghanistan in the summer with lead whizzing by. If I happen to board a non-air conditioned subway car, I'll say to myself, "Others have it plenty worse. I'll get by".
7
I think you see a lot more elderly, pregnant, or chronically ill people on a subway car than you do on the front lines in Afghanistan, though. Not everyone is equally able to bear extreme heat. The elderly are particularly vulnerable.
24
Subway riders are not troops in combat.
Following your "reasoning", air-conditioning should be removed from office buildings and grocery stores, because the troops have it worse.
Would you propose that everyone eat MREs and wear unwashed uniforms, too?
Following your "reasoning", air-conditioning should be removed from office buildings and grocery stores, because the troops have it worse.
Would you propose that everyone eat MREs and wear unwashed uniforms, too?
14
But we're not in Afghanistan. We're in NYC, and that's what the article is about. A subway car without A/C means WITHOUT any incoming AIR. It's literally stifling, and can cause fainting and other health issues.
How long are your on the subway? Some folks ride for over an hour, and not everyone has your stamina, especially infants, the infirm and the elderly.
How long are your on the subway? Some folks ride for over an hour, and not everyone has your stamina, especially infants, the infirm and the elderly.
17
There are 2 other problems with the subways that everyone experiences but not sure if there are proposed solutions being reviewed:
1. Excessively hot stations (where the temperature is 20 degrees above the outside temperature). I feel that some ventilation shafts and/or a series of industrial fans could make a difference but I have personally never seen any attempt at ameliorating the problem.
2. Vagrants camped out in the trains. This is a symptom of a larger issue, sure, but we've all experienced that train car rendered unusable by a vagrant. Acknowledging homeless is a problem, a subway isn't a substitute for a homeless shelter.
Are quality of life complaints legitimate? Of course, but it seems many New Yorkers take pride in toughing it out. However, if you just try to experience the city through the eyes of a visitor it becomes almost embarrassing that we put up with some of this stuff for how high our taxes and cost of living are.
1. Excessively hot stations (where the temperature is 20 degrees above the outside temperature). I feel that some ventilation shafts and/or a series of industrial fans could make a difference but I have personally never seen any attempt at ameliorating the problem.
2. Vagrants camped out in the trains. This is a symptom of a larger issue, sure, but we've all experienced that train car rendered unusable by a vagrant. Acknowledging homeless is a problem, a subway isn't a substitute for a homeless shelter.
Are quality of life complaints legitimate? Of course, but it seems many New Yorkers take pride in toughing it out. However, if you just try to experience the city through the eyes of a visitor it becomes almost embarrassing that we put up with some of this stuff for how high our taxes and cost of living are.
45
I believe many people don't move because transit cops will give you a ticket for moving between cars, so it's either sweat it out, or do the dash at the next stop to another car. I believe that the no movement between cars rule should be suspended if there is a climate control problem, there is a safety (menacing person, pole dancers) problem or an environmental hazard (bad smell, human waste, etc.)
27
It is time to install powerful fans on the subway platforms.
Four fans of 48" each, per platform, would do. There are about 1,000 subway platforms throughout the city.
The equipment would cost $3 million--for 4,000 fans. The MTA budget is now at $16 billion...per year!
Annual electric cost, operating the fans 24/7/all summer would be under $3 million per year.
This project can be installed for a labor budget of, you guessed it, $3 million. That's one work day for each fan installed. A crew of 40 would have the job completed between January and May, 2017.
It is inexcusable to not offer fans on the platforms. Until then, passengers suffering from heat stroke in the subway system should sue the MTA, its management and its board for gross negligence.
Four fans of 48" each, per platform, would do. There are about 1,000 subway platforms throughout the city.
The equipment would cost $3 million--for 4,000 fans. The MTA budget is now at $16 billion...per year!
Annual electric cost, operating the fans 24/7/all summer would be under $3 million per year.
This project can be installed for a labor budget of, you guessed it, $3 million. That's one work day for each fan installed. A crew of 40 would have the job completed between January and May, 2017.
It is inexcusable to not offer fans on the platforms. Until then, passengers suffering from heat stroke in the subway system should sue the MTA, its management and its board for gross negligence.
25
Good idea. And when some moron inserts his fingers into the turning fan and the blade chops it off, the settlement will be another $30M.
1
A) SEPTA in Philadelphia has fans in their below-ground stations.
B) They have screens that help prevent fingers in them, they are also attached to the ceilings.
C) And there are cameras so that the sue-happy get caught faking it or causing their own demise. SEPTA wins many cases this way.
B) They have screens that help prevent fingers in them, they are also attached to the ceilings.
C) And there are cameras so that the sue-happy get caught faking it or causing their own demise. SEPTA wins many cases this way.
9
The Wall Street station on the 2/3 line has fans -- but all they do is blow down the hot air (which rises) on to the heads of passengers underneath. It's not particularly pleasant...
4