Subwayland: Adventures in the World Beneath New York | 
 enlarge | Author: Randy Kennedy
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Category: Book
List Price: $13.95
Buy New: $3.19
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Avg. Customer Rating:  12 reviews
Sales Rank: 293676
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 240
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 7.9 x 5.4 x 0.8
ISBN: 0312324340
Dewey Decimal Number: 917.4710443
EAN: 9780312324346
ASIN: 0312324340
Publication Date: February 19, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Since the doors of the first subway train opened in 1904, New Yorkers and tourists alike have been fascinated, amused, amazed, repelled and bewildered by the world-within-a-world that lies beneath the city.
Now, as the subway celebrates its centennial anniversary, the creator of The New York Times's award-winning "Tunnel Vision" column leads us on an extended tour of this storied subterranean land, revealing:
* Its inhabitants: the Tango Man, the traveling magician, Mayor Bloomberg
* Its wildlife: the subway-riding pigeons, the Fulton Street cat, the blind mules
* Its customs, taboos and secret histories: door blocking, leg spreading, pole hugging, even, yes, token sucking
* Its government: the sheriff of Grand Central, the Ethel Merman of the shuttle, the motorman who drove the last No. 1 train beneath the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001
* Tips for the first-time traveler: how to get a seat, how to get a date, the fine art of "pre-walking"
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| Customer Reviews: Read 7 more reviews...
 For NYC subway lovers January 21, 2008
A collection of short NY Times essays, these were fun to read and finally answered the question I've always had about the Knickerbocker sign at the Grand Central/Times Sq. train platform. Not really a historyof the subway, but a nice sampling of stories of the subway and it's users/inhabitants/workers.
 A fun read on an only-sometimes-fun ride November 29, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
A colleague of mine taught this book to a class of new immigrants. As a daily denizen of the NYC subway system, I wondered if they really would want to read about the very thing they had to grudgingly trudge through to get to class (or read on it on the way).
"It's fun," she said. "Read it, you'll see!"
Two years after I quit that teaching job, I finally read the book. I wish I hadn't waited so long. For one, it would have been more timely, as the book is essentially a collection of NYTimes columns from 2000-2004. But more importantly, my colleague was right - it is a lot of fun. Kennedy catches the character (and characters) of the subway with flair, pathos, and a strong reporter's eye (to the point of that stodgily self-referential first-person "the reporter" when he finds himself in his stories).
In Kennedy's hands, the subway is a 500-mile-long Coney Island, with a strange (but all too recognizable to any New Yorker) assortment of heroes, bums, workers, entertainers and representatives of both sides of the law. As could be guessed by its time period, it ends with a section of pieces from the aftermath of 9/11, but even then things never get too heavy; at its heart the book is 225 pages of a transplant's love of the city under the City (Kennedy's from Texas), a fun, elucidating read for any immigrant, whether from Korea or Kansas.
An enjoyable read about life below.... November 17, 2007
This is a great book and a fun read by Randy Kennedy. I'd never read his Tunnel Vision article before, but am certainly glad that he compliled a bunch of them to form this great little book.
Kennedy approaches the articles a sort of "snapshots" into the often strangish world of the Subway. Although he doesn't come out and directly say it, you can tell from the flavor of the whole book that on pretty much any given day you can find more diverse things going on in the subway than virtually anywhere else in the world. Bill Cosby said it better when he said, "If you plan on moving into New York City, don't bring a lot of money with you. They've got all the entertainment in the world here for just [$2] - just ride any of the subway cars they have here!" Kennedy makes this all come alive by sharing the daily workings of New York's underground railed caverns: most of which, if they happened anywhere else, you'd be sending people off to asylums.
But that might paint the book as too much of a 'book about insanity' when really it's a lot more. Kennedy shares about not only about the odd things and people who ride on the subways, but about the track workers, conductors, lost and found workers, repair workers, etc., all who keep the world's largest subway system running. And sometimes, running smoothly.
I've only lived in New York City (mostly Brooklyn) for about three years now, but even in that short time I've seen a lot of the things that Kennedy talks about in his book - in fact one of my favorite things about reading the book was being like "Hey! I know that guy!" (the saw player, et. al) or "I've seen that!" (the track tester train, which I've seen three times, et. al.).
I think that the most satisfying part of the book for me was when Kennedy talked about "pre-walking" (wherein you know which part of the platform your exit will be on and walk to that spot before you even get on a trian to begin your journey if there's no train in the station to leap onto). I started pre-walking after only riding the subway for about four months because it just makes sense. Most people I get on the subway with, even people who live here, look at me like I'm crazy when I arrive on the platform and just keep walking...this book has validated my pre-walking life. THank you Randy Kennedy.
If you're reading this book before you come out to NYC, read close his chapter on Helpful Tips for the First-Time Traveler, and no irritated New Yorker will give you the rules in a much ruder fashion. One thing that I will say though that I'm not sure Kennedy mentions in the book. That is this: if you get lost on the subway, just ask someone where to go. People are used to having people ask, and are usually very friendly and more than willing to help out.
Great book!
 when the mta shuts down, new york city shuts down... January 26, 2006
0 out of 5 found this review helpful
new yorkers learned first hand how vital the iron horses are to the city when the mta went on strike for three days last year. i have never taken the work the subway operators do for granted. coming from a small town, i think it's cool to jump on the train at any time and go anywhere. of all the transportation systems i have ridden, MBTA, Chicago Transit Authority, San Francisco MUNI, Paris Metro, London Underground, etc, mta transit is hands down the best...randall kennedy's essays cover the exploits of the subway workers, the people who ride the trains and the underground characters who bring life to the subway. kennedy, a new york times writer, also gives you a history of the new york city subway, which is also quite cool...it was interesting to discover that the g train is the only train that doesn't go into manhattan or that the travel time on the a train can take over an hour, it being the longest route in the subway system, going from queens to manhattan or that the mayor rides the iron horse once a week...this book is cool...
A little flavor of the Big Apple September 11, 2005
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I've traveled a bit but I've never spent any time in NYC. I am going to spend a week in the city in October and besides some good tour books I wanted to read something that made me feel like I lived in the city. This book was a nice journey. The essays are well written and amusing but also help explain, for those of us who live elsewhere some of the humanity and heart of the city and why people love to live there...
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