NYC Trip Part 4: Conquering the Subway

After intently studying the subway map in the lobby (and then just using the Google Maps app on my phone anyways), I set off for the nearest subway station, which was on Houston between 1^st and 2^nd Avenues. I had to look for the stairs for a little bit (that Maps app isn't always the most accurate thing in the world), but eventually I found them and made my way to the automated MetroCard machines. I had looked at the prices online before I went, and decided against a 7-day unlimited card, which was $20, because I didn't think I would use a full $20 of fares. So I bought a $10 card, swiped my way through the turnstile, and went to find the platform for the F train. 

A few minutes go by, with me wondering how I'll know it's the F train, and if I'm actually going to get on going the right way. Then there's a rumbling under my feet, accompanied by a roaring sound, and a light coming down the tunnel, and I look up just in time to see a bright red letter “F” on the front of the train. Oooh, I guess that's how you know. I make sure the sign on the side gives the same destination Google Maps told me to look for, and then I hop on. There aren't any seats, so I hold onto one of the poles in the center aisle and look around a bit. The train is newer than I expected, with a digital display of all of the upcoming stops that changes as they go by. The ride is a little rougher than movies and TV shows had led me to believe, but even the people who look like seasoned veterans stumble a little when the train comes to a stop, so I don't feel too bad. A couple of stops later, I get off to transfer to the A train that will be heading up into the Theatre District. I start following signs for the A, and end up traversing several stairways before I find the right platform. I realize I've been walking behind the same guy for awhile, since we got off the F at the same time, so I notice that he jumps the last few steps on our current set of stairs and slips right through the closing doors of the train on our left. The trains starts to roll, and about three cars go by before I realize that was the one I was supposed to take next. Oh well. So I find a seat on a bench and wait. 

This is where I realize that I would have a problem dressing for the weather in NYC if I was going to be there regularly. It's fairly cold outside at this point (probably about 50 degrees, and a little breezy), at least cold enough that I need a jacket. However, that jacket becomes impossibly warm down in the subway tunnels, which are downright balmy. I have to wonder what the temperature differential is like in the dead of winter. Another A train arrives, and I hop on. This train is much older (the interior screams “70s” to me), and doesn't have any handy dandy digital displays to tell me when my stop's coming up. So I stare intently out the windows at each platform we stop at, making sure they're not the one I'm looking for. But between platforms, I'm free to listen to the group of guys on bongo drums that are currently making everybody's commute a little more fun. I drop a couple bucks into the baseball hat at their feet before I get off at my stop (because it's more fun to listen to them than the roar of the subway). 

 

I follow the signs to the exit, and emerge onto the street. The location for the next day's audition was only a 2 minute walk away, which was made considerably longer by the fact that turned down the wrong street. But I found it fairly easily after I straightened myself out. With my mission accomplished, I decide to walk over towards Times Square and find something to do for the next several hours.

NYC Trip Part 3: Delicious Food and Bathrooms

The place was SWAMPED (after all, it was about 1:30 in the afternoon; I wasn't the only person looking for lunch). The door guy gives me a ticket on the way in, and I just have to stand there for a minute or two and observe before I manage figure out what's going on. There are probably a dozen guys behind the counter making sandwiches, and you can go right up to any of them and order. But there are signs hanging above the counter that say “Order Here” in a few specific places. Once I figured out that you just have to ignore the signs, I then had to tackle the menu.

I went in there intending to buy corned beef on rye (naturally), but I wavered a little bit when I saw that the sandwich alone (no drink or chips) was over 15 dollars. Then I started looking for the cheapest thing on the menu, so I could order that instead, and it turned out to be a grilled cheese for a little over 6 bucks. But then I had to give myself a little mental slap, and say “Oh, come on! How many more chances are you gonna have to get corned beef from Katz's?? Quit being a dork!” So I ordered the corned beef, and refused to mentally calculate exactly what percentage of my entire trip budget the 15 dollars was. At Katz's, when you order corned beef, they go grab a slab of it, and carve it by hand right in front of you. They also give you the first piece to snack on while you wait. So I munch on corned beef and watch this guy keep piling corned beef on my sandwich. Then he brushes on some mustard, and asks me if I want it for there or to go. I take a quick look around, and it seems like all the tables are full, so I stammer “Uhh...to go, I guess.” But before he's even done wrapping it up, I realize there's a whole other “wing” to the place. So I take my wrapped-up sandwich and go around the corner to sit down. The next few minutes are heavenly; I don't remember anything but that sandwich. Eventually, I start looking around at all the pictures on the walls. Katz's is a popular spot for celebrities, and many of them will get their pictures taken with the owner when they come in. I realized that the picture right next to my shoulder was of Joseph-Gordon Levitt (of whom Tim is a big fan), so I snapped a pic for him with my phone. I decide to save the other half of my sandwich for later, and get in line for the bathroom before I leave. 

The bathrooms at Katz's are interesting. From the outside, the doors look like they lead to a little one-person bathroom that's barely bigger than an outhouse. In reality, that little door is the entrance to a hallway that leads to the actual bathroom. Since the bathroom only has 2 stalls, and this was still the lunch rush, there was a line. I was behind a couple of women who looked to be in their late forties or early fifties, and then another couple chicks who looked to be about my age. I noticed the dress one of the older women was wearing, because it was colorful, and I thought it was cool. She was the next one in line, so she goes in as soon as a stall opens up, and then is out again by the time one of the younger girls is up. She says something to the girl, and they both laugh, and then she washes her hands and leaves. A few seconds later, the girl right in front of me says to her friend in the stall “Oh my gosh, you're peeing where Annie Lennox just peed!” So apparently the lady in the cool dress was Annie Lennox! I wouldn't have had any idea. 

I decide to head back to my hotel at this point, since it's almost 3, and get yelled at by a truck driver for crossing against the light. To be fair, I was one of 5 or 6 people who went, and I was the only one dumb enough to turn around when he started with “Hey!” I learned that particular lesson pretty quickly. But, I make it back to the hostel without any further incidents, and start checking in. She gives me my room key and sends me up to inspect the room before I officially check in, because they don't do refunds. I make my way upstairs and, after a few tries, unlock the door. It's even smaller than I had imagined, but the sheets and towel all look and smell clean, and the tiny bit of floor that's not covered by the bed looks good. So I go back to the desk and finish checking in, and then I drag my bags up to the shoebox I'll be calling home for the next couple days. I kick off my shoes and chill on the bed for awhile, texting Tim to keep him updated, and reading a bit. Tim and I discuss re-setting the overall time on the alarm clock to make it go off at 7 instead of 5, but then I realize that the pair of tweezers I brought are juuuust small enough to get into the tiny space where the knob used to be. Score! I reset the alarm for 7 (which is still kind of disturbing). Then I gather my courage and decide it's time to face the subway, which I'll be using to get to my audition the next morning. 

I figure I'll freshen up a little first (or at least get all of the dead cow out from between my teeth), so I grab my toothbrush and head for the communal bathroom area. Apparently, THIS was the area I should have looked over before I checked in. Let me tell you something: I was a biology major, which means I played with a lot of gross things in the lab (dead animals, mold and bacterial cultures, etc), and these facilities are some of the grossest things I've ever seen. There are three pedestal sinks, two of which are leaking water at a pretty fast rate. I thought someone left them on, but trying to turn them off did nothing. The third sink is completely coated with someone's long dark hair, which they apparently brushed (or possibly shaved off) right over the sink, and then didn't rinse down or clean up at ALL. Dude, seriously? I don't even do that in my OWN house, let alone a bathroom I have to share with complete strangers. How gross. And then I notice the squished cockroach on the floor right next to the middle sink. Hoooo boy. But after a few seconds, I decided that as long as there were no cockroaches near where I would be sleeping (and I later turned on my phone's flashlight and checked under the bed), it would be okay. If the sinks were that gross, what were the toilets and showers like? I walked over to the 4 bathroom stalls. One had an “Out of Order” sign on it, so I didn't bother with that one, but I pulled open the door beside it...and found a toilet that had been absolutely violated and then not flushed. EWWWW. I tried to flush it (with my foot, obviously; I wasn't touching that handle without gloves!), but it was apparently out of order just like the other one. So I left it alone, and glanced at the other two in hopes that there would be at least one toilet I could use. They were, to my relief, relatively clean. Deciding to cross that bridge when I came to it, I left the showers for later, and headed out to conquer the subway.