This is the first in a new NBC 4 series documenting happenings on the New York City subway from week to week. Some 5.6 million people ride the subway each day, which makes it not only a hot spot for talent scouting and people watching, but also a snow-globe of sorts for some of the strangest behavior in the city.
This week: a man smoking underneath a train, a serious breach of subway etiquette and twin buskers who have an uncanny vocal resemblance to the Beatles -- there was no shortage of weird and wonderful events on the New York City subway system.
Without further ado, here are the top 4 moments from the subway Feb. 22 to March 2, plus a dash of dog.
1. Man's Bizarre Antics Underneath a Train Go Viral
Richard Richards, operator: Honestly, as an operator, I have to tell them something. In an attempt to keep the customers calm you tell them we have traffic ahead, we have delays ahead, but in honesty we don't always know 'cause they are not telling us and radio communications can be choppy.
nJoe Costales, conductor: The system is antiquated, the relay for the radio systems are not kept up, they are not repaired, they are not constantly checked so there are black-out areas.
nCrystal Young, conductor: We may talk to them over the radio and they can hear us but we can't hear what they are saying. Sometimes when we are on a train it's not that we don't want to let the customers know what's going on, we don't have the communications to let them know what's going on.
Costales: All the time.
nRichards: They had hot-plates they had TVs, they literally lived back there.
nCostales: You see them coming out. A lot of times people who get hit by trains, are the ones living in the subway.
nBrandon Patterson, conductor: Sometimes when we go to set up tracks we go down there and they get mad because they think we are invading their home space.
Richards: I've seen people actually having sex on the train.
nCostales: Masturbating, having sex.
nRichards: And they've got a bed set up, they tap into the third rail and they are watching TV.
nYoung: One time someone brought a goat on the train. They bought it at a live mart.
Tramell Thompson, conductor: The E train has been dubbed 'The Homeless Express', it's one of those lines that doesn't go outside. So from terminal to terminal it's underground. It's pretty warm. You have new, nicer trains over there, it's clean over there. And you know the homeless, you go on there at midnight, you'll see five or six homeless people in each car. But the homeless isn't really the issue with us, it's mainly the drunks.
Richards: In the middle of the car. You don't want to sit in the corners [because that's where people throw up and urinate]. Also by the doors, you'll be on your phone and as soon as the doors get ready to close, they snatch it and they're off.
Conductors: A safe place to ride on a subway train would be in the middle of the train in the conductor's car or in the very first car where the train operator's going to be. That way at least you're closest to a crew member to help if they have to.
Conductors: Absolutely.
nYoung: At the end of the line they have a sign that shows on-time job performance, where they literally track to see how many people were injured while in performance of their duty so that's what they are concerned about. It's easier for a passenger to make a complaint versus us making a complaint because they just want to keep that train moving.
nPatterson: The MTA's logo is 'Every second counts,' so every second counts to them.
nYoung: Some superintendents, if someone has to take a comfort they want you to write a [note]. So you have to, as an adult, write down on a piece of paper that you had to use the bathroom. God forbid if you use the bathroom too often, then they will try to write you up.
Tramell Thompson, train conductor: Anything, EDPs (emotionally disturbed person), anything. Could be a disturbance on the train, fights.n
Eric Loegel, train operator: Unattended package, suspicious package..."customer injury" as they say. A customer injury is generally someone who has been struck by a train. And we internally refer to that as a 12-9.
Patterson: No, I try not to. I tell [my kids] not to touch anything, I carry hand sanitizer.
nRichards: I don't touch the poles or I sit in the middle...I'm a big guy, I brace myself.
nCostales: We transport millions of people, it's hard to keep it that clean.
Patterson: Standing behind the yellow line, the [public] leans over looking for the train, they could slip, and that's what causes 12-9s and delays
nRichards: I've seen people fall on the tracks 'cause they hear the announcement and they think the train is on their track and they start straight walking because they are online...we get conditioned, oh the train is here, they start walking and they fall.
The week in the New York City subway was off to a typically weird start, as a cigarette-smoking man was caught on camera crouching under a train as it pulled into the station Monday.
Local
In a video posted to Instagram, the man was caught on video jumping onto the tracks in front of a B train as it pulled into the station.
The unidentified man then stuck his arm through the space between the train and platform, cigarette still alight and in hand. After climbing back out of the tracks, the man tap-danced his way across the platform as FDNY officials approached.
READ MORE: Cigarette-Smoking Man Ducks Under NYC Subway, Walks Away Unscathed
2. New Yorkers Discover Twin Subway Performers Who Sound Exactly Like the Beatles
Come Tuesday, New Yorkers had forgotten about the tap-dancing, cigarette-smoking gentleman and were getting excited about something else: a pair of subway performers who sound exactly like the Beatles.
A former music writer tweeted a video of the buskers (who also happen to be twins) performing "She Loves You" at 14th Street Station, and by Tuesday they'd gone viral, with the video viewed more than 2 million times.
The resemblance was so uncanny that some doubted the performance was real. "Sounds dubbed," said one skeptic, to which the performers -- a band calling themselves Blac Rabbit -- jumped into the conversation to say, "Lol wish we had the tech to dub ourselves out there!"
READ MORE: New Yorkers Freak Out Over Brooklyn Twins' Cover of Beatles Song on Subway
3. Woman Squashes Herself Onto Packed Train, to the Disdain of New York Subway Riders
Come Wednesday, a breach of one of the unwritten subway laws was riling New Yorkers in a big way.
A video of a woman cramming herself onto a train already so packed the doors would not close drew the ire of hundreds on Instagram.
"That bag won’t even fit ... where does that last person think they’re going," one user commented, incredulous. "This was stressful to watch," said another. At least 200,000 had exposed themselves to that potential stress by Thursday.
READ MORE: Woman Draws Ire of New York After Squashing Herself Onto Packed Train
4. A New York Teacher Confronts a Subway Busker
As some subway buskers were being praised for their singing, others were causing offense, and being confronted for it.
Manhattan teacher Sean Summer Brady, who is a transgender woman, filmed her interaction with a performer on the subway who dedicated the song '(You Make Me Feel Like a) Natural Woman' to "Bruce Jenner's surgeon."
The video got thousands of views on social media, and Brady was praised for standing up for transgender rights, while LGBTQ groups reminded New Yorkers that bystanders should step up when someone is being put at risk.
Subway Dog of the Week: Corgi in a Backpack
Dogs aren't allowed on the subway unless they are in a "container" or a bag.This doesn't stop New Yorkers with larger dogs, like this corgi-owner who simply popped her pet in a backpack for the ride.
SEE MORE: New Yorkers' Dogged Determination to Get Pets on Trains
Subway Ad of the Week: Cheeky Dating Ads
Subway ads can be divisive, but these posters from dating website OK Cupid had many New Yorkers amused. In the ads, the company redefines the acronym 'DTF' in multiple different ways.
The NSFW acronym typically stands for 'Down to [expletive]' but the dating website repurposed the term with a series of photographs of other things New Yorkers want to do on dates (that start with the letter F, of course). Down to Finish My Book, Down to Fall Head Over Heels, and Down to Farmer's Market are all featured.
