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Upper West Sider here: Subway cars of course have AC. Older cars sometimes break AC but the newer ones have backup compressors so that doesn't happen. I do t

Upper West Sider here: Subway cars of course have AC. Older cars sometimes break AC but the newer ones have backup compressors so that doesn't happen. I do think they could at least have some high speed fans in parts of the subway stations, esp. for the elderly who don't tolerate heat as well as others.

pavel_lishin 10y ago
New York City is a great place to be old and either healthy or rich. Otherwise, you run into problems not addressed in the article - such as the tremendous lack of handicapped access in the subways. We lived at 145th on the ABCD line. There's precisely one escalator that takes you from the lowest platform to the mezzanine, skipping the mid-level platform in between. Then there are stairs to get to street-level. There are no elevators. So when my father, in his 70s, came to visit us, he had a hell of a time getting down the stairs. We ended up specifically planning trips so that we would arrive on the lower platform, so we could take the escalator. All the walking does have health benefits, but if you're not capable of it, you better live near some accessible stations, or you end up being reliant on cars and access-a-ride (which, granted, I know nothing about - maybe it's fantastic.) Having typed all that, I'd rather be old and feeble here than, say, in Dallas, where I have to drive, until I'm no longer able to, and then have to rely on others for transportation. I'd gladly take a 20-minute journey down a stairwell that takes others 20 seconds for the freedom it would afford me.
- awl130 10y ago
  how long until self driving cars in dallas?
  - parasitius 10y ago
    Have you been there? It's not something to look forward to. Every stinkin' place you want to go involves 45 minutes of road travel. Just because you get to zone out all the while doesn't mean your day isn't deprived of an immense amount of time. (To put things in perspective, I'm in Austin where everything, absolutely everything, is within 15 minutes' drive, but it is a "catastrophe" that during peak hours that becomes 35-40. Working at home and driving only off-peak hours has it's perks!)
  - pavel_lishin 10y ago
    Probably awhile. I can't reply to parasitius, because his comment is dead, but it's also nonsense. > Just because you get to zone out all the while doesn't mean your day isn't deprived of an immense amount of time. I'm glad that Austin is working out for him, but we can't shrink all cities, nor should we. 45 minutes of free time is still 45 minutes of free time.
- schrodinger 10y ago
  It's true that there are a lot of inaccessible subway stations, but at the same time you're much more likely to be able to go about 90% of your life just walking around your neighborhood—restaurants, grocery, doctors, etc, all within a 10 minute walk is pretty standard in Manhattan.

pavel_lishin 10y ago

New York City is a great place to be old and either healthy or rich. Otherwise, you run into problems not addressed in the article - such as the tremendous lack of handicapped access in the subways. We lived at 145th on the ABCD line. There's precisely one escalator that takes you from the lowest platform to the mezzanine, skipping the mid-level platform in between. Then there are stairs to get to street-level. There are no elevators. So when my father, in his 70s, came to visit us, he had a hell of a time getting down the stairs. We ended up specifically planning trips so that we would arrive on the lower platform, so we could take the escalator. All the walking does have health benefits, but if you're not capable of it, you better live near some accessible stations, or you end up being reliant on cars and access-a-ride (which, granted, I know nothing about - maybe it's fantastic.) Having typed all that, I'd rather be old and feeble here than, say, in Dallas, where I have to drive, until I'm no longer able to, and then have to rely on others for transportation. I'd gladly take a 20-minute journey down a stairwell that takes others 20 seconds for the freedom it would afford me.

awl130 10y ago
how long until self driving cars in dallas?
- parasitius 10y ago
  Have you been there? It's not something to look forward to. Every stinkin' place you want to go involves 45 minutes of road travel. Just because you get to zone out all the while doesn't mean your day isn't deprived of an immense amount of time. (To put things in perspective, I'm in Austin where everything, absolutely everything, is within 15 minutes' drive, but it is a "catastrophe" that during peak hours that becomes 35-40. Working at home and driving only off-peak hours has it's perks!)
- pavel_lishin 10y ago
  Probably awhile. I can't reply to parasitius, because his comment is dead, but it's also nonsense. > Just because you get to zone out all the while doesn't mean your day isn't deprived of an immense amount of time. I'm glad that Austin is working out for him, but we can't shrink all cities, nor should we. 45 minutes of free time is still 45 minutes of free time.
schrodinger 10y ago
It's true that there are a lot of inaccessible subway stations, but at the same time you're much more likely to be able to go about 90% of your life just walking around your neighborhood—restaurants, grocery, doctors, etc, all within a 10 minute walk is pretty standard in Manhattan.