4 ms·

I went to NYC for work, and the transit system absolutely did not hit all the marks. I had to get to the Jacob Javits conference center, and ended up walking a

I went to NYC for work, and the transit system absolutely did not hit all the marks. I had to get to the Jacob Javits conference center, and ended up walking a couple of miles through just-shy-of-sketchy neighborhoods because the single bus was out of service. Every place I needed to go to was over 5m walk away. And point 1 - psychological safety? As far from it as possible. And frankly, 1.3 deaths per 100M miles driven is not that dangerous. 40k per year in a country of 300M is not a lot of folks. Obesity likely kills significantly more.

anthonypasq 4y ago
i dont live in NYC so maybe im wrong but the hudson yards station is a 6 minute walk from javits center. Why were you taking a bus? the vast majority of people that live in NYC seem to do perfectly well without a car
- falcolas 4y ago
  The time I was there, there was no subway connection within a mile of Javits. At least, not one that was open. I needed to connect from a subway to a bus to get there. > the vast majority of people that live in NYC seem to do perfectly well without a car Yes, you can work around a lot of public transport issues (and NY has many of those) by extending your walk. Which is unpleasant in many situations but absolutely possible. And yes, I wouldn't want to drive in NY either. I also knew a few folks who live in the NY suburbs who have a car as well, for when they need to do something other than commute to work in NY.
wombat-man 4y ago
Ok well you could have taken a 7 train or one of the many trains that stop on 34th st or Times square and had a walk of less than a mile. The subway system is pretty good and I don't find a 5 minute walk to be that inconvenient. I am happy to not have to think about a car.
- falcolas 4y ago
  In a way, thank you for highlighting how opaque NY's public transportation is. 7 train is wut? All I could easily find out about (including via Google Maps) was the subway and bus. And a 20m walk in the heat. At least all the skyscrapers provided decent shade.
  - wombat-man 3y ago
    But the 7 train is part of the subway system. I wouldn't really recommend taking a bus in most cases even if google thinks you'll shave a minute or two off your travel time.
chimeracoder 4y ago
> I went to NYC for work, and the transit system absolutely did not hit all the marks. I had to get to the Jacob Javits conference center, and ended up walking a couple of miles through just-shy-of-sketchy neighborhoods because the single bus was out of service. When? The 7 has run directly to the Javits center for nearly ten years now. > a couple of miles through just-shy-of-sketchy neighborhoods This is a common issue for people who visit NYC. It's funadmentally an issue of perception, which makes it hard to address because it's inherently subjective, not rooted in objective facts. To get to the Javits center from the subway, you would have had to walk through the Theater District, Hell's Kitchen, and/or Chelsea. These are some of the wealthiest, most developed, and safest areas in the country. While you may personally perceive it as "just-shy-of-sketchy", that's fundamentally a perception issue: your expectations aren't calibrated in a way that aligns with the actual safety profile of the areas that you're visiting.

anthonypasq 4y ago

i dont live in NYC so maybe im wrong but the hudson yards station is a 6 minute walk from javits center. Why were you taking a bus? the vast majority of people that live in NYC seem to do perfectly well without a car

falcolas 4y ago
The time I was there, there was no subway connection within a mile of Javits. At least, not one that was open. I needed to connect from a subway to a bus to get there. > the vast majority of people that live in NYC seem to do perfectly well without a car Yes, you can work around a lot of public transport issues (and NY has many of those) by extending your walk. Which is unpleasant in many situations but absolutely possible. And yes, I wouldn't want to drive in NY either. I also knew a few folks who live in the NY suburbs who have a car as well, for when they need to do something other than commute to work in NY.

wombat-man 4y ago

Ok well you could have taken a 7 train or one of the many trains that stop on 34th st or Times square and had a walk of less than a mile. The subway system is pretty good and I don't find a 5 minute walk to be that inconvenient. I am happy to not have to think about a car.

falcolas 4y ago
In a way, thank you for highlighting how opaque NY's public transportation is. 7 train is wut? All I could easily find out about (including via Google Maps) was the subway and bus. And a 20m walk in the heat. At least all the skyscrapers provided decent shade.
- wombat-man 3y ago
  But the 7 train is part of the subway system. I wouldn't really recommend taking a bus in most cases even if google thinks you'll shave a minute or two off your travel time.

chimeracoder 4y ago

> I went to NYC for work, and the transit system absolutely did not hit all the marks. I had to get to the Jacob Javits conference center, and ended up walking a couple of miles through just-shy-of-sketchy neighborhoods because the single bus was out of service. When? The 7 has run directly to the Javits center for nearly ten years now. > a couple of miles through just-shy-of-sketchy neighborhoods This is a common issue for people who visit NYC. It's funadmentally an issue of perception, which makes it hard to address because it's inherently subjective, not rooted in objective facts. To get to the Javits center from the subway, you would have had to walk through the Theater District, Hell's Kitchen, and/or Chelsea. These are some of the wealthiest, most developed, and safest areas in the country. While you may personally perceive it as "just-shy-of-sketchy", that's fundamentally a perception issue: your expectations aren't calibrated in a way that aligns with the actual safety profile of the areas that you're visiting.