I grew up in NYC, down at the end of Brooklyn by Coney Island / Brighton Beach. My entire life, I have always called the NYC Subway the “great equalizer.” For

I grew up in NYC, down at the end of Brooklyn by Coney Island / Brighton Beach. My entire life, I have always called the NYC Subway the “great equalizer.” For a tiny sum of money (75 cents when I was a kid, just over $2 now) you could get anywhere you wanted in the city. Transfers were free. The subway goes nearly everywhere. I used the hell out of it, especially because students (aka anyone under 18) rides the subway M-F for free. So while I didn’t have bikes or stoops, I did have access to see friends and do things that were otherwise completely inaccessible to me. Sure, I didn’t ride the subway alone until I was a teenager, but before that I had buses. It’s different, but I don’t regret it. Once I got to high school, I went to a school in lower Manhattan, which opened up my world even more.