A comprehensive guide to the 6 train

Most Hunter students are commuters, and most commuters use the subway.

For us Hunterites, that means handling the awful thing that is the 6 train: that exclusively local, shitty little brother of the 4 and 5.

Who needs a car when you have what is arguably the greatest and most obnoxious 24-hour subway system in the world?

Dos

Sit. There’s nothing wrong with the seat no one is sitting in. Don’t just stare at it!  As a show of strength, subway riders can often crowd a seat without ever placing someone in it, if this is the case, just sit. Let them stand and stare while you sit and catch up on sleep.

Take off your backpack! Sit it on your feet or balance it on your hands, it doesn’t matter. The “Box Turtle” look is less important than breathing room.

Everyone sits, it’s totally fine

Download subway apps and maps to help you find which way to go and which train to take. It doesn’t make you any less of a New Yorker, it just gets you where you’re going quicker.

In the colder weather take your jackets off before boarding crowded subways cars (especially during rush hour!). The tracks may feel cold but the cars are hot and stuffy. Finding enough space on the ground for your feet is hard enough, forget trying to take off your layers-you’ll hurt someone.

Carry hand sanitizer. Pretty much every surface on a train car has been either sneezed or peed on.

Cough into your elbow, we don’t want your germs.

Hold onto the poles. It doesn’t make you look like a professional subway rider when you stand with your hands in your pockets, it makes you a hazard. Subways jerk around and they jerk people around.

Know your station! Many subway stations(Hunter not included) have up to two or three different exits per subway line. For example: The N,Q, R trains all stop at 59th and Lexington, but if you board the front of a Queens bound train or the back of a Brooklyn bound train when you get off you can exit at 60th and 3rd Avenue right there. Knowing which subway cars stop at what part of the station can save a lot of time, energy and frustration.

(If any of you get off at the 96th street subway for the dorms, if you stand by the clock on the uptown 6 stop at Hunter, you’ll exit the train right in front of the exit when you get to 96th street.

Don’ts

Don’t eat food on the subway unless it’s a granola bar. If you need to touch it, it’s a no and if it needs utensils, it’s a no.

Don’t give money to the homeless every day. Those people walk the cars every day, five times a day and if you find yourself reaching into your pocket each time you’ll be broke before you know it.

Don’t be a seat hog. What makes you less of a New Yorker is not offering your seat to a standing elderly, pregnant or disabled person or someone with a child.

Never board an empty subway car.

Don’t block the doors.

Don’t ever hold the doors. Ever. It is probably one of the most annoying things a person can do, just because you’re running late doesn’t mean we all have to.

Don’t rest your head on the poles: they’re for holding your balance not rocking you to sleep.

Metro Card tips

If you have a pay per swipe/standard metro card and realize you have an insufficient fund for another ride after swiping into the subway, try refilling it right after you get off at your stop. A lot of metro card machines are out of order or have long lines so if you see an opportunity, seize it.

The golden ticket…

There will be a time when you are attempting to put money on your metro card and the machine will reject either your credit card or your cash! Always look at the top of the machine it displays any malfunctions. Sometimes they won’t take credit or debit cards, some won’t take cash and others will refuse coins. Be prepared with at least five dollars in cash and five dollars on a card, it’ll come in handy.

Buy a monthly unlimited Metro card if you use the subway a minimum of twice a day, five days a week.

Travel time

Take your travel time and add at least ten minutes this winter. NYC is the place to be this holiday season: subways will be delayed.

If it’s snowing or raining lightly always add on five minutes, if it’s hard enough that you’ve considered staying in bed and watching Netflix instead of going to class, add 10 minutes.

Know the stops. Stations like 42nd Street, Grand Central Station are always a mess because of the amount of transfers they house as well as it’s busy placement in Midtown. A station like 23rd Street, on the 6 train, not so crowded. When trains are approaching stops like Grand Central or Times Square delays are more likely with more people trying to board, holding the doors and so on.

Add five minutes onto your travel time just for the hell of it. New York City subways are not known for their dependability.

Safety

Be wary, especially at night. Try to stay in populated areas and invest the ten dollars on pepper spray. Some stations aren’t well lit and it’s important to stay conscious of your surroundings which means headphones out and head up!

Don’t ever board an empty subway car. More so, don’t ever get in a subway car you don’t feel comfortable in. Wait it out, chances are another train will be there within ten minutes.

Download a subway app and find alternate routes just in case! It’s always better safe than sorry.