Today I had meant to take a bit of a longer trip since I still had an the final day of a Weekly Unlimilited Ride MetroCard but was moving slowly, and had to wait far to long at what should have been a quick visit to the bank, so the free part of my day became much shorter and was basically time to read fifty more pages of my book (I’ve realized that at least this summer my time spent on my subway adventures-or just taking the subway around-is really the only time I get any reading done, when I’m home I’m basically updating this website). So my original plans for the day, photographing the 3 stations total on the L & M I needed before getting as much as the Livonia Elevated (the 3 train’s el in East New York) as I could done, became just finishing off the L & M.
After finishing my far to long visit to the bank I was closer to St. Nicolas Avenue than Ft. Washington so I took the #1 train to 96 Street, actually waited a little bit of time (generally the #1 connects to an express train across the platform, that might not actually be scheduled, as in trains are held, but simply a coincidence of the fact each train runs so frequently), for a #2 train that I took down to 14th Street. At 14th Street I did a photo essay of the IRT station without actually leaving fare control, I could have but didn’t feel the need, I will return there at some point, and walked through the decently long passageway to 6th Avenue and the L train. Here I took the next L train, first to DeKalb Avenue and was planning to walk from there to Knickerbocker Avenue but the unstaffed exit at the eastern end of the station didn’t have a neighborhood map so I decided I might as well continue onto Myrtle-Wycoff Avenue and did on the next L train that came in as I was still thinking about what I was going to do.
At Myrtle-Wycoff I photographed the L’s underground mezzanine area that I was missing a real photo-essay off, and left the subway system to walk under the Myrtle Avenue el the relatively short way to Knickerbocker Avenue. Here I did a photo essay before taking the next Queens-bound L train to Forest Avenue, the other station I was missing after my camera’s battery died on my previous trip out here a month ago. I did a photo essay of the station, including leaving fare control for an exterior shot. I than got back on the next M train took it to Myrtle-Wycoff, did a photo essay of the mosaic cieling that exists in the main station building on the roof just above the walkway that leads to the main station elevator, most passengers using the stairs or escalators probably never see it. I had one more stop to make on the L, Wilson Avenue, the unusual split-level station, the Canarsie-bound platform is raised above the Manhattan-bound one that is sitting on street level. The Canarsie-bound platform feels like a falling apart elevated station, while the Manhattan-bound platform beneath it has the feeling of an underground stop, even though the it’s at street level there’s no immeadately obvious way to know it. complete with some of the most colorful mosaics the BMT has to offer. I left fare control briefly for an exterior shot of the street-level entrance to the station.
Now it was time to head back to my next engangment, some volunteer work I’m doing for the Harlem River Ecology Center, located in Roberto Clemente State Park, usually I walk across the Washington Bridge to get there but since I was already on the subway I took an empty L train to Union Square, where I transferred for the 4 train, that was its usually crowded self at rush hour under Lexington Aveune. It bypassed 138th Street as it does at rush hour and I got off and took the Bx40 or Bx41 (I can’t remember witch one, there basically the same route except in the East Bronx) to there terminal at the Harlem River. When I was done it was already dark out and I decided that especially with an Unlimited Ride MetroCard I would take the bus home, so I took the Bx40/41 again up to University Avenue (it was waiting for me), and waited practically no time for the Bx3 that took me across the Washington Bridge and home.
Total times I swiped the Unlimited I was using, 4 plus 1 total additional fare would have been paid on the bus. (If I had to buy an Unlimited this would be the minimum for a 1-Day Fun Pass to be justifiable)