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New Yorkers agree that taking the subway is both frustrating and necessary. Yes, we depend on it to get to work and to our favorite spots in NYC, but the dirt and grime, the weird characters, the maze of stairs and the intermittent flooding is almost too much to bear.
One thing we do like, however, is complaining about the subway, so when New York Times Metro reporter Michael Gold asked people on Twitter what their least favorite station is, there was no hesitation to share.
ok, but what's your LEAST FAVORITE subway station
— Michael Gold (@migold) May 24, 2021
i have a top 5
Here are some of the worst subway stations, according to New Yorkers.
14th Street-Union Square
The platform pushes, slashing, the screeching, the scary moving platform and the summer heat on the 4/5/6 platform make Union Square unbearable for many.
The screeching squeak and moving cheese grater of doom at Union Square 4/5/6 make it the only choice
— Indoor / Outdoor Animal (@electricearth_) May 24, 2021
Times Square (including the tunnel to Port Authority)
The "sadistic" long walk between the connected lines, the crowding at rush hour, the heat, the 45-degree angled ramp, and the depressing poem that tells you to turn around, give up and go home is enough to drive commuters crazy.
The tunnel from the Port Authority A/C/E to Times Square N/Q/R/S/1/2/3/7 is particularly sadistic. pic.twitter.com/KvY9fWP2mW
— Uterati Rampage (@uterati_rampage) May 25, 2021
Lexington Avenue stations (4/5/6 trains)
From the sewer stench on 59th Street's 4/5 platform is the "devil's armpit," its 6 platform is full of rude people who don't move to let people out and its RWN platform gets overcrowded too often. The 63rd Street at Lexington takes way too many elevators to get to ground level.
Times Sq just as a general matter. The 4/5 platform at 59th is basically the devil's armpit. And the lower platform of the 63rd St./3rd-Lex station in Manhattan because it requires approximately 17 escalators to get to street level.
— Amanda Leff (@AmandaMLeff) May 25, 2021
34th Street-Herald Square
It's well-known that this station is one of the hottest with temperatures reaching over 100 degrees on a regular basis. One Tweet said it is "hotter than the actual core of the earth in August," but what else makes it one of the worst stations? It's super deep so you have to take never-ending ramps or escalators and you're not even at ground level yet.
Not the worst in and of itself, but my therapist's office is off the Herald Sq stop and I always feel like I need an extra session just from the walk from the train to her office. Shit's too much.
— Sarah Kobos (@skobos) May 24, 2021
Canal Street (J/N/Q/R trains)
First, Canal Street's southbound Q platform "smells like horse died there the year the Dodgers left Brooklyn,' according to Amanda Barrett, and "the platform toward the front it's only big enough for one pre-pandemic weight person." The station as a whole is maze-like so transfers are pretty terrible.
1. 63rd F cause it goes down to the core of the Earth
— ajs+ (@Jayesav) May 25, 2021
2. Canal street anything bc it’s a gamble on whether you’ll come out in Chinatown Tribeca or Jersey
3. 72nd Q bc same as #1 but with added sterility
Hoyt-Schermerhorn
The fact that the G tracks don't connect to Manhattan — it's confusing AF. It also has "foreboding unused outer platforms and long walks through empty tunnels."
I can go on, but Hoyt-Schmerhorn is the worst switching from the AC to the G Is a nightmare. If you’re going uptown/to Manhattan on the AC you need to switch platforms to get on the G (even though you’re going north, just on the BK side). Very counter intuitive.
— Corey Gary (@coreybgary) May 24, 2021
168th Street
Also steamy during the summer, 168th on the 1 or A platforms is like "a chicken gathering waiting to be cooked in data hot ass station," according to @icedoutflyaway1. It's also "elevator dependent," meaning that if the "slow hot death box" of an elevator breaks, it's unclear how to get out, riders say.
Can't believe I had to scroll this far before someone mentioned the 168th St 1/2/3 station. The whole station but especially the elevators are straight out of a horror movie.
— Erika McEntarfer (@ErikaMcentarfer) May 24, 2021
181st Street (1 train)
"Terrifying elevators" and "dungeon vibes" are found at this stop. It's another one with only elevators used to exit and they always break down, according to straphangers. It's too small for the population that lives near the stop, which services the 1 train.
You don’t know pain until you’ve been to 1 stop @ 181st St. With its one working elevator(stairs are only avail in the event of a fire), operated by an MTA employee hitting the ‘close door’ button w/ a broom stick wrapped in a black plastic bodega bag
— Melissa Gindin (@MJ_Gindin) May 24, 2021
What was the MTA's response? They asked people to check out its progress on capital projects:
We're getting there. View our progress on our projects with our Capital Program Dashboard here: https://t.co/dBsJRmZ6CL ^JG
— NYCT Subway. Wear a Mask. (@NYCTSubway) May 25, 2021