Well I suppose I am a little late in posting these pictures… but that is the problem with me, I take so many damn photographs I am late with posting up all of them. Plus my shoulder still hurts quite a bit, so by the time I get home from work after using the computer all day, the last thing I want to be doing is messing around on my own computer. I guarantee you that a big part of it is probably poor posture and sitting hours at a time in front of the computer making silly websites. I’m trying to catch up though, I swear. I still have train-related Japan and Canada photos I’d love to post, timetables to scan (I purchased a new scanner for this!), plus photos from the Transit Museum’s newest exhibit, highlighting the Arts for Transit works around the MTA network.

In addition to the exhibit, there were also a couple tours through the museum to see some of the Arts for Transit works. A few weeks ago I went on one of those tours, we went to see Departures and Arrivals, by artist Ben Snead, in Jay Street-Borough Hall station. The tour ended with a trip to Ben’s studio, where we got to see some of his previous work, and the things he is currently working on.

Departures and Arrivals is a glass mosaic, based on original paintings by Snead (these paintings are actually at the Transit Museum for the exhibit). Snead’s work often pictures insects, reptiles and fish, and with this mosaic that theme carries through. On the tour Snead discussed why he chose the various animals displayed on the wall, and perfect for a train station where people come and go every day, the underlying theme is the migration of these animals. All of those displayed in mosaic form – sparrow, lion fish, koi, parakeet – are all animals not native to the city, they were introduced by people, or migrated on their own. The beetle, which is screened onto the larger white tiles, is a species native to this area – though it is disappearing due to humans encroaching on its habitat.

Mosaics always amaze me, as I figure they aren’t the easiest thing to create, and rather labor intensive. Although Snead created the initial design, it was from his paintings that the mosaic was fabricated by Franz Mayer of Munich. Snead mentioned that there was a bit of color shifting from his original designs, but it came out very well. If you look closely the piece is not entirely created from many small tiles, there are some larger pieces of glass used for feathers, and for beaks. This was partially done to save money, I remember hearing during the tour, but I don’t see it as hurting the piece, I rather like the effect.

It isn’t hard to take a guess as to which train station in the Metro-North system is the most used. Although Grand Central receives the most traffic, White Plains is the second most used station – for the Harlem Line and Metro-North as a whole. It is the station to which I head every morning and evening. It is almost a microcosm of commuter culture. Large enough to have a steady stream of unknown faces, but small enough for there to be “regulars” – the folks you see every day. And there certainly are some crazy ones. But there are nice ones too. Falling into that category is Gary Waxman, who operates the news stand in the station. Although he has a few people help him out, Gary is at the new stand almost every day and night, certainly a fixture in the local culture. People from all over converge at this location, whether it be for the trains, or the buses across the street. Westchester’s Bee-Line, CT Transit’s I-Bus, as well as Greyhound all stop there.

White Plains may not be the prettiest station – it has no Arts for Transit pieces, the bathrooms are absolutely horrible, and there are pigeons everywhere – but it feels a little bit like my other home. For those descending south from the upper Harlem Line, it is your first taste of the city, and of the big buildings to come. Alliance Bernstein has a large building that overlooks the station, and is visible from the platform. But as my friend would put it, everything north of here is “the bush”. Gradually turning more rural the further north you go, the land opens up into into large farms and rolling green hillsides, the Harlem Valley (Named for the railroad, of course).

White Plains is an important transportation hub of the Harlem Line. Almost all trains stop at here – every local, and even most expresses make the stop. It is a common place to have to change trains, switching from express to local, though most people don’t have to. Along with North White Plains, the station forms a dividing line between the local trains that service the Bronx and lower Westchester, and the locals that serve upper Westchester and Putnam counties.

Unlike most stations that I take a short visit to, I spend a lot of time at White Plains. Although most times I don’t really feel like taking photos, I do have a lot more than the other stations. And definitely more panoramas. I picked a bunch that I liked best. I must admit that my new favorite vantage point is the upper walkway over the track that leads to the parking garage. Except for the fact that there are security cameras everywhere. I am expecting that one day I’m going to get apprehended by cops for being a photo taking terrorist. In reality I am just a dork that is going to every station on the Harlem Line.

I think it is about time that I reclassify the person I refer to as Johnny as one of the White Plains waiting room crazies. I’ve mentioned him before, and that although I’ve seen him smoke with some of the other crazy people, he wasn’t doing anything to really classify himself along with those people. After some of the recent incidents in the waiting room, I have to change my mind. Shouting “fear the deer!” at everyone passing by is a bit odd, but maybe the Bucks won the night before, so I could somewhat understand it. After that he began squawking like a bird, “Fuck you!” to all of the people passing by. A few people looked as if they wanted to punch him, which certainly would have made for some great waiting room video, but a fight never did break out. When he got tired of that, he started talking to nobody in particular how there was a really obnoxious lady on his train that was talking on her cell and wouldn’t shut up. He mimed holding a phone, and kept going “Blah, blah, blah…” over and over. Sir, I agree she was probably annoying, but you are as well, if not even more annoying than she.

I suppose Johnny got tired of all of that, and decided to do something different with his time: hit on ladies in the waiting room. When it was clear that just shouting out “Hey Baby!” was getting him nowhere, he tried a different tact. He went up to the women, and pretended like he knew them. “Don’t you remember me?” It was obvious to everyone else in the waiting room that he didn’t know any of these women. Because as one would pass by, he used the same line on the next. And the next. This is not the first time I’ve witnessed crazy guys attempting to hit on women in this way on the train. Except of course that incident was on the subway, the man later gave up on pursuing women, and he then proceeded to unzipper his pants and pee out the door of the moving train. Is this a common way that guys attempt to pick up girls in the city? Or is it just reserved for the crazies?

A few days later, also in the waiting room in White Plains, I heard crying. Or what I thought was crying. Curious, I looked over to see what was going on. It was not a person crying, it was in fact a small dog, whimpering. The lady who owned the dog told everyone that she was probably scared of all the people, and apologized. I like dogs. Every time I see them on the train, I want to pet them. Or take pictures of them…

This is the dog. I believe her name was Gigi (and hopefully not Gigli). Gigi looks quite similar to my sister’s dog, whom I’ve dubbed Shittles. Living up to his name, one day Shittles fell in the toilet. This caption has little relevance to the story.

I know I have mentioned this subject before, but what do you think about dogs riding Metro-North? (Mind you, I am talking about pet animals, and not service or helping animals of any kind) Of the various MTA agencies, it seems that Metro-North has the more lenient policy when it comes to animals. Long Island Rail Road, as well as New York City Transit (subway and bus) policy is as follows:

Small domestic pets are permitted provided they are carried in kennels or similar containers that can be accommodated by you on your lap without annoyance to other passengers.

Metro-North’s policy contains a little addition…

Small domestic pets are permitted provided they’re carried in kennels or similar containers, or are securely controlled on leashes throughout the trip and do not annoy other customers. Pets should not occupy seats and are subject to approval by the conductor.

Perhaps that is what annoys me about dogs on Metro-North. The leash thing. I like dogs, really, I do. But I hate seeing dogs on leashes being led through the aisles of the train. Or laying and blocking the aisle of the train. Even if the dog was not in any sort of crate, but the owner held the dog while walking, I would find this more acceptable. And I do find it rather bothersome when a person with a small dog on a leash exits the train. There is that little gap that we hear so much about. I know dogs can do tricks and jump over stuff and all, but I do fear that your little chihuahua might not be able to handle it, and that he’s going to fall in the gap. After all, if it were a small child, you’d certainly be holding their hand while stepping over that gap. Why not just pick that dog up?

I am curious what other folks think about dogs on Metro-North. I don’t think I am really annoyed by them, but I do worry about their safety on the train. Should Metro-North be more strict are require them to stay in kennels, like the LIRR? I do recall seeing a woman with a cat in a baby carriage… which is more safe than by leash, I suppose.

As I went through White Plains train station this morning, police were at the front of the station setting up a table in order to inspect bags. There was a K9 there as well, which actually caused a bit of commotion. A hispanic male walked up to the dog and began petting him, the police were not too thrilled about that. The man sort of shrugged and walked away, either because he didn’t speak English, or he was pretending not to be able to understand what the cop said to him.

If you’re having difficulty reading the sign from the picture, it says:

MTA Police Department
Container Inspection Program

Backpacks/Containers are subject to inspection prior to entering the mass transit system. Individuals may refuse to permit inspection and elect not to enter the system. Individuals will not be permitted access to the system with the uninspected container. Individuals who refuse the container search and later attempt to enter the system with the uninspected container may be subject to arrest.

I’m not exactly sure how long the police will be there, and how many bags they plan on inspecting (everyone’s or just a random selection of people). The increased security is most likely a response to the bombing attack in the Moscow subway on Monday, which killed 39 people.

I got slapped today at the train station. I don’t know what other way to put it. Let me explain: I have an addiction to Coca-cola. I needed my Coke fix this morning, and so I headed over to Waxman’s News in White Plains after getting off the train. Gary frequently provides me my morning Coke fix. Anyways, a few steps ahead of me was a woman with a cane, and a boot on her injured foot. Gary was being all nice, going to the cooler and grabbing the water that she claimed she couldn’t reach. I figured I’d be nice and wait until she was done and paid, and then I’d go and grab my coke. Except for the fact that she was taking absolutely forever. This woman was indecisive. “Well, how much are those juices over there?” and “What about those ones there?” If you are going to inquire about the price of every item in the store, it would be great if you didn’t block the entrance to the store for everyone else. Just saying.

Ultimately, I got fed up with waiting. I am a fairly small person, and I knew that without a difficulty I could walk right behind the woman. My backpack is really the big thing that would add to my bulk, so I took it off. I prepared to step behind the woman, and all of a sudden, SLAP. She slapped my leg (rather hard too!) and shouted at me, “Watch my foot!” I responded, “Lady, I see your foot,” and I could tell that my voice was speaking in a (much deserved) rude tone. There were a lot of other things I could have said, but I was just like, “f- that” and I got my Coke and got out of there.

Unfortunately the incident made me forget the other thing I wanted to do this morning. I saw Mutt this morning. Mutt is the nickname of (another) one of the crazy-type people that hang out at the station. Yes, I’ve given them all nicknames. Mutt is short for Mutton Chops, though the guy really just has long sideburns, and not true mutton chops. Nonetheless, that was the first name that came to mind in my head, and it stuck. Mutt isn’t too incredibly crazy. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen him speak. But he always has this expression on his face, a look of being perpetually lost. He hangs out in the waiting room and just sits. And every time he’s at the station, he has to go and make his “rounds.” You see, Mutt has an OCD habit. He needs to stick his finger in the little door of all the pay-phones to see if there is any change inside. He also checks each of the automated ticket machines. What I wanted to do for amuseument’s sake was to take a dollar bill, and put it in the pay-phone downstairs. It would probably confuse the hell out of him. Though now that I’ve posted that, the amount of people sticking their fingers in pay-phones looking for dollars in White Plains will certainly be on the rise.

And just a note: I’ve been rather slow in processing my photos from last Thursday’s gallery opening at the Transit Museum Annex, but I’ll be posting them later in the day, I swear!

Yesterday was a pretty great day. On the platform in White Plains at around 5:45, the sun was shining. And all the riders that had formerly been hidden in waiting rooms and other dark places, came out to enjoy the sunlight. I was seriously amazed at how many people were out and about. Of course I had to take pictures.

I also passed out a bunch of cards. At times this was really hard for me. I’m not exactly sure what people think I am like based on what I say in this blog, but I can be incredibly shy at times. When you ride on the train you have a routine. I take the same train, and generally sit in the same seat. And you cross paths with other folks that also have routines. When I see these people often, it isn’t too hard to just go up to them and have a chat. But just going up completely cold, to a person I’ve never seen before, and handing them a card. Well it is a little hard. I was deathly afraid someone was going to totally reject me. I will admit I got a lot of funny looks. But there were also people that really enjoyed it. I even encountered the guy who runs the site TrainJotting and gave him a card. This is only the second time that I’ve been recognized by someone because of my blog. Too funny.

As for this morning, it was a little bit chilly, but it is supposed to be another good day. I haven’t seen any St. Patrick’s drunks yet, but I expect to see that tonight. I did, however, see the guy I refer to as Johnny. He was standing in front of the White Plains station and kept asking people walking in and out whether they wanted to see a baby hawk. He kept pointing. “It’s right there, look!” He pointed to the area over the door where the pigeons enjoy roosting. I only saw pigeons, no hawks. I figured he was joking, because after that he said, “There is a leprechaun up there too! And he was this tall,” as he motions to show that the aforementioned leprechaun was about a foot in height. I got Johnny to produce this amateur sketch:

If you happen to see the leprechaun, please let me know.

A few of you may recall me writing about my antics at the Goldens Bridge train station in December. There had been some vandalism, and I thought I’d cover it up with amusing signs until Metro-North decided to fix it all. The first sign I posted had a picture of a raccoon, and the title said “Cat Found!” Included on the bottom of the sign was a phone number to a voicemail box I registered on the internet. If you call it, I get the message forwarded to my email box as a WAV file. A few months later (now, in March) images of the poster made their rounds on the internet. And I got a bunch of calls (some of which may or may not be from students from an unnamed school that ride my morning train). These are some of the better the messages that I got. My personal favorite is Mr. Captain Obvious, who suggests I should change my phone number. I figured I’d post it up here, since I know some of my readers thought the sign funny, and were wondering if anyone would call.

Imagine that, today I get to be a food critic! My friend Despina is fasting for Lent, and was looking for a decent place to eat (her variety of “fasting” is essentially eating vegan), and suggested Valhalla Crossing, which right next to Valhalla’s Metro-North station, and historically, was the original station building. I see the place just about every day on the way to work, yet had never gotten a chance to eat there.

Of course I brought my camera for documentary purposes, and the decor was quite nice in the place, so I took quite a few pictures. Our waitress told us that most of the woodwork in the room where we sat was not original, but the floor of the bar is the original station floor. Trains regularly pass by the place, which is kind of cool to watch. The noise from said trains was not bad at all, I’ve heard and felt worse in the city when subways pass by underneath. Though thinking about it, during the lunchtime hours mostly M7′s were going by… I imagine one of the diesels passing by is sure to jolt you from your reverie.

That’s right. Documentary purposes.

Throughout the place were framed prints and photographs of train-related memorabilia, as well as original photos of the Valhalla station, with the original platform. There was a caboose room in which you could eat, which we took photographs of. Of course all the people eating in the room had pause their conversations to turn and look. This is why I often feel shy about taking photos in public. I quite liked the large painting of the steam train that was not far from our table, but my friend kept saying to me that the plume of steam looked like an umbilical cord. Delightful imagery for lunchtime.

The food itself was pretty good. I am notoriuosly picky about my food, of which most people who know me can wholeheartedly attest to. I ordered the “Third rail” mostly because I was amused with the name. It contained chicken with buffalo sauce, bleu cheese, lettuce and tomato on a wedge. If I had to find a fault in it at all, I would have to say, “you call that buffalo sauce?” Weak and hardly spicy. The bleu cheese should complement the buffalo sauce, not overpower it. Alright, perhaps I am just bitter because my friend’s wrap looked better. If you go to Valhalla Crossing, try a wrap, they look good. And the onion rings look better than the fries. But they’re so awesome that they’ll allow you to get a little bit of both if you want. Either way, the Valhalla Crossing is pretty cute, and I’d certainly go back. They get major points from me because there were no big, black hairs in my food, which happened to me down the road at the North Castle Diner. There’s a place I’d never revisit.

Anyways, be sure to take a look at their website, ValhallaCrossing.com. My web designer nature must make me of course say that with the interesting decor of the place, they really could have carried that over and made an awesome website, but unfortunately they chose an out of the box template look, which saddens me slightly. (I can redesign that for you guys. Call me!) But really, go take a visit. Valhalla’s got some nice little places to eat, all in walking distance of the train station. Another favorite of mine being Mughal Palace, an Indian restaurant across the street from the station. Yummy.

[View with PicLens]

In other news, I got a call today on my sign phone line. Whenever I go and put up crazy signs at the train station, I always include a phone number at the bottom. It is a voicemail box number, and it isn’t answered by anyone. Yesterday’s pigeon sign had a message on the bottom “To report suspicious pigeon activity, call: 206-376-0748.” Apparently someone thought they’d have a little fun of their own, and sang me a song. A dirty song.

Ok, who is going to admit to it? I bet it was one of my amusing online readers. (My friend thinks it was the Crazy Coat Guy in White Plains) Fess up! Or just call and sing me a song. 206-376-0748. Major points go to whoever can make up the most awesome “Harlem Line Song.”

The building of railway stations is becoming a fine art in the hands of some companies
From the New York Tribune, Sunday, October 28, 1902. Accessed digitally via the Library of Congress’ Chronicling America.