MTA Enforced Exercise Program

On By dancingpalmtreesIn J Subway Train, L Subway Train, L Subway Train 14th Street, MTA Enforced Exercise Program, Subway, Subway Station, Subway Train, Subway train cars, Uncategorized

 

The New York City MTA (Mass Transit Authority) has a secret objective to get New Yorkers in shape. Case in point when it snows and being that New York resides in the Northeast part of the country so it snows every winter, the subway and bus system breaks down, skips expected stops and unexpectedly re-routes trains so if you are traveling on the C line it will at a whim turn into the F line which are totally different stops. This forces you to exit the train at a subway station that you don’t normally use.  Plus since 2012 the MTA has been blaming nearly all delays and transit problems on Hurricane Sandy. It is now 2017 and the remnants of Sandy should have been cleaned up and fixed long ago!!

This will entail an entire route of cardio exercises causing you to walk some of the underground pathways which are nearly a mile out of your way, transfer to subway stations nowhere near your destination or walk in the freezing cold to bus stops way out of your way.

Case in point last weekend it snowed. Nothing new but I knew I would have to check the website MTA.Info for the latest updates on subway delays. I live across the street from my local subway station, C train, and a few blocks from the subway hub known as Broadway Junction. The A, C, & L subway lines are west side trains and I need to get to the east side where my workplace is located. Naturally the 4, 5, & 6 trains which are east side subway lines are the ones with delays. I cannot be late to work. That’s a No-no!!

Snow storm Nico/Niko was only fun for the kids because the Mayor closed the schools! Therefore last week I wound up taking the C train to 81st Street and walking through Central Park. For some people walking in the snow is picturesque but not for me. Ugh!! Snow! Ice! The kids were outside in the park having a mighty fine time on their sleds which appeared to me as enlarged upside Frisbee’s as opposed to the wood/metal flexible flyers Stephen and I had as kids.  Anyway only the children and the ducks in the pond enjoy blizzards! That is their element. However I digress. I walked through Central Park to get to the East Side then swung over to the last few blocks to my job. That had to be at least a 20 minute walk perhaps equivalent to a mile. Cardio plus resistance training since it is very difficult to walk through snow!!

Pretty much for the past week and a half with the snowstorm, freezing temps and ice cold weather the 4, 5, & 6 trains have made themselves extremely unreliable. I’m a person who is never late for work. I check that MTA website and make the appropriate adjustments to my travel plans. Nor when my shift finishes at either 12:30 am or 8:30 am if I do a double shift I want to get home in a timely manner. Once again I employ the MTA exercise plan which once the snow was kinda cleaned up I still had to use an alternate route. I really did not feel like more walks through Central Park so I took the C train to 86th Street and took the M86 Cross town bus and got off at 84th Street. Now my job is located on 75th Street so pretty much all week I’ve been walking approximately 10 blocks to work every day.

Many times because of switching and signal problems riders will often be unceremoniously deposited at a subway stop station not of their choice! I admit that the subway system is close to 115 years old!! Yes the trains are replaced and most of the lines have new updated trains but not so much the tracks the subways run on or the switches and signals which keep trains from crashing into each other!  I suppose it might be better to be dropped at subway station further from your job, school or home than to be in an accident. That’s why I allow for extra time.

Folks that is the MTA Exercise program. Not so sure it will cause you to lose weight. After all a few days ago it was Valentine’s Day and whether you have a spouse or not candy was in great abundance especially at my job!!  And I like to eat!! Other than foods I’m allergic to such as dairy products or conflict with my high blood pressure I partake of the workplace food spread!!

 

Broadway Junction
Arriving L Train
L Train Views & Vistas from Broadway Junction

 

 

 

25 thoughts on “MTA Enforced Exercise Program”

    1. I walk for exercise anyway but having to find alternate routes in bad weather is not my idea of fun. However there is a silver lining. Since I had to walk along streets I don’t normally use some great photo opportunities came up. So a combination of exercise and photography. Hopefully by the time I return to work on Sunday the # Number trains will be working properly.

      2. Thanks! Me too! The photos of Stephen were taken inside the New York City Transit Museum where there is neither snow nor ice!! Just trips down memory lane of past train models! Fun Museum!!

      4. No. Stephen does not go with me to my workplace. Fortunately for him, his Day Treatment Center drives him to all his work sites. No public transportation for little brother!! He is one Lucky Guy!!

      6. Some developmentally disabled people can be travel trained but Stephen is not one of them. He would get confused and get hurt. I’m glad that both his Group Home Residence and his Training Program take him everywhere he needs to go in their vans. The only time he gets on Public Transportation is when he is with me. Too many wackos and weirdos ride the buses and especially the subway trains. I protect Stephen and keep him safe from harm and danger.

      8. Yes this is true but thankfully I have lots of street smarts and do my best to avoid potentially dangerous situations. If necessary I will splurge on a taxi cab and when Stephen is with my we do our most of our activities during the daytime.

      13. Oh, I could live with summer tours since I might not even come over when winter has NYC in its claws… lol!!! I am the same regarding that… haha! So let me know once you start your “The Real New York” tours… haha!

  2. Thanks for the memories. Most of my several decades in Manhattan, after a sublet in Tribeca when I first moved there, were spent on the upper-Upper West Side – 106th St./Duke Ellington Blvd, between Manhattan and Columbus. So I was a few short blocks from either the C or the 1. I recall many mad dashes across the platform to switch from the local to the express all too well.

    My apt. was practically on top of a bus route that got me to mid-town almost as fast, allowing me to read during the uninterrupted trip, so I often took advantage of it. I could also tell immediately if the bus veered from the route and get off before it got too far afield. I ventured East mostly for appointments with my dermo and dentist. I was a dedicated West Side girl!
    xx,
    mgh
    (Madelyn Griffith-Haynie – ADDandSoMuchMORE dot com)
    ADD Coach Training Field founder; ADD Coaching co-founder
    “It takes a village to educate a world!”

    1. Since I live in Brooklyn my subway adventures are more varied. A 45 minute trip can take up to 2 hours!! The population in New York has quadrupled since the 1960s/70s when I grew up however the MTA has not kept up. I work the late shift and even at 1:00 am in the morning the trains can be crowded. And the Weekends!! Oh Misery!! Everything is fouled up on Saturday and Sunday because of track work. So many trains Don’t run on the weekend that it is a real challenge to get to work and back home!! Ugh!!

      I wish I lived in Manhattan. At least my trip to work might be more direct plus shorter.

      2. True. But I’m always trying to visualize and manifest like the folks in the YouTube Videos. I also pray a lot. However we both know that God has the final say. Plus I’m enjoying living in Brooklyn, just wish the subways and buses ran faster and more efficiently. ❤

    1. Alas I have No choice in the matter as the stroke I had at age 49 took much of the sight in my left eye and rendered me unable to drive. So I must depend upon public transportation. I wonder what visually impaired people in states where there is no public transportation. They must be trapped in their houses all day or depend on others to get around.

      1. That’s for sure! My Mom is completely blind in one eye and only has peripheral vision in the other. My son came home one day years ago and said, “Gram took out 2 mailboxes and jumped a curb when she picked me up today!” OMG!! That is how we found out something was happening to her vision!

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