Subwayland: Adventures in the World Beneath New York

by Randy Kennedy

Since the doors of the first subway train opened in 1904, New Yorkers and tourists alike have been fascinated, amused, amazed, repelled and bewildered by the world-within-a-world that lies beneath the city.

Now, as the subway celebrates its centennial anniversary, the creator of The New York Times 's award-winning "Tunnel Vision" column leads us on an extended tour of this storied subterranean land,

* Its the Tango Man, the traveling magician, Mayor Bloomberg
* Its the subway-riding pigeons, the Fulton Street cat, the blind mules
* Its customs, taboos and secret door blocking, leg spreading, pole hugging, even, yes, token sucking
* Its the sheriff of Grand Central, the Ethel Merman of the shuttle, the motorman who drove the last No. 1 train beneath the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001
* Tips for the first-time how to get a seat, how to get a date, the fine art of "pre-walking"

Genres: Nonfiction, New York, History, Travel, Essays, Journalism, Transport

226 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Randy Kennedy was born in San Antonio, Texas, and raised in Plains, a small farming town in the Texas Panhandle, where his father worked as a telephone lineman and his mother as a teachers’ aide. He was educated at the University of Texas at Austin. He moved to New York City in 1991 and worked for twenty-five years as a staff member and writer for The New York Times, first as a city reporter and for many years covering the art world. A collection of his city columns, Subwayland: Adventures in the World Beneath New York, was published in 2004. For The New York Times and The New York Times Magazine he has written about many of the most prominent artists of the last 50 years, including John Chamberlain, Claes Oldenburg, Bruce Nauman, Vito Acconci, Nan Goldin, Paul McCarthy and Isa Genzken. He is currently director of special projects for the international art gallery Hauser & Wirth. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife, Janet Krone Kennedy, a clinical psychologist, and their two children.

Reviews

[Oriana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh. I know I just gushed and gushed about the new Jonathan Ames book, which is a compilation of a bunch of magazine articles, but Subwayland, which is also a whole bunch of articles, is a good argument against putting a whole mess of the same thing together in a book. I mean, these articles, which are from a New York Times column called "Tunnel Vision," are all (or mostly) pretty interesting. But they all have exactly the same pace, and exactly the same structure, sort of like a Journalism 101 template, really. Start with broad or general observation about life in the city / on the subway / human nature's quirkiness, narrow the focus, come to a point, cite evidence (with quotes and/or stats) to support or enhance said point, and close with a quote or thought, generally "clever," that either summarizes or subverts the point. So, if I were to read these pieces, say, once a week in a regular column, this might be fine, but to have them one after another after another like this was really very tiresome.

That said, I did learn a lot of interesting subway trivia and lore. To wit:

* There are 468 subway stations, covering 230 miles.
* There is (or was, in 2001) a daycare center in an unused section of the Prospect Park Q train station.
* Pigeons board the A train at Far Rockaway and then get off at the next stop and fly back.
* On the Paris Métro, they give out (or did, in 2001) free massages, crackers, and tea during rush hour at some of the cities most crowded stations.
* Four hundred retired subway cars have been sunk off the coast of Delaware to make artificial barrier reefs. (I already knew this one, but it bears repeating.)
* The G trains are so short because in the 90s they wanted to add more trains on that line, but they didn't have any more trains (or money to buy them, I guess). So they chopped the last two cars off each train, then attached the bits into a bunch of new four-car trains.
* An old gross scam when tokens were still used was called token sucking: jamming a token slot with a matchbook, waiting for someone to drop in a token and then leave in a huff when the turnstile remained locked, and then literally go and suck the token back up out of the hole. This was in fact such a common thing that cops would sprinkle cayenne pepper on the most oft-sucked token slots!
* Getting into the subway via the doors that will open up exactly at the stairs or door of your destination station is called pre-walking.
* 78% of New Yorkers do not own or lease a car, as compared to the national average of 54%. (This was true in 2000, anyway.)

So yes, this book had some cool shit in it. But I guess I'd really rather have read a book about subway history and lore, rather than a bunch of very formulaic, very pat, very forcedly clever little columns.

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you live in New York City, which I do, the subway is probably a substantial part of your life. Even if you don't, it's a pretty fascinating place to visit, in person or in print. Randy Kennedy's collection of articles, Subwayland, covers a variety of topics within the tiny world running underneath the city.

Interesting and easy to read, the book touches on a range of subjects. Some are sentimental, others amusing, others mildly baffling (such as the guy who insists he's not that much of a subway buff, and yet has built a complete replica of a conductor's station ... in his one-bedroom apartment). The end of the book does choose to group several September 11th pieces together, and I found this a bit questionable, as it seems overly maudlin and like an overt attempt at manipulating the reader's emotions. Still, it didn't dissuade me from finishing the book quickly.

Perhaps what I enjoyed most about Subwayland is that it is nearly the perfect book to read while riding the subway. The articles are short and easy to read, meaning you can get through two or three of them during the duration of a typical subway ride (or more, depending on your commute).

All in all, an enjoyable glimpse into a world beneath a world.

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit outdated reading it now, but nonetheless it was a fun read. I read it as I moved back to Queens. So great to be back to Subwayland!

[Ava · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have never felt so seen by a book before feeling proud to be a New Yorker 🥹

[Jamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was expecting a comprehensive book on the subway system, something with a binding thesis or narrative thread, but Subwayland is just an anthology of columns on the New York City subway system, each one it's own little unit. At first I found this disappointing, but as a collection of subway lore and tidbits the thing is first rate.

There is stuff in here you couldn't make up, like the token suckers. A subgroup of vagrants in the underground, they would stick pieces of paper down into the old token slots, causing them to get stuck halfway and the passenger to move on to another turnstile. The token suckers would then sneak up, press their lips over the slot and suck the coin out. No joke.

[Tung · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked up this book only after I’d finished Colossus of New York, so I was on an “I love NYC” kick. The book is a compilation of essays by this writer who works for the NY Post (or maybe the NYT, I don’t remember), and who writes a weekly column about the NYC subway system. So there are columns on finding love on the subway, lost & found items on the subway, subway hobbyists, and the requisite subway after 9/11 essay. If you like reading columnists and you like NY, a nice quick read, but overall this doesn’t stand out from other books.

[Rosemarie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is fascinating. Having lived in NJ for most of my life, and ridden the NYC Subway occasionally, I knew something of them, but I learned so much more from reading this book.

I also have another reason for loving the NYC Subway. I'm a fan of the 1987 CBS TV series "Beauty & the Beast." The subway played a huge part in the romance of that show and I have been fascinated by them ever since.

I particularity loved the chapters that told of the unusual jobs there are that keep things running smoothly, and the people who work them.

The stories about the people in the subways were good. The author was able to ask questions that you may have wondered about - and gotten answers. For example: how do performers decide who performs where and at what time? Is there a schedule somewhere?

There were also some fun stories about pigeons who ride the subway and a subway cat. :)

Because these were originally part of a column in the New York Times, they are all about the same length and make for great reading when you have limited time. I took it to work and read 2 or 3 on my lunch break. It was the perfect book for that.

The only odd thing is that Kennedy constantly refers to himself as "this reporter." That struck me as old-fashioned. I didn't think reporters of today used that anymore - let alone an illustrious reporter for The New York Times who would be on the cutting edge of what's current. I found it to be a little annoying as the book went on...but otherwise the writing is good.

If you like New York City and/or its subway, you will love this book.

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Besides my fiction reading, one of the great joys of books is nonfiction because it will often transport me to periods or places I most likely would never travel, and I love learning about the world and many of its unusual aspects. The quality of nonfiction is dependent on the author, of course, the level of research they have done, the first-hand experience they bring to their accounts, and the beauty of their delivery. This book, a collection of articles published about the giant subway system in New York City, is both interesting and informative, easy to read, and for the most part quite enjoyable. I have ridden subways in Boston and Washington, but not New York. Such a fascinating beat for a writer. He covers everything from the rail fanatics to the subway malcontents, performers to police, riders and workers. Very good stuff.

[Evelyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book consists of a selection of essays published in the New York Times between 2000 and 2003 about the people and places that make the New York City subway system unique. The articles range from the amusing to the serious. They describe subway buffs, performers, workers, and riders, as well as wildlife that inhabits or uses the trains. They also provide a unique perspective on the stations along the routes, and a window on the impact of 9/11 on the subway system, and the MTA’s response to it.

For anyone who rides the subway, or is interested in it, this a joy to read even though 20 years have passed since these columns appeared in the New York Times. Although some columns are dated because much has changed since the book was published in 2004, much still remains the same

[Ryan Chang · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of stories from a newspaper column focusing on the NYC subway, Subwayland reads like an episode of This American Life. It reads fast, bouncing through all the social oddities of the subway with a fun energy. I do sometimes think the stories could be expanded on, but the last section about the subway system in the aftermath of 9/11 ends the book well.

[Dan Stern · Rating 4 out of 5]

The. author describes the NY subway so clearly that I can see it, hear it, smell it, and touch it. I almost want to ride it. I recommend this book to readers interested in urban survival or anyone who appreciates good writing.

[Karima · Rating 5 out of 5]

2nd time reading it and enjoyed it just as much this time

[Tommas Ethridge · Rating 2 out of 5]

book was not funny was kinda stupid i stopped reading halfway thru it

[Mikey B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are many interesting anecdotes about the New York City subway in this book.

There are portraits of the subway “nerds” who watch or ride for the fun of it, or of grade school children who can quickly recite which train routes to take from point A to B.

Being a frequent visitor to New York I am enthralled by the subway and still overwhelmed by its complexity. Somehow I feel this complexity is taken for granted and over-looked by subway denizens – and to some extent the writer of this book. The chapter “Helpful Tips for the First-Time Traveller” doesn’t come close to addressing issues for the neophyte New York City traveller. For instance it took me a few visits to comprehend exactly the directional meaning of those “Uptown” and “Downtown” signs on the catacomb platforms – where I live “Uptown” and “Downtown” are the same place – the centre of town! The advantage of taking the subway for the first few times is that it forces you to open up to New Yorkers and ask straight-forward questions: Does this subway go to ....? Most were always more than helpful!

And I can attest to the sheer thrill of a long subway ride – its’ exhilarating to go out to Far Rockaway. There are a lot of subway stories in Mr. Kennedy’s book – the varied musicians, the undercover cops, the ugliest stations (the top award going to the Chambers station). But there also some lovely unique stations like the murals at the “Natural History Museum” at 81st station (A,C,B,D lines).

Perhaps this book needs some revision as there have been many renovations since 2004; I didn’t hear anyway subway barkers when I took the Shuttle (between Times Square and Grand Central). Also it would be nice to have more stories on those unique workers within the subway system. And to take into account the full transit system, there are some wonderful rides on the extended MTA – the Metro North Railroad and the Long Island Railroad.

Its’ a lively and humorous book to read for anyone who has ridden this vast subway system – the poems are indeed funny!

[Kelly Rice · Rating 4 out of 5]

As an adult, I've always been a big fan of public transportation. When visiting cities all over the world, I've made finding out how to get my hands on a bus / tram / subway pass one of my top priorities after arriving. The cities I've loved living in (most notably Lakewood, Oxford and Columbus) all have pretty awesome public transportation systems. I love it not for the chemical smell of the RTA sets in Lakewood, the cloth seas of Stagecoach which offered free rounds of 'Guess the Stain' or even the hotdog-scented air conditioning on COTA. I did it because when you ride on a bus or train in a city you get to really *know* that city. The people who ride the bus - as well as the ones who drive them - offer the best glimpse of what a town or city is really like.

Subwayland is a collection of newspaper articles about the New York City subway system. While some do discuss the history or inner workings of the system, anything of historical or technical import plays second fiddle to the stories about the people on, in and under the subways. While some of the articles were a bit overly saccharine for my taste, overall it's a wonderful look into what is arguably on the top 5 busiest public transportation systems of the world. Randy Kennedy has an amazing way of capturing characters in a handful of paragraphs and quite often giving his reader something to smile about now and think about later.

A great collection for anyone who has ever chosen to take the bus, train, tram or subway for its entertainment value.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

A colleague of mine taught this book to a class of new immigrants. As a daily denizen of the NYC subway system, I wondered if they really would want to read about the very thing they had to grudgingly trudge through to get to class (or read on it on the way).

"It's fun," she said. "Read it, you'll see!"

Two years after I quit that teaching job, I finally read the book. I wish I hadn’t waited so long. For one, it would have been more timely, as the book is essentially a collection of NYTimes columns from 2000-2004. But more importantly, my colleague was right – it is a lot of fun. Kennedy catches the character (and characters) of the subway with flair, pathos, and a strong reporter’s eye (to the point of that stodgily self-referential first-person “the reporter” when he finds himself in his stories).

In Kennedy’s hands, the subway is a 500-mile-long Coney Island, with a strange (but all too recognizable to any New Yorker) assortment of heroes, bums, workers, entertainers and representatives of both sides of the law. As could be guessed by its time period, it ends with a section of pieces from the aftermath of 9/11, but even then things never get too heavy; at its heart the book is 225 pages of a transplant’s love of the city under the City (Kennedy’s from Texas), a fun, elucidating read for any immigrant, whether from Korea or Kansas.

[Laurie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I saw this book in Barnes & Noble during my first visit to New York many years ago with my mom. I thought it looked interesting — a bunch of stories about the Subway and the people in it — but promptly forgot all about it until the other day while perusing the travel section at my local library. There on the shelf in between the Fodor's and Frommer's New York guides stood this book. I had to pick it up and see what it was all about.

At first, I was a little mad that it was just a collection of the guy's newspaper columns all about the subway. I had hoped for fresh material (despite the fact that it was all fresh to me). Instead, I found myself really excited about reading what the next's column topic would be. There were times that I wondered if people written about back in 1999 or even 2003 were still in their same work posts or still sleeping in the same subway. I don't take the subway every day to work and as a non-New York resident, I don't take the subway really at all. The stories still managed to intrigue me and I was able to still connect. The 9/11 columns were particularly interesting.

After reading this book, I really want to ride the subway lines from start to finish and see where they take me. Starting with the A line, because that was recommended in the book as having the nicest end point by water. I would love to see it.

[Mythili · Rating 3 out of 5]

I went looking for a book like this in McNally Robinson when, after daydreaming about all the possible books that could be written about the subway during one underground journey, it occurred to me that a lot of very good books about the subway had already been written and were just a credit card swipe away from my sticky fingers. As an anthology of the NYT articles of the guy who has covered the MTA for many years, Subwayland looks at the subway from all angles. Conveniently, each vista is column-sized. Given that my commute to and from work is only about a 15 minute ride each way, I read Subwayland as a series of mostly very enjoyable daily anecdotes about seagulls riding the A train in Rockaway, MTA workers being sent to retrieve sippy cups dropped onto the tracks, and the like. Columns being columns, Subwayland is high on color and low on content -- I still have lots of burning questions about the BMT and the IRT and the demise of the 9 train, but hey, I guess that's what Wikipedia is for.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

You'd think there wouldn't be enough to write about the subway to fill a book, but you'd be wrong.
Randy Kennedy, as writer of the "Tunnel Vision" column in the NYT, here collects his finest columns into an anthology. And yet leaves room for more.
Here are stories of underground musicians, magicians, missionaries, and plain old panhandlers. Here are the stories of transit police, token booth workers, sanitation workers, track engineers, and the guys who keep the subway system from flooding with the 13 million gallons of water that enter the tunnels every day. Randy shows us the best way to sleep on the train, read on the train, get a date on the train, and stand on the train (hint: not in front of the doors). And we learn about the animals of the system--cats, rats, pigeons, and the occasional blind donkey.

This guy is good at making even the most mundane subjects interesting. He's got an ear for dialogue and a subtle wit. Though this is a collection of newspaper columns and therefore gets a tad repetitive in parts, it's not distracting.

Highly recommended.

[Drew · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this book up off my parents' bookshelf, thinking that it was some hipster ironic garbage. A few pages in, I checked the author's credentials.. turns out he writes for the NY Times, and has been covering the subway system in NYC for years.

So, looking past the horrible title and weak cover image, I dug deeper into the book. It is clearly written by a fan of the underground rail system, and every character, bizarre legend, and uplifting anecdote show a world that not only is reflective of New York City, but one that helps shape it.

If you're a fan of the decrepit walls and the occasional rat, or the Michael Jackson midget impersonator at Grand Central Station, pick this up. It's about so much more than just the lines, or the obsessives and street performers. Also, as it is incredibly well-written, it'll even bulk up that vocabulary, helping you get a job and an excuse to ride the subway!

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

You don't have to be a pre-walker, pole-hugger or foamer to enjoy this book, but if you've spent any time navigating the Chicago public transit system you've at least all of the above types. Maybe you've never made a mad sprint for the G Train, but chances are a rush hour dash or two for the Red, Green, Brown or Blue Line has been in your past. If so, it's likely you'll be able to draw a lot of parallels between Kennedy's stories from underground and your CTA close encounters with fellow commuters, transit musicians, panhandlers, and the like. What few of us are privy to are the background stories of the many people who work behind the scenes to keep those trains going and at least relatively on schedule. Kennedy gives the reader to all that and more through this compilation of his transit columns. As the tales roll by, a tale of two subways emerges; the New York subway before and after 9/11, which makes for a good story on its own.

[Marsha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mr. Kennedy’s book takes us on an eye-opening jaunt throughout its many miles of twisting track (technically, there are no tunnels; the gaps between stations are called “holes” while the ones that run under the water are known as “tubes”). Created in the early 20th century, the subway is astonishingly old in that we cannot imagine the big city without it and yet surprisingly new since it is constantly being maintained, rebuilt and refurbished to meet the demands of its ever finicky public.

From those who eat, sleep and travel on it to those who perform on its platforms, the NYC subway system is many things to many people. This book will make you wonder and think and ruminate on the nature of this beast as well as the characters of the multitudes that ride it. It is an essential read for anybody who cares to learn more about the Big Apple.

[Colin Birge · Rating 3 out of 5]

New York City's subways have a culture all their own. Randy Kennedy, a reporter for The New York Times, wrote a column for a number of years called "Tunnel Vision," with graceful and entertaining stories about the subways and the people who inhabit them. "Subwayland" is a collection of those stories.

It's a quick read, well-written and droll. By necessity, since these stories started life as newspaper columns, these are more vignettes than full-length stories. People appear and disappear within the space of two paragraphs. Which, come to think of it, seems oddly appropriate for a book on subways.

It'll be more familiar for people who've lived in NYC or often visited the city, but it's an entertaining read for all.

[Jeanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this collection of columns about the New York subway. Kennedy is the former writer of Tunnel Vision, a New York Times column that features the subway.

The collection is organized into 6 chapters: subway citizens, subway employees, animals and the subway, subway customs, subway tips, and the subway on 9-11.

The columns are fun and interesting and very easy to read. This is a great book because you can pick it up and put it down easily. If you don't have much time, just read a column or two. Great for the commuter!

[Viv · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I enjoyed the stories and the manner in which Kennedy lays them out, I felt that some of the anecdotes ended rather abruptly and could have been expanded even slightly to achieve fluidity. These were originally stand-alone columns; therefore, Kennedy had to avoid first-person narrative while sharing stories in which he played a distinct role. Unfortunately, his solution for including himself in anecdotes while still avoiding the first-person address results in awkward and clunky phrases that ended up annoying me.

[JBP · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bunch of short essays about people involved in the subways of New York--from workers to buskers to riders etc etc. Some of these way more interesting than others. A lot of times I was getting into an essay and wish it would have been longer. I've always loved riding in subways in cities and have spent the most time in the NY subways--lived in Astoria, Queens so I was hopping up on the N train any time I wanted to head to Manhattan--so this made me think a lot of NY which was fun.

[CB · Rating 2 out of 5]

For the first half of this collection of NY Times columns I felt that sappy, oh-I-miss-New-York feeling. Halfway through, I remembered a big reason why I got sick of New York was the incessant, self-indulgent navel-gazing.

Granted, this book may have been better if I didn't read it cover to cover. I found it annoyingly repetitive. (Didn't I just read about the guy with the reconstructed motorman's coach in his bedroom 10 pages ago??)

[Janet · Rating 4 out of 5]

NYC transit - at its best, it's like riding a bullet to get away or to get somewhere fast... I miss it!! (ok, maybe not the summertime sweat) These are really good stories from the underground, originally published as columns in the NYTimes. The author joyfully describes the mass experience of people who travel (travail?) in our largest city's mass transit system. And more. I never knew there were so many people who are eccentrically obsessed with NYC subway history, and the ride.

[stine · Rating 5 out of 5]

this collection of a series of ny times articles on one reporter's adventures underground is fantastic. i'm a sucker for those average american, everyday tales. if you're a new yorker or were before, you should read it. we all recognize something here. and each piece is short and breezy but informative.

[Deepthi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finds the magic in the subway, from every angle. The columns in here don't quite flow into one another exactly, but they do cohere into a larger portrait, especially since Kennedy often refers to one larger-than-life character or incident obliquely in a previous column, than dedicates an entire column to that figure or event later. Great fun.