SingleRide: Longest route on NYC Subway without visiting the same station twice • Hacker News Board

Re: SingleRide: Longest route on NYC Subway without visiting the same station twice

#31

Post by TuringNYC » Thu, May 07, 2026, 3:38 PM UTC

busterarm wrote: post #29

TuringNYC wrote: post #26

When i was younger I would sometimes ride the F-train back and forth several times in the evenings just so I could think and put articulate thoughts into a notebook. This is before underground network connectivity, before smartphones, etc. The hum of the train was great and the speed of the F train at segments of Queens were exhilarating, a bit like listening to EDM while coding.

I used to do a few different versions of this for most of the 30+ years I lived in NY. I used to love walking all over manhattan alone late at night. I would do like 10 mile walks just for the heck of it with music going. Or I would hop on the bike and do similarly. When there would be friends involved, we'd usually be at Chinatown Fair all night until close, then walk down to Elevated Acre and hang out there (this w…

Similar! I think my experiences were best captured by the song SOFI TUKKER - Summer In New York

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCuSci5BSyQ

A lot of this went away, not sure why. People are too glued to phones.

Re: SingleRide: Longest route on NYC Subway without visiting the same station twice

#32

Post by busterarm » Thu, May 07, 2026, 3:38 PM UTC

afavour wrote: post #25

grishka wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the one hand, this sort of thing feels inexcusable to me. In my mind, the subway is the most reliable mode of city transportation. On the other, the NYC subway is one of the few 24/7 subway systems in the world, which makes me envious somewhat. Ours closes at midnight and opens around 5 AM.

IMO the subway reliability issues are overblown these days. In the 2010s it was in a really dark spot but it's doing a lot better these days. > In my mind, the subway is the most reliable mode of city transportation. Even with its problems the NYC subway still is. Traffic is a nightmare. I have friends who insist on taking a cab to the airport because it's more reliable then end up complaining because they're still o…

In the 2010s it was so bad that I gave up on the subway and either walked, Ubered or took the bus everywhere.

When the MTA bus is better than the subway, things in NY are grim -- it was like the 80s & early 90s again.

The reliability has improved a bit, but the subway crime is also way, way up. So yeah, still a hard pass.

In the mid 2010s i had a reverse commute from Manhattan to Brooklyn and there was a few months where 3 days a week my full commute would take 2hr+ (midtown to sunset park) because the train just sat multiple times not moving. Especially on the bridge where it could be up to an hour just stopped.

The absolute worst time that I ever remember though was maybe in '89 or '90. The Lex-53rd st E/F station had a ton of ongoing construction and on weekends it was being used as a transfer station only that summer. All the staircases were closed and you could only get in/out via train -- this idea seems insane to me but that's NYC sometimes and especially in that era.

Anyway, my family and I were on a train passing through that station one Saturday or Sunday morning on the way to Queens and they made us exit the train inside the station as it was going out of service. Apparently a pipe had burst (I think?) and no trains were in service. The AC in the station was not working and it was maybe 90+ degrees underground. Plus water was leaking from everywhere. And there were hundreds of us trapped on a crowded, wet, dirty platform for like 4-6 hours while no trains were running and there was no way to get out.

Aside: that Belt Parkway story is why people from NY who live/work in Manhattan try to never fly out of JFK. That's the real solution. So much easier to get to EWR/LGA.

Re: SingleRide: Longest route on NYC Subway without visiting the same station twice

#33

Post by busterarm » Thu, May 07, 2026, 4:04 PM UTC

soderfoo wrote: post #15

RhysU wrote: post #12

Fun. Needs sound effects, in particular someone muttering "Hoyt–Schermerhorn next" over a crackling intercom.

Don't forget the wheel squeal... is there a transmission protocol for conveying the cornucopia of odors?

The one or two times I uncontrollably shat myself on the subway, I at least had the decency to do it in a tunnel and between cars.

Re: SingleRide: Longest route on NYC Subway without visiting the same station twice

#34

Post by afavour » Thu, May 07, 2026, 4:05 PM UTC

busterarm wrote: post #32

afavour wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IMO the subway reliability issues are overblown these days. In the 2010s it was in a really dark spot but it's doing a lot better these days. > In my mind, the subway is the most reliable mode of city transportation. Even with its problems the NYC subway still is. Traffic is a nightmare. I have friends who insist on taking a cab to the airport because it's more reliable then end up complaining because they're still o…

In the 2010s it was so bad that I gave up on the subway and either walked, Ubered or took the bus everywhere. When the MTA bus is better than the subway, things in NY are grim -- it was like the 80s & early 90s again. The reliability has improved a bit, but the subway crime is also way, way up. So yeah, still a hard pass. In the mid 2010s i had a reverse commute from Manhattan to Brooklyn and there was a few months w…

> The reliability has improved a bit, but the subway crime is also way, way up.

Eh, it’s all relative, I think you’re in less danger of experiencing issues on the subway than you are getting hit on the road. I take the subway all the time and have never had any problems.

Re: SingleRide: Longest route on NYC Subway without visiting the same station twice

#35

Post by grishka » Thu, May 07, 2026, 4:06 PM UTC

afavour wrote: post #25

grishka wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the one hand, this sort of thing feels inexcusable to me. In my mind, the subway is the most reliable mode of city transportation. On the other, the NYC subway is one of the few 24/7 subway systems in the world, which makes me envious somewhat. Ours closes at midnight and opens around 5 AM.

IMO the subway reliability issues are overblown these days. In the 2010s it was in a really dark spot but it's doing a lot better these days. > In my mind, the subway is the most reliable mode of city transportation. Even with its problems the NYC subway still is. Traffic is a nightmare. I have friends who insist on taking a cab to the airport because it's more reliable then end up complaining because they're still o…

I spent a week in NYC in 2014. Used the subway a lot, but mostly within Manhattan. Don't remember having any issues except a few stations smelling of shit and the card readers on the turnstiles being very picky about the speed of your swipe.

Re: SingleRide: Longest route on NYC Subway without visiting the same station twice

#36

Post by busterarm » Thu, May 07, 2026, 4:08 PM UTC

afavour wrote: post #34

busterarm wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the 2010s it was so bad that I gave up on the subway and either walked, Ubered or took the bus everywhere. When the MTA bus is better than the subway, things in NY are grim -- it was like the 80s & early 90s again. The reliability has improved a bit, but the subway crime is also way, way up. So yeah, still a hard pass. In the mid 2010s i had a reverse commute from Manhattan to Brooklyn and there was a few months w…

> The reliability has improved a bit, but the subway crime is also way, way up. Eh, it’s all relative, I think you’re in less danger of experiencing issues on the subway than you are getting hit on the road. I take the subway all the time and have never had any problems.

Subway assaults went up 3x between 2009 and 2025 and violent crime in general in the subway has had nearly a 20% spike just in the first two months of this year alone. Assaults by repeat offenders are up 2x from 2019 to 2025.

I'll take a minor fender bender every now and again over someone hitting me in the head with a brick ever.

I can't believe the suggestion is that property damage and/or low-speed collisions would be preferable to being assaulted. And I've been tapped by cars and walked away from it several times. Plus the "well it never happened to me" is just survivorship bias. Over enough decades and enough rides something fucked up on the subway _will_ happen to you eventually.

This is the kind of thinking that I left NY over.

Re: SingleRide: Longest route on NYC Subway without visiting the same station twice

#37

Post by afavour » Thu, May 07, 2026, 4:16 PM UTC

busterarm wrote: post #36

afavour wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The reliability has improved a bit, but the subway crime is also way, way up. Eh, it’s all relative, I think you’re in less danger of experiencing issues on the subway than you are getting hit on the road. I take the subway all the time and have never had any problems.

Subway assaults went up 3x between 2009 and 2025 and violent crime in general in the subway has had nearly a 20% spike just in the first two months of this year alone. Assaults by repeat offenders are up 2x from 2019 to 2025. I'll take a minor fender bender every now and again over someone hitting me in the head with a brick ever. I can't believe the suggestion is that property damage and/or low-speed collisions woul…

2009 was a historic low point for subway crimes. Only looking at relative numbers from then is misleading.

There were 573 assaults on the subway in 2024, up from something like 150 in 2009. There were something like 1.9 billion journeys taken that year. Avoiding the subway because of the 1 in 2,000,000 danger of assault is not rational.

Exaggerated paranoid thinking is indeed the thing that leads a lot of people to unnecessarily leave NYC.

Re: SingleRide: Longest route on NYC Subway without visiting the same station twice

#38

Post by 1-more » Thu, May 07, 2026, 4:17 PM UTC

TuringNYC wrote: post #31

busterarm wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used to do a few different versions of this for most of the 30+ years I lived in NY. I used to love walking all over manhattan alone late at night. I would do like 10 mile walks just for the heck of it with music going. Or I would hop on the bike and do similarly. When there would be friends involved, we'd usually be at Chinatown Fair all night until close, then walk down to Elevated Acre and hang out there (this w…

Similar! I think my experiences were best captured by the song SOFI TUKKER - Summer In New York https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCuSci5BSyQ A lot of this went away, not sure why. People are too glued to phones.

Summer 2020 I was out there after creating as much shareholder value as I could at my then-WFH 9-5. First it was delivering postmates on rollerblades, then I did it on my bike (working better and better apps every time to offset the depreciation inherent to riding a bike), then I'd just do a 4 boro bike tour Brooklyn over the Pulaski bridge up to Astoria, get souvlaki, take the Triboro to the Bronx and then head to Manhattan on a different bridge every time (High Bridge is still my fave). Just putting up like 40–60 mile rides noodling around that town. There's no better way to see the city, and no better place to bop around on a bike, in my experience.

Re: SingleRide: Longest route on NYC Subway without visiting the same station twice

#39

Post by busterarm » Thu, May 07, 2026, 4:18 PM UTC

afavour wrote: post #37

busterarm wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Subway assaults went up 3x between 2009 and 2025 and violent crime in general in the subway has had nearly a 20% spike just in the first two months of this year alone. Assaults by repeat offenders are up 2x from 2019 to 2025. I'll take a minor fender bender every now and again over someone hitting me in the head with a brick ever. I can't believe the suggestion is that property damage and/or low-speed collisions woul…

2009 was a historic low point for subway crimes. Only looking at relative numbers from then is misleading. There were 573 assaults on the subway in 2024, up from something like 150 in 2009. There were something like 1.9 billion journeys taken that year. Avoiding the subway because of the 1 in 2,000,000 danger of assault is not rational. Exaggerated paranoid thinking is indeed the thing that leads a lot of people to u…

573 _felony_ assaults. Misdemeanor assault is still a thing. That includes people fighting you with their fists or groping you.

Also anyone in NY with a functioning brain knows just how underreported subway crime is. You can either get where you're going and go about your day or end it by trying to find a cop and then trying to get them motivated to even take your report.

2009 being a low point for crime should just be normal. I lived through all the bad decades in NY and you're not there yet but certainly trending towards it.

I like how multiple years of "hey why does all of this fucked up shit keep happening to me?" is "exaggerated paranoid thinking". Truly stunning and brave. Being repeatedly victimized by random crime is just a mindset, bruh.

Re: SingleRide: Longest route on NYC Subway without visiting the same station twice

#40

Post by afavour » Thu, May 07, 2026, 4:20 PM UTC

busterarm wrote: post #39

afavour wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

2009 was a historic low point for subway crimes. Only looking at relative numbers from then is misleading. There were 573 assaults on the subway in 2024, up from something like 150 in 2009. There were something like 1.9 billion journeys taken that year. Avoiding the subway because of the 1 in 2,000,000 danger of assault is not rational. Exaggerated paranoid thinking is indeed the thing that leads a lot of people to u…

573 _felony_ assaults. Misdemeanor assault is still a thing. That includes people fighting you with their fists or groping you. Also anyone in NY with a functioning brain knows just how underreported subway crime is. You can either get where you're going and go about your day or end it by trying to find a cop and then trying to get them motivated to even take your report. 2009 being a low point for crime should just…

OK, so you’re going to cite numbers when they agree with you then say “everyone knows the numbers are wrong” when they don’t?

This is not a conversation worth continuing. By your own admission you don’t even live in the city any more!

> certainly trending towards it.

which is also untrue! Subway crime was down across the board in 2025.