Gothamist

A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.

Gothamist

WNYC Listen Live

Donate

 

 

News

"Ten Plagues" of the Subway Set Forth by Straphangers

By

John Del Signore

Published May 9, 2008

Modified May 9, 2008

Share

FacebookTwitterRedditEmail

Never miss a story

 Email address

By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .

By

John Del Signore

Published May 9, 2008

Modified May 9, 2008

Share

FacebookTwitterRedditEmail

We rely on your support to make local news available to all

Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today

Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations

050908subwayflood.jpg
Photograph by Sacha Lecca, which Gothamist published in 2006. Today it’s on the cover of amNY.

Flooding. Crowding. Filth. These are just a few of the “ten plagues” being visited daily upon New York commuters, according to transit activists at the Straphangers Campaign. Unlike the ten plagues that cursed the commute of ancient Egyptians, New Yorkers have – so far – been spared swarms of locusts on the L; though bed bugs have been sighted on subway platform benches.

Gene Russianoff, lead gadfly for the Straphangers, tells amNY that he’s already been “chastised for leaving out rats, cockroaches and subway preachers.” But watching your train pull away just as you get to the platform made the top ten, as did commuting with children. A spokesman for Pharoah – er, MTA – responded to the plague list by reminding commuters that they're continuing to work hard to serve “the greatest city in the world.” And at least when the subway floods it isn't blood in blood. The Straphangers' full plagues list after the jump.

The Straphangers Campaign thinks there are many other challenges frequently facing riders in the subways. So we are releasing our list of "ten plagues of the subways." Bedbugs don't make the list. While city transit has improved in many ways, riders must deal with these problems all too often. These are the subway curses of:

But what about 'Dead rat in the change chute' of the Metrocard machine'?

Tagged

10%

campaign

commute

crowding

flood

MTA

new york

nyc

over

plagues

straphangers

subway

ten

John Del Signore

Twitter

Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.

Read more

Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations

Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations

MORE news

Judge temporarily halts overnight construction at NYC’s Chinatown jail

The order comes after Chinatown residents sued the city over noise, health concerns and years of planned after-hours construction.

By

Giulia Heyward

Published Oct 26, 2026 at 7:08 p.m. ET

Pressure grows on Mamdani to reform admissions to NYC specialized high schools

A former top-school official will join councilmembers and other prominent educators at an event focused on specialized high schools.

By

Elizabeth Kim

News

Pressure grows on Mamdani to reform admissions to NYC specialized high schools

A former top-school official will join councilmembers and other prominent educators at an event focused on specialized high schools.

By

Elizabeth Kim

Police search for man in Central Park sexual assault

By

Charles Lane

Rockefeller Center's 2026 Christmas tree is a 76-foot spruce from Upstate New York

By

Giulia Heyward

‘A killer cop lives here’: Brooklyn arrests raise questions about limits of free speech

By

Ben Feuerherd

Never miss a story

Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.

Sign upEmail address

By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .