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Subway Etiquette: Hanging Things From The Handrails
By
Jen Carlson
Published Nov 25, 2013
Modified Nov 25, 2013
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Nov 25, 2013
Modified Nov 25, 2013
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Photo by Mark S.
We've judged a lot of people for their questionable subway behavior in the past and will continue to do so, but those who use the overhead handrails improperly have managed to escape criticism thus far. They're so obscure, and so few in number, sometimes it's hard to tell if it's just performance art!
But this subsection of subway offenders is all too real, they're just rarely spotted because it's pretty difficult to use the overhead handrail obnoxiously—you can't hug them, or embrace them with your butt... one of the only things you can do is hang things on them. You hardly ever see props as a standalone focal point of a subway etiquette foul, but as we learned from Woman With Banana Peel, they can become the centerpiece.
And this brings us to a tipster named Mark, who sent in the above photo from this morning's commute, showing a very well dressed man with sick boots blatantly breaking what is essentially the only overhead handrail etiquette rule one can break.
"I was on a downtown 3 train this morning and this subway etiquette offender had his garment bag hanging from the handrail blocking the seat next to him. Granted, the subway wasn't packed but he didn't move the garment bag until 96th Street (he was already on the train when I got on at 135th) when the seat next to him was the only seat left unoccupied. I got off on 42nd and I believe he was still on the train (it was much more crowded by 42nd street and didn't really notice)."
Even if the train isn't packed, this move will come off as a defensive tactic to prevent anyone from sitting next to you. So just don't hang your garment bags or dry cleaning from the overhead handrails unless you plan to sit directly behind that hanging item, okay? But seriously subway offender, those are some very nice boots—you nailed getting dressed this Monday.
Tagged
etiquette
garment bag
handrails
subway etiquette
original
Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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