Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
Arts & Entertainment
Subway Etiquette: Popping Your Partner's Pimples Is Particularly Repugnant
By
Ben Yakas
Published Feb 20, 2014
Modified Feb 20, 2014
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 .
Gothamist
By
Ben Yakas
Published Feb 20, 2014
Modified Feb 20, 2014
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
Whatever you do in the comfort and Google-blessed privacy of your own home is between you and your webmaster—the pimple popping community is very vibrant online, very serious about their art, and we're not here to judge people who are into that. HAVING SAID THAT, the moment you decide to pop your lover's pimples in a public space is the moment you become an enemy of all that is good and right in this world.
Tipster Farah Visslailli encountered two such enemies while riding the N train around 8:30 p.m. Wednesday from Union Square to Brooklyn: "[I] had the pleasure of staring at this loving couple for the ENTIRE ride," she told us. "I've seen a lot of nasty stuff on the subway, but this is a first. She was going to town, popping his face/neck pimples for almost the whole ride. It wasn't just one-sided though, he reciprocated by going after a few on her forehead. How nice."
Visslailli was clearly traumatized by her experience, because her sarcastic "nice" is so far from cutting it in this situation. This is such a serious violation of public decency, we don't know where to begin. We've encountered every form of subway etiquette violations imaginable, we've put together lists of the worst sins you could commit, and this might be the worst we've encountered, the lowest form of social grooming.
We can only imagine the stories that these people tell themselves to sleep at night. It's like Frank Sobotka once said: "I knew I was wrong. But in my head, I thought I was wrong for the right reasons, you know?" But there are different kinds of wrong.
At least we can all take comfort in the fact that this couple's incredibly unhygienic defiance of the social contract could be their own undoing—nothing causes infections like dirty fingers probing open wounds.
Tagged
ew
pimples
popping pimples
stop it
subway
subway etiquette
original
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE arts-entertainment
Ever wish you could get paid to walk through a stranger’s house? ‘The Scout’ is for you.
A new film focuses on the strange career of a location scout in New York City.
By
Sonia Rao
Published Sep 26, 2026
There are 100s of places to visit during Open House New York. Here's 5 of our favorites.
See the entire lineup for the weekend when the city opens its doors.
By
Hannah Frishberg
Arts & Entertainment
There are 100s of places to visit during Open House New York. Here's 5 of our favorites.
See the entire lineup for the weekend when the city opens its doors.
By
Hannah Frishberg
A massive MTA archive ended up in a Virginia warehouse. A Brooklyn man brought it home.
By
Hannah Frishberg
How a Harry Styles pop-up in the East Village led to a nearby bookstore owner's arrest
By
Sonia Rao
NYC’s creative workers are increasingly self-employed, report says
By
Hannah Frishberg
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 .