Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
The New York Times Really Loves Subway Grates
By
Lauren Evans
Published Oct 1, 2013
Modified Oct 1, 2013
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
Lauren Evans
Published Oct 1, 2013
Modified Oct 1, 2013
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
The New York Times really loves its subway grates. The paper of record spent 850 words mourning the fact that the Second Avenue expansion will employ "mechanical ventilating towers" instead of what it has decided are the premiere symbol of old New York—and they're not even going anywhere!
The story first dedicates several paragraphs to Marilyn Monroe's iconic "Oh shit, my skirt" pose filmed for the Billy Wilder classic, The Seven-Year Itch, indicating, somehow, that all the subway grates in the city will be replaced in short-order by the new towers. This is not the case—only the stops along the expansion will utilize the towers. The rest of the city will continue to feature the classic, heel-mangling, cell phone-consuming grates, but you wouldn't know that from the piece, which reads like an overwrought eulogy for an ill-tempered family pet.
"They are the bane of women in high heels; a place for flicking cigarette butts, for expectorating chewing gum or for dropping valuables; a source of warmth to ward off a stiff winter’s wind; and a frightening opening to detour around," it drones importantly.
"Grates are a haven for pedestrians, bundled up, to wait for a bus in winter or even to cozy up to on a brisk fall day," it coos. "Someplace always open, where people with nowhere else to call home can go to keep warm."
And if all the subway grates were replaced—would that be such a bad thing? The whole apparatus can be memorialized in three lines:
Thanks, a lot, subway
for blowing my damn skirt up
as that guy walked by
In any case, none of this will even happen until 2016, so let's try to keep calm. We'll all be deaf by then anyway.
Tagged
new york times
subway
subway grates
Lauren Evans
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Mamdani launches new team to help NYers keep SNAP, Medicaid benefits
Nearly 1 million in the city risk losing benefits as a result of new federal restrictions.
By
Caroline Lewis
Published Oct 19, 2026 at 12:43 p.m. ET
Riders at 53rd St. station where man was fatally shot say they worry about gun violence
A 26-year-old died after being shot on the platform at the Midtown station. Commuters are rattled.
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
News
Riders at 53rd St. station where man was fatally shot say they worry about gun violence
A 26-year-old died after being shot on the platform at the Midtown station. Commuters are rattled.
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
These are the NYC neighborhoods that will get free 2-K next fall
By
Karen Yi
Early Addition: Get to know Wanda, the donkey in the Met's 'La Bohème'
By
James Ramsay
Eric Adams' NYC buildings boss Eric Ulrich heads to trial, 3 years after arrest
By
David Brand
and
Samantha Max
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 .