"I hate it, but it's convenient as hell"

New Yorkers on returning to the subway [View this email in your browser]( New Yorkers On Returning To — Or Never Leaving — The Subway Plus: The bike shortage is upon us. New proposed penalties for e-scooter hit-and-runs. And the stuck bus got unstuck! By James Ramsay [young people stand on bikes inside a subway car] Scott Lynch/Gothamist With restrictions lifting and offices reopening, many freshly-vaccinated New Yorkers are finally returning to their normal commutes — the average daily weekday ridership has been [well over 2 million]( for the past ten days. Those returning riders are now joining a core group of commuters — many of whom are essential workers from predominantly Black and brown neighborhoods that were hard hit by COVID-19 — who never stopped riding the subways. So, reporters Afia Eama and Jake Offenhartz [fanned out across the city]( to ask straphangers how they're feeling on the subways these days, what they missed (or didn't miss) in the past year, and why they've chosen to stick with mass transit, even as some riders stay away out of [fear of crime]( or coronavirus variants. Here's a sample of what they heard: [a Bushwick transit rider outside a subway station] Scott Heins/Gothamist Oniesha Kaye, Jewelry store worker, Bushwick, Brooklyn "The trains run a little bit smoother than they did at the start of the pandemic. It’s just more people now. It’s still the same New York subway crap. I hate the subway, but it’s convenient as hell. It’s quicker than a cab. And I don’t really have a choice. It takes me straight to work. I guess I’d miss it I couldn’t take it. It’s just so convenient. Even if I hate it." [a straphanger in Queens stands on an outdoor platform] Afia Eama/Gothamist April Prieto, Caregiver, Woodside, Queens "For probably seven to eight months, I took Uber or Lyft. I’m taking care of old people so I just want to be careful, you know. After they released the vaccine, I felt safer. And it's cheaper. I’m paying $50 for one ride through Uber. This is $2.75, so why not?" [two showtime dancers on the L train] Scott Heins/Gothamist Elijah "Lantern" Neal, Showtime Dancer, Bushwick, Brooklyn "I was out here last winter in a T-shirt in the snow. Nobody was out here. People thought I was insane. They were like here’s five bucks, go home. I could tell people were afraid. People are being a bit nicer on the train. The money is looking a lot nicer now. It’s almost like people missed Showtime a little bit." Angel "Duck Sauce" Ortiz, Showtime Dancer, Soundview, The Bronx "Shout out to transit cleaning. Y’all are doing your job very fucking good. I’m noticing the sparkle." [a commuter in Queens stands on an outdoor platform] Afia Eama/Gothamist Devon Premsook, Accountant, South Ozone Park, Queens "I stopped riding it when I didn't work in the city anymore because my job closed down. They reopened so I’m back at work. I’ve been riding the train again for two weeks now. It’s the same old, same old, you just gotta wear your mask. I hate the subway. I don’t miss it at all. I’d rather drive." [a straphanger in Queens] Afia Eama/Gothamist Abigail Santana, Administrative Assistant, Astoria, Queens "Now that the companies are opening up, people are coming back. But here at Queensboro Plaza we could use more police. It does make a difference. You feel safer, you have someone to go to, now that the token booths are empty. At least when you see a police officer you know you can run to them and they’ll help you. The problem is we need the police to separate more. Like, if there are four at Queensboro Plaza, maybe the other four can go to the other stations, just spread them out more. "And we need more mental health services. We can complain all we want, but if we don’t have the mental health people that we need to take care of the problem or the services that these people need, they’re going to remain homeless and remain on the street." [a woman with a baby rides the train] Scott Heins/Gothamist Missy Neill, Mom, Williamsburg, Brooklyn "I didn’t ride the subway at all during the pandemic because I was pregnant. I started riding it after I got vaccinated, about once a week. I’m just starting to get more comfortable. We’re going to Coney Island this weekend and I’m thinking of just doing it on the subway." Local Bike Shops Are Out Of Stock As Bikes And Parts Run Dry [a wall of bikes in a shop] B's Bikes in Brooklyn After 2020 saw spikes in both cycling and bike thefts in New York City, the demand for new bikes remains high. The supply does not. "You might get on a waiting list to get it in two or three months," said Charlie McCorkell, who owns Bicycle Habitat, a store with three locations in the city. McCorkell said that kids' bikes and $2,000 road bikes are still available, but there's not much left for the average adult customer. Supply chain issues related to the pandemic are largely to blame for the shortage of new bikes. Additionally, increased demand for raw parts, like bolts and aluminum, have hampered various shops' ability to do repairs. "We can’t get anything," said Lucas Wissell, a sales associate at Bicycles NYC on the Upper East Side, which has been family owned and operated since 1977. "I tell a lot of my customers I feel terrible right now, but I'm in the business of letting people down. We don’t have products to sell, and we’re hoping to stay alive for the next year." — [Reporting by Stephen Nessen]( Here's What Else Is Happening A dizzying back and forth over Gov. Andrew Cuomo's attempt to appoint new MTA leaders has abruptly stalled. As we chronicled in [last week's We The Commuters newsletter]( it appeared that state lawmakers had reached a deal allowing Gov. Cuomo to split the MTA's chair-and-CEO job into two roles, so long as both nominees went through a State Senate approval process. Then, 9:30 p.m. on the final day of the legislative session rolled around, and a final deal had not been approved. Which means the governor's plan to nominate Sarah Feinberg as the MTA's chair and Janno Lieber as the CEO will sit idle — at least for now. According to one Senate official, lawmakers plan to reconvene in Albany in a few weeks to address this. ([The Wall Street Journal]( Should New York City cyclists be legally required to wear a helmet? Brooklyn State Sen. Simcha Felder introduced a package of bills this week that includes helmet and registration requirements for cyclists. But there's a body of evidence suggesting that helmet requirements make cycling less safe by deterring people from biking in the first place, leaving lone cyclists out there on roadways that lack adequate design features to protect them from drivers. ([Curbed]( Eric Adams, Kathryn Garcia, Andrew Yang, Maya Wiley, and Scott Stringer have all signed a petition in support of turning the 34th Avenue Open Street into a permanent linear park. Meanwhile, Mayor Bill de Blasio and the current Department of Transportation leadership said they plan to do more community outreach before making any changes, effectively pushing any decisions about 34th Avenue's future to the next mayor. ([Streetsblog]( A leading transit advocate wants Metro-North to provide discounted fares for the riders who'll be served by new stations in the Bronx. Lisa Daglian, the head of the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA, applauded Metro-North's decision to add four stops on the eastern side of the Bronx, but called for discounted "Freedom Tickets" similar to the reduced fares that the Long Island Rail Road offers between Jamaica and Atlantic Terminal. "To truly make this new transit equitable and move people out of express buses and cars, it is crucial embrace expanding and implementing the Freedom Ticket," Daglian said. ([AM New York]( Two Manhattan lawmakers are calling for stricter penalties for hit-and-run scooter crashes after a pedestrian was fatally hit. On June 4th, an e-scooter rider hit and killed Gone Girl actor Lisa Banes on the Upper West Side. It's currently an offense that qualifies as a misdemeanor, but State Sen. Brad Hoylman and Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal want it to come with the same penalties as a vehicular hit-and-run. Meanwhile, friends of Banes are pleading for the unknown scooter driver to turn themselves in. ([New York Post]( The stuck bus finally got unstuck! The MTA bus that slammed into a Brooklyn row house last week — and then stayed there for four straight days in order to keep the building from collapsing — was successfully removed last Friday in front of nearly 100 enthusiastic onlookers. See our photos and videos from the scene. ([Gothamist]( [the logo for WQXR's Classical Commute playlist]( This week’s Classical Commute playlist contains highlights from WQXR’s Juneteenth Celebration of Black Classical Artistry, a 24-hour marathon of music by Black composers and performers. Hear [the full day of programming]( from midnight to midnight on Saturday, and [stream the free playlist now on Spotify](. [a photo of James Ramsay sitting on a vespa] James Ramsay also thinks the train is "still the same New York subway crap," but his eight-month-old daughter seems to think it's a world of magic, so maybe he needs an attitude adjustment. (Photo by Amy Pearl) Support WNYC + Gothamist Make a donation to support local, independent journalism. Your contributions are our largest source of funding and pays for essential transportation coverage and more. [Donate]( [We the Commuters on Facebook]( [We the Commuters on Twitter]( [WNYC on Instagram]( [We the Commuters]( Copyright © 2021 New York Public Radio, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: New York Public Radio 160 Varick Street New York, NY 10013 [unsubscribe]( [update preferences]( [privacy policy](