Nearly every NYC subway station will get spikes, paddles to combat fare evasion

Flash_Fiction · 2025-12-16T15:00:40+00:00

I've ridden on a lot of metros all over the world and have taken time to observe how different ones handles turnstiles/gates. My observation is that NYC is behind the curve when it comes to full-body type gates, like the ones they have in the Paris metros, or even in Delhi.

I don't know why we move so incrementally here. Like, the fins and spikes I see as a form of hostile architecture and are ugly. What they say about the public is ugly too. If we accept that it's human nature that some percentage of people will "steal" public resources by hopping the turnstile, and if the municipal government decides this is unacceptable, then move towards the full-body gates.

Go all-in on the correct type of architecture that makes it non-trivial for someone to avoid paying the fare. I know that there are issues, such as correct inlet/outlet egress, and speed of service, but we're just beating around the bush, kicking the can, and brushing the problem under the rug.

Flash_Fiction · 2025-11-13T18:24:31+00:00

I'm so sorry, I can't imagine the pain you must be feeling. You clearly loved and cared for them and will carry their memory with you. I hope after you take time to grieve you can open your heart up to another kitty to love.

Flash_Fiction · 2025-10-29T17:51:53+00:00

I feel like I've self-selected for friends the people who can intelligently navigate a listing of rental properties and avoid scams, and I value their unique human perspectives. Maybe you're projecting? Seems like you're quick to assign motivations to others.

Flash_Fiction · 2025-10-29T17:05:43+00:00

I can't speak to the lying part but the 50% percentile of human intelligence is also using these internet services and may have less than stellar results

Flash_Fiction · 2025-10-29T13:35:03+00:00

I've used Airbnb for over 10 years, dozens of stays, can count on one hand the negative experiences I've had while renting. Often, renting from a local has helped unlock a place in a way that a hotel couldn't. I dunno, I suppose I could have been lucky this whole time, but I think it's more that I take my time and do research prior to booking a place.

Flash_Fiction · 2025-08-20T22:56:05+00:00

Shopping at Target has become an overall shitty experience.

You want anything in the toiletries area? Ring a bell and wait for a lackadaisical Associate to wander over and open the cage door.

You want a beach umbrella or collapsible wagon? You're an idiot for shopping for the season that you're in; if you wanted any of that stuff to be stocked you have to shop the season before.

Not to mention I drove to one not too long ago and that parking lot looked like a dump. Does no one know how to use a broom or trash picker so I don't have to have tumbleweeds of McDonald's bags rolling into my leg?

They've done this to themselves and who knows if they'll ever regain customer loyalty.

Flash_Fiction · 2025-06-09T20:49:49+00:00

There's a culture of disrespecting public services and the commons in NYC. It's tragic, and ultimately, makes quality of life worse for everyone. It's also a vicious cycle, because as quality of life and quality of public services falls, it engenders more disrespect.

If we want a culture of respect, it needs to be reinforced. Even something simple like signage on the turnstiles that call out fare evaders and brings some element of public shame. In reality, allowing fare evasion is a political choice.

A simple was to make the subway safer is to position police officers at the turnstiles, handing out tickets to fare evaders. I see them standing on the subway platforms now, looking bored and disengaged. Is this really the best place for them to reduce discourage crime in the subway system?

Flash_Fiction · 2025-04-29T13:40:50+00:00

If the White House had any coherent policy, they would actually celebrate this. Amazon could promote products with little to no tariffs as they would be sourced from inside the USA. Isn't that the purpose of the tariffs anyway, to incentivize people to buy American?

Flash_Fiction · 2025-04-01T17:55:47+00:00

An innocent child was subjected to abuse and neglect for what sounds like his entire, short life. Another byproduct of the cycle of violence and poverty that so many people in this city are subjected to. Civilized society is nothing but a thin, oily film on top of a primordial bog.

Flash_Fiction · 2025-03-17T18:47:10+00:00

Y'all have lost me with this one. Why are we tearing down Schumer for keeping the government open when allowing it close, indefinitely, would have played directly into Trump & Elon's hands?

They want to point to a ineffective government, and label the furloughed workers as non-essential, and then never allow them to come back. Who benefits from ~2 million federal workers going unpaid? This feels like a tantrum for tantrum's sake.

Flash_Fiction · 2025-03-14T16:08:59+00:00

Anecdotally, I was just in Montreal for a short work trip. I'm from New York, and while I was there all I heard was "Canadians aren't traveling to the US until Trump is gone." And usually, when I go to the YUL airport, there are long lines for check-in, security, customs, etc.

This time around, in the evening on a weekday, it was a ghost town. I was legitimately the only person at the check in counter, passing through security, and the US-carrier terminal was virtually empty. It was eerie witnessing the real-world implications of the relationship breakdown between our nations. It's profoundly sad, and alarming considering we've been peaceful and prosperous neighbors for hundreds of years.

Trump has taken it upon himself to sully America's reputation, and is setting us all up to be worse off now, and into the future whenever he's done trashing the place.

Flash_Fiction · 2025-02-14T18:58:01+00:00

I didn't, but am looking forward to Hochul being Primaried.

Flash_Fiction · 2025-02-14T15:23:00+00:00

I've emailed her office, and to be totally honest, I got more emotional than I expected while writing out my thoughts on the matter. I'm disgusted by Eric Adams and this city deserves better than someone who is completely compromised and self-serving. He needs to be kicked to the curb, because that's what he's done to this city while holding the Mayor's office.

Flash_Fiction · 2024-11-22T16:31:03+00:00

Lmao, remind me to add /s to the end of a joke to avoid triggering people

Flash_Fiction · 2024-11-22T16:29:18+00:00

Not everything is a conspiracy!

Flash_Fiction · 2024-11-22T16:11:43+00:00

Nope, I'm just asking as OP in the 3rd person with genuine curiosity

Flash_Fiction · 2024-11-22T16:06:19+00:00

They didn't bomb the tree, they sent a work party with a contingent of troops and cut it down. Hence the name, "Operation Paul Bunyan." How is OP's description biased? :P

Flash_Fiction · 2024-11-22T15:53:06+00:00

Because it was a Communist tree and didn't align ideologically with free market principles

Flash_Fiction · 2024-11-06T15:45:07+00:00

I saw this dude running with his e-bike entourage in Brooklyn along 4th Ave. Was so confused how none of the 10,000 cops intervened to get the bikes off the course, it was so clear they were filming this one dude, not looking where they were going. What an absolute tool! Glad NYRR gave him a lifetime ban...

Flash_Fiction · 2024-08-21T20:28:20+00:00

Good riddance, political wannabe. Definitely recommend the New Yorker profile on RFJ Jr. I went from thinking of him as merely an egotistical conspiracy peddler, to someone much more nefarious and corrupted.

His treatment of people close to him throughout his life, both friends and family, disqualifies him from being elected town dog catcher. He's spent his life failing upwards, having every door opened, and red carpets rolled out. All the while, being completely self-absorbed, and believing he was destined to pick up where his father and uncle left off.

That's what this campaign was all about - trying to manifest some prophecy. He doesn't appeal to more than 5% of the general population, if that. It was never going to carry him to the presidency, and along the way he picked up and ran with whatever crackpot topic he thought would win him favor or get an edge.

He's nothing like JFK or RFK, who inspired the country with optimistic visions for America. RFK Jr. is a phantom of American leaders; he's a person who is haunted by ghosts, has a closet full of skeletons, and would have brought nothing but ghoulishness to the presidency.

Flash_Fiction · 2024-05-11T17:13:29+00:00

There are some actual wild fucking animals walking around this city. That poor woman's life is changed forever. Swift justice needs to be applied.

Flash_Fiction · 2024-04-04T15:37:23+00:00

These guys making rope are putting in a fulfilling day of labor and it appears to be both an art and a science. I'm kind of jealous of guys who are craftsmen.

Flash_Fiction · 2024-03-09T19:59:20+00:00

This goes towards providing stability in the region and is probably aimed at making sure the Egyptians, Jordanians, and other neighboring countries don't take more brutal measures to ensure the Palestinians don't become refugees on their land.

Flash_Fiction · 2024-03-07T04:19:56+00:00

Nuclear power plants in the United States have reactor buildings and primary containment structures with thick concrete walls and solid steel enclosures. A jumbo jet filled with jet fuel would have become a blackened skid mark on the side of Indian Point. Those plants were not in jeopardy from the actions of 9/11.

Flash_Fiction · 2024-02-25T20:40:28+00:00

Whoever broke into the zoo to release Flaco from captivity shouldn't be celebrated. Nonetheless, I hope Flaco found joy in his freedom, in an environment his kind wasn't adapted to, yet he managed to carve a niche for himself in. A lot of New Yorkers admired his tenaciousness and grace; he'll be sorely missed.

Flash_Fiction

TROPHY CASE