Through the Front Window

Rediscovering the wonder of the subway with a four-year-old.

Photo by Luke Rafferty

Yes, the New York subways can be nasty, dirty, steamy, crowded, occasionally dangerous and unfortunately late, but more often for me, they have always been an education; both fascinating and adventurous. I know there are many stations where we look down onto the tracks and are forced to observe rats, at times dozens, scrounging around for the garbage that some of us have left behind, but I’ve never noticed them up on the platform and they are always moving around cautiously, more afraid of us then we should be of them.

There are times when I’d rather stay above ground on a bus or walk, particularly in the summer when the stations can be unbearably hot and humid. I must admit I sometimes find myself in a taxi, stuck in traffic and cursing myself for not going underground, having reached my destination in far less time–to say nothing of the money I would have saved, and the chance to observe people from all over the world speaking, I am told, some 171 different lang…