Jack Nicholson Spotted
Week of October 6-12, 2011
Riders this week: 9,421
Rider miles this week: 88,279
DOWN IN THE TUBE
Actor Jack Nicholson was spotted on the subway going from Bridgehampton to Southampton with Bill Clinton and Sarah Palin last Saturday. Apparently they had played 18 at the Maidstone by the looks of them.
GEORGICA STOP PROTESTS
There’s been a whole lot of grumbling from the regular passengers about the new subway stop at Georgica between East Hampton and Wainscott. Two weeks ago, a group of wealthy homeowners had stopped a train down on the tracks at gunpoint, demanding that a station be built there. They had come down using an emergency exit in reverse to get to a storeroom and thence to the tracks for their little caper, and they followed it up with hefty pressure on the Village of East Hampton and the regulating body that controls the permits allowing the subway to exist. The result is, as of 10 days ago, a full blown subway stop at Georgica which so far, according to the regulars, nobody has ever used. The subway just stops there, waits, continues on and that is that. As they say, money talks and nobody walks.
RUNAWAY TRAIN
The Express Train, which goes at high speed and makes only four stops on the system, at Montauk, East Hampton, Southampton and Westhampton Beach and then, after the turnaround goes back again, developed problems last Wednesday afternoon at 4 p.m. It made no stops at all, just went down the system from one end to the other, turned around, came back, and did it over and over. All the passengers had the daylights scared out of them. Motorman Ed Friendly was scared too once he found he could do nothing about it. The episode went on for an hour and 45 minutes. Finally, a cowboy came down to the Southampton platform on horseback, took off eastbound down the tracks when the runaway came through and lassoed it and brought it to a halt just before Water Mill. It was quite a day.
BAND CONCERT HALTED
The West Point Marching Band and Baton Twirlers performed on the East Hampton platform last Friday, but after subway customers stopped to listen and then did not move on, ultimately the whole platform was packed with cheering people with parrot hats on their heads and the whole thing had to be brought to a halt since nobody could get either on or off the trains.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY HENRY GLADYSHEISER
Our Assistant Comptroller, Henry Gladysheiser, was 54 years old last Monday. He celebrated by going to Hawaii with his wife for a week. Checks to the employees were late, but we wish him well anyway.
COMMISSIONER ASPINALL’S MESSAGE
The Commissioner is touring the Istanbul Subway system this week and due to Internet trouble failed to send us his message. We hope this clears up in time for our next newsletter, or he comes home before that.