Jaffe

New York Oddity #3 - hot subway tunnels, cold subway cars

It's definitely summer here - today is supposed to top out at 92F (33C), 'feeling like 98F (37C)'. I lived in London during the record-breaking heatwave a couple of years ago, when the temperature reached 100F (38C). Taking the Tube during the heatwave was disgusting, because the London Underground isn't air conditioned. Inevitably I wound up in a hot, crowded car (carriage) standing next to someone who hadn't showered, or at least smelled like they hadn't showered.

Hot days are rare in London, so having air conditioning in the Tube is only something you think about a few days a year, but here in New York it's a necessity. The subway cars are kept as cold as you would expect here in the States (i.e., very cold), but the subway platforms are often unbearably hot. Why? Two words - design flaw. Perhaps the engineer who designed the system should have spent more time learning how an air conditioner works!

Labels: New York Oddity, subway, summer

posted by Aron @ 4:13 PM