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Chambers Street is uniquely bright this evening -- looking around there are no more lights than usual But the maintenance crew seems to have suddenly painted the ceilings white. A relatively unremarkable station, Chambers is an express/local station on the 1, 2 and 3 routes (formerly the IRT line). Two parallel platforms serve uptown and downtown and the station is lined with one level of tiled wall -- covered in streams of rust and grime stains and punctuated by the repeated image of a mosaic depicting an old federal style building which I can not identify.
Above the tile, the walls continue almost to the street level, creating a double-height ceiling over the tracks. Not that you'd notice this much when its all painted black. But with a single layer of whitewash on the large panels between the steel girders, the station lights up like daytime (even in -- um -- daytime). I assume from the recent plaster work on the unpainted panels, that this may be a pre coat and soon Chambers Street will return to its permanent midnight gloom.
Down the trough in between the tracks, a plump rat races along, undeterred by the freakish brightness. I recently read how rats love straight lines and subways -- with their straight tracks, chronic dampness, countless cracks, holes and nooks, and endless supply of free food tossed by the good citizens of NY and undisturbed by cleaning crews.
The grimly-warm landscape of my world,
Runs unending into the dark,
Never hungry or alone,
Well nurtured by the tall creatures who stand on the sky.
I shall never want.
Overhead the screaming train grins over, god like and terrible.
Reigning sparks and noise all around.
But soon it will stop and the horrifying demon will disappear back into its tunnel.
Tags:
irt, rat, subway
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Posted on 6/13/2007
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