Endymion Ponsonby-Withermoor III writes:

David of Broadway wrote:
is only open rush hours, when an S/A is on duty. At other times I
have to walk an extra block on the street to the full-time entrance,
even though I have no use for the S/A. (In fact, several years ago I
got into frequent arguments with the S/A there about the exact opening
time of that entrance. The sign said 6:30, but after several
arguments it came to light that the S/A's schedule said 6:35, and I
needed to catch a train that arrived between those times.)

Just as a matter of interest, why do you need to get a train at
between 06:30 and 06:35 ? Couldn't you get one at say 06:37
and use the nearer entrance ? Can't say I've ever gone to a metro
station with a specific five-minute window in mind: I just get the
first appropriate train.

Fair enough question (since it is kind of unusual). At that time of
day the 1 still runs pretty close to schedule, and that train was the
last one that would get me to Times Square in time for the 6:45 Q
local, where I would prepare my lecture notes until it got to the last
stop at Brighton Beach at about 7:30, where I would join the large
crowd waiting to cram onto the unreliable B1 bus and would hopefully
make it to my 8:00 class on time.

If I missed that 1 train, I would end up on the first Q express of the
day, which got me to Brighton Beach just a few minutes later, but (a)
the train was more crowded, making it more difficult for me to be
productive, and (b) the crowds waiting for the bus were much larger,
decreasing the likelihood that I'd be able to fit onto the next few
buses.

Both my work schedule and the subway routes have changed since then
(late 2003). Also, I've taken to driving between the subway and work
on most days, since the buses are so unpredictable (although, to be
fair, my car has been in the shop this week and the bus has been
fine). Now I take the 1 to 59th Street - Columbus Circle for the B to
either Sheepshead Bay or Brighton Beach. But the B runs on nominal
10-minute headways, and the tower that controls its merges and
diverges along Central Park West is staffed by a bunch of monkeys who
don't know how to read a schedule, so it's not uncommon for one train
to leave Columbus Circle a few minutes early and for its follower to
leave a few minutes late -- so I aim to catch a specific B train but
assume that there's a good chance that I'll miss it. (A few weeks
ago, when I already left home a bit later than usual, one B train ran
at least five minutes early -- I know that because that's when I got
there, and it never showed up. Then its follower was late and lost
more time on the way into Brooklyn, arriving at its terminal a full 11
minutes late. I should have gotten to Brighton Beach at 8:46;
instead, I got there at 9:07, which didn't leave me quite enough time
to get to my 9:10 class.) And when a B train is taken out of service,
leading to a 20-minute gap, there are rarely station announcements
informing the passengers waiting for the B, even though there are
alternate routes to all stations served by the B. (Then again,
sometimes the people making the announcements are a bit confused.
Here's one gem I heard on Tuesday at 34th Street: "Ladies and
gentlemen, after an earlier incident, Brooklyn-bound B as in Bravo
service is running. As an alternative for Brooklyn-bound B as in
Bravo service, take a Brooklyn-bound D as in Delta train to Pacific
Street - Atlantic Avenue and transfer to a Coney Island-bound Q as in
Quincy train." First of all, why do we need an alternative if the
train is running now? And second, considering that the Q stops in a
different part of the very same 34th Street station complex, why not
just walk upstairs and get it right away instead of riding the D into
Brooklyn? It turns out that, while the B was running, the first B
train wouldn't reenter service until the next stop, West 4th Street.
The /correct/ advice would have been to take an F or V train to West
4th Street and transfer there to the B.)

Wow. That's a long paragraph. Sorry.
--
David of Broadway
New York, NY