New York City MTA 1, me 0

I just got back to DC more than 2 hours late due to my inability to navigate the New York subway.  Not that I should really complain, because it was definitely my fault, but good grief that system is confusing for a first-time visitor.  I still am hugely in favor of public transit, and I’m positive that if ever I lived in NYC I would love the system, but it sure would be nice if when you asked the station manager where the 1 train to Penn Station is he would do something more than grunt and point up the stairs to the hostile, freezing streets from whence you came.

Addendum: The Amtrak train from DC to NYC (and back) is a charm, but let’s think about increasing the frequency of service and reducing fares — I think this might be Pareto-optimal given other existing realities.  Also, how about some free wireless on that thing?  I would have loved to live-blog my frustration rather than uploading it now that I’m home.