Common on NYC subways too. Degradation of manners in public space continues.

So I've been doing this commute for a long time. I kind of go back and forth, sometimes taking the 33rd St line and walking, or the 33rd St line and whatever comes first (B,D,F,M) to get near 53rd, or the 33rd St and then change from 9th to W4th and have even more options (B,D,F,M,E) --- or just going to WTC to admire the gorgeous station environs and taking the E local. If you feel like exercise bring a manual folding kick scooter and skip the subway part.

I was glad I didn't go the WTC route on 9/11, but other than that it's really whatever strikes you in terms of mood or how the trains are running.

The problem is that people then ask for protection, which starts as the little flexi-posts but those get knocked down, so the city puts in Jersey barriers. Which are then a road hazard so they put six crash barrels in front of each one (and one on the rear for good measure) and the block starts to look like a NASCAR track that is pedestrian-hostile.

​

We can't have nice things.

You have to get mad and rile up politicians on the NJ side about unequal treatment vs NY, that's the only thing that ever works.

Remind them how PATH on weekends used to be direct during the daytime (no Hoboken detour) but that was suspended in 2006 "temporarily" for work on the WTC station. It took so long no one noticed when the station was finished but service never returned. PATH customer service will now actually try to deny this service even ever existed.