The New York Times-20080127-Readers- Commutes- Good- Bad- Ecstatic

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Readers' Commutes: Good, Bad, Ecstatic

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Following are excerpts from online readers' responses to the Next Stop series:

JAN. 2 I commute from the Upper East Side to Wall Street. The trip takes 45 to 60 minutes (door-to-door) on the 4/5, which is so overcrowded, so slow and so prone to problems (usually a sick passenger at Grand Central) that it is my personal version of hell. -- Posted by Joanne

JAN. 3 I'm one of the few 20-somethings who appear on the platform for the 7:43 express from Princeton Junction to New York Penn. My office is only three blocks from the station, so I'm usually at my desk around 10 to 9. People are amazed that I spend two hours a day commuting (I see no problem with it -- I used to spend the same amount of time driving to work. At least now I can read on the trip.) and some ask me when I plan to move to New York. I just smile and say, Never. ... -- Posted by Bree

JAN. 8 ... May I suggest that the author experience my daily commute from Brooklyn? Try taking the G train to the L train and then switching at Union Square for the 4/5 train. It gives a new definition to the word crowded. -- Posted by Mike

JAN. 10 I also take the L (from the first stop in Canarsie, Brooklyn) to Lorimer Street, where I transfer for the Queens-bound G train. While I'm sure that the long transfer corridor and running up and down the stairs have provided meaningful exercise all these years, the eternal wait for the inevitably crowded G has probably taken years off my life. ...

-- Posted by RJ

JAN. 16 We moved to a bucolic community in Chappaqua, N.Y., two years ago from the Upper West Side. My commute to work by subway used to be about 30 minutes (if the C and B trains showed up on time). Now, because Chappaqua is an express stop, my commute from northern Westchester is a little over an hour door-to-door via Metro-North. ... I never thought that I'd say this, but I would hate to have to return to Manhattan or the outer boroughs. Commuting is a small price to pay for living in the country. -- Posted by Adam

JAN. 19 It was 1944, Dad was in Halloran General Hospital on Staten Island, and my Mom and I came up from St. Petersburg, Fla., stayed with Dad's brother, and we took the ferry over to Staten Island. I was only 11, and when I looked up and saw the Statue of Liberty, I nearly fell over! I will never forget that beautiful experience! -- Posted by Anita Knight