On Your Mark, Get Set, Get Ready, Go!
I coined a new phrase tonight: the Continental Dash.
A popular move for Queens Boulevard subway riders living at the 67 Avenue and 63 Drive stations is to ride the express train through to Continental Avenue and transfer to the opposite tracks for a local train back one or two stops rather than ride the local all the way from Roosevelt Avenue. For me, the decision hinges on whether there's a local train or promise of a local train at Roosevelt.
Often, when the express pulls into Continental, there is a Manhattan-bound train waiting across the tracks. Thus, anyone looking to pull this maneuver off successfully moves to a door by the stairs, crowds by the door, and is off like a shot when the door opens. A mad dash up the stairs, across the mezzanine, and back down the stairs to the waiting train. Too slow? You might as well have just waited at Roosevelt. You make it? Sweet, as you've shaved precious minutes of your commute.
p.s. I am quite good at ascertaining whether there will be a local train waiting at Roosevelt Avenue. As we are passing the local stop before Roosevelt, I scan the platform first to see if a train is there. If not, my next sign is the number of people on the platform. Few people waiting or a bunch of people heading up the stairs is a good sign that a local just pulled out. Last sign is the signals on the local track. Still red or turning orange? Thumbs up on a local train plodding its way toward Roosevelt. Ah, we sophisticated (and modest) New York subway riders.