Monday, April 24, 2006

Charlie in Limbo

Pardon me for fetishizing the Forest Hills Station Charlie-ticket conversion. Yet, it is too amusing not to enjoy. It's like the box with the tweeting mechanical birds; lift it and there they are doing their birdy things.

After being three days away, I had another chance to open the box this morning. The rain this morning was steady, so I decided to take the T instead of bike. Perhaps, I fantasized, the conversion elves visited since last week and spun their magic.

Well, it was incrementally different from last week. Now:
  • The narrow entry is much narrower, causing a shoulder rubbing squeeze by the fair box.
  • The translucent sheets hiding the, if you pardon the exaggeration, construction are in a new area.
  • It appears as though a two-thirds of the space has ticket scanners where turnstiles used to be.
However, both the ticket vending machines and the entry gates are still in their crates. The elves will not be done this week either.

A discrete, small poster at Downtown Crossing has vague promises of station conversion dates, by month only. You'd have to look hard. This is behind a Plexiglas bulletin board in the shadows at the Chauncy Street exit. Look closely. It's the little maroon poster underground right before the stairs.

It promises a May conversion for Forest Hills.

As long as the crews are taking, I hope that they are naming each gate and vending machine, at least generically. "Hello, Slug. Hi there, Sloth. Yo, Snail!"

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