A few days ago, I was notified about the MTA (Metropolitan Transit Authority) Nostalgia Train, a vintage subway train that is rolled out for a week around Christmastime, by the New York Transit Museum. The vintage train arrives at the 2nd Avenue F stop (subway station) in New York City, at specific times, and on specific days.
Click here for a YouTube video of this event.
The Musicians
At the platform where the train arrives, a ragtime band sets up, a small group of fantastic musicians and singers playing ukulele, stand-up bass, saxophone, and trumpet. Enthusiasts show up dressed in vintage, period-piece clothing and usually there's a couple or two or three swing-dancing in front of the band. A crowd gathers. Photographers with their professional cameras jostle to capture the musicians and dancers.
Dressing in Period Piece Clothes
I threw together some clothes that looked vintage enough ... a blue collar shirt with a gray button-up vest, a platinum green jacket, green fitted pants, brown Mephisto lace-up dress shoes, and a 1920's-style flat cap.
Riding the Subway Trains to NYC
Since I live in Bushwick, Brooklyn, New York, I took a series of trains to get to this destination ... the Far Rockaway bound L train to Myrtle-Wyckoff Avenue, then transferred to the Manhattan-bound M train, rode that to the Myrtle Avenue stop, transferred to the Manhattan-bound J train, rode that to the Delancey Street/Essex Street station, transferred to Jamaica/179th St F train, and rode that to the 2nd Avenue stop, where I exited the train, to find myself in the midst of the period-piece revelry of the "MTA Nostalgia Train" event.
The Event
Nearby a group of musicians and singers had assembled and were playing some great old-time music. Two couples were swing-dancing and they were really good. A crowd of curious onlookers and a group of photographers circled the dancers, watching, taking pictures, and tapping their feet to the beat.
The approach
I spotted 3 girls dressed in period-piece clothing tapping their feet to the beat, looking as if they wanted to dance, too. One of them was glancing at me. Then, as the one glanced, the other would glance at me, too. I approached the one and asked: "Wanna dance?" She was pale and a bit chubby. Although I'm not a professional swing dancer by any means, I did the best with what I know and led her around the small space.
Less than a minute in, she looks at me awkwardly and says: "Do you know how to swing dance?" She asks.
"Enough," I smile. I give her a twirl. She stops, then says: "I'd rather wait for someone who knows how to swing dance."
"Okay," I say, a little surprised at her demands. I don't bother to smile. I'm thinking, what a bitch.
"Sorry," she says, giving me a weak smile as if she's crushed my feelings.
Go find a chubby ghost to dance with, I say. No. I don't say that. I think it.
A little defeated, but more surprised that this girl would rather stand by herself than dance with a novice, I retreat from the pack of onlookers and watch the swing-dancing couples. They are smiling and dancing up a storm, throwing their arms out in flamboyant gestures. The photographers are snapping away.
Seeing this for what it really is
Then, I saw this for what it really is. Stripped down to the core, to the essence. A group of vintage-clothing-dressed girls attention-whoring for the cameras. And their guy friends, too, who they brought along because they happened to be very-good swing dancers. Judging from the looks of them, these guys were politically-correct manginas. Although very-good-swing-dancing politically-correct manginas. What do you call a girl with a white knight by her side? Delusional.
To my right, the crowd around the dancers was so thick that it left very little room for anyone to pass them. Those that did want to pass, in order to exit the station or walk to another part of the platform, were forced to walk dangerously close (an inch or two) from the edge of the platform. Any mis-step and they'd fall onto the tracks below.
To my left, another crowd had gathered, a crowd of photographers circling an Asian woman, dressed in vintage clothes, as she posed for the photographers. They were also blocking the flow of pedestrian traffic, essentially trapping them between these groups unless they wanted to brave walking the very edge of the platform with it's four-feet drop onto the tracks below.
The event was fun
Although the event was fun, listening to the fantastic musicians and singers, watching the enthusiasts-with-their-period-piece-garb-and-accessories, seeing the vintage train arrive and boarding it for a few moments until the exhaust fumes became too overwhelming, forcing me and my friend who arrived, to leave and exit the station to get some fresh air, the event was ruined by the attention whores who hog the subway platforms, the dancers and the girls posing, who, along with the photographers, have little consideration for anyone else, especially the pedestrian traffic that needs to move swiftly, and safely, through the subway in order to get where they're going. The New York Transit Museum ought to take note and put safeguards into place .
Also, the people who attend this event should be more welcoming of novice swing dancers like myself and others who want to have fun, dance, and enjoy the music. Lose the snobby attitude about having-to-be-a-perfect-swing-dancer. I know the camera is watching but at the end of the day, this is just a blip in your life, so get over yourself.
For less complaints and more treats, visit www.KrisKemp.com