If you live in New York, most likely you’ve taken the subway, at least once. Sometimes you see things that could surprise, annoy, or even anger you. Most people just fade into the background with the rest of the commuters; reading, listening to music or sleeping. For someone who is observant of his surroundings, a New York City subway ride is a new experience every time. In my case, something strange, and very funny, distinguished this train ride from the rest; an everyday NYC pigeon decided to take a ride on the train.

It was Monday, August 9th 2004, about 11:30AM, and I had to take a trip to Queens. I took the D Train at Bedford Park Avenue headed to 47-50 Streets-Rockefeller Center to transfer to the F train. The trip was normal for the first 10 minutes; everybody doing the regular stuff-- singing, laughing, talking, reading, and sleeping. The train made its stop at Tremont Avenue, where a pigeon walked on the train. Finding this new and a little odd, I looked at the bird. It walked up and down the train, like a person. Amazingly enough, nobody else seemed to notice the bird; I looked around and everybody continued doing their thing as if the bird didn’t exist. The train made its regular stops and the bird seemed to have a destination. When the train stopped at 7th Avenue the bird got off and flew away. With the pigeon and the people not phased by its presence this, by far, was the most funniest and interesting experience I’ve ever had in my three years of riding the trains in New York City.

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