The New York City subway is not the oldest, cleanest, most on time, or largest in the world. By some metrics, it doesn't even hold the top spot in US subway systems. It is not superlative, except in one regard: there are always trains running.
It is accurate that they may not be the most convenient combination of trains, or running at a reasonable interval, but every hour of the day, every day of the year, the system is at work. This is, of course, also the underlying reason the system frequently doesn't work.
To ride the subway is to learn the territory. Train direction is designated by borough, stations are tied to streets and landmarks. Sort of. There are six stations across three boroughs with Broadway in the name: none of them refer to Midtown's theatre district. Only one of the five lines running through three separate Canal Street stations is convenient to tourist-centric Chinatown.
Demographics are tied to geography- Asians get off at Chambers and Bowery in Manhattan. Indians at Jackson Heights in Queens. Now that baseball season has begun, the 7 train is full of Mets fans. Hipsters get on and off at Williamsburg. Russians near Coney Island. Elderly white people wearing clogs and dragging enormous suitcases going north on the A/C are invariably going the wrong way to JFK. The weirdest looking people on the trains are generally on the West Side- rich people with more money than sense who live in Chelsea.
Geography aside, it's also a cultural experience. Panhandling on the train is illegal and varied. Performers are common on the 4/5 and M. Talented performers appear on nearly any line between 14th street and Columbus Circle. People on the J/Z are typically mentally ill or religious. The most successful panhandlers, without exception, are churro women. What they're doing is also illegal, and most frequently prosecuted, but they bring their churro cart on the train, or stand in the stations. They say nothing, but people buy churros from them.
When open gangway cars get introduced in the next couple years, this means that the entire train will have the dubious honour of hearing musical performances, donation requests and appeals to praise Jesus for the entire length of the train, rather than merely the few minutes between stations. Maybe it will stop tourists from giving, when they finally realise that every one hears this multiple times every day- it's not unique, and the people with the most talent are probably the least in need of help.
After learning the subway, it's possible to learn about the rest of the city.
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