I ride the subway every friggin day, and I hate it. I hate crowding into the cars like a cow, being smashed up against some smelly stranger with no manners and an attitude. I hate fat-asses squeazed up against mine because some stupid man has the inability to judge the width of his own body.

I take the N train from Astoria to 23rd St. The W (express) version of this line is useless to me because it passes 23rd and 28th St. without stopping. So, on the mornings when I get into that train, I have to switch at 34th St. for the local N. On that platform, there is an interesting device that helps make my commute more tolerable. There is a green box, about 20 ft long, 1 ft high, and 1 ft deep, suspended maybe 8 ft off the ground attached across 3 steel I-beam supports on the platform. This mysterious box has 6 or 8 light sensors on the front, and the same number of vandalism protected speakers above each. When a curious commuter puts his hand over one of the sensors, the box emits a tone. Each sensor / speaker combo emits a different tone. It’s alike a giant public musical instrument. Brave commuters have run back and forth along the length of the device and have managed to create little tunes. I think it’s cool. I myself have tapped out a few little jingles. Unfortunately it seems that vandals have learned the secrets to its construction / destruction and most of the light sensors no longer sense. Maybe they are spray painted over, or maybe a well-placed poke with a screwdriver or pocketknife has rendered them useless. Either way, the Brooklyn-bound platform emits tones from only one or two sensors now. The device is sort of useless. But it was cool in it hayday.

I want to know what this is. Why is it there? Who thought of it? Who built it? What is it called? Will they fix / maintain it? Are there plans to add other instruments to other trains? Do any other stations have this thing? Have any of you seen or played with it? Do any of you know?