Five minutes makes all the difference in the world on my morning commute on the 7 train. It is the difference between getting to Baruch 10 minutes before my class starts and 15 minutes after my class begins. It is the difference between finding copious numbers of seats on the train and barely finding space to breathe in the train car. It is difference between a calm, relaxing ride during which I can enjoy the elevated views of Sunnyside, Astoria, and Long Island City as the train passes through these neighborhoods and wishing I had a set of earphones to drown out the echoing chatter.

Although I take the same route to school every morning – the Manhattan bound local 7 train from 46th Street/Bliss Street to Grand Central–my commute starts with a short walk from my house to the train station, passing under the Sunnyside Arch.

Sunnyside Arch ¹

Like many other neighborhoods in Queens, Sunnyside began as farmland and was urbanized at the turn of the 20th century.

Sunnyside in the Past ⁴

The Pennsylvania Railroad Company purchased a substantial amount of the swampland in the area between 1902 and 1905. Once the Queensboro Bridge was completed in 1909, people were able to travel to and eventually inhabit this western Queens neighborhood with ease. ⁵ The neighborhood had, and continues to have, a large Irish community. However, Sunnyside is now also home to larger Romanian, Korean, and Tibetan communities, evident from the abundance of restaurants and houses of worship representing these ethnicities. ⁶ 

By the time I board the 7 train at my stop, it has already traveled about 3 miles from Flushing. Still, there are a handful of people enjoying their breakfast from distinctly recognizable restaurants in Flushing, such as East Manor Restaurant, Fay Da Bakery or even H-Mart. Without fail, there is always at least one person reading a newspaper and another person browsing the Web on his or her iPad, a contrast between past and present technology.

The majority of people leave the train at two stops along my commute, 33rd Street and Grand Central. Once the train arrives at 33rd Street, all of the high school and college students from Aviation High School or LaGuardia Community College quickly rush off the train. If it is early enough in the morning, the train becomes quite empty at this point, allowing me to look out one of the windows and catch a glimpse of the high school and its garage of airplanes.

However, if it happens to be rush hour, a crowd of businesspeople in crisp, clean suits and designer accessories huddle around the door, waiting to get to Manhattan.

5 Pointz

At this point, I am usually able to find a seat, although sometimes I find myself falling off of the edge of the seat if there is very little room between the people sitting to my right and to my left. Still, I endure the discomfort and open up my book or newspaper, trying to read a few pages before I reach my transfer point. Once the train leaves 45th Road/Court House Square and makes the turn circumnavigating the famous 5 Pointz graffiti building, the train enters a tunnel. There is not enough light in the train for me to read without straining my eyes, so I usually take a quick nap for two stops.

As the train enters Grand Central station, almost everyone, including me, crowds around the train doors and eagerly waits for them to open. Once they do I rush up the two flights of escalators, passing the line of people leisurely standing on the right side of the escalator, and scurrying down a flight of stairs to the downtown 6 train platform, where a train is usually just about to pull in.

At Grand Central, I subsequently transfer to the downtown 6 train, walking to the second car from the front of the train. I side-step my way to the middle of the car, holding on to the train with just one finger, telling myself that I can get off the train in two stops at 28th Street.