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When New Yorkers say the subway is a hot mess in the summer, they’re not being dramatic. But now, thanks to new data obtained by Gothamist, we know exactly which line turns your daily commute into a mobile sauna: It’s the 1 train, and the competition isn't even close.
From 2020 through mid-July 2024, the 1 train received 2,934 complaints about broken air conditioning—nearly triple the number of complaints for the next hottest line, the 6 train, which totaled 1,152. In third? The 3 train, with 906 sweaty submissions.
What do these lines have in common? A fleet of aging R62 subway cars from the 1980s—the era of shoulder pads, cassette tapes and apparently, underperforming AC systems. In fact, 108 out of the 285 subway cars removed from service for busted air conditioners during that time were these exact models.
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The heat isn't just anecdotal. During a recent heat wave, Gothamist documented 1 train cars pushing 95 degrees. That’s hotter than some saunas—and definitely not what you want in a city where “sitting still” counts as cardio in July.
If you’re unlucky enough to stumble into car number 2449, consider yourself warned: It holds the dubious honor of being the single most complained-about subway car in the entire system. Sixty-two riders went out of their way to report this inferno on wheels.
While the MTA insists complaints have dropped 21-percent over the last year and that “fewer than one in every half-million riders” encounter a hot car, riders aren’t exactly buying it. “You can’t get out the hot and come in the hot,” as one fed-up passenger told Gothamist.
There’s some relief in sight: The MTA’s latest capital plan includes replacing the 1 train’s creaky old fleet and overhauling its Bronx maintenance yard. But in the meantime? You might want to pack a fan, a frozen bottle of water—or, better yet, reroute your summer commute.
And if you're headed downtown via Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall station on a triple-digit day? Good luck. It’s been dubbed the hottest station in the system, clocking 100 degrees underground. Yes, really.
So next time you’re debating whether to wait for the next train, ask yourself: Is it cooler to be fashionably late—or literally cooked?