Kidding Around

Here are some thoughts that might come to mind when someone says, "Boston's Green Line":

• Squeaky
• Smelly
• Cold
• Hot
• Crowded
• Late
• Did I mention squeaky?

For others, including my 11-year-old son, Owen, the Green Line conjures images of adventure and intrigue. The oldest subway stations in America are on the the line -- Park and Boylston stations. You travel through the heart of Boston when you're on the Green Line. You go past Fenway Park, TD Garden (home of the Celtics and Bruins), the Museum of Fine Arts, the Museum of Science and historic Boston Common.

My son also loves to keep track of which trains are running on which lines (the Green Line has B, C, D and E branches), and which ones are in or out of service.

As some readers know, I've been working on a children's picture book about riding the Green Line. A few years back, inspired by countless subway rides with Owen, I started writing a book about a generic subway ride. I had a hard time with it, and gave up. But then my sister-in-law's husband, Todd, asked if I wanted to write one specifically about the Green Line, for eventual inclusion in the line of products that his company, Sidetrack Products, sells.

The process is taking longer than I'd expected, but things are heading in the right direction.

Back in late October I gave draft copies of the book to the licensing agents for the MBTA (aka the T), which operates the subway. Two weeks ago I heard back from the point man, who likes the concept of the book. He had some questions/comments about the look of the book, and stressed that I need to make sure I get any necessary clearances to use the names of Fenway Park, TD Garden, the Red Sox, etc.

The bottom line, though, is that he's excited to sell the book because there are no other T-themed children's books available. So yesterday I met with Martina, the illustrator, to address some design issues in order to make headway on a next draft to give to the licensing guys.

In the meantime, I'm waiting to hear back from the two publishers I mailed the manuscript to three months ago. Several years ago one of the companies published a children's book about riding a T bus; the other is based in Massachusetts and is looking to publish its first books.

As I told Martina yesterday, I hope that by the end of this year to have an agreement in place to publish the book. I've already got a draft for a Red Line book, in hopes that if the Green Line book does well, there could be a series including all of Boston's subway lines.

Stay tuned.

NYC Three Times

For the third time in as many years, we took the train from Boston to New York for April vacation. And despite one minor setback, I have to say this trip was the best we've done.

The trip down was relaxing, as usual, and the weather was terrific. Owen juggled my laptop, Beth's iPad and her phone, while Amelia listened to Wild Flag on my iPod and just hung out playing with her stuffed animals. I spent most of the time looking out the window, trying on numerous occasions to snap some pictures.

While I still struggle to get the right aperture and shutter settings on my camera, I did a better job than I did last year of taking pictures while the train was in motion. Here's a shot of Bridgeport, CT.

After checking in to our hotel and meeting up with my sister, who joined us once again this year, we followed Owen's lead onto the subway up to Times Square. He was an unfailing tour guide for the whole vacation.

After riding the Ferris wheel inside Toys 'R Us, we had dinner at Carmine's in the Theater District. I figured the place had some fascinating history, but it turns out it was started in 1990 by a guy named Artie Cutler, who had in mind a place that "looks and feels as if it has been around for a very long time."

Regardless of its artificiality, the food was excellent.

To round out our first evening, Owen and I went on a short subway trip. He loves checking out as many lines as he can while we're in the city. He looks at subway maps online and figures out the best way, then commits the route to memory. We follow blindly; he's never wrong.

We had to go above-ground for a short time, and found ourselves walking past the Hotel Chelsea, where Beth and I stayed with friends a few years ago.

The next day, of course, started out at the New York Transit Museum in Brooklyn. We went last year, so this year's trip was a bit shorter. I was glad to see that, in addition to lots of old subway cars and some transit bus cabs (which the kids can sit in, as you can see below), the museum has added plenty of interactive features to hold kids' attention.

After lunch, we hit the Central Park Zoo. The kids were excited to see the penguins, because they love "The Penguins of Madagascar," which is supposed to take place at the zoo. We were all a bit surprised that the penguins were inside, behind glass. Still, they were cute.

While I was impressed by the polar bear, I also felt a bit sad for him. Shouldn't he be frolicking in the snow?

After the zoo, we hit FAO Schwarz, before meeting my sister for dinner at Bill's Bar & Burgers near Rockefeller Center.

Afterward, we went to the Top of the Rock and caught the sunset. It was beautiful.

My sister and I did another subway excursion with Owen while Beth took Amelia back to the hotel. Below, a common scene throughout the trip.

On Wednesday, Owen was under the weather, so he and Beth stayed in the hotel most of the day. My sister was off doing her own thing, so I took Amelia to the American Museum of Natural History. She had a good time checking out all the stuffed animals -- from elephants and giraffes, to rhinos, tigers and water buffaloes -- but we didn't stay all that long.

After lunch, we went to a playground not too far away in Central Park. But it wasn't just any park; it was the Diana Ross Playground. Amelia had a blast!

I was happy to see when we got back to the hotel around 4:00 that Owen was feeling better, and up for going out to dinner, and then on to "STOMP!" The show was a lot of fun -- cool percussion of all sorts, from hand clapping to body slapping to brooms and drums and old kegs and barrels. The kids loved it, as did Beth, my sister and I.

On Thursday, we went (for the third time) to the USS Intrepid, a decommissioned aircraft carrier that holds lots of old planes and helicopters, and which this summer will be the new home of the space shuttle Enterprise.

As they have each of the last three years, the kids enjoyed the big ship. There's so much to do and see both inside and on top of the carrier. It's quite impressive.

Later that day, we trekked as far north as we've gone on Manhattan, to The Cloisters, "the branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art devoted to the art and architecture of medieval Europe," as the Met's web site puts it.

While the kids had a good time there, I have to say, The Cloisters is the one place we visited during the week where I thought to myself, "I wish Beth and I could be here alone and take our time." The building is like a castle crossed with a monastery, and the architectural, religious and cultural artifacts within are amazing. Next time Beth and I go down on a grown-up adventure, I'd love to go back there.

Here's the museum upon approach:

Here's one of the many stained glass windows at the museum:

Here's a view of the courtyard:

As Thursday was our last full day in the city, we weren't done after The Cloisters. We met up with my sister back at the hotel, and trekked (on the subway, natch) to Little Italy for dinner. Owen had requested pasta, so I figured we might as well do the touristy thing and check it out.

After getting turned around a bit on Canal Street, we found our way to Mulberry Street, the heart of Little Italy. Well, Mulberry is basically the entirety of the neighborhood now. I wish I'd seen Little Italy before Chinatown expanded its boundaries.

Regardless, it was cool to walk past so many Italian restaurants, and to have a few hosts/owners/barkers try to flag me down and wave us into their places of business. I'd looked online at a few places beforehand, and stuck to my guns. We ended up at a perfectly fine place called Da Nico.

On its web site, Da Nico claims to be a favorite of movie stars, New York Yankees and former mayor Rudy Guiliani. We didn't see anybody famous. I saw Chazz Palminteri's picture on the wall.

After dinner, we walked a few blocks to the subway. I was trying, once again in vain, to get some good night time pictures. As we walked on the sidewalk into Chinatown, I had my camera up, trying to capture something (I forget what) when I suddenly walked right into a small, old Chinese woman who had stopped in front of me. Lesson learned: pay attention to your surroundings while trying to be a camera dork.

We took the train up to Times Square, where we wandered around, bought a few t-shirts for the kids and enjoyed yet another beautiful, warm evening.

Friday morning Owen and I went on one last quick subway trip while Beth and Amelia hung out at the hotel. The train trip back was fine, after a hectic boarding. Beth and Amelia had sat together in one car, while Owen and I hoofed it up two cars to find seats across from each other. Eventually, the nice guy next to me offered to switch so Owen and I could be next to each other.

Here's the last quality shot I got of NYC. This is Canal Street.

Will we go again next April? I'm not sure. I'd like to get down there for a weekend around Christmas time, although I can only imagine how expensive and hectic things will be at that time of year.

Goin' Underground

The MBTA is about to raise fares and cut some service for subway, bus and commuter rail passengers in the Greater Boston area, which is a shame. The move will result in some commuters leaving the "the T" in favor of driving to work or elsewhere, which will hurt the environment and add to Boston's infamous traffic woes.

It didn't have to be like this.

Up until 2000, the state legislature covered the difference between the T's income and expenses each year. Beginning that year, the state enacted what's called "forward funding," in which the T was allotted one cent for every five cents collected from state sales tax, but also saddled with $3.8 billion in debt the state had borrowed to complete public transportation work required by the feds in light of the massive Big Dig highway project.

Long story short: the sales tax hasn't dumped as much into the T's coffers as legislators had projected, the debt load is crushing the agency, making it difficult to keep up with regular maintenance on tracks, trains and buses, and the state doesn't appear to be willing to shift that debt burden. For the whole story, read this Boston Globe article.

I ride the T a lot with my son, Owen. He used to love riding the whole subway system, mapping out the trip ahead of time and making sure we followed it, well, to a T. More recently, he prefers the Green line. He likes to check out the different lines and types of subway cars, and I love to watch people, take pictures and wonder about all the abandoned tunnels of the system.

While I love the trips, I get bummed seeing the terrible shape of so many tunnels, trains and stations. The system needs money for upkeep, never mind for buying new equipment and expanding the Green line into Medford.

Because Owen and I don't ride that often any more, I'm not concerned about paying more on future trips. But for so many people, taking the T is the most affordable way to get to work, do shopping or visit friends and family. Paying more is going to hurt plenty of people, it's clear.

It's sad that the state and federal government spent $15 billion to bury Boston's Central Artery highway and improve the face of the city by removing raised highway structures, but the two entities can't commit themselves morally and financially to a cleaner mode of transportation.

The MBTA currently has a $160 million budget shortfall for the current fiscal year. So raising fees and cutting service now does nothing to address the agency's long-term fiscal woes. The federal and state governments need to commit to building and maintaining public transportation across the country. Increase gas taxes, tolls, whatever you need to do.

Whatever you do, don't blame the good folks who work at the T. Below, you'll find a 45-minute documentary, "Boston Under: After Hours," which shows how drivers, track maintenance workers and supervisors work behind the scenes to make things run as smoothly as possible.