Traffic & Transit

WATCH: Straphanger Turns Subway Car Into 'Rainforest Cafe'

One straphanger transported several small trees on the subway — transforming an uptown 2 train into a "rainforest cafe" Sunday night.

One straphanger transported several small trees transforming an uptown 2 train into a "rainforest cafe" Sunday night.
One straphanger transported several small trees transforming an uptown 2 train into a "rainforest cafe" Sunday night. (Emily Munson, @e_munson/Twitter)

CHELSEA, NY — One determined straphanger transported several small trees on an uptown 2 train Sunday evening — bringing green space below ground to the Chelsea neighborhood.

Emily Munson, 24, was riding an uptown 2 train when she documented another fellow straphanger transporting five trees on the train, turning the subway car into a "rainforest cafe," as Munson described it.

"I was in shock to be honest," Munson said. "So was everyone else on the train. He ended up getting all five plants on."

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It took the man about three minutes to load the subway car at the 28th St. station Sunday about 10:20 p.m., Munson said.

"Once the doors closed, we all clapped," she said.

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The MTA's rules say straphangers may not "block free movement on a station, stairway, platform or conveyance" and says no transit user should do anything that would "[obstruct] or may tend to obstruct the flow of traffic on facilities or conveyances." The MTA told ABC7 "this is not allowed."

It is unclear whether the subway tree man safely transported the greenery to his destination. But he has surely joined a long list of viral subway scenes in New York City.

Just hours before the subway tree man took the train, another straphanger tried to convince an MTA conductor to allow him to take his dog wrapped in a burlap sack on the train.

Other subway shenanigans include a rat that set up shop in an MTA machine's receipt slot, a man dangerously clinging to the outside of the subway train, and a man dressed in a bright blue-dreidel costume spinning through the subway. Raccoons have halted the A train, goats have run wild on Brooklyn's train tracks, and a runaway goose has delayed Q trains in the past.

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