It’s rush hour Monday morning in Midtown, and as a train approaches the station, a crowd of commuters hurtles toward the opening doors, oblivious to the passengers trying to get off.
Over on the N train, a woman is meticulously applying makeup as the subway car jolts along Broadway, completely unaware of her surroundings as she holds a compact to her face.
A little later in the day, a student is conducting a lunch break — complete with Mexican fare — as the L train traverses 14th Street.
And, for some afternoon entertainment on the 4 train, how about the foot of a dancer flying inches from your face?
Those new subway courtesy ads? Fuhgeddaboutit!
More than two months after the launch of the MTA’s Courtesy Counts campaign — a series of posters that chastise New Yorkers for a variety of ill-mannered infractions, from blocking doors to clipping fingernails — New Yorkers continue to flout the rules.
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And they see nothing wrong with their actions.
“Eating on the train really fits into my schedule,” says Queens student Shabbir Hussain, 20, who was hunkered down in a two-seater next to the exit doors on the L train while scarfing down a chicken fajita this week.
“It makes my day go by easier. I eat on the train pretty much every day. It only takes me five minutes, and I go about my day.”
Commuters, it would seem, continue to use their subway rides as a way to save time on the things they would ordinarily do at home, like eat dinner — despite signs that implore, “It’s a subway car, not a dining car.”
Stacy Brennan, a Manhattan-based director of recruiting, is unrepentant about opening a light-green compact and doing her face while riding the N train on Monday morning.
“I do not feel like it is wrong to do your makeup on the train as long as you are not bumping anybody,” says Brennan, 37, as she tunes up her eyelashes with a coat of mascara.
“I am actually on my way to a 9:30 meeting. It saves me at least 10 minutes a day when I do my makeup on the train. I have never gotten a complaint from other subway riders, and to be honest with you, I don’t pay attention.”
Even actor Tom Hanks was recently photographed “man-spreading” — sitting with legs apart, a big no-no — on the subway.
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The prevailing mentality? Screw you, MTA!
MTA spokesman Kevin Ortiz says the posters, which were designed in-house, were informed by customer complaints and rider observations.
“This campaign hits home the most,” Ortiz says. “It serves as a gentle reminder to people not to have a four-course dinner on the train.”
Ortiz says the MTA has had a positive reaction to the ads, but that there’s no way of measuring their success. This month, the MTA is rolling out a similar campaign on city buses, with commuter trains to follow.
But the only rules New Yorkers seem to abide by are their own.
There are still people who refuse to take off backpacks on crowded cars (“Take your pack off your back,” says the MTA) and space hogs who insist on parking their 17 bags on the empty seat next to them (“Keep your stuff to yourself,” implores the campaign).
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And let’s not forget the most glaring subway offenders — the tragically self-involved who still have to be told to give up their seats to pregnant women and the elderly.
Trisha Truehart, who is currently eight months pregnant, is glad to see the new etiquette posters.
“There have been times when I had to wait a few stops to get offered a seat,” Truehart, 31, tells The Post on the N train.
“When I do get a seat, it is mostly women who offer it to me.”
Still, she thinks the signs are having a positive effect, even on men. But when all else fails, she’s not above a little performance art to get rude riders with the program.
“There have been times when I am really tired so I will put in an extra moan to get a seat, and it works right away,” she says. “But the further I get in my pregnancy, it is becoming a little harder to maneuver the subway.”
Even though Brooklyn carpenter Stephen Thomas approves of the subway etiquette campaign and thinks “more people should pay attention to the ads,” he was recently seen violating two of the MTA courtesy commandments on the 6 train: man-spreading and dumping his gear on the empty seat next to him.
“If the train is empty, I will put my backpack on the seat, but if it is full, I will put it on the floor,” reasons Thomas, 48. “A lot of the times people are spread out and not giving other passengers room or enough space.”
Rationalizations for infractions abound as New Yorkers constantly try to outmaneuver each other.
“When it comes to subway manners and applying your makeup, the key is to not hit the person next to you,” Brennan says. “I just do my thing, and I am ready for my meeting. I come off looking better than when I got on.”
“I have seen the campaign ads on the certain proper behaviors, but you see, there has to be a compromise. The key is to eat, but to be neat and have manners,” says underground nosher Hussain. “It’s not like I drop my trash on the floor.”
MTA signs we’ve yet to see:
Celebrities riding badly:
When it comes to using — or misusing — mass transit to get around NYC, they’re just like us!
Tom Hanks (above left)
We love Tom Hanks for his great work in New York City-set films like “Splash” and “Big.” But he gets a big thumbs down for the role he played here in January — as a subway seat hog.
Karlie Kloss (top right)
The supermodel’s bags are taking up so much extra space, they should use their own MetroCards for this August 2014 ride. But she’s from Illinois — maybe she doesn’t know proper subway etiquette.
Bradley Cooper (bottom right)
The “American Sniper” star wears a backpack on a crowded car during a ride last November. Behavior like this spurred the MTA’s Courtesy Counts campaign.