It’s no underground secret that New York’s subways are the ultimate in people-watching — and we’ve got a lot of attractive people traveling around our fair city: to get to model casting calls in Soho, movie studios in Queens or hot new startups in the Flatiron. We braved the summer stickiness of NYC’s underground to locate the sexiest subway stations in town.
The No. 1 rule of a-track-tion? If you see something, say something!
Party girls: 125th Street (A,C,B and D trains)
Why it’s hot: Jazz clubs like Minton’s and restaurants like Red Rooster attract trendy crowds, including Denzel Washington, Mariah Carey and President Obama.
“We’re so diverse; all types of beautiful people,” says Babene Olaya, 34, who commutes in from Queens to her job as a bar manager at hip boutique hotel Aloft Harlem. With her flirtatious smile and killer curves, she gets hit on frequently on the train.
“Everybody around here has a unique style. You have live music everywhere,” she says. “It’s kind of like Times Square, where you dress nice and see a Broadway show. Here, you dress nice and go to a jazz club.”
Surfer paradise: Beach 90th Street, Rockaway (A train)
Why it’s hot: All the city’s tanned wave-riders grab their boards and take the A train to New York City’s only surfing beach.
The hip revitalization of the neighborhood over the past few years has led to spots like Rippers (sexy dance parties and cheap beer on the boardwalk) and Playland Motel, where saltwater-kissed bodies kick back after a day on the waves.
Logan Meckley, a 24-year-old buyer for Saturdays surf shop in Soho, hops on the train a few times a week.
“It’s looking for that retreat from the city. The uniqueness of being a surfer in the city is you get to take public transport,” says the Williamsburg resident, who looks like he stepped out of a surfboard catalog: long blond hair, a beach bum’s lazy smile, no shirt.
“You find yourself in instances most surfers don’t have to deal with.”
Model meetup: Broadway-Lafayette (B,F,D and M trains)
Why it’s hot: The nexus of several trains (including a connection to the 6 at Bleecker) makes this station a meeting point for the city’s hotties: Stylish fashionistas from every corner of the world flock to Soho’s see-and-be-seen shopping district with credit cards in tow.
Plus, the area is home to a few modeling agencies, so finding long-legged beauties — like model Kylie Price — on the train isn’t rare.
“Yeah, we’re always on these trains passing around to castings,” says Tiara Young, a 20-year-old with agency One Management. She was spotted on her way back to the agency after a casting call at Milk Studios.
Come November, Price and Young may be using the C/E stop at nearby Spring Street more often, once Condé Nast — currently located on the orange line at 42nd Street — moves its fashion magazines down to 1 World Trade Center.
Hot clubs and hot actors: Dyckman Street (A train)
Why it’s hot: This area north of Harlem is known for its club scene, with folks commuting here for La Marina, the trendy waterfront lounge that hosts shows by musicians such as 2 Chainz and is popular with celebs, including Jay Z.
Nearby, you might find a famous face at Dominican tapas hot spot Mamajuana.
And then there are the actors who moved here for the cheap rent, like Alex Ringler, who has sharp cheekbones and a square jaw.
The 31-year-old — who’s appeared on Broadway in “West Side Story” — says his home stop gets busy with gussied-up partiers on weekends.
“They flock to a lot of the clubs around here,” he says.
Workout girls and Wall Street guys: 59th Street (6 train)
Why it’s hot: The stop is seven blocks away from Flywheel. Every Tuesday and Thursday, masters of the universe and fit beauties — like Madison Blank — wake at the crack of dawn to take instructor Natalie Cohen Gould’s class.
It’s one of the most popular classes at the Upper East Side studio.
“Yes, everyone is really nice to look at. It’s a group of people who work on Wall Street, doctors, lawyers — the type-A group,” says Cohen Gould of the sessions.
They are so popular that there was a 30-person waiting list in July.
Tuesday’s class starts at 6 a.m. and Thursday’s at 5:45 a.m.
This means that afterward, plenty of fit-and-trim eye candy hits the 6 train to head downtown to their jobs.
Trendy town: Fulton Street, Fort Greene (G train)
Why it’s hot: The neighborhood attracts beautiful bodies on weekends — sunning in gorgeous Fort Greene Park, brunching at hot spots like the colorful Cuban-inspired Habana Outpost bar or browsing the shelves at Greenlight Bookstore.
Combine that with the well-heeled bohemian crowd that likes to rifle through old clothes and an expanding assortment of pickled products at the nearby Brooklyn Flea on Saturdays — plus art students hanging out at nearby Pratt University — and you’ve got a galaxy of pretty faces, says Elle Ward. The manager of Thistle & Clover, a women’s clothing boutique, Ward rocks long dreadlocks with blond highlights.
“Fort Greene is super-trendy with the Flea on the weekends. And there’s a lot of good restaurants,” says Ward, 22, who rides the train to work from Bushwick. “I get hit on all the time on the train.”
Startup dude culture: 23rd Street (N and R trains)
Why it’s hot: The Flatiron District was the original home to New York’s Silicon Alley, and you’ll find it still full of the casual-cool attitude of the city’s startup culture.
Among the businesses in the neighborhood: Mashable, Paperless Post, Break Media and General Assembly — the tech-based education company where Scott Bryson, 21, commutes to work on the R train from the Upper West Side for his job as an office manager.
Like other creatives in the area, he tends to work a 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. schedule, which is when he experiences the trains at their best (looking).
“You see a lot of younger, fresher faces on the train,” says Bryson, who sports a neatly trimmed beard. “The closer you get to the 23rd Street station, [the crowd] does get a lot more attractive.”
High-end meets hipster: L train at Bedford Avenue, Williamsburg
Why it’s hot: Even if you don’t find hipsters sexy, Williamsburg’s influx of high-end condos has attracted a healthy (and wealthy) share of MILFS, DILFS and fashionable foreigners. And on weekends, trendy Manhattanites ride the rails to Bedford Avenue to dine at hot spots like Cherry Izakaya, where Scarlett Johansson and her fiancé were spotted recently.
Primping pretties: 1 and 2 trains at Franklin Street
Why it’s hot: The Tribeca stop delivers lovely ladies looking for one-stop beautifying before a Saturday night on the town — within walking distance, you have trendy gym Barry’s Bootcamp, popular salon Drybar and chic manicure spot Tenoverten. “I always talk about how the 1 train is the place to be,” says Deirdre Beirne, manager at Barry’s.
Stylish sports fans: Metro North to Yankee Stadium
Why it’s hot: OK, this is technically not the subway. But while the rest of the working schlubs squeeze their way onto the 4 or B train to Yankee Stadium for a game, the men who prefer Brioni suits over Jeter jerseys — and who spring for the stadium’s pricey Legends seats — take Metro North. Silver-fox hunters, this is your ride.
— Additional reporting by Kirsten Fleming