MTA Subway – Grand Street B/D Train

For a 1^st time visit to NY the subways were nowhere near as bad as i had expected them to be. This stop, however was the only one that seemed like i was in the story of «The Pied Piper». Someone was in the station playing soothing Chinese music on a Pipa and rats were EVERYWHERE on the tracks without a care… i spotted at least 15 to where my eyes could reach! But then my husband also pointed out that there are multiple seafood and meat markets in the area and it was most likely the runoff into the sewers that attracted them. I however am going to stick to the whimsical idea that the Chinese man’s beautiful music is what brought them out from the depths! lol! (P.S. be wary of the little Chinese women they may be smaller than you but as a previous review mentioned they will NOT hesitate to mow you down if you’re not fast enough getting in, off, or going up!

This station is so very conveniently located for everything from the Lower East Side (to the north), Chinatown’s quieter eastern side (1+mins to the east), Chinatown’s core (3mins to the west), Manhattan Bridge’s ramps (3mins to the southeast), and down to Wall St (10+mins to the south). The station itself is quite under-​maintained like most NYCT stations so nothing remarkable here. The BD trains come with good frequency & reliablilty with the F train a 5mins walk away. All in all, it works, I use it a few times a week out of convenience.

PRO
— convenient to access
— a stand inside that sell snacks and drinks
— a relatively large station, just seem really small because a lot of people are always going in and out of it
CON
— always crowded
— takes forever to exit the train station if you do not get off near the stairs
— only two exits, not enough to accommodate the number of people going in and out
— slow service at night and on weekends
— sweltering hot in the summer

Grand St was always my go-​to station when I lived in Chinatown. Whether it was a quick hop to Herald Square, a jaunt to Coney Island or everyday commuting to work, the D train was ultra-​reliable. Even though only the B & D trains run through this station, it has become incredibly busy because of the growth of Chinatowns in Brooklyn and this being the last stop (or first) in Manhattan on those lines before crossing the Manhattan bridge. Since the transit cutbacks, the B has stopped running on the weekends and the D service is spotty.
The station itself was opened in the late 60’s and still has what looked to be futuristic/​sci-​fi-​esque sterile quality for that time. Think 1984 & Brave New World or the station that Neo ends up in the Matrix. When I was a kid, I remember it was the cleanest station I’d ever seen. Fast forward to 2014 and it is one of the most crowded for a station of its size. So crowded in fact, that the MTA added another entrance/​exit in the 90’s to the one existing and it’s still not enough to handle the volume of people. Typical stations like this will have 4 entrance stairs at each corner of the intersection.
Rush hour just seems to be an all day thing here and even worse on weekends. If you slow down to get your bearings, an old Chinese lady, half your size with a shopping cart, will mow you down. Despite the crazy crowds, it is still one of the most convenient stations with a load of restaurants, bakeries and grocery stores within a 1 block radius. During the summer, the scent of not-​so-​fresh fish assaults your nostrils as you’re climbing out of the depths from the fish market/​produce store at the top of the stairs.
Eh, 2 stars, one for each exit.