A frequent subway announcement is that the train is “being held momentarily by the train dispatcher. Oliver Burkeman posted a joke on Twitter on April 24, 2014:
“I wonder if, when they embrace, the train dispatcher’s spouse ever thinks ‘I’m being held momentarily by the train dispatcher.’”
The line was included in WNYC Digital‘s “The 19 Truest Tweets About Life in New York City” on August 1, 2014.
Dan Amira posted a different “train dispatcher” joke in McSweeney’s on May 1, 2015:
“Ladies and Gentleman: We are being held momentarily by the train’s dispatcher. The train’s dispatcher is a wicked man who gets a sick thrill from toying with your lives like a god. Please be patient.”
Twitter
Oliver Burkeman
@oliverburkeman
I wonder if, when they embrace, the train dispatcher’s spouse ever thinks “I’m being held momentarily by the train dispatcher”
11:20 AM - 24 Apr 2014
WNYC Digital
The 19 Truest Tweets About Life in New York City
Aug 1, 2014 · by Julie Whitaker
(...)
Oliver Burkeman ✔ @oliverburkeman
I wonder if, when they embrace, the train dispatcher’s spouse ever thinks “I’m being held momentarily by the train dispatcher”
12:20 PM - 24 Apr 2014
Twitter
Carmelina Speaks
@CarmelinaSpeaks
“I’m being held momentarily by the train dispatcher,” had me LOL MT “@WNYC: The 19 Truest Tweets About Life in NYC http://bit.ly/1uOopdD “
11:53 AM - 5 Aug 2014
Twitter
Paul Intriago
@D_real_PAUL_I
Crap, I’m being held momentarily by the train dispatcher
12:08 PM - 24 Dec 2014
Twitter
Joey C
@WickedWitch89
I wonder if when they embrace the train dispatcher’s spouse ever thinks “I’m being held momentarily by the train dispatcher” #ThoughtsOnThe6
9:26 PM - 1 Jan 2015
McSweeney’s
MAY 1, 2015
HONEST SUBWAY ANNOUNCEMENTS
DAN AMIRA
(...)
Ladies and Gentleman: We are being held momentarily by the train’s dispatcher. The train’s dispatcher is a wicked man who gets a sick thrill from toying with your lives like a god. Please be patient.”
Above, a 1934 plaque from the Big Apple Night Club at West 135th Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem. Discarded as trash in 2006. Now a Popeyes fast food restaurant on Google Maps.
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Above, Big Apple Corner at 54th Street and Broadway in Manhattan. Google Maps. Stolen and missing, 2021-2024.
Above, John J. Fitz Gerald, from the Aug. 15, 1931, Binghamton (NY) Press, pg. 14.
Listen to Robert Emmerich introduce "The Big Apple," a hit song from 1937. Music written by Bob and performed by Tommy Dorsey's Clambake Seven with Bob on piano. Lyrics written by Buddy Bernier and sung by Edythe Wright. Audio provided by Dorothy Emmerich.
Also listen to a 1937 "The Big Apple" song by Ozzie Nelson and his Orchestra. See a 1929 photo of John J. Fitz Gerald and a 1931 photo of John J. Fitz Gerald.
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