Oscar was hot and bored on the subway train. Then he saw the Island Lady with a huge basket. "Want to know what's inside?" she asked. And out she brought a cool island breeze, the green Caribbean Sea, good things to eat� a calypso man and music and everone joined in the fun.

1 MetroCard, Momma and me. Down 2 flights—to catch the 3. 4 turnstiles, singers 5. A rumble, a screech . . . the train arrives! This bright, young counting book is a delightful trip through the New York City subway system. Hand in hand, child and mother see colorful subway signs and funny passengers, watch trains screeching by, and make new friends. With bold illustrations and a playful, rhyming text, this is not only a counting book, but also a tribute to New York and a sweet story of a child and parent navigating the city together.

This gentle and incredibly poignant picture book tells the true story of how one baby found his home. "Some babies are born into their families. Some are adopted. This is the story of how one baby found his family in the New York City subway." So begins the true story of Kevin and how he found his Daddy Danny and Papa Pete. Written in a direct address to his son, Pete's moving and emotional text tells how his partner, Danny, found a baby tucked away in the corner of a subway station on his way home from work one day. Pete and Danny ended up adopting the baby together. Although neither of them had prepared for the prospect of parenthood, they are reminded, "Where there is love, anything is possible."

Explores artistic production surrounding the world's most famous public transportation system, from just before its opening in 1904 onwards. Using images, this work offers perspectives on ways in which the subway has been used as a subject about which to make art, as a site within which to make art, and as a canvas upon which to make art.

Authentic first–person accounts from the graffiti artists whose creative genius fueled the movement from its beginning in late 1970s and early 1980s New York Late 1970s New York City was bankrupt and its streets dirty and dangerous. But thecity had a wild, raw energy that made it the crucible for the birth of rap culture and graffiti. Graffiti writers worked in extremely tough conditions: uncollected garbage, darkness, cramped spaces, and the constant threat of police raids, assault by security staff and attacks by rival crews. It was not unlike practicing performance art in a war zone. Yet during the fertile years of the late 1970s and 1980s they evolved their art from stylized signatures to full-blown Technicolor dreamscapes. Henry Chalfant created panoramic images of painted trains by photographing overlapping shots along the train’s length. It took time to earn the writers’ trust andrespect, but Chalfant became their revered confidant and with Tony Silver went on to produce the classic documentary film Style Wars (1983). Through a series of interviews conducted by Sacha Jenkins, we hear the voices of these characters of old New York. Quite a few of the original writers are no longer with us, but those who have survived have continued to push the envelope as artists and individuals in a new millennium.The stories they tell, included here alongside iconic, raw photographs of their work, will enthrall graffiti fans everywhere.

(2007) Storytellin' Muni Drivers, vol 1-6: 20th Anniversary Edition Edited by Alan Allen, Foreword by Studs Terkel. 154 pgs, 82 photos by Richard Panse. Reviews of volume 1: "Urban oral history ... our urbs ...our history ...worth reading!" - Jon Carroll, San Francisco Chronicle./pp"Too strange not to be true" - Harre Demore, San Francisco Chronicle./ip"Funny, obscene, nerve-wracking, dangerous" - Walt Gibbs, iSan Francisco Examiner. /ip"Sex, violence, humor" - . "Full of horror" - KGO Radio. Over 275 on-the-job true stories collected by reporter Alan Allen over 20 years by San Francisco municipal railway drivers of cable cars, diesel buses, streetcars, trolleys & trams. (This is an abridged version of A Noah's Ark of Recurring Celebration, with just the Muni stories & photos of working cable cars, diesel buses, streetcars, trolleys & trams in it. In San Francisco, the Muni drivers enjoy a mythic quality. One of the few blue collar jobs left in a city that was once dominated by working class prople, Muni drivers are the heartthrob of their riders and the scapegoat of the press and upper management. The Muni driver is blamed if the vehicles run late; but the management determines their schedules, not the drivers. Victims of their own union, the driveres and their friends know their union is only a paper tiger that can not be trusted. At the same time, each Muni driver is awash in a sea of what is commonly referred to, as, the public. The public may be drunk, happy, sad, armed and dangerous, stoned, flirtatious, helpful, threatening, wild or sedate for any reason at any time with or without provocation. Some drivers illegally carry guns to protect themselves from thugs. Other drivers are given cookies, casual glances and flirtatious smiles. Accidents occur. Drivers are followed and tailed by supervisors eager to complete the transition from driver, to supervisor, to union management then to city management of the Municipal Railway -- which is accomplished by getting as many drivers in trouble as possible. All this drama and melodrama is as routine as getting stuck in traffic, it's all part of the job for San Francisco's Storytellin' Muni Drivers.