by Margery Wilson

Several Jetiquette members called our attention to the sign at left, located in a subway station at 14th Street and Eighth Avenue in New York City, disguised as an official Metropolitan Transportation Authority notice.  We can only exclaim “AMEN!” and wish the artist (Jason Shelowitz) would produce similar screen prints for the airlines.

Nail clipping is one of those egregiously nasty activities that lands certain airline passengers in the “Jetiquette Faux Pas Hall of Fame.”

We invited Shelowitz to talk about his Subway Etiquette signage:

We all have our subway stories and our problems with the system. I decided to focus on some sociological issues that (many) people have within the NYC subway system. I surveyed 100 people on their top pet-peeves (not service related) while riding the subway.

I narrowed the results down to the top ten most occurring issues and rewrote them as a sort of list of rules.

I designed posters in the style of the Service Changes posters we see everyday and silkscreened about 40 of each (400 total) and am currently putting them up on trains throughout the city, throughout this week.  I encourage people to look out for them, and to take them before the MTA does. Not sure how much of a difference these will make, but so far, people seem to be enjoying them.

I only began putting them up today [April 20, 2010], but lookout for them this week as I plan to hit every line.

The signs are masterfully rendered as official MTA notices, although a close read at the lower right corner reveals a different authority:

The limited edition screen prints are literally yours for the taking.  The artist is mounting them with removable two-way tape that will leave no marks or residue.  “I encourage people to look out for them, and to take them before the MTA does,” Shelowitz says.  Besides the topic of Nail Clipping, the posters include the topics of Eating, Noise Pollution, Physical Contact, Religion, Hygiene, Seating Priority, Staircases, and Garbage. We wish Mr. Shelowitz all the best — and next time you notice your ride on the NYC subway was more enjoyable than it used to be send him a thanks! And maybe we can get him to take on airplanes and Jetiquette next.

Next week sometime you may find the posters for sale on his site.  To see Jason Shelowitz’s  web page click HERE