News Release – June 16, 2010

MORGAN AVENUE NAMED

“NEW YORK’S MOST ROMANTIC SUBWAY STATION”
•

Morgan Avenue Station on the 14th Street – Canarsie Line (L train) has been
named New York’s “Most Romantic Subway Station”, by a month-long study of
nearly 500 Missed Connections posts on craigslist New York.

The analysis, conducted by craigslist itself, also names the 14th Street –
Canarsie Line (L train) as New York’s “Most Romantic Subway Line” – defined
as the one offering the best odds of a fellow passenger falling for you across a
crowded car or platform, and then posting a “Missed Connections” ad on
craigslist in search of you.

Such odds are far greater at Morgan Avenue, where love is in the air, than at the
Lexington Avenue/59th Street Station New York’s “Least Romantic Station.”
Indeed, they are infinitely greater, since the latter is proven by the study to be a
romance-free zone, after registering a grand total of zero Missed Connections
posts during the month-long study, despite welcoming over 20 million riders a
year.

The findings come from an analysis of ads posted over the period of a recent
month by Subway-users in the “Missed Connections” section of craigslist New
York. The ads studied were posted by those who had fallen for a fellow traveler,
without getting their contact details, and used craigslist to try and find them.

Morgan Avenue emerged as the station with the most Missed Connections
mentions per passenger using the station – or, as the study’s compilers call it,
the highest “TRIST” (short for “Train Romance Index Score Total) , or “Romance
Score”.

Morgan Avenue notched a TRIST score of 24.03. The second most romantic
station was Broadway Station, with a Romance or TRIST score of 19.34, while
third was Graham Avenue Station with a score of 14.67.

At the other end of the romance scale, Lexington Avenue/59th Street Station on
the Broadway Line (N, R, Q, W trains), managed a Romance or TRIST score of
0, due to getting zero mentions in Missed Connections during the study period,
despite an annual ridership of 20,053,574.
Many of the Missed Connections ads are almost achingly poignant, while
others, as The New York Times has pointed out, amount to a form of “found
poetry”.

The 14th Street - Union Square Station got more mentions overall than any other
station but notched only the tenth-highest TRIST score, due to its far larger total
number of passengers. The 59th Avenue Station notched the second largest
number of mentions but did not even make it into the top ten in the Missed
Connections-post-per-passenger table.

Giving Love A Second Chance

But aren’t the odds of finding anyone through a Missed Connections ad pretty
long? Yes, concedes Jim Buckmaster, craigslist CEO and the man who added
the Missed Connections category to the site, but the success rate is still higher
than you might think. "Maybe in most cases, it’s the friends and associates of
the person sought that see the posting and bring it to their attention.”

What Craigslist really offers, says Buckmaster, is hope. "People really do value
long shots. The idea of a getting a second chance, however small, is very
powerful.”

As for the result of the new craigslist study. “There must be something in the air
at Morgan Avenue station”, suggests Buckmaster. “And something absent from
the air of Lexington Avenue/59th Street station.”

•
10 MOST ROMANTIC NEW YORK SUBWAY STATIONS:

Subway Station “Romance Score”

Morgan Avenue 24.029
Broadway 19.367
Graham Avenue 14.664
Lorimer Street 13.048
Jefferson Street 12.745
Nassau Avenue. 12.545
City Hall . 12.48
7th/Seventh Avenue 11.344
Bedford Avenue 10.762
14th Street-Union
Square 10.128
• METHODOLOGY FOR CALCULATING THE “ROMANCE SCORE”

The “Romance Score”, also known as the “TRIST” (short for “Train Romance
Index Score Total) score, is calculated by dividing the number of Missed
Connections mentions for a particular station or line by the number (in millions)
of passengers per annum using that station or line, then multiplying by 10 to
give a whole number, and rounding it to three decimals. The tables of “Most
Romantic” stations only included those attracting more than one Missed
Connections post.

EXAMPLES OF MISSED CONNECTIONS POSTINGS ON CRAIGSLIST

• Black suit, black hair, sideburns on the C train

You got on the Manhattan-bound C train somewhere in Brooklyn around 8:35

this morning. I was wearing a striped dress and a navy blue sweater, and we
kept sneaking looks at each other until I got out at Broadway-Nassau. I
brushed your arm (yes, intentionally) on my way out of the train. Want to get a
drink sometime?

• Carrot top on the downtown Q train, 8:40am

You were the ghostly pale girl with the brightest red hair I have ever seen. I was
the very tired looking guy in the orange button down and green messenger
bag. Just wanted you to know that you brightened up my (otherwise super
boring) day.

• Doe eyed girl on J train today 11:11 am

We had something years ago and seeing you today reminded me that you are
all I’ve ever wanted. Contact me please! Come on, what will it hurt.

• Mets fan on the G train with white hat and white bandana

I’d win in any fight … want to wrestle?

• N Train to Astoria

You got off at the Broadway stop on the Astoria-bound N train just a little while
ago. Maybe about 4 AM on the dot. You were scoping me out on the train the
entire way from Union Square to Broadway. You kind of looked like Leonardo
DiCaprio, but with dark hair. I was wearing a white skirt and a teal tank top. I
thought you were cute, too. Get back to me and I will give you my number.

• J Train, Marcy Ave

I asked you and your friend why you were so festive at 2 am on the J train. We
chatted for a while and you guys got off at Marcy before I could ask your name
and number. You are beautiful, especially those sexy grey streaks. P.s. I'm the
guy in the yellow shirt. If by some mad miracle you read this, come have a beer
with me sometime. And just so I know its really you, tell me the name of the
street your friend lives on/near in L.A.

• Tall, good-looking brunette on V train uptown this morning

I don't remember when you got on, but you got off at 53rd/5th Ave. just a little
before 9am this morning. You were tall (6'3" maybe), slim but muscular built,
wearing light-khaki pants. I think you were reading something too. I was in the
same car with you (2nd to last car on the V train going uptown). I'm young, fit,
and attractive; I'd love to meet up for drinks or something. Hope you respond!

• Beautiful Latina – 7 Train – 12:50pm

You were on the Manhattan bound 7-train that arrived at Times Square at
12:50pm. You were in the next to the last car of the train. You have long brown
hair almost to your waist. You were wearing a reddish shirt, light beige shorts,
flip-flops, a watch, and had a cell phone and gray bag that had white writing on
it. You walked up the escalator! You are super hot! :-)