Subway Tweet by Marist Student Goes Viral
By Cole Armstrong
On New Year’s Eve in New York City, Marist College student Gabriel Bautista ‘21 asked the simple question that sparked a conversation throughout the entire country. While on his way home from work, Bautista used his phone to take a picture of the iconic bright orange seats of the D train and labeled them from one to five.
He then took to Twitter to ask the ultimate question: Which is the best seat? The answer may seem obvious, but the viral Tweet revealed that there are various different preferences and reasoning for each choice.
Bautista is a Finance major with a minor in Spanish, currently studying abroad in Madrid, Spain.
“The stop I get off on to get home is the 205th Street Station in the Bronx on the D Train,” Bautista said. “205th street is the last stop of the train and it was New Year’s Eve, therefore, the train was empty. Since I returned home I was taking the train often and being that the seats were always empty when I got on the train, I always had the opportunity to decide where I wanted to sit. For a while, I always thought but never asked ‘which is the best seat?’”
The question was clearly in everyone’s minds as the Tweet reached upwards of seven million views, something that Bautista did not expect at all. “I only had 40 followers on Twitter when I posed the question,” Bautista said.
“I definitely did not expect to receive the feedback I did. For the first 12 hours after I posted, I only received a handful of replies from my friends. By the time I got home from work, I had multiple news outlets reaching out to me for interviews.” The Tweet was covered by multiple news organizations, including the New York Times.
The Tweet not only garnered responses from news outlets but also famous celebrities and personalities from both the entertainment and political world.
“I appreciated all the celebrity replies,” Bautista said. “They helped reach an audience that I couldn’t with the 40 Twitter followers I had. I was really surprised when Complex News and The Shade Room reposted my Tweet on their Instagram page. I appreciated Shawn King answering my question. NYC transit president Andy Byford had his point of view on the question and even former Mayor Michael Bloomberg weighed in on the discussion. They all surprised me.”
Notable responses also included current New York Mayor Bill De Blasio, who choose seats one through three, stating that four and five were not an option due to high height.
As for the overall discussion, there does seem to be a general preference for the “aisle” seating being one and five. However, there is still no defining answer to the debate.
“I loved seeing the reactions and opinions of everyone. I agreed with the reasoning behind some, I laughed at the stories people were telling from an experience they had at a specific seat, but overall it was cool to see how there is no definitive answer when it comes to this question.”
Bautista explained that his seating choice is based on both comfort and nostalgia. “I realized that like seat 5 the most because I could turn sideways on that seat and it’s really comfortable for me. When I used to take the train to school during high school I always sat in seat 3 so it holds a special place in my heart.”