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Let's Applaud This Man Who Made Himself Right at Home on the Subway

Riding the MTA can't be a nightmare when you're spending the commute on a giant leather couch.
Drew Schwartz
Brooklyn, US
Screengrabs via Angela Jay / Facebook

Descending into a New York City subway station is basically like entering the seventh circle of hell. The ceilings are liable to collapse at any moment, the stairwells can transform into class five rapids, and—infrastructural disasters aside—the wildlife is fucking disgusting. The whole experience is stressful at best and, more typically, a complete goddamn nightmare. But on Monday, one pioneering New Yorker managed to turn the most uncomfortable part of the city into his own private sanctuary.

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Behold, the man, the myth, the lounger—couch guy:

Sure, you could argue that barricading two subway doors with a massive leather couch and taking up enough space for at least ten straphangers isn't the most considerate move—but then again, I could argue that you're just jealous that's not you luxuriating on the 4 train. Plus, nobody next to him really looks that upset (or even surprised) by the redecoration. This genius finally figured out a way to ride the subway in pure bliss—to carve out a home away from home, a kind of mobile living room so comfortable he can nap in it. Just look at the expression on his face: How—especially as a New Yorker—could you see that kind of deep and total calm and not admire it?

How he managed to drag a couch down the subway stairs—and get it past the turnstiles, and push it inside the car before the doors closed, and avoid getting stopped by an MTA employee—remains a mystery, but more importantly, a Herculean achievement. According to a few users on Reddit, where the video of couch guy's feat was posted, he might have somehow wheeled the sofa down.

"So, basically, that thing resting on the couch beside him is either a folded-up wheelchair or walker, I couldn't tell," the user AlterdCarbon wrote. "But he had the couch fucking BALANCED on it on the back bottom edge, and was wheeling it down the sidewalk swearing loudly and jumping from one end to the other as it kept starting to tip off the tiny wheelchair thing."

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Obviously, all that cursing and jumping payed off, because holy shit does that guy look comfortable. Unlike those who took up far too much space before him, let us applaud this man: Let us commend him for his unflagging commitment to lugging heavy furniture onto the train, for finding a way to make a gallingly miserable ride a joy, and—perhaps—for inspiring us to do the same. Just imagine how much a beanbag could do for your morning commute.

Update 8/2: Check out video of the incredible feat below.

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