Although it isn't the oldest, longest, or by any means the fastest metro system on the planet, it does have the most stations (424). The New York City Subway, in my opinion, is one of the greatest subway systems to date. Having grown up in New York City all my life, I've been to the subway at least a few thousand times and counting. I live in Queens, and I use the subway to commute to my high school daily.
I've lived through massive power outages, delays, and complete losses of service, but that isn't enough to deter my love.
Frankly speaking, most people in the city take the subway for granted! Despite the impressive amount of stations the subway has, it pales in comparison to what it would have had had Robert Moses not halted its ever-increasing expansion in favor of highways. If only there was a subway tunnel that linked Staten Island with the other boroughs...
Now, why do I love the subway so much? It's because it's the lifeline of New York City. There are more subway tunnels between Queens and Manhattan than there are road tunnels and bridges in between them, and the subway can move millions of people at any given time simply because of its sheer capacity. Despite the subway's immense capacity, the streets in Manhattan are crowded, even during off-peak hours. If the subway didn't exist, New York City would simply be near-impossible to traverse.
I love it because it's the reason I enjoy looking at maps to pinpoint my exact location. When I first got my hands on a New York City subway map and looked at it, I was in awe over just how many lines there are, and seeing how all those routes interconnect in transfer stations but split up to serve other boroughs made me want to find all of the subway routes. Trying to find where each line begins and each line ends caused me to spend hours just staring at the maps, and I eventually fell in love with maps themselves.
I drew maps of various routes for my second-grade class without looking at the MTA website. I knew where the closest stations were to my house and where they were in Queens, which made me feel content and secure that I know where I am at all times. In fact, one of my fears is being in a place where I have no idea where I am and feel disoriented.
The New York City Subway gifted me a vast amount of spatial awareness to the point that I can instantly figure out a way to get home if I get lost and find a subway station. In fact, I use stations as reference markers to figure out where I am in New York. The subway might be deteriorating and constantly delayed, but I can't thank it more for making me feel safe traversing New York City.