F Train - East Broadway (Day 8, stop #312)

Out:  Almost all the signs around here are Chinese; first clue that this is clearly part of Chinatown if I hand't known already.  However, as opposed to the usual Chinatown vibe, there really aren’t too many people around as most of the businesses have not yet opened.  Also, surprisingly, I see many non-Chinese people.  

At this time of morning, this part of Chinatown looks shockingly orderly (I know that it doesn’t necessarily look this way later in the day).  The streets smell like old food.  

There are some condo buildings being constructed here, the sign of gentrification in this neighborhood, as well many older, narrow apartment buildings.  There are many small stores, some with building supplies and others with more typical services.  I also saw some balding white guy shaving and doing his hair using his reflection in the window of one of the nearby businesses; kind of unusual (see guy on right in photo below), especially since he didn’t look obviously homeless.

In:  The layout here is a single platform with trains in both directions.  There are white tiles on the wall, purple tiling accents, and purple metal columns by the platform edge.  The tiling is dirty and the mezzanine is poorly lit.  I need to go up to levels to reach the booth.  The station is pretty unpleasant, overall.