Underground Cell-Phone Reception Overtaken By Technology; Apparently All Of Those Unsightly Towers Are Actually Doing Something!

The question “How are you getting reception in here?” is answered:

Thanks to advancements in cell phone technology and an ever-growing number of cellular towers, New Yorkers are increasingly able to get a signal in the subways even though the system isn’t wired.

“I talk whenever I can,” said Lateik Howard, 23, of Bedford-Stuyvesant, who often uses his phone while in the Jay St. station in downtown Brooklyn. “Cell phones are a necessity now.”

“I never used it in the subway before because I didn’t think I could,” said Vincent Palange, 77, staring with surprise at his working T-Mobile phone on the 66th St. No. 1 platform. “It’s ringing!”

With stations and tunnels that get reception scattered around the city, technology experts believe several conditions are necessary to allow the previously impossible underground phone call.

“The proximity of an antenna and the depth of a station has a lot to do with it,” said Nicole Lee, an associate editor who specializes in cell phones for CNET.com. “Certainly, the closer you are to street level, the better chance you have of getting a signal, especially with a newer phone.”

A number of subway lines, particularly the 2/3 line along the upper West Side into Brooklyn and the 4/5 along the upper East Side, can support a signal from the platform, and for a short time — up to 30 seconds, the Daily News found — in train tunnels.

And if you thought Rep. Weiner couldn’t possibly find some way to grandstand in this piece, you underestimate his special ability to do so:

Many straphangers and pols have pushed for the enhanced service so riders can call 911.

“Without emergency cell service, you can’t say something if you see something,” said Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-Brooklyn, Queens).

Nice work!