Josh Fabian
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jfabi.me
Josh Fabian
@jfabi.me
21 followers 24 following 57 posts
Part Boston, part San Diego, parte mexicano. All posts are my own.
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jfabi.me
This was more than a little cool—the sky was alive tonight in Boston. #aurora #northernlights
Nighttime photo, taken from the balcony of a dwelling place, shows some blue-green waves of the aurora borealis across part of the sky. Boston-style triple deckers are seen below in the foreground. Nighttime photo, taken from a balcony, shows bright red and blue-green waves of the aurora borealis across the northern sky, all occurring above the rising moon. Several nearby apartent buildings are visible in the foreground.
November 12, 2025 at 6:14 AM
jfabi.me
Likely hundreds of times I've traversed the main corridor of the Sheraton in #Boston, as a shortcut between some combo of Back Bay, the Prudential mall, Hynes Station, and St Cecelia's.

This week, I finally got to attend a function at the hotel, @massdot.bsky.social's Moving Together conference!
Hallway inside a hotel building. Outside the ballroom sits a sign on an easel reading "Session Room C", containing detailed descriptions of four conference sessions taking place inside across the day. Conference attendees inside a large ballroom are seated around circular tables of 8–10 people each. A stage is found in the background, flanked by large monitors reading "Welcome to the Moving Together Conference". Pair of escalators, with one person visible, standing on the upward unit. Above the escalators is permanent wayfinding reading "Ballrooms, Hynes Convention Center, Prudential Center". A printed sign an easel sits beside the elevators reading "Welcome! Check-In On 2nd Floor". A speaker standing at a podium, besides a seated panel, presents to a meeting room of attendees. To the left of the speaker is a large projection screen
October 30, 2025 at 5:11 AM
jfabi.me
Saw some of the precast curbs in place along part of Washington Street! #Somerville #cycling
Photo looking down a block of Washington Street in Somerville, Massachusetts. The far side of the street is lined by a vehicular lane, a lane for auto parking, and a raised cycle track. The near side of the street contains a vehicular lane and a bike lane on the same level, however the bike lane's buffer is protected with flex posts and concrete delineators.
October 19, 2025 at 1:55 PM
jfabi.me
Also shout out to the return of @roadsteamer.bsky.social y.social to Boston!
Attendees of the No Kings rally walk through a portion of Boston Common. A person dressed in green and yellow dinosaur costume speaks to a group of attendees.
October 19, 2025 at 4:38 AM
jfabi.me
Boston turned out Saturday—let's keep up the momentum. #NoKings #protest
Large crowd of protest attendees, some holding handmade signs containing various messages, cover the grounds of Boston Common. It is daytime with mostly clear skies. In the far background is a stage with a person speaking at a podium, with a US flag as a backdrop; a large digital screen hanging above the stage projects the speaker to more attendees. Within the rally crowd, a person in the foreground, dressed in an orange inflated costume, waves their arms up. In the background, a protester's sign reads "So Much Outrage So Little Sign". Rally-goers hold up signs among the crowd at Boston Common. One sign reads "Vaccinate RFK Jr's Brainworm". Another sign simulates a reCAPTCHA asking users to "Select all of the squares with // A rapist // If there are none, click skip", followed by a photo of Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein cut up into several squares. Signs from Boston's No Kings rally are left on and along the fence and railing bordering the Public Garden. The signs contain various saying including "NOT NORMAL", "RESIST", and "Immigrants make America Great".
October 19, 2025 at 4:38 AM
jfabi.me
I thought I was running awfully late to the party earlier, but this was the scene inside the #MBTA Red Line around 1:45—AFTER I couldn‘t fit inside the first two cars. #Boston #CambMA #NoKings #MoreTrains
View from inside a crowded MBTA Red Line car, with many people standing inside. One seated passenger holds a circular sign reading “NO KINGS THEN”.
October 18, 2025 at 6:37 PM
jfabi.me
It's my neighborhood's weekend to shine at the 100th Italian Feast of Saints Cosmas & Damian in #Cambridge! From food to processions and live music, it's a chiller, homely version of the better-known North End feasts.

Final day is today—come out once the rain clears up! #CambMA #StreetsAreForPeople
Crowds of people stand throughout a street, facing a temporary stage on which music is being performed. The street is lined with red, white, and green decorations. Food vendors line a neighborhood street as feast-goers walk between them. Illuminated fleur-de-lis symbols are found strung across the street. The photographer holds a meatball submarine sandwich, wrapped in foil, while standing on a street. Feast-goers are seen in the background lined against metal barricades. Several street signs are attached to a telephone pole, one with black text on white background reading "ONE WAY", and two with white text on green background "SAINT COSMAS" and "SAINT DAMIAN", respectively.
September 7, 2025 at 5:23 PM
jfabi.me
Aaaannnd 17 hours and 51 minutes later, we’re back at South Station, having gone to New York Penn Station without taking Amtrak or going at all through Connecticut one way, and taking the Acela back north.

Time to get some sleep…
Digital board at South Station listing upcoming Commuter Rail and Amtrak departures. The current time shown is 1:18 AM, and the next train is shown to be for Worcester at “5:00A”.
August 30, 2025 at 5:29 AM
jfabi.me
Acela vibes. I think my friend put it best—in business class, it’s a marginal step up over the Northeast Regional, and it’s marginally faster.

I appreciated the dim lighting from the Bronx until Providence, though the PA chime and lights coming on are all very jarring. No Menu Shot, sorry.
Vestibule of an Amtrak Acela car. A backlit LCD screen indicates this is a “Washington” to “South Sta Bos” service with “Route 128” being the next stop. Screenshot of a digital speedometer app showing a current speed of 148 miles per hour. Interior of an Acela business class car.
August 30, 2025 at 5:08 AM
jfabi.me
The original goal: Catching the Acela back to Boston and riding one of the “OldGen” trains for the first time, while I still can. ✅ Back home we go…
Nighttime photograph of the exterior of Moynihan Train Hall at New York Penn Station, with its classical columns and historical steps. A US flag tops the building; it and the building are uplit with warm lighting. Digital departure screens within Moynihan Train Hall—one for the Long Island Rail Road and another for Amtrak. An Acela train for Boston is noted to be “Boarding” on Track 14. A person boards an Amtrak Acela train stopped at an indoor station. The “CafeAcela” car is in the foreground.
August 30, 2025 at 3:15 AM
jfabi.me
Took a few minutes in New York to meet up with a couple friends over a tower of shaved ice, as well as get a new MetroCard (gotta stock up before they become antiques!).

But what was the aim of this whole trip…?
Bowl of shaved ice over lychee jelly, adorned with sliced strawberries and strawberry syrup. MTA MetroCard fare vending machine actively dispensing a yellow, standard-issue MetroCard.
August 30, 2025 at 3:07 AM
jfabi.me
Penn Station, here we are! South Station to Penn Station in exactly 12 hours, 40 minutes.
Lower level of Penn Station showing two LIRR trains berthed on opposite tracks on the same platform. Column with a green, backlit sign pointing toward the nearest exit, including the word “Exit” as well as the ISO running person pictogram.
August 30, 2025 at 12:24 AM
jfabi.me
Decision made: I’m staying through to Penn Station. And what a treat, too, to have this shot ruined by…the “NextGen” Acela!
August 30, 2025 at 12:11 AM
jfabi.me
And now for some @mta.info LIRR appreciation! Diesel train to Babylon, electric semi-express to either Jamaica (for GCT) or NYP, I haven’t yet decided. This also marks the first time I’ve been east of Jamaica on the LIRR (or, by extension, I guess, on Long Island generally…).
Looking down the upper level of a bilevel coach on the LIRR. LIRR diesel locomotive and bilevel coach proceed through a grade crossing. Passengers, some carrying bags and rolling suitcases, alight from one train onto a high-level island platform, and proceed toward a waiting train on the opposite track. A multi-car train with the MTA Long Island Rail Road logo sits at a station with open doors. A digital screen, hung above the platform, shows the next train departing in “2min” is the “7:08 Penn Station” train on Track 1.
August 29, 2025 at 11:42 PM
jfabi.me
The upshot is getting to check out this (I’m assuming, maybe I’m wrong?) typical Long Island town center for a bit. It was abuzz with bars and grills and the like on a Friday summer afternoon. (I grabbed a mediocre slice of pizza.)

There also is or used to be some sort of bikeshare program here…
Intersection in Downtown Patchogue, which is signalized but bans left turns for vehicles. Turns on Red are also prohibited. Empty Bethpage bikeshare racks next to a railroad station.
August 29, 2025 at 10:58 PM
jfabi.me
So inevitably the connection gets missed…had the displeasure of watching the train leave the platform right as the bus approaches our final stop.

So a 17:31 departure from Patchogue now becomes an 18:31 departure.
Screenshot from the Transit mobile app, showing an expected arrival time at Patchogue LIRR bus stop at 17:33. The screenshot is taken at 17:31.
August 29, 2025 at 10:58 PM
jfabi.me
Next stop: Riverhead, at the western tip of SCT Route 92’s bow. This is one of their transfer pulse points, where about 5–6 buses congregated and then departed within a few minutes of each other.

I was hoping to have enough time to grab some food at an adjacent market, but alas the line was long.
Train tracks next to a rail station contain several old railcars connected to more modern LIRR coaches. Entrance to a relatively simple Riverhead Station on the LIRR, featuring a ramp to the platform and bike racks that are mostly occupied.
August 29, 2025 at 9:22 PM
jfabi.me
A pretty gnarly, summer rainstorm also came through—thankful that I got to spend the entirety of the storm on this bus, but a number of passengers with shorter trips were not so lucky.
August 29, 2025 at 8:55 PM
jfabi.me
Along the way we spend a few minutes outside Suffolk Transit’s Greenport garage (or rather, that of their operator) as we switch drivers.
Photo looking out of a bus and to a vehicle garage with a parked Suffolk Transit bus and a separate school bus visible.
August 29, 2025 at 8:55 PM
jfabi.me
Next up is a new transit system for me, Suffolk [County] Transit! The bow-shaped, hourly Route 92 gives a number of options of LIRR stations to connect to, with the closest being a 10–15 minute ride to Greenport.
A Suffolk Transit bus is stopped on a road with a destination sign reading “92 EAST HAMPTON RR VIA RIVERHEAD RR”. Suffolk Transit local transfer ticket with an expiration date two hours into the future.
August 29, 2025 at 8:24 PM
jfabi.me
I had about 45 minutes to spend at Orient Point, and discovered (clearly I didn’t plan this trip well enough…) these trails around the beach that make up a county park. Wonderful surprise to be able to get my feet a bit wet!
A clearing in a dirt path appears beyond an archway made of branches. Photo of a beach on a nearly clear day. The ground cover is made up almost entirely of small rocks and pebbles.
August 29, 2025 at 8:14 PM
jfabi.me
Happily back on solid ground in Orient Point, now at the edge of the great state of not Connecticut, but New York.

(Because who needs low-speed rail when you have high-speed ferries?)
On a beach, automobiles line up to embark on a ferry. On one side, pedestrians also queue up awaiting ferry boarding to begin. Stone road marker lies within a grassy median. On a curving road, a sign for motorists states “Welcome to NEW YORK”, advertising that attractions, history, and food and beverages are available.
August 29, 2025 at 6:06 PM
jfabi.me
The SeaJet is a vessel with three passenger decks; basically have the entire boat to ourselves. No more than 15 passengers…after all, who would want to get off an island on the Friday of Labor Day weekend?
August 29, 2025 at 4:56 PM
jfabi.me
And that’s a layover before…another ferry leg, this time with the Block Island Express. Further trip, expected crossing time of 90 minutes.
Paper ticket and receipt for the Block Island Express; the ticket indicates validity for a trip from Block Island to Orient Point on 08/29/2025 at 12:15 PM. Catamaran ferry labeled as the “SeaJet”.
August 29, 2025 at 4:47 PM
jfabi.me
Was able to spend a decent, 20-minute layover in Downtown New Shoreham…aka, on an island, unlike most of the rest of Rhode Island!

Stocked up on snacks for the road. Reminder for me to come back here for a proper day trip on what seems to be a very bikeable and walkable island.
Photo of passengers alighting from a ferry onto a small island town. A container with a lifeboat is visible in the foreground. Patio dining area of a beachside snack bar featuring both a mini auto and a cart with Del’s Lemonade branding. A white-painted wooden building labeled “NATIONAL HOTEL” sits across the street from a beach. The first two floors of the hotel extend closer to the street and feature eateries with patio seating.
August 29, 2025 at 4:40 PM