Skip the yellow and pink seats near the ends of subway cars even if the train is standing-room-only and the seats look free. Yellow is general priority seating for elderly, disabled, or pregnant riders and anyone with an infant; pink is reserved specifically for pregnant passengers, marked with signage and LED lights.
Locals treat these as leave-empty by default, not just “vacate if asked” — sitting there as a visibly healthy adult draws attention even without a word being said, since the whole point of the 2013 pink-seat campaign was to stop exactly that kind of ambiguity and confrontation.
- Pregnancy isn’t always visible — the pink seats exist partly because early-pregnancy riders were being challenged by people who couldn’t tell they needed the seat, so don’t assume an empty pink seat is fair game just because no one “obviously” needs it.
- The same restraint applies to boarding — wait for exiting passengers to clear the doors before stepping on, and step back rather than crowding the doorway.