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Turnstyle Cozies Warm Up Drab WaHi Subway Station

By Carla Zanoni | June 13, 2011 6:02pm | Updated on June 14, 2011 6:43am

By Carla Zanoni

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

WASHINGTON HEIGHTS — Getting onto the subway seemed a little cozier this weekend after a guerrilla knitter spun multi-colored yarn around the turn-styles at one Washington Heights A train entrance.

"Very interesting way to spruce up an otherwise dreary station," Washington Heights resident Devin Cox said of the work at the 181st Street A train station.

Some residents wondered whether the knit graffiti was more of a political statement than art.

Although the head of that movement Knitta Please, did not immediately confirm whether the fiber art was created by her followers, her blog did announce the first International Yarnbombing Day on June 11, the date the work first appeared.

An otherwise drab station was made cozier over the weekend when a knit graffiti artist adorned the cold, metal turn-styles.
An otherwise drab station was made cozier over the weekend when a knit graffiti artist adorned the cold, metal turn-styles.
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CREDIT: Elizabeth Lorris Ritter

Many who usually use the station said the turn-styles are regularly broken and that portion of the subway seem so unsafe that they avoid the area altogether.

Avid knitter and Washington Heights resident Elizabeth Lorris Ritter first saw the fuzzy art on Sunday.

"With so many complaints about the elevators, the escalators, closed token booths and service interruptions, it was nice to see people smile at a bit of whimsy in the subway," she said, adding that she wished she had made the cozies first.

Neighborhood resident Carmen Bloyjcz agreed.

"Maybe somebody knew our subway here needs some TLC," she said, adding she hoped the granny art would stick around.

As of Monday morning, the rogue knittery was still up at the station.