For the past couple weeks, the northwest corner entrance at 72nd and Second has been a full stop-and-scroll zone, especially from about 8:15 to 9:05. The landing at the top of the stairs is wide enough that people decide it’s a standing area, but not wide enough for everyone behind them to pass. Yesterday a man stopped one step off the final tread, pulled out his phone, and started scrolling with both earbuds in. The line backed up down the stairs and into the mezzanine. I said 'excuse me' twice. He looked around like he had no idea anyone else existed, then went back to his screen.

I’ve seen this at Court Sq and at the top of the Hudson Yards escalator, but 72nd is worse because there are pillars on each side and the sight lines from below are basically zero. You don’t know you’re walking into a wall of people until you’re already trapped in the current.

So my question is: what actually works? I don’t want to body-check anyone, and I’m not some vigilante for subway etiquette. But there has to be a middle ground between 'excuse me' and physically walking through someone. I’ve tried the polite side-slide, the loud 'excuse me,' and the stand-and-glare. None of them reliably work on a person who has already decided the top of the stairs is their living room.

Does anyone have a phrase or a move that succeeds without starting a whole fight? Or is this just a design problem the MTA created by making the landing look like a waiting area?

Honestly I think I've been this person once at 23rd St R/W, because Google Maps doesn't load down there. I didn't realize I was blocking until a guy with a hand truck said 'we're all just standing here for fun, huh?' I was mortified. Now I try to peel off to the side before I even look at my phone. But is 72nd really worse than Sixth Ave B/D/F? I’m new to that Q stop and was planning to use it next week. Maybe the newness factor makes it worse.

Unpopular opinion but I think the landing layout is more to blame than individual people. You put a wide, dry, well-lit landing at the top of a set of stairs, and people are going to treat it like a temporary lobby. There's no bench, no 'keep clear' sign, no obvious direction to step out. Tourists are trying to figure out which corner exits onto 72nd and which one is Second; older riders need a second after the climb; parents are doing a head count. The real villains are the pair who stop side-by-side and make themselves into a human turnstile. If someone is alone, I can usually squeeze past on the left. I'm not defending the guy with TikTok, but I don't think the average stair-top checker is trying to ruin your morning.

SixthBoroDenier, I think we're describing two different spots. I'm not talking about the street-level vestibule where someone is trying to pick an exit or open an umbrella. I mean the landing at the immediate top of the stairs, before the turnstile area opens up. At the 72nd/2nd northwest entrance, that landing is maybe 15 feet long and is pinched by columns on both ends. There is no 'squeeze past on the left' if someone plants in the middle—you're either brushing against their shoulder or stepping into the escalator side.

I also don't think the average person is malicious. But the 'get oriented' defense works for about three seconds. The station has wayfinding for the exits before you even reach the top, and there's a small map near the turnstile. The people I'm seeing aren't lost; they're checking messages, FaceTiming, or taking a photo of the stairway. That's different.

This morning it was a woman in a puffer jacket retying her shoe on the second step from the top. A full line formed behind her. She finished, stood up, saw the line, and then got annoyed at us like we had materialized from nowhere. I don't want to criminalize shoe-tying, but maybe move to a corner first.

Okay I tried the 'two-step rule' this morning at 59th and Lex. I came up the stairs, walked two steps to the right, and pressed myself against the wall before pulling out my phone. It felt weirdly good. But then I tried saying 'on your left' to someone who was blocking the stairs, and she stepped to the left directly into my path. Later I just whispered 'excuse me, passing' and it worked better. Why does the cycling phrase not translate inside the station?

Midge, 'on your left' is not as universal as cyclists think. I ride the Hudson River Greenway and even there half the pedestrians step the wrong way. Inside a subway entrance, people aren't primed for it. I usually say 'coming around your right side' when I'm already moving that way, or 'right behind you' if they don't need to move. But my larger point is that we might be over-managing this. Some people just stop, and you can't fix all of them. If I get held up for five seconds, that's less stressful than rehearsing scripts in my head. The only time I use my voice is when it's an actual safety issue—someone blocking the path of a stroller or a person with a cane.

I'll meet you halfway, SixthBoroDenier. I'm not trying to fix everyone, and I'm not giving scripts to random people. But there's a difference between accepting occasional friction and standing silent while one person creates a crush load at the top of a narrow exit. I've been in stations where a stair-top backup is bad enough that people at the bottom can't see the top and start pushing. That's when it becomes a safety thing, not just a comfort thing.

For Midge: I'd avoid 'on your left' entirely inside a station. I use one of these, depending on the space:

• Passing on your right when I already have room.
• Right behind you if they mostly need to not back up.
• Excuse me, can you step to the side? if they're blocking the whole flow and there's a wall nearby.

The 'two-step rule' is good for ourselves—take two steps to the side before you check anything—but it's hard to impose. I mostly just say 'clear the top of the stairs' to friends now. What I'd like is for the MTA to paint a big yellow KEEP CLEAR box on the floor at the top of the 72nd St landing. That won't stop everyone, but it might make people think twice and gives the rest of us permission to speak up without feeling like we're being unreasonable.

Update: I used 'right behind you' today and the guy just started walking up the stairs faster while still on his phone, which was kind of worse because he was weaving. But at least he moved. Is there an actual MTA feedback place where you can request a 'keep clear' stencil, or is that just a fantasy? My cousin is on a community board in Queens, and she said they sometimes do station access walkthroughs, but I don't know if that applies in Manhattan.

That community board route is real but slow. If you want a stencil, you'd probably need to go through the MTA's customer service process and then wait. The better move might be to get a photo of the 8:45 crowd and send it to the station manager. But I still say a floor marking won't solve the real thing: people don't read floors when they're mid-scroll. What does work, in my experience, is standing to the side and making an obvious path with your body language. I'll sometimes put a hand out at waist level, not touching anyone, and say 'coming through'—that reads as more spatial than verbal. But I'll concede 72nd is uniquely bad if you went this morning. I'll take a look on my way to the Q later this week.

If you check 72nd, SixthBoroDenier, go around 8:45 on a weekday, but leave the bulky backpack at home. Midge, your cousin might not be able to get a stencil, but the walkthrough idea is real—some station managers do pay attention when a community board passes along a specific, time-stamped complaint. I wouldn't hold my breath.

My final answer to my own question: the move isn't one phrase, it's a small shift in how we treat staircases. Hold your phone until you're out of the flow. If you have to stop, get to a wall. If there's no wall, keep moving until you find one. For everyone else trying to get around: pick a side, say 'right behind you' or 'coming around your right,' and don't wait for permission. I'm not interested in berating people. I just want to stop meeting a wall of backs at the second step every morning.