I've been spending a good deal of time as of late attempting to convince a good friend to move back to New York City. And who wouldn't want to, really? We've got excitement, culture galore, and yes, a public transportation system that's the envy of major cities worldwide.

Okay, so there is the weather, and the rent, and the general sense of claustrophobia that comes along with being a New Yorker. And pretty soon, there's going to be yet another reason to avoid the big apple: people loudly gabbing into their cell phones on subway platforms. The city has announced a plan to increase cell phone coverage to 277 train platforms over the next 10 years, at a whopping cost of $46.8 million. The first six stations should have coverage within two years.

Fortunately, coverage won't be expanded to the trains--at least not in the foreseeable future, which means that we won't have to blast out iPods any louder to drown the passenger next to us loudly complaining about their boyfriend.

All in all, it's just nice to see those ever-increasing subways fees going to something so useful.