At the Planned Parenthood clinic, a subway ride away, the walls of the waiting room are lined with the organization's posters: "I plan to be a mother some day.

New York City home-schoolers rave about the educational and cultural institutions here, many free and just a subway ride away.

But the downside to this studio is the lack of showers, making it tricky for lunchtime riders and those who live a subway ride away.

Why is the subway riding public being denied the use of these and other fine and useful letters?

While the convention site, the First Union Center, is in deep South Philadelphia, the restaurants, shopping and historic sites are clustered in mercifully compact Center City, a 15-minute subway or cab ride away.

I used to go to Shopsin's regularly when it was a couple of blocks from my house, but it's now on the Lower East Side, a bike ride or subway ride away.

Julie Gilhart, the fashion director at Barneys New York, compares the desire to wear clothes produced just a subway ride away to Leonardo DiCaprio's choice of a car.

I remember how I knew "downtown" was there, just a subway ride away, and I knew I'd been there only yesterday, or maybe the day before.

Hamilton, a 6-foot-10, 255-pound senior from Brooklyn, was speaking of the excitement generated by a team from Queens playing in Manhattan, a subway ride away.

A subway ride away, the financial district is home to the true denizens of bargain shopping.