Amazing N.Y. subway breakdancers caught on iPhone

I'm not a big fan of anything subterranean, but every time I'm in NYC, for practical reasons, I take the subway.

This time around, it was also because I wanted to find out if the City Transit NYC Subway Guide iPhone app was worth $2.99. I ended up catching something else which, by itself, totally made the one-hour ride from Manhattan to the Bronx worthwhile.

As express train No. 5 started to leave 59th Street and Lexington Ave., two dudes who looked just like regular New Yorker-on-holiday riders turned on their boombox. One called out: "Hi everybody, what you're about to see is the most amazing thing. If you don't like it, boo as much as you want. But if you do, clap and please show your support." Seeing some people taking out their cameras, he added, "You can take video all you want, as long as you pay us."

Without further ado, the two took turns performing the most amazing breakdance I've seen. It was just coincidental that I had my iPhone video on and managed to capture the whole thing. What I didn't capture was the fact that their dance inspired some regular riders to stand up and show off their own moves. I totally heart NYC for this.

This might not be anything new to a lot of you, but hey, if our NYC colleague Joseph Kaminski thinks this should make the news, then these two talented dancers totally deserve a bit of street cred. This also shows the iPhone 3G's video-capturing capability, as lighting conditions on the train were not optimal for video recording at all. It's too bad that thanks to Apple, most of us won't get our iPhones to do this. I got mine jailbroken.

And, by the way, no, the City Transit NYC Subway Guide app wasn't worth it, especially when compared with the free Google Maps, which I have ended up using during most of my New York visit.