During the city's heat wave, with temps hitting 192 degrees yesterday (on the "cranky index," at least), you would be unwise to seek relief in the city's dimly-lit subway system.

Normally, an underground hub with minimal lighting can be cool -- if you're talking about a cave or something. But not so in the case of the MTA, which warns customers to "stay hydrated, wear loose, light-colored clothing and hat or sun visor, and learn the signs of heat stress and act accordingly." Asylum would like to remind all of this city's fine ladies that loose, light-colored clothing is always acceptable.

Some suspect the MTA sentences fare jumpers to shift duty on the rumored gigantic furnace (pictured at left) that operates beneath every subway station. That is probably a myth. It is much more likely that NYC Transit, which does keep a record of temperatures in subway stations, has no realistic way of controlling the platform temperature in their unventilated stations.

WNYC did a story on this very phenomenon, on a day when the temperature was 92 degrees above ground, and noted 100-degree temps at the 2/3 station at 72nd St.; 91-degree readings under a fan in the Times Square station; and all the way up to 106 when a train arrived.

Aside from the Grand Central hub, an MTA spokesperson tells Asylum "the 4/5/6 platform at Grand Central is hooked into the 'chillers' that funnel cold air from Grand Central Station above." Keep reading for Asylum's tips on what stations to avoid if you don't want to get "heat chillers."

The J train at Broad St. was described to Asylum as "like getting tackled by a pig-pile after an outdoor boxing match in midday Phoenix."

The F train at 7th Ave. was referred to as "the 10th circle of hell, only with more screaming children."

The G at Nassau was noted as "so hot I couldn't even get up and run away when the hobo dropped his pants."

The 7 train at Flushing Ave. was described as "more sweat-inducing than watching the Mets blow a 17-run lead in the 9th."

The 1 train at 110th St. was referred to "like being sandwiched between four-hundred yakking Columbia undergrads and being boiled with hot wax. Except that basically happened." Asylum prefers hot wax to Columbia students.

Which subway platforms do you think are the hottest? Tell us in the comments section.