In NY, and in Chicago, and tokyo, and elsewhere i am sure, you can elpeep -- Elavated trains are often at the same height as 2 floor windows.. and as the train goes by each window, you have a scant second to peer into other lives.. sometimes you can do the same from the station platform waiting for a train.

this kind of view is used in the play Twelve Angry Men-- one of the witnesses to a crime witnessed it from an passing train...