Second Avenue Sagas, A New York City Subway Blog

Jul

Weekend service advisories

By Benjamin Kabak · Comments (0) ·

It is indeed Friday evening once again, and it is indeed time for the weekend service advisories once again. These come to me via New York City Transit and are subject to change without notice. Listen to on-board announcements for the latest diversions and check the signs at your local station. Subway Weekender has the map.

From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, July 31 to 5 a.m. Monday, August 2, downtown 1 and 2 trains run express from 72nd Street to Times Square-42nd Street due to track work at 59th Street-Columbus Circle.

From 11:30 p.m. Friday, July 30 to 5 a.m. Monday, August 2, there are no 2 trains between Manhattan and the Bronx due to switch renewal at the 142nd Street junction north of 135th Street. 2 trains run between Flatbush Avenue-Brooklyn College and 96th Street, and then are rerouted to the 1 line to 137th Street. Free shuttle buses replace the 2 between 96th Street and 149th Street-Grand Concourse. 5 trains replace the 2 between 149th Street-Grand Concourse and 241st Street.

From 11:30 p.m. Friday, July 30 to 5 a.m. Monday, August 2, there are no 3 trains are running due to switch renewal at the 142nd Street junction north of 135th Street. 4 trains replace the 3 between New Lots Avenue and Nevins Street all weekend. 2 trains replace the 3 between Nevins Street and 96th Street. Free shuttle buses replace 3 trains between 96th Street and 148th Street.

From 4 a.m. Saturday, July 31 to 10 p.m. Sunday, August 1, Manhattan-bound 4 trains run express from Mosholu Parkway to Burnside Avenue due to track renewal north of Kingsbridge Road.

From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, July 31 to 5 a.m. Monday, August, 2, downtown 4 trains run local from 125th Street to Brooklyn Bridge due to a track chip out at Brooklyn Bridge.

From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, July 31 to 5 a.m. Monday, August, 2, 4 trains run local between Atlantic Avenue and Utica Avenue and are extended to and from New Lots Avenue to replace the suspended 3 due to the switch renewal at the 142nd Street junction.

From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, July 31 to 5 a.m. Monday, August 2, there are no 5 trains between Bowling Green and 42nd Street-Grand Central due to the switch renewal at the 142nd Street junction. Customers should take the 4 instead. Note: 5 trains run between the 241st Street 2 station and 42nd Street (days) or 149th Street-Grand Concourse (overnights). 5 shuttle trains run between Dyre Avenue and East 180th Street all weekend.

From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, July 31 to 5 a.m. Monday, August 2, 6 trains service is extended to/from Bowling Green due to a track chip out at Brooklyn Bridge.

From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, July 31 to 5 a.m. Monday, August 2, uptown 6 trains run express from Brooklyn Bridge to 14th Street-Union Square due to a track chip out at Brooklyn Bridge.

From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, July 31 to 5 a.m. Monday, August 2, Manhattan-bound 6 trains run express from Parkchester to Hunts Point Avenue due to station rehabilitation and structural repair at Whitlock Avenue, Morrison-Soundview Avenues and Parkchester. Note: At all times until September 2010, the Manhattan-bound 6 platform at Parkchester is closed for rehabilitation. Manhattan-bound 6 trains stopping at Parkchester will use the Pelham Bay Park-bound platform.

From 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday, July 31, Manhattan-bound 7 trains run express from Mets-Willets Point to 74th Street due to painting of the elevated structure.

From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, July 31 to 5 a.m. Monday, August 2, Brooklyn-bound A trains run local from 59th Street-Columbus Circle to West 4th Street, then on the F to Jay Street due to work on the Fulton Street Transit Center.

From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, July 31 to 5 a.m. Monday, August 2, there are no C trains between Manhattan and Brooklyn due to the Jay Street station rehabilitation and the construction of the underground connector at Lawrence Street. C trains run on the F line between West 4th Street and 2nd Avenue.

For service to Euclid Avenue, customers may transfer at 2nd Avenue to a Euclid Avenue-bound F train making C stops between Hoyt-Schermerhorn Sts. and Euclid Avenue.
For service to Manhattan, customers may take a 179th Street-bound F train to West 4th Street, where C trains are available to 168th Street.

From 11 p.m. Friday, July 30 to 5 a.m. Monday, August 2, Manhattan-bound D trains skip 174th-175th Sts. and 170th Street due to a concrete pour north of 170th Street.

From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, July 31 to 5 a.m. Monday, August 2, Coney Island-bound D trains run on the N line from 36th Street to Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue due to structural repair and station rehabilitations from 71st Street to Bay 50th Street and ADA work at Bay Parkway.

From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, July 31 to 5 a.m. Monday, August 2, uptown D trains run local from West 4th Street to 34th Street-Herald Square due to substation rehabilitation south of 34th Street.

From 11:30 a.m. Friday, July 30 to 5 a.m. Monday, August 2, Manhattan-bound E trains run local from Forest Hills-71st Street to Roosevelt Avenue due to a track chip out south of Elmhurst Avenue.

From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, July 31 to 5 a.m. Monday, August 2, downtown E trains skip 23rd Street and Spring Street due to work at work at the Fulton Street Transit Center.

From 12:30 a.m. Saturday, July 31 to 5 a.m. Monday, August 2, Jamaica Center-bound E trains run local from Roosevelt Avenue to Forest Hills-71st Avenue due to rail work south of Elmhurst Avenue.

From 11:30 p.m. Friday, July 30 to 5 a.m. Monday, August 2, Manhattan-bound F trains run local from Forest Hills-71st Avenue to Roosevelt Avenue due to a track chip out south of Elmhurst Avenue.

From 12:30 a.m. Saturday, July 31 to 5 a.m. Monday, August 2, 179th Street-bound F trains run local from Roosevelt Avenue to Forest Hills-71st Street due to rail work south of Elmhurst Avenue.

From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, July 31 to 5 a.m. Monday, August 2, F trains run between 179th Street and Jay Street, and then are rerouted to the C line, making local stops between Hoyt-Schermerhorn Sts. and Euclid Avenue. The G train service is extended to/from Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue. These changes are due to the Jay Street station rehabilitation and construction of the underground connector at Lawrence Street.

From 5:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday, July 31 and Sunday, August 1, free shuttle buses replace L trains between Rockaway Parkway and Myrtle-Wyckoff Avenues due to CBTC testing.

From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, July 31 to 5 a.m. Monday, August 2, Brooklyn-bound N trains are rerouted over the Manhattan Bridge from Canal Street to DeKalb Avenue due to grouting and track work near Cortlandt Street.

From 6:30 a.m. to midnight, Saturday, July 31 and Sunday, August 1, there are no Q trains between Times Square-42nd Street and 57th Street-7th Avenue due to fan plant rehabilitation south of Queens Plaza. Customers should take the N instead.

From 6:30 a.m. to midnight, Saturday, July 31 and Sunday, August 1, Brooklyn-bound R trains are rerouted over the Manhattan Bridge from Canal Street to DeKalb Avenue due to grouting and track work near Cortlandt Street.

From 6:30 a.m. to midnight, Saturday, July 31 and Sunday, August 1, R trains skip 5th Avenue-59th Street, Lexington Avenue-59th Street, and Queens Plaza due to fan plant rehabilitation south of Queens Plaza. Customers should take the N instead. Note: For Queens Plaza, N trains stop at the nearby Queensboro Plaza station.

Categories : Service Advisories

Comments (0)

RPA: ARC tunnel will cause spike in property value · The new cross-Hudson River tunnel under construction as part of the effort to improve access to the New York region’s core could generate nearly $18 billion in property value increases, the Regional Plan Association said yesterday. A new study of the ARC Tunnel found that home values could increase by an average of $19,000 if homes are within two miles of a commuter rail stop and nearly $30,000 if homes are within walking distance. Additionally, ARC will double the number of residents west of the Hudson River who are within a 50-minute train ride to Midtown and increase those who are within 70 minutes by 25 percent.

RPA officials were quick to praise the project. “There is not a more clear-cut instance of a project with tremendous public benefits that will improve the region for decades to come,” Bob Yaro, association president, said. The ARC Tunnel is expected to be completed by 2018 and will carry a price tag of $9 billion. The RPA’s full report is available here as a PDF. · (9)

Walder’s new apartment; TWU’s Six Flags excursion · As the TWU and Jay Walder square off over pay cuts and wage freezes, two stories garnered headlines that are sure to play in the labor battle. In this corner, we have The Observer with the Walder family’s new $1.599 million Upper West Side apartment. In the other corner, we have a $2 million trip to Six Flags for which the TWU paid $2 million. Let’s call it fodder for ignoring the real issues.

Walder worked for Transport for London and the high-powered consulting firm McKinsey before arriving at the MTA. He and his family certainly have the dollars to spend on living arrangements, and the fact that he spent money doesn’t hinder his transit credibility. The TWU should be delivering benefits for its members, and even though tickets to this Family Day outing went fast, the union doesn’t plan on such an extensive excursion in the future. Discretionary personal spending is discretionary personal spending, and no amount of it will change the fact that the MTA has some deep and serious financial issues. · (14)

Jul

Cutting the services that make a pleasant commute

By Benjamin Kabak · Comments (8) ·

When the MTA Board put its stamp on the four-year budget plan this week, it did so more with a grimace than with a smile. On one level, the plan is a strong indication of agency CEO and Chairman Jay Walder’s willingness to cut services, a necessary move his predecessor never implemented, but on the other hand, subway riders are losing more than just money. The authority has to cut some services that make commutes less painful and more pleasant. The subways are becoming austere.

“The foundation of this [Four-Year] Plan,” Walder said, “is the most aggressive and comprehensive overhaul in the history of the MTA. These actions have allowed us to hold true to our commitment regarding fare increases while maintaining the quantity and quality of service that New Yorkers rely on every day. The State’s ongoing fiscal crisis is one of many risks to the Plan, but with continued hard work and the participation of our labor unions I believe that this Plan can be achieved.”

The fares will be raised only 7.5 percent, an amount agreed upon in Albany as a precondition to the 2009 payroll tax funding plan, but the little things will go instead. We’ve already the V and W trains; we’ve already lost countless bus routes; we’ve already seen headways increase during off-peak hours. Now, as Andrew Grossman of The Wall Street Journal details, we’re going to see services scaled back as well.

The cost-cutting measures mentioned in Grossman’s article come from an engagement with the consulting firm Accenture. The savings to the MTA total nearly $202 million annually, but although economic efficient rules the day, Grossman notes that these cuts will “likely lead to an increase in the minor inconveniences of riding Greater New York’s mass transit system.” We’ve already heard about the plan to scale back on turnstile cleanliness, a move that will save the authority $1.8 million, and Grossman highlights a series of other cuts:

Once subway riders get through the turnstiles, they’ll encounter escalators with more debris on them. A program that started in 2007 aimed at cleaning escalators without taking them out of service ended on June 1. When riders get to the platform, they’ll hear fewer announcements about where trains are and whether they’ll be late. The MTA is cutting the number of stations that have dedicated announcers from 183 to 78.

Since June, there have been five fewer green-clad ushers pointing passengers confused by the hustle and bustle of Grand Central Terminal in the right direction. The reductions are part of staff cuts that will save $1.1 million this year and $1.9 million next year…

The Long Island Rail Road has cut its station pigeon-proofing in half. That could mean more droppings landing on passengers as birds nest in platform overhangs. The railroad will have fewer conductors on platforms at Jamaica Station. It won’t trim the trees and branches along its tracks as often as it did.

Commuters looking to railroad drink carts for comfort amid the cuts will find those more expensive, too. Prices for food and drink on the LIRR and Metro-North will go up 3% in September.

None of these cuts are as major as the June decrease in service levels, but combined, they create negative incentives to use transit. If stations are dingier and dustier, if food is more expensive, if people don’t find the system convenient, they will begin to eschew it for other means of transit or fewer trips away from home entirely. Maybe an outer borough denizen won’t spend money on a weekend in Manhattan; maybe a commuter will find it less appealing to wait at a station bombarded with pigeons.

The MTA has tried its best to whether the times, but without support from the state, the authority is left to enact its death by a thousand cuts. The system itself will be maintained, but the amenities will disappear as the trash piles up. “This is not a situation that we’ve created. It’s not a situation that’s occurring because our expenses are up,” Walder said at Wednesday’s board meeting. “It’s not a situation that’s occurring because our ridership is down. It’s a situation that is occurring because our subsidies have not been there and because money has been taken by the state.”

Categories : Service Cuts

Comments (8)

Jul

Inside the WTC Calatrava transit hub

By Benjamin Kabak · Comments (43) ·

When all is said and done, the Santiago Calatrava-designed transit hub at the World Trade Center site will carry with it a $3.2 billion price tag, some garish architecture and a vast underground complex that connects the PATH stop with the 12 subway lines at Fulton St. The project should be completed by 2014, and yesterday, The Wall Street Journal’s Metropolis blog scored a short animated video of the future hub from Brookfield Properties, a development partner at the WTC site. I’ll let the picture speak for itself.

Categories : PANYNJ

Comments (43)

Jul

Cameras and intercoms to replace fired agents

By Benjamin Kabak · Comments (7) ·

Updated (Friday, July 30 at 12:12 a.m.): With its history of technological problems, the MTA didn’t have much public trust when officials said this week they will replace station agents with remote monitoring equipment. Yet, the Board voted yesterday to axe 200 station agents, and now the authority is moving full speed ahead with plans to equip subway platforms — not even under the purview of those fired agents — with intercoms and working cameras.

This week, Heather Haddon of amNew York had two updates on the state of safety technology. First, she reported on how 990 cameras went live in fare control areas at 31 stations late last month. These cameras had come under fire after the MTA had installed them but could not activate them. The rush repair job, she notes, cost $22 million, and there are still 1100 cameras that are out of service. The MTA is working to fix those.

Last night, Haddon added to her week of safety with a report on new intercoms. Although approximately 20 of the MTA’s 953 passenger emergency intercoms break per day, the MTA has fanciful plans for an intercom system. Within 45 days, says Haddon, the authority will install “a better intercom system…with the brightly lit devices to be installed every 150 feet along stations. The intercoms will have separate buttons for emergencies and information, and automatically report technical malfunctions, officials said.”

In other words, this new system sounds like — and as the rendering from Metro shows, looks like — security features found on college campuses across the country. Now, the MTA just has to make sure it remains operational. If so, this new security system could act as a greater deterrent than the station agents did.

Categories : Subway Security

Comments (7)

Jul

After the fare hike vote, finger-pointing and funding proposals

By Benjamin Kabak · Comments (10) ·

Now that the MTA Board has set in motion the next round of fare hikes, transit advocates have begun to lay out their positions on the MTA’s latest foray into the economic morass. While some people would prefer to lay the blame at the feet of Jay Walder and the rest of the authority, the truth is that Albany has dropped the ball. The legislature in November moved $143 million of dedicated MTA funds into the general fund, and the state’s tax accountants promised more revenue from the payroll tax than the MTA received. Today, fingers are pointed squarely at Albany, and a few groups are clamoring for better solutions.

To highlight the MTA’s plight, the Empire State Transportation Alliance — a coalition of business, civic, labor and environmental organizations that support sound investment in public transportation — voiced its begrudging support for the fare hike. Praising the authority for its “substantial cuts to administration,” the alliance stressed how “the MTA’s financial problems are real.” The organization’s co-chair summed up ESTA’s position. “We support the MTA’s decision move ahead with this scheduled fare increase,” Bob Yaro, also president of the Regional Plan Association. “The alternative would be another disastrous round of service cuts on top of the recent cuts that were necessitated by the Legislature’s decision to divert $143 million in dedicated MTA tax revenues to the state’s general fund.”

Albany’s failures were a key theme to the various statements from advocates and officials from around the spectrum. Paul Steely White, head of Transportation Alternatives, expressed his hope that voters would hold Assembly representatives and State Senators responsible for the MTA’s financial mess. After all, these politicians are the ones who are so cavalier when it comes to transit funding. “The riding public is footing more and more of the bill to keep our transit system running, and all the while the services they rely on are disappearing before their very eyes,” he said. “If our elected officials in Albany think the riding public is going to stomach massive service cuts and a whopping fare hike during an election year, they’ve got another thing coming.”

Kate Slevin, executive director of the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, also stressed voter accountability. “You can’t just blame the MTA,” she said. “Elected officials who simply point fingers are dodging their responsibility to ensure our region’s transit service remains safe, affordable, and reliable. Voters angry about the recent service cuts, especially bus riders on Long Island, should ask candidates how they plan on dealing with the MTA’s financial crisis.”

The more intriguing calls though were from those advocating for a pricing or tolling solution. The MTA, as Slevin said, should not keep foisting more fares on riders while others — drivers — also enjoy the “congestion busting benefits of our transit system.” Many of these influential voices called for some sort of tolling or congestion plan. “Everyone who benefits from a healthy transit system should help pay for it,” Kevin Corbett, co-chair, ESTA, said. “We understand the short-term need to raise fares and stave off further reductions in service but Albany must return funding taken from the transit system and end the practice of shuffling dedicated MTA tax revenues. New, long term revenues such as tolling must be considered as severe shortfalls in capital and operating funding are on the horizon.”

Gene Russianoff and the Straphangers, in a release decrying the fare hikes, wondered the same thing. “Why,” they asked, “should transit riders pay to cross the East River, but drivers on the East River bridges get a free ride?”

At this late stage in the game, I’d support congestion pricing or East River bridge tolls. Congestion pricing targeted to peak hours and only the Manhattan Central Business District seems to be the more equitable of the pricing solutions. It targets the people who drive as a luxury while those who work at off-hours and commute over far distances that aren’t easily transit accessible won’t be expected to pay as much. Lower tolls could be used during off-hours to supplement congestion pricing or variable tolling could accomplish the same goals. The revenue should be placed in a lockbox that Albany cannot touch and that the MTA can use only for operations.

Right now, though, the state’s politicians aren’t willing to take this step, and the rest of us pay. As Denise Richardson of the General Contractors Association of New York, said, “As we evaluate this fare increase proposal, we have to decide what cuts we will accept in lieu of it. No one likes higher fares, especially at a time when the economy has yet to fully recover and the job market remains weak, but we cannot expect the MTA to maintain the system and balance its books simply by making cuts in administrative personnel.”

Categories : MTA Economics

Comments (10)

What future the payroll tax? · Now that the MTA has unveiled a four-year plan, it’s possible to see what level of government contributions the agency expects. Going forward — as page 19 of the PDF details — the authority will derive significant revenue from the payroll tax. By 2014, the authority believes it will draw in $1.5 billion from the payroll tax or nearly 27 percent of its total government subsidy. This controversial tax, then, is a vital one, and if the state’s candidates for governor have their way, the MTA may not see much from it.

The Times Herald Record released polled Rick Lazio and Andrew Cuomo about their stances on hot-button issues. For MTA supporters, the news is dismaying. Lazio, the GOP candidate, says he’s for repealing the tax, and the Democrats’ nominee Andrew Cuomo offered up a little tap dance that basically says as much. “The MTA payroll tax is something we must revisit by coming up with a more equitable system,” he said. “We cannot place unfair burdens on counties with families and businesses struggling.”

Neither candidate, as Mobilizing the Region noted, offered up a solution to the MTA’s budgetary woes nor did they identify a replacement revenue stream were the payroll tax to be abolished. The uncomfortable truth is that the new payroll tax fixes many of the inequities of the original proposal, and it remains a vitally necessary source of MTA funding. The region and its businesses would suffer more were the MTA cut $1.5 billion worth of service, and unless another revenue source is put into place, the state cannot afford to repeal the payroll tax. · (1)

Jul

In a four-year plan, fare hikes and labor concessions abound

By Benjamin Kabak · Comments (20) ·

At its meeting this morning, the MTA Board voted to move forward on a plan to raise fares and tolls while slashing the number of station agents employed across the city. As the MTA has both the legal right and the economic need to raise fares in 2011, the vote was both expected and contested with transit advocates and labor officials protesting outside.

At the meeting, CEO and Chairman Jay Walder put forward the MTA’s four-year budget plan. The authority does not plan to cut services further. However, to ensure that the budget stays on pace, the MTA will enact significant fare hikes in both 2011 and 2013 and will ask for major concessions from its employees.

To move forward with the fare hikes, the authority will host a series of citywide public hearings in September before voting on a final package of fare hikes in October. The authority will decide, based upon public input, whether to limited the unlimiteds or simply raise the fares a few dollars more. Only around three percent of all subway riders exceed the proposed limit of 90 trips in a 30-day period.

As part of the comprehensive plan — and the MTA’s four-year budget outlook — the authority also hopes to rein in work rules and labor spending that it says are out of control. With major union contracts expiring over the next few years, the authority will attempt to institute a wage freeze while curtailing overtime spending and benefit costs. Although labor unions called this a “fantasy agenda,” MTA CEO and Chairman Jay Walder is set on exacting productivity gains or wage controls on the unions. The MTA will also eliminate more than 3400 administrative positions, and the Board voted to dismiss 200 station agents today as well after complying with a judicial order to hold new public hearings on the proposal.

“The foundation of this [Four-Year] Plan is the most aggressive and comprehensive overhaul in the history of the MTA,” Walder said. “These actions have allowed us to hold true to our commitment regarding fare increases while maintaining the quantity and quality of service that New Yorkers rely on every day. The State’s ongoing fiscal crisis is one of many risks to the Plan, but with continued hard work and the participation of our labor unions I believe that this Plan can be achieved.”

Already, battle lines are being drawn, and TWU President John Samuelsen made the first charge. He criticized Walder’s $350,000 salary. “It’s utterly ridiculous,” Transport Workers Union Local 100 Samuelsen said. “It’s hypocritical, and it has to end. “Go after your own paycheck. Go after your own benefits.”

Samuelsen is, in effect, ignoring the real issues. Instead of working with the MTA to identify cost savings and putting pressure on Albany to help reform public transit funding (and MTA oversight), Samuelsen is highlighting a red herring. The MTA is $800 million in debt, and Walder’s salary, relatively low for an organization the size of the MTA, is needed to attract talented transit planners — instead of politically appointed real estate cronies — to run the MTA. Additionally, Samuelsen’s salary far outstrips that of MTA workers as well.

I’ll delve more into the MTA’s financial outlook later tonight. But for now, we know what’s in store for the authority. It is saddled with debt and runaway spending costs. Its leaders have vowed to avoid service cuts for the next few years, but to ensure that service remains the same, both the riders and the MTA’s employees at all levels will have to pay. Until serious funding reform efforts are under way, year-by-year budgetary living will be the way of economic life at the MTA, and for that, the millions of New York straphangers will pay more and more at the turnstile.

Categories : Fare Hikes, MTA Economics

Comments (20)

At Fordham, $392K to alleviate overcrowding · As part of this month’s real estate deals, Metro-North Railroad has requested to purchase 7128 square feet of land from Fordhma University in order to widen a platform that often suffers from overcrowding. This station — the second busiest for reverse commuters — sees nearly 6000 people board the northbound trains in the morning rush, but the current platform, just eight feet wide in some places, can barely contain the crowds. When Fordham University made the land available, the MTA jumped. “The current outbound platform is narrow and gets crowded during the AM rush,” Metro-North President Howard Permut said in a statement. “This purchase will enable the railroad to improve conditions for its Fordham customers.”

With this extra land, Metro-North plans to widen a 515-foot section of the platform to 20 feet and completely cover it with a new canopy. The remainder of the platform which is under the station building and Fordham plaza cannot be widened. The land itself will cost $392,000 to acquire, and the station renovation project will carry a $14-million pricetag. “Metro-North and MTA have worked closely with Fordham to secure this property and it is a win-win-win, for the railroad, for the university and most importantly for the customers,” Permut said. · (1)

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Weekend service advisories

Cutting the services that make a pleasant commute

Inside the WTC Calatrava transit hub

Cameras and intercoms to replace fired agents

After the fare hike vote, finger-pointing and funding proposals

In a four-year plan, fare hikes and labor concessions abound

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