Archive for April, 2007
Apr
30
The MTA really wants you to keep your pants on
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Flashing is a serious problem in the subways. Victims really don’t want to see some random guy whip out his…well, you know…and start waving it around a subway car. But it’s easy to laugh at it from a distance, especially when pictures exist like this frog here.
Anyway, Peter Vallone, New York City Councilman, wants to get to the, um, bottom of this whole flashing thing. On Monday, Vallone’s Public Safety Committee heard testimony on legislation that would change public lewdness from a Class B misdemeanor to a Class A. For those of you who have no idea what that means, this new classification would double the possible fine from $500 to $1000, and the maximum jail sentence would increase from 90 days to one year. Furthermore, Vallone wants to add repeat offenders and those who expose themselves to minors under the age of 18 to the state’s sex offender roles.
The Associated Press had more:
Flashing and groping have long been a problem in New York City, especially on subway cars and platforms. Last year the New York Police Department launched “Operation Exposure” to catch flashers in the act by sending undercover officers into the transit system.
The sting operation was conducted five separate times, resulting in 29 arrests. And in total for 2006, there were 556 arrests for public lewdness, up from 408 the previous year, according to Karen Agnifilo, general counsel to the city’s criminal justice coordinator.
Now, in all seriousness, subway flashing is pretty graphic and disturbing. The impetuous for this bill was a recent incident in Queens where three children were flashed by a man who then assaulted a fourth, and a 2004 case gained City-wide headlines when the victim photographed her flasher in the act.
Thao Nguyen, the 2004 victim, testified at the hearing today. “It feels like someone violated you when this happens,” she said. “If we don’t stop these sickos, these guys could go out and rape or sexually assault other women.”
This law would be all well and good, but the subway sting operations netted just 29 arrests. Most, if not all, flashers would be hesitant to drop their drawers on a train full of other people. Most subway flashing incidents happen in deserted train cars. But at least those 556 people arrested would feel the full force of the law.
Meanwhile, seriously folks, just keep your pants on. Waiting for the train isn’t that bad.
Apr
30
Second transit worker death in five days prompts track work shut down
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Sad news from the weekend track work: For the second time in five days, a transit employee conducting track work was killed after being struck by an oncoming train. As a result of this accident, New York City Transit head Howard Roberts ordered an immediate stand-down of all track work. This temporary suspension in maintenance and construction will last until the MTA investigates these two deaths and the work crews have been sufficiently trained in safety protocols.
According to news reports, Marvin Franklin, 55, a Queens resident and 20-year transit employee, died after a northbound G train hit him and Jeff Hill as they were crossing the tracks at the Hoyt-Schermerhorn Street station just after 4 p.m. on Sunday afternoon. The two, police say, were in the station as part of the extensive trackbed replacement project on the A/C tracks. While two of three trains that pass through this downtown Brooklyn station were not running this weekend, G service was not affected by the service cuts.
The New York Times has more about the accident:
Roger Toussaint, the president of Local 100 of the Transport Workers Union, said the men were not working on the reconstruction, but were taking advantage of the service interruption to replace the metal plates that sit between the rails and the ties.
A senior official at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, who spoke about the accident on the condition of anonymity, said that a preliminary investigation indicated that the men had gone to fetch a dolly and were carrying it across the G track on their way back to the A and C track when they were hit.
The official said that an alternative route would have involved taking the dolly up the platform stairs, through the station and down another set of stairs to the opposite platform.
The operator of the G train apparently saw the two workers and tried to stop, but it was too late. Based on the preliminary investigation, officials believe that the G track may not have been equipped with warning lights that would have made the driver slow down and watch out for track workers, the official said.
Roberts, just a week into his job as head of NYCT, got word of this accident as he was on the way to Brewster in upstate New York for a wake for Daniel Boggs. Boggs was killed last week as he worked on the Columbus Circle renovations. He was struck by a downtown 3 train at 11:20 p.m. on Tuesday night just as the train, one of the last scheduled on the express tracks sped through the station.
Roberts and MTA CEO Elliot “Lee” Sander arrived at the Hoyt-Schermerhorn stop and issued the stand-down order on the spot. Workers in the subway this evening finished up projects that enable trains to run on schedule this week. No work will resume until MTA and Transit Workers Union officials are satisfied that proper safety measures have been adequately explained to TWU employees. There is no word on how this will affect ongoing maintenance projects or Capital Construction projects such as the Second Ave. Subway.
But as the MTA and the TWU reel from the second tragedy in five days, straphangers across the city are pulling for Hill, the survivor of the accident who is currently in stable condition at Bellevue.
Apr
28
A/C work ahead of schedule but delays continue this weekend
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Good news for everyone stranded by the work on the A/C tracks in Brooklyn: The MTA is actually ahead of schedule. They’ve managed to replace the roadbed quicker than anticipated.
But for now, you folks out there have to deal with these service changes for two more days. There is no C service, and A trains are making all local stops. Shuttle buses are running in Brooklyn, and extra L service is supposedly in place as well.
Elsewhere in Brooklyn, the J train is still messed up, but this too is the last weekend for that work. There is no service between Broadway Junction and Jamaica. So take the E if you want to get out to the JFK AirTrain this weekend.
The rest of the service advisories are here. Safe travels this weekend. Catch you Monday.
Apr
27
Tax revenue could stave off ‘08 fare hike
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Just the other day, I took the MTA’s new CFO to task for his gloom-and-doom scenario involving the MTA’s financial picture and tax revenue. Well, today, I have better news: Because of the increase in taxes collected by the MTA, the planned 2008 fare increase may be off the table.
With the MTA collecting over $184 million more than planned, The Daily News speculates that this surplus could cover the gap that the fare increase was supposed to meet. Pete Donohue has more:
Since January, key real estate taxes have generated nearly $600 million for the MTA – $184 million more than anticipated.
If that pace continues, those taxes would fill the $800 million gap the Metropolitan Transportation Authority had projected for 2008.
“God bless the housing market,” Gene Russianoff of the Straphangers Campaign said. “It helped generate a $1 billion surplus in 2006 and, hopefully, it will hold off a fare hike in 2008.”
(By the way, I’m going to count up how many MTA articles appear in the New York press and in how many of those Gene Russianoff appears. My guess is upwards of 90 percent.)
So that’s good news. The MTA, with some massive projects on tap, is facing a better-than-expected financial picture. Of course, the MTA officials aren’t quite as quick to celebrate, and I don’t blame them. The last thing they want to do is say the fare increase is off the table and then watch as the real estate market tanks in August. In fact, an MTA spokesman said exactly that.
“Revenues from real estate taxes are extremely volatile and it’s too early in the year to know where revenues will end up,” MTA spokesman Jeremy Soffin said. “We will not consider a fare increase until we have exhausted all other options.”
The final decision on a fare increase will come in December. Hopefully, the real estate market will stay healthy and robust until then. I wouldn’t mind sticking with my $76 monthly Metrocard. Enough of my hard-earned money goes to the monthly card as it is.
Apr
26
Yankees’ Metro-North station bid going nowhere fast
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A new Yankee Stadium is slowly, and sadly, rising out of the remains of the Macombs Dam Park. (Photo by Benjamin Kabak)
On a visit to Yankee Stadium this year, it’s impossible to miss the construction of the new stadium across the street from the old one. Crew members are on site during day games, and the new stadium, set for an April 2009 debut, is slowly taking shape. The same cannot be said for the plans for a state-of-the-art Metro-North hub in the South Bronx that is supposed to serve this new stadium.
A month ago, I noted that this transportation hub was, like most MTA projects, already well over budget before construction even began. Now the news is worse. According to documents released earlier this week by the MTA, the first contract for this new station should have been awarded already, but as Metro New York’s transit beat writer Patrick Arden noted on Tuesday, no contract is in sight and plans for the station are in jeopardy.
Progress has been delayed by the need to develop “an overall project budget,” wrote engineering consultant Carter Burgess. The $45 million cost is rumored to have nearly doubled over the last year. “In addition, an agreement with the City of New York regarding the project’s maintenance and shared construction cost is also being finalized.”
“We’re still waiting for the city to acquire the land,” explained MTA spokesman Jeremy Soffin. “There hasn’t been any final budget put out, or an expected date for work to begin. When the land is acquired, we’ll have more to say.”
Similar to the problems surrounding the 7 line extension, the City and the MTA are at odds over just who is supposed to be paying for all of this. What originally began as a gesture of good will to the City’s leading environmental and public transportation advocates who wanted a transportation hub instead of four parking lots with a capacity of a measly 5,000 cars has devolved into another political fight over money between two powerful bodies.
Has anyone thought to ask the Yankees, recently valued as a franchise at $1.2 billion, to pitch in? Well, according to Straphanger Campaign guru, the omnipresent Gene Russianoff, the Yankees are mysteriously missing from this story. “The MTA is tapped out — its core program is in jeopardy,” Russianoff said to Arden. “So what’s more important? Paying to make the Yankees happy, or asking them to participate? I think it jeopardizes the project.”
I hear ya, Gene, and I couldn’t agree more. In fact, why not ask A-Rod to pitch in? After all, he makes $40 million in a season and a half. I’m sure he could contribute something for the good of the project other than record-setting home runs. Share, Alex, share!
Apr
25
New MTA moneyman wonders ‘What if?’
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The MTA is notorious terrible with money. Maybe they don’t have enough and need to raise the fare. But, oh wait, an accounting error reveals the Authority had more than it thought. Maybe this project will come in under budget; maybe not.
Yesterday, the MTA’s new CFO got in on the act, discussing finances and the dangers of relying on property tax. Gary Dellaverson, the former head of labor negotiations, spoke at length about the MTA and its tenuous (or not) funding situation. Metro’s Patrick Arden has more:
The booming real estate market has resulted in large surpluses at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, defying the agency’s attempts to make predictions. Yesterday the MTA announced real estate taxes brought in $185 million more than anticipated. But former labor negotiator Gary Dellaverson warned the good times can’t last forever, as he stepped into his new role of chief financial officer.
In what he called “a pure ‘what if’ exercise,” Dellaverson showed a series of graphs charting the amounts the MTA has been raking in from real estate transactions. Taxes tripled from 1983 to ’87. “The sad part of that story is from ’87 to ’91 those taxes coming to the MTA lost 65 percent of their value,” Dellaverson said, noting a “pretty obvious bell curve” before wondering “what happens if that type of a phenomenon — that trough to peak, peak to trough — takes place again.”
So we’ve got some typical MTA financial shenanigans at work here. Dellaverson, in his first role as CFO, announces that he will be presiding over an organization that just received an unexpected $185 million surplus. For that kind of money, they could sign Derek Jeter.
But — and this is a big “but” — Dellaverson had to do something to make sure that the MTA, which has long pled poverty and is relying on large federal contributions for its pressing capital construction projects, didn’t look too financially solvent. So hey, maybe the property tax bubble will burst again, and the MTA will lose $500 million in projected revenues by 2011. Right, guys? Guys? You with me? Anyone?
Mark Page, an MTA board member and head of the Office of Management and Budget, was not fooled by this worst-case scenario act. He noted that Dellaverson’s models, seemingly pulled out of thin air, are not too be considered reliable. “Almost without exception those forecasts turn out to be wrong,” he said. That is one resounding vote of confidence for the new Chief Financial Officer.
And Gene Russianoff, whose presence in every subway-related article is actually written into the Charter, Administrative Code and Rules of the City of New York, questioned the reality of the projected $800 million budget deficit set forth by the MTA this year. I’m with you, Gene. I bet the MTA has more money than we’re led to believe here. But hey, real estate bubble? Tax breaks? Lower revenue? Godzilla? Anyone?
Apr
24
MTA doesn’t trust its system for ‘important’ trips
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The MTA doesn’t want its workers waiting and waiting and waiting for the train that never shows up. (Courtesy of flickr user Vincenzo F)
Sometimes, the stories about the MTA are so ridiculous, they write themselves. This story — one in which the MTA doesn’t even trust its own service — is one of those.
You see, the MTA doesn’t want its employees late for important events like random drug tests. So instead of having them use the subway for free, the Transit Authority sinks hundreds of thousands of dollars into, get this, taxi rides for its transit employees. Head, meet brick wall.
The Post’s Jeremy Olshan, transit reporter extraordinaire, broke this story today. Olshan reports:
When the MTA wants to guarantee its employees get to their destination, they skip the bus and subway and call a taxi. Rather than take a free ride on the largest public transportation network in the nation, the thousands of transit workers called for random drug tests are required to take a car service.
This week, the MTA board is set to approve $285,000 in contracts with four city car services to provide the transportation.
So there you go, folks, straight from the mouths of the MTA Board members: Take a cab if you want to get anywhere quickly. I bet Mayor Bloomberg isn’t too thrilled with this news coming out after his PLANYC2030 announcement that was designed to prop up public transportation in New York City.
The MTA acted quickly to defend its policy. The Authority noted that some bus depots are so far away from the testing facility at 180 Livingston St. in Brooklyn that workers wouldn’t be able to get there within the mandatory two-hour reporting window. Meanwhile, as Google Maps shows, 180 Livingston St. is within walking distance of not just one or two subway lines but twelve different lines.
Maybe — maybe — if someone were coming from the far reaches of the Bronx or Queens, I would buy the two-hour excuse. But does that mean every single worker has to take a cab? Not in an age of rampant budget deficits. Every little bit counts.
Eric Giola, City Council member, summed it up best: “It seems like more Pataki-era waste and mismanagement that can be easily corrected by this new administration. While you want to ensure the accuracy of drug tests, $300,000 in taxi bills is over the top and unnecessary.”
I can’t make this stuff up, folks.
Apr
23
Mayor Mike’s congestion tax plan sends more $$$ to mass transit
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The Mayor’s PLANYC2030 calls for an $8 congestion tax for cars enterting Manhattan’s Central Business District between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. during the week.
Woah, baby. If you think the Red Sox and Yankee fans have it out for each other, wait until the congestion fee foes start taking on the proponents of Mayor Bloomberg’s PLANYC2030. It’s going to get messy around here.
(Side note to Yankee fans: Don’t despair. Despite the infuriating managerial style of Joe Torre, this weekend wasn’t terrible. There’s more at River Ave. Blues. So go there. Ok. Plug over.)
On Sunday — Earth Day 2006 — Mayor Mike finally released the details of his plan to provide for a sustainable New York City by the year 2030. Heavy on the environmental aspects of creating a livable city and focusing on providing better public transportation for the Center of the Universe, Bloomberg’s plan will make or break Mayor Mike’s NYC legacy. And as with any comprehensive plan of this magnitude, it is rife with controversy.
Over the next few weeks, I’ll explore the various aspects of Bloomberg’s plan as they relate to public transportation. With the Second Ave. Subway and dedicated bus express lanes key proponents of the transportation aspect to PLANYC2030, I’ll have a lot to say. Today, let’s look at the congestion fee. The New York Times reports on what will be a very controversial plan:
The proposal that is sure to attract the most attention, and possibly objections, is one to impose the $8 fee on car drivers, and $21 for truck operators, to drive in Manhattan south of 86th Street. The mayor said congestion on the city’s streets is the source of many of the city’s health, environmental and economic problems. “We can’t talk about reducing air pollution without talking about congestion,” he said…
The fee the mayor is proposing would only be imposed during the week, between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m.. And motorists driving the major highways along Manhattan’s east and west sides would not be fined, so it would be possible to go from Brooklyn to Harlem along Franklin D. Roosevelt Drive without entering the zone. The fee would be deducted from the tolls commuters already pay to come into Manhattan via the bridges or tunnels. There would be no toll booths, just a network of cameras that would capture license plate numbers and either charge a driver’s existing commuter account or generate a bill to be paid each time.
According to Bloomberg’s estimates, this congestion plan would generate $400 million in revenue in its first year alone. This money would be invested into the transportation network that serves and surrounds the city. The MTA would receive money for additional lines and much-needed upgrades.
Furthermore, as commuters are turned off from driving because of this high fee, more people will turn to the subways as alternate means of transportation, and the MTA should enjoy a financial benefit from the increased ridership as well.
As an advocate of mass transit, I am, as I noted on Friday, fully in support of this plan. Fewer cars in Manhattan, fewer cars on the roads around New York, that all sounds perfect to me.
But the debate will get nasty. Outer borough residents (wrongly) feel this will negatively impact their economies, and business owners won’t like the $21 truck charges which they will have to pick up. As part of the coverage of transportation in New York City, I’ll be following this debate as well. So stay tuned. It should be a good one.
Apr
20
J train out of joint for 4/20 weekend
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Tee hee.
So all that work in the non-Manhattan parts of New York City continue this weekend. There is no J service between Broadway Junction and Jamaica Center. The A is still doing its wacky thing and there is no C service. But take heart, Brooklyn residents: After this weekend, just two more weekends of shuttle buses and loooong commutes await you.
The rest of the service advisories for the weekend can be found here. Just a note: The MTA has significantly redesigned and improved the service advisory Website. The landing page I link now includes links to all of the lines. It’s much easier to navigate. So that’s good.
Catch you on Monday. Go Yanks.
Apr
20
MTA, congestion tax encourages public transportation use during Earth Day weekend
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These hybrid-electric buses are designed to help the environment, two blocks at a time. (Photo Courtesy of NYSERDA.)
So it’s Earth Day weekend. After a year of increased awareness about the environmental changes confronting our globe, this weekend marks a time of year where the MTA highlights its latest and greatest efforts at cutting gas consumption and pollutant emissions.
Once upon time, Earth Day Weekend would be the only time of year when the MTA focused on its cutting-edge environmentally-friendly technology. But now, with Al Gore’s film and weird weather patterns all around us, more people are paying more attention to eco-friendly public transportation technology. Still, the MTA plans to pull out some stops this weekend during the EarthFair Outside festival.
According to the press release, MTA CEO Elliot “Lee” Sander will be on hand at Grand Central Terminal this afternoon at 12 noon to distribute free MetroCards and discuss the new buses — the hybrid-electric vehicle that roam the streets of New York.
Meanwhile, the MTA is hard at work (rightfully) promoting themselves as an environmentally friendly transportation alternative. They toss out some interesting numbers: Every full subway car keeps 75 to 125 cars off the road; full buses keep about 40 cars off the road. Public transportation cuts fuel consumption by a whopping 1.33 billion gallons yearly.
And here’s a kicker: Without the MTA’s services, 1.5 million more cars would enter Manhattan each day during rush hour, contributing to a whopping increase in pollution well above federal standards. Can you imagine that many more cars into the already crowded streets of the city? It would be a disaster of epic proportions.
Which brings me to today’s other news: According to reports, Mayor Bloomberg’s much heralded PLANYC2030, a plan to build a sustainable New York City within the next 23 years, will include a call for congestion pricing for cars south of 86th Street in Manhattan.
I love the idea of Congestion Taxes. The liberal environmentalist and pedestrian in me wants to see no cars other than essential vehicles in Manhattan. But I would settle for a tax where the money would go into providing better and more frequent subway service in a modernized system.
SUBWAYBlogger does an excellent job dissecting the pros and cons of Congestion Pricing as it would affect us straphangers. And Streetsblog, the home of pro-pedestrian, anti-car sentiment on the Internet, tackles the fight that will erupt over this plan and notes how groups are already resorting to falsehoods about Congestion Taxes to battle the Mayor’s soon-to-be-announced plan.
