Archive for December, 2007
Dec
31
Remember Miss Subway a few decades later
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Miss Subway from March-April 1959 now owns Ellen’s Stardust Diner at 50th St. and 7th Ave. (Source: The New York Times)
Last week, during my post on subway movies, I omitted On The Town. The Comden and Green musical follows three sailors on leave in New York for 24 hours. One of the sailors — Gabey played by Gene Kelly — falls in love with Miss Turnstiles.
Ah, Miss Turnstiles. It’s a New York subway reference lost to the ages. Once upon a time, from May 1941 through 1976, talent agencies appointed a woman Miss Subway every few months. The winner’s picture was plastered on placards throughout the system, and at one point, even Cher got in on the act, writing a song about the contest.
But as with many things, Miss Subway went by the wayside. Despite a one-year hiatus in 2004 that coincided with the 100-year anniversary of the opening of the IRT, the contest has been a relic of New York City history. Over the weekend, The New York Times had fun with past contest winners. In a great “Where Are They Now?” piece, photographer Fiona Gardner and reporter Amy Zimmer tracked down some winners and snapped their current pictures.
It’s a great multimedia presentation on The Times’ site. They have pieces on Miss Subway June 1942, a current lawyer who held the crown from February through August in 1968 and of course Ellen herself, a winner in 1959.
The contest and its spot in history sure do make the subways seem more humane 50 years ago than they are today. But that’s just the nostalgia talking.
Dec
28
Weekend service changes picking back up
Posted by: | CommentsWith the holidays mostly behind us, New York City Transit is ramping up the weekend work again. We have a light slate of service changes but more than the last few weeks. From the press release, here we go:
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, December 29 to 5 a.m. Monday, December 31, Manhattan-bound 6 run express from Hunts Point Avenue to 3rd Avenue due to communication equipment between 3rd Avenue and 125th Street.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, December 29 to 5 a.m. Monday, December 31, 6 trains run in two sections due to communication equipment between 3rd Avenue and 125th Street:
- Between Pelham Bay Park and 125th Street and
- Between 125th Street and Brooklyn Bridge
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, December 29 to 5 a.m. Monday, December 31, Manhattan-bound 7 trains skip 111th, 103rd, 90th, 82nd, 74th, and 69th Streets due to preparatory work for 74th Street interlocking.
From 12:01 a.m. to midnight, Saturday, December 29, Queens-bound E trains run express from Roosevelt Avenue to Queens Plaza due to track equipment delivery between Roosevelt Avenue to Forest Hills-71st Street and Manhattan-bound E & R trains run express from Roosevelt Avenue to Queens Plaza due to electrical work between Roosevelt Avenue and 36th Street (Queens).
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, December 29 to 5 a.m. Monday, December 31, Manhattan-bound F trains run on the V line from Roosevelt Avenue to 47th-50th Streets due to electrical work between 36th Street and 57th Street-7th Avenue and Coney Island-bound F trains skip 4 Avenue,. 15th Street-Prospect Park and Ft. Hamilton Parkway due to a track chip-out between 4th Avenue and Church Avenue.
From 8:30 a.m. Friday, December 28 to 5 a.m. Monday, December 31, there are no G trains between Forest Hills-71st Avenue and Court Square due to electrical work between Prince Street and DeKalb Avenue.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, December 29 to 5 a.m. Monday, December 31, Manhattan-bound N trains run on the D line from Stillwell Avenue to 36th Street (Brooklyn) due to track panel work between 59th Street and 86th Street stations.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, December 29 to 5 a.m. Monday, December 31, Brooklyn-bound N trains are rerouted over the Manhattan Bridge from Canal Street to DeKalb Avenue due to electrical work between Prince Street and DeKalb Avenue.
And one from the e-mail that didn’t make it to this list:
From 1 a.m. Saturday, December 28 to 5 a.m. Monday, December 31, Brooklyn-bound R trains are rerouted over the Manhattan Bridge from Canal St to DeKalb Av.
Dec
28
PATH WTC hub completion date delayed
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Later than expected, Santiago Calatrava’s giant porcupine will be a cornerstone of Lower Manhattan. (Source: Lower Manhattan)
Here’s a shocker: The World Trade Center hub, much like every other project centered around Ground Zero, won’t open until at least a year later than expected. The Port Authority announced today that the completion date on Santiago Calatrava’s ridiculously ornate and oddly Star Trekian transit hub is now set for 2011, a mere 10 years after the 9/11 attacks.
The delay represents a set-back of two years for the beleaguered Port Authority. Originally, they had hoped to get the PATH station open by the end of 2009. “Construction of this magnitude is very complicated — things could change,” Josh Rosenbloom, director of city operations for the Lower Manhattan Construction Command Center, said to Downtown Express reporter Julie Shapiro.
And how, you may wonder, does this affect the MTA? Let me count the ways:
Within the next few months, the entrance to the PATH station will move from Church St. to the corner of Greenwich and Vesey Sts., said Josh Rosenbloom, director of city operations for the L.M.C.C.C. This will be the third and last temporary entrance for the station and will be in use for “several years,” Rosenbloom said, adding that the dates are not final…
The Port has already started dismantling the temporary station and will begin demolishing it in earnest toward the end of the first quarter of 2008, he said.
When the PATH entrance moves, the station will no longer have an underground connection to the A, C, E or 2, 3 trains. Construction will also demolish the elevator on Church St. that currently serves both PATH trains and the subway. Port Authority will build a new elevator on Vesey St., but it will only go to the PATH station, said Steve Coleman, a Port spokesperson.
Oops. Fewer access points for the disabled. That won’t go over too well with the Disabled Riders Coalition.
Meanwhile, the MTA is quietly facing their own scheduling difficulties as they work on the Fulton Street transit hub. Originally — many years ago — large portions of the hub — including the work at the Cortlandt St. stop on the BMT — were supposed to open in 2006. The plans have changed, and that station is now closed indefinitely. The MTA, however, maintains that they are on pace for a 2008 target date.
“We’re trying to live down here,” CB1 Board Member Barry Skolnick said. “MTA is famous for being behind schedule. I’m very concerned, and I don’t think it’s acceptable.”
That about sums up the state of most Ground Zero projects. At least the MTA isn’t alone on this one.
Dec
27
MTA appoints new anti-graffiti task force
Posted by: | CommentsWhile the subways are no longer the hotbed for graffiti that they were in the 1970s and 1980s, the MTA is still combatting subway taggers. To that end, they’ve appointed a new squad of retired police officers to patrol popular train yards and catch taggers in the act. While this squad should be beneficial to the MTA, you have to wonder, as a recent Subchatter did this week, whether a bunch of retired cops are going to be able to track down, on foot, young and agile taggers. [Daily News]
Dec
27
Second Ave. Sagas goes to the movies
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Over the long holiday weekend, I took a trip to the movies to catch I Am Legend, the latest in New York City destruction. While Will Smith, the only surviving human on the island of Manhattan, shuns what I imagine to be a deserted subway in exchange for his product-placed Ford cars, I couldn’t help but imagine the subway in an empty Manhattan. Devoid of people, there would be seats for everyone. Those would be the days.
Of course, Hollywood is not afraid of the New York City subways. (And why should they be? Subway crime is at an all-time low.) So with a slow news week upon us — not much happens in the aftermath of a fare hike when many are off for the holidays — let’s go to the movies. Or at least let’s ride the subways to the movie.
Any discussion about the subway movies must begin with the Joseph Sargent classic The Taking of Pelham One Two Three. Preying on the fears of New Yorkers during the city’s economic and social problems in the 1970s, the movie, based on a bestselling book, features a hijacking of a subway. Led by Robert Shaw, a group of men who clearly influenced Quentin Taratnino’s Reservoir Dogs take a subway car hostage and threaten death if they don’t get one million dollars. It’s up to an excellent Walter Malthau to rescue the hostages and catch the criminals.
The movie is notable for taking place in actual subway tunnels and for a mention in a Beastie Boys song. The MTA allowed filming in the then-abandoned Court Street station and tunnels. Currently, that station houses the Transit Museum. The movie was remade poorly in 1998, but Tony Scott is looking to rectify that misstep with a new remake starring Denzel Washington as Walter Mathau and John Travolta as Robert Shaw. It’s set to open in July of 2009.
On the other side of subway crime thrillers is Money Train, a 1995 movie with Wesley Snipes, Woody Harrelson and Jennifer Lopez. Harrelson, a disgruntled former employee of the the Transit Authority, conspires to rob the money train. While filming took place in Los Angeles, filmmakers modified an old R22 car that was eventually donated to New York City Transit. The film was criticized after its release when teenagers perpetrated copy-cat crimes in firebombing token booths. Authorities, however, did not believe that the crimes were related to the movie. The money trains have since been retired.
Moving back in time, we come across The Incident, Martin Sheen’s movie debut. For this one, the New York Transit Authority outright denied permission to film. Two kids board a train late at night and begin to psychologically terrorize the passengers. Filmed in black and white, it’s a snapshot into another era when the subways were considered dangerous, and this movie, more than any others, has set the tone for the Hollywood portrayal of the New York City subways as a dark, lonely and dangerous place.
Finally, we come to The French Connection. This one needs no introduction. It is simply the greatest train chase scene in movie history. See it.
Of course, there are always other seminal moments of film history in the subways. Patrick Swayze meets a subway ghost in Ghost, and On The Town features Miss Turnstile, a relic lost to history. But these four featured here are great starting points, and three of them — all but The Incident — are out on DVD. While you may not have to take the train to work this week, catch a train in the movies instead.
Dec
26
Of pigeons, uniforms and money
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I hope this pigeon paid its $2-fare to board this train. (Photo by flickr user mortimer777)
It’s all about the money these days with the MTA. In light of what many perceive to be an unfair fare hike, critics and newspapers alike are concentrating more and more on the little things that impact the MTA economically.
Today, we have two stories that everyone will use to slam the MTA. Let’s start with pigeon poop. New York City Transit recently lost a lawsuit filed by a man who tripped and fell in a pile of pigeon droppings. He emerged seriously injured and, nearly 10 years after the original 1998 accident, won over $6 million from New York City Transit.
In the case, Shelton Stewart, the injured party, claimed that NYCT employees knew about the dangerous pile of droppings but did nothing to clean it up. This negligence has cost NYCT as much as $6 million, but the agency plans to appeal. Simcha Felder’s plan to eliminate pigeons looks all the more appealing.
Right now, other than following through with an appeal, there’s not much the MTA can do. On more than one occasion, local politicians have criticized the Authority for not keeping their stations pigeon-free, and now the problem has come home to roost. Live and learn is the lesson here. Maybe now, outdoor stations will get the cleaning attention they deserver.
The second story gives a little more to the critics. The MTA is spending $2.5 million on new uniform for station agents. Pete Donohue from The Daily News reports:
Over the past several months, 3,500 workers in the subway stations department have been trading in their traditional work outfits – blue shirts, blue pants – for a more formal look: white shirts and gray trousers, or skirts for the ladies working behind the glass.
The men get gray and black ties; female workers ascots. The new wardrobe also includes a burgundy vest, burgundy sweater and burgundy coat.
NYC Transit spokeswoman Deirdre Parker said the per-worker cost was approximately $738, and the total cost $2,583,245.
The workers are less-than-impressed with the new digs because the white shirts get dirty in the subways. But the Daily News seems more concerned with the cost outlays for the new uniforms. In reality, that $2.5 million isn’t much in the grand scheme of the MTA, and despite the big debate on Subchat, as a few commenters noted, the cost per person isn’t that unreasonable for a week’s worth of work clothing.
As it will be for some time, it’s all about the MTA’s money. Who knows how long this microscopic look at the MTA’s finances will last, but it sure gets tiresome early.
Dec
25
Sunday service on Christmas
Posted by: | CommentsJust a short reminder that all New York City Transit buses and subways are operating on a Sunday schedule for Christmas today. So if you plan to wait for a B, V or W, you’ll be waiting until Wednesday. Merry Christmas.
Dec
24
No one really likes the E or the G
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It’s grade time, baby! After a few weeks of silence — and missing grades for the Q and W — the MTA issued some Rider Report Cards on Friday. The E and the G, the train everyone loves to the hate, both received their results, and they both landed D-pluses. That’s pretty sad.
Let’s start with the G because it’s way more interesting. The G runs from Smith-Ninth Streets in Brooklyn to Court Square in Queens. It used to run all the way out to the 71st Ave. in Forest Hills, but the train will no longer head that far into Queens when the service additions go into place next year.
The riders of the G, the only non-shuttle subway to avoid Manhattan, don’t smile upon it. They term it the Ghost train because it never shows up, and it even has its own community organization devoted to Saving the G Train. In fact, most riders were expecting it to receive an F. They will be sorely disappointed to hear this news.
So what did the riders think of the G? The Top Ten list please:
- Reasonable wait times for trains
- Minimal delays during trips
- Adequate room on board at rush hour
- Sense of security in stations
- Cleanliness of stations
- Station announcements that are easy to hear
- Sense of security on trains
- Train announcements that are easy to hear
- Station announcements that are informative
- Cleanliness of subway cars
For all of the rider report cards, I think this is the most accurate Top Ten list I’ve seen so far. Wait times for G trains are beyond unreasonable, and the stations at non-peak hours are fairly deserted and rather unsafe. To be fair, the train runs through some of the city’s less safe areas, but the MTA could do more to staff these stations. The four-car trains don’t lend much room to rush hour crowds either. When the MTA starts extending the trains to Church Ave., they should run longer, more frequent trains. The time of the G is upon us.
On the other hand, we have the E train. This train starts at the World Trade Center stop and heads up 8th Ave. as a local. It cuts across 53rd St. with the V and into Queens where it runs express along the Queens Boulevard line. It terminates at Jamaica Center with a connection available to JFK Airport at its second-to-last stop in Queens.
As a primary express route into Manhattan from Queens, it’s a fairly high-volume train, and the riders don’t like it. The Top Ten problems:
- Reasonable wait times for trains
- Minimal delays during trips
- Adequate room on board at rush hour
- Station announcements that are easy to hear
- Cleanliness of stations
- Train announcements that are easy to hear
- Sense of security on trains
- Cleanliness of subway cars
- Sense of security in stations
- Comfortable temperature in subway cars
I can’t speak for the E train really. I ride the train usually just one stop from West 4th to 14th St. in the morning, and it never really gives me much of a problem. So I’ll take the riders’ words for it.
Anyway, there you go: two more unimpressive grades for the city’s subways. After the jump are the full grades.
Dec
22
Sunday on Sunday and Sunday on Tuesday
Posted by: | CommentsTrains are running on a Sunday schedule on Tuesday. I’ll remind you again then, if anyone’s reading. Seeing as how Christmas isn’t really my holiday, I’ll have updates five days next week. And now your service alerts. Happy holidays to those of you gone until January.
From 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday, December 22 and Sunday, December 23, Manhattan-bound 4 trains skip Bedford Park Blvd., Kingsbridge and Fordham Roads and 183rd Street due to electrical repairs south of Bedford Park Blvd. station.
From 11 p.m. Friday, December 21 to 5 a.m. Monday, December 24, Manhattan-bound AC trains run express from Utica Avenue to Hoyt-Schermerhorn due to electrical repairs between Hoyt-Schermerhorn and Lafayette Avenue stations.
From 12:01 a.m., Saturday, December 22 to 5 a.m. Monday, December 24, the last stop for some Coney Island-bound D trains is Bay Parkway due to track panel work on the N between 59th Street and 86th Street stations.
From 12:01 a.m., Saturday, December 22 to 5 a.m. Monday, Manhattan-bound N trains run on the D line from Stillwell Avenue to 36th Street due to track panel work between 59th Street and 86th Street stations.
Dec
21
Hitching a ride on the Nostalgia Train
Posted by: | CommentsLast weekend, I went train-hunting. After standing around at the 2nd Ave. station for about an hour, two of my friends and I caught the Nostalgia Train. What follows are my images from that ride to Queens Plaza. You can still catch the Nostalgia Train this Sunday and next along the V line.
