Archive for January, 2008
Jan
31
The end of the MetroCard is somewhat near!
Posted by: | CommentsNear, of course, being a relative term in MTA speak. Anyway, as I mentioned in October, the MTA is looking to do away with the swipe-and-go MetroCard, a relic of the 20th Century. But instead of just adopting RFID smartcard technology as London and Washington, D.C., currently employ, the agency is,
So the MTA is going to ask to study existing technologies before figure out the best one. Then the MTA will have to figure out how to overhaul the rather inflexible current system. At that rate, we should see new fare card technology some time before the polar ice caps melt.
Jan
31
MTA to delay and pare down, but not cancel, big-ticket projects
Posted by: | CommentsThe MTA will delay but not cancel big capital construction projects in an effort to address nearly $1 billion in cost overruns, Marlene Naanes writes in amNew York. While disappointing, this development comes as no surprise after the news this week has focused on runaway inflation and over-budget MTA projects.
Despite these delays, however, MTA officials and transit advocates have stressed that the city will still enjoy the benefits; we just might have to wait a little while longer. And when it comes to the Second Ave. Subway, what’s one more year added to the 70 we’ve already been waiting? The MTA will decide in February just how they will delay or modify their capital construction plans to meet budget expectations. [amNew York]
Jan
31
Displaced Fulton Streeters are none too pleased
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At some point, a Fulton St. Transit Hub will live here. It might just be a hole in the ground with a ladder. (Photo by Newkirk Plaza David from Subchat)
As the news keeps coming in, this Fulton St. overhaul isn’t getting much favorable play. While the New York Post graciously obnoxiously noted how they knew the ornate hub was doomed from the start, the displaced Fulton St. business owners had their proverbial day in the sun earlier this week.
Writing for the Newsday-owned amNew York, Ryan Chatelain tracked down some of the people who were forced out of Fulton St. by the MTA. Not only are they annoyed, but they claim the MTA didn’t adequately compensate them for their troubles. When it rains, it pours.
Mirza Mamur closed his art gallery, endured 10 months of unemployment, took out loans to make ends meet and then struggled to re-establish his business at a new location.
He was one of more than 140 business owners displaced by plans for the Fulton Street transit hub in lower Manhattan. Now, after the Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced it was again scaling back the project – and scrapping its centerpiece, a 110-foot-tall, steel-and-glass-domed entranceway – Mamur is asking if he was needlessly pushed out.
“If this thing doesn’t happen, of course I want my place back,” said Mamur, who owns Glamour Art Gallery, now in midtown. “That’s the reason I gave my store.”
But Mamur’s complaint isn’t necessarily about the construction delay. Mamur claims the MTA paid him just $12,000 to relocate while his own appraiser assessed his property at $120,000. Mamur is not alone. Billy Baldwin, a cookie maker, recieved $60,000 on a place that cost him $300,000 to open.
While the MTA, according to Chatelain, is going to reach a settlement with folks who feel undersold, this will just send costs that much higher. Real estate costs were the first sign that the Fulton St. Hub wouldn’t fall within the right budget; an ornate design for Grand Central South followed.
As time drags on and costs rise, budget estimates from two or three years ago will seem even less adequate. What’s the MTA to do? They have a hole in the ground; now they just need a completed transportation hub.
Jan
30
Maybe granite and porcelain aren’t the best choices for a subway station floor
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It doesn’t make sense to lay the floor first. (Photo by Benjamin Kabak)
As more details emerge about the MTA’s construction budget crisis, I keep coming back to Scott’s comment about the MTA and crown jewels. How do you balance form, function and visual appeal?
Right now, the MTA is in trouble. As the Daily News noted yesterday, steel and concrete prices have “jumped 91% and 25% respectively” since the MTA budgeted for their projects. Considering how big a role steel plays in the subways, that jump has led to skyrocketing costs. But steel and concrete aren’t about making stations luxuriously opulent.
Rather, granite and porcelain make stations overly expensive, and now, the MTA is saying that granite and porcelain have to go. Pete Donohue has more:
Transit officials looking to save money may swap plans for fancy granite subway and train station floor tiles for a more economical – and drab – concrete. The potential savings are significant and the issue is generating strong opinions. “For me, this is a no-brainer,” said Metropolitan Transportation Authority board member Barry Feinstein, calling granite a “very expensive amenity.”
According to NYC Transit, the MTA’s largest division, it costs $1.7 million to install granite flooring in the standard subway station, compared with $421,000 for regular concrete. After considerable expenditures, it is also scrapping a third type of tiling material: porcelain, which has been used exclusively in underground stations for the past eight years. Since then, 22 stations have received porcelain tile floors, at a typical cost of $1.4 million per station.
Those porcelain surfaces have not held up well and are cracking and chipping, said NYC Transit spokesman Paul Fleuranges.
Now, I’m with Feinstein. The only way to describe this option is as a no-brainer. But MTA board member Andrew Albert brought up another point. “A lot of people don’t believe a station renovation project is done unless the floor has tiles,” he said. “It doesn’t look finished.”
And here’s where I think the MTA is messing up their construction plans. Why does the porcelain and granite look so bad? Why does it chip so easily? Because construction crews are installing the decorative aspects of the new stations well before they should be.
Take a walk around the 59th St-Columbus Circle Station right now. It’s a mess. Construction walls are everywhere. Walls, ceilings, floors and staircases are all in various stages of completion. Dust floats through the station faster than pedestrian can maneuver. Yet, despite the mess, the new, fancy floors are already installed on the platforms, and they look terrible. They’re disgustingly dirty and slowly getting ruined. They’re also about six months old.
Now, I have to ask: Does this make any sense? Usually in a construction project, the fancy, delicate parts go last because heavy machinery and constant work will ruin them. That’s exactly how the work at Columbus Circle has turned out.
Clearly, the MTA needs to find a balance between building a functional transit system under budget and constructing something that looks nice. But the first place to start — besides in cutting down porcelain and granite use — should come in the planning stages. Put in the fancy stuff once it won’t get destroyed by ongoing construction.
Jan
30
Sheldon, criticizing the MTA, ignores the easy solution
Posted by: | CommentsAs the MTA and its capital projects are getting slammed with rising costs due to inflation, New York’s politicians are jumping on the Bash the MTA Bandwagon. First up, of course, is State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. On Wednesday, he issued a statement.
“The MTA’s plan to reduce the size of the Fulton Street Transit Center in Downtown Manhattan is outrageous and unacceptable. Those who live, work and visit Downtown have been misled for far too long with grand plans and unrealistic timetables for projects, and enough is enough,” Silver said. “What was promised to this community by the MTA must be funded and built.”
To Sheldon, I offer up my reply: Fork over the dough. The City and the State have long shirked their MTA fiscal responsibilities. With a looming budget crisis and important capital projects in limbo, now is the time for these bodies to step up. Fund the Fulton St. overruns. Fund the Second Ave. Subway. That’s a pretty easy solution.
Jan
29
Second Ave. Subway third track a victim of inflation
Posted by: | Comments
When the MTA hinted earlier this week that budgetary problems and concerns about inflation were going to drastically alter the Fulton St. Transit Hub plans, I figured the Second Ave. Subway would not be spared the proverbial knife as well. When MTA CEO Lee Sander said that MTA Capital Construction was looking to trim $1 billion from a few projects, I knew some aspect of the Second Ave. subway would have to go. Luckily, the cuts won’t be too bad.
The cuts, you see, will eliminate a planned third track in the northern reaches of the planned tunnel, according to Pete Donohue of the Daily News. This third track, viewed as a luxury so that functional trains could bypass hypothetical stalled trains does not appear in the project’s Finale Environmental Impact Statement, and I have to believe that, due to the influx of federal funds, the Second Ave. Subway dodged a bullet.
According to the report, the number of stations in the subway line will thankfully stay the same, but this cut basically eliminates the possibility of any future express service along Second Ave. For a long time, subchatters and Second Ave. Subway proponents have debated the need for a third and fourth track under Second Ave. Why build a subway that’s only local, they argue?
I’ve long believed that the Second Ave. subway can and will succeed with just local stops. These stops are, after all, better spaced than the IRT stops from 100 years ago, and because the Second Ave. Subway will use longer trains than the IRT lines in Manhattan, exits from the stations can cover a wider range of blocks. For example, while the train will stop at 72nd St. and 86th St., thus bypassing the popular 79th St., passengers can exit from those stops at 74th St. and 83rd St., respectively. Walking those few blocks to the middle should be easy.
But New Yorkers long accustomed to false starts and sudden stops won’t see the project delayed. As Sander has stressed, the Second Ave. Subway will become a reality, and New Yorkers can thank the feds for that one. Because the Federal Transit Administration has promised funds for the project, the MTA will be able to construct Phase 1 of the Second Ave. Subway. It may not have those extra tracks; it may not be as opulently ornate as the MTA hopes. But it will provide much-needed relief for the East Side, and it will arrive this time.
Jan
29
And now it’s gone: the Fulton St. Transit Hub dome
Posted by: | Comments
You get the point.
Originallly, plans called for it to be 50 feet tall. Then, rising costs pushed the height down to 30 feet and then 20 feeet. Now, the glass dome that was supposed to sit atop the Fulton St. Transportation Hub is gone from the plans, the victim of inflation and rising construction costs, according to the MTA.
Not only will these rising costs result in a drastically altered Fulton St. plan, but they could impact the other big-ticket MTA Capital Construction projects current in various stages of completion. According to MTA CEO and Executive Director Lee Sander, the MTA will soon begin a review of their skyrocketing capital budget in an effort to cut $1 billion from their four big projects — the Fulton St. hub, the LIRR East Side Access plan, the 7 line extension, and, yes, the Second Ave. Subway.
William Neuman of The Times has more on what is sadly an unsurprising and familiar story for those of us waiting for the Second Ave. Subway:
Soaring construction costs could force the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to scrap plans for an architecturally ambitious glass-domed subway station in Lower Manhattan and lead to more than $1 billion in cost overruns for the authority’s major expansion projects, officials said Monday.
The rising costs could slow progress on the three so-called mega-projects needed to expand the capacity of the public transportation system, including a Long Island Rail Road link to Grand Central Terminal, a westward extension of the No. 7 subway line and the first leg of the Second Avenue subway.
The news represents another setback for the subway station project, known as the Fulton Street Transit Center, which was envisioned as a central element in the recovery of Lower Manhattan after the terror attack of Sept. 11, 2001.
“We’re just in the middle of a construction inflation crisis,” MTA Chairman Dale Hemmerdinger said. “And from our point of view as an agency that spends an awful lot of money, this is not good news.”
While the future of the first phase of the Second Ave. Subway is ensured — the MTA, according to Sander, has the money from federal sources to finish the project — these budgetary problems may cause delays in all four major construction efforts, and the future of the Fulton St. hub’s outside appearance is very much in doubt. This fiscal crisis reached a head at the end of 2007 when the MTA put out a call for bids for the contract to build the ornate entrance to the hub including the dome. The contract, budgeted at $370 million, received one bid for $870 million. Back to the drawing board went the MTA.
Now, the authority plans to chop that contract into smaller pieces. They anticipate finishing the underground work at Fulton St. by the end of 2009, but the completion date for what once was touted as Grand Central South is anyone’s guess. “I’m sad to say that we cannot build the transit center as currently envisioned in this market with the budget that we have,” Sander said.
Yesterday, in the comments to my piece on the anticipated cuts to the Fulton St. dome, ScottE wondered if the MTA is overshooting on its plans. Does ever new project really have to be the crown jewel of the MTA, he wondered.
Scott raises a very valid question, but in this case, I don’t think the MTA was aiming for the stars only to miss. The Fulton St. Hub, when completed, will be one of the most trafficked stations in the subway system, and it was, as Elizabeth H. Berger, head of the Alliance for Downtown New York, told The Times, supposed to be “center of our future.” But with a recession on our hands and constantly rising construction costs, the MTA is nearly back at square one. Now they just have to figure out how to design a new symbol for downtown while staying at or near budget. That is no easy task for an agency long beset with fiscal problems.
Jan
28
MTA consolidation to save $40 million
Posted by: | CommentsThe Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced plans to move ahead with its institutional initiative information, a consolidation plan designed to eliminate institutional redundancies. Among the plans are agency-wide programs for Accounting, Human Resources, Payroll and Procurement processing that will save the agency $40 million (and, oh yeah, 240 jobs as well). Now if only the New York legislature would allow the MTA to consolidate the management of their seven divisions. Just imagine the savings potential there. [MTA HQ]
Jan
28
MTA may overhaul Fulton St. Transit Hub project
Posted by: | Comments
Don’t expect the final version of the Fulton St. project to look like this. (Source: MTA Capital Construction)
That pesky Fulton St. Transit Hub. Years behind schedule and beset with fiscal problems, this expansive project designed to unite all of the subway lines in Lower Manhattan may be reaching a breaking point. In fact, MTA officials are going to meet early this week to debate the project’s future, according to a report in Monday’s New York Sun.
Jared Irmas has more:
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority will meet today to reassess plans for construction of the Fulton Street Transit Center, after a request for construction bids this month attracted just one proposal, which was over budget. Originally envisioned as a downtown Grand Central Terminal, the Fulton Street center was to connect 12 subway lines and house a 23,000-square-foot shopping center under a glass dome. But since ground was broken in 2005, construction on the new facility, slated for completion last month, has been hampered by several delays and budget overruns. Projected costs have increased to $888 million from $750 million, the height of the dome has been reduced by 30 feet, and the planned end of construction has been pushed back to late 2009.
New plans could include scrapping some design elements and building a less elaborate “public plaza,” the executive director of the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA, William Henderson, said in a telephone interview.
This transit hub project has been the source of numerous problems for the MTA. Chief among them are cost overruns. While the federal government is picking up most of this project, the MTA is responsible for cost overruns. Every time this project is delayed — and it’s now a few years behind schedule — the costs increase.
The Sun reports that the MTA declined to comment for the article, and I don’t blame them. I’m not quite sure where the MTA could go from here. They have to finish the project some time soon, and the project Web site gives an estimated completion date of this year. But to what extent should they scale down their plans? We don’t want to settle for some ugly, boxy structure leaving its mark on Lower Manhattan, but we shouldn’t expect the MTA to over-stretch itself fiscally. Decisions, decisions, decisions.
Jan
25
Weekend service changes on the, um, every line
Posted by: | CommentsI love the MTA press releases. They never mince words. Last night’s release about this weekend’s service changes says that there are changes affecting service on the 1234567ACDEFQRW. Right there, it’s easier to list the trains running with no changes.
Anyway, what’s on tap for the weekend?
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, January 26 to 5 a.m. Monday, January 28 (and weekends until March 24), 1 trains skip 28th, 23rd, and 18th Streets in both directions due to Part Authority work on the WTC site at Cortland Street.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, January 26 to 5 a.m. Monday, January 28, there are no 1 trains between 14th Street and South Ferry due to Part Authority work on the WTC site at Cortland Street. Customers may take the 2 or 3 between 14th Street and Chambers Streets. There is a free shuttle bus available between Chambers Street and South Ferry.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, January 26 to 5 a.m. Monday, January 28, 23 trains run local between 96th Street and Chambers Street due to Part Authority work on the WTC site at Cortland Street, roadbed reconstruction at 59th Street and station rehab work at 96th Street.
From 10 p.m. Friday, January 25 to 5 a.m. Monday, January 28, the last stop for some Bronx-bound 4 trains is 149th Street due to track panel installation at Mosholu Parkway.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, January 26 to 5 a.m. Monday, January 28, Brooklyn-bound 45 trains skip Fulton Street due to work on the Fulton Street Transit Center.
From 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. on Saturday, January 26 and Sunday, January 27, Bronx-bound 6 trains run express from Parkchester to Pelham Bay Park due to track repair between Westchester Square-East Tremont Avenue and Parkchester-East 177th Street stations.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, January 26 to 5 a.m. Monday, January 28, there are no 7 trains between Main Street-Flushing and Woodside-61st Street due to signal replacement. 7 trains will make all stops between Woodside=61st Street and Queensboro Plaza. Free shuttle buses and free LIRR service provide alternate service. In addition, 7 express train service is suspended at all times in both directions until 5 a.m. Monday, March 3.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, January 26 to 5 a.m. Monday, January 28, there are no C trains running. Downtown A trains run local from 168th Street to West 4th Street, run on the F line between West 4th and Jay Street, then return to the AC line running local from Jay Street to Euclid Avenue. Manhattan-bound A trains run local from Euclid Avenue to 168th Street. These changes are due to Chambers Street signal modernization.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, January 26 to 5 a.m. Monday, January 28, Bronx-bound D trains run express from 145th Street to Tremont Avenue due to communication equipment installation.
From 12:01 a.m. to midnight, Sunday, January 27, Manhattan-bound EF trains skip 75th Avenue (in Queens) due to track roadbed work between Kew Gardens-Union Turnpike and Forest Hills-71st Street stations.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, January 26 to 5 a.m. Monday, January 28, Queens-bound F trains run on the V line from 47th-50th Sts. to Roosevelt Avenue due to work in the 60th Street tunnel.
From 11 p.m. Friday, January 25 to 5 a.m. Monday, January 28, Coney Island-bound F trains skip 4th Avenue, 15th Street-Prospect Park and Ft. Hamilton Parkway due to roadbed replacement at 7th Avenue. The last stop for some Coney Island-bound F trains is 2nd Avenue.
From 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday, January 26 and Sunday, January 27, Manhattan-bound Q trains run express from Kings Highway to Prospect Park due to rail replacement.
From 5 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. Sunday, January 27, free shuttle buses will replace R trains between 95th and 36th Streets due to cable work at Bay Ridge Avenue.
