Archive for April, 2011
Apr
04
MTA to restore WEP program
Posted by: | CommentsFrom the mid-1990s through the mid-2000s, the MTA took part in a welfare-related work experience program that required a certain number of welfare recipients to work as station cleaners underground. The authority used the WEP program to promote station cleanliness without the costs associated with unionized labor, and while Roger Toussaint’s TWU had long objected, Willie James, the one-team president of Local 100, had ushered in the program back in 1996.
Now, amidst employee cuts and complaints of dirtier stations, the MTA is going to bring back the program. “This is a program that has a proven track record of doing three things: providing low-cost cleaning help for the subway; providing job training to people who need it, and leading directly to full-time employment for many of the people who participate in the program,” MTA spokesman Jeremy Soffin said to the Daily News last week.
Even as over the years, WEP workers moved into union positions with full-time wages and benefits, New Yorkers seem mixed on this program. I can’t fathom why anyone would complain about the potential for cleaner trains or stations, but Pete Donohue sums up the thinking in his column today.
News that welfare recipients will be given mops and brooms to earn their benefits by cleaning the subways elicited strong reactions last week. Some readers viewed it as a further erosion of unions because the MTA would be getting free labor instead of having to pay a decent wage with benefits.
Others thought it a novel idea that could give welfare recipients useful work experience and riders a more palatable environment. Still others – prejudging all welfare recipients as lazy layabouts who would finally have to do something for their handouts – considered it a measure of justice.
Basically, those reactions run the gamut, but if the WEP workers bring even a modicum of cleanliness or order to a system overwhelmed by trash, I can’t see too many people complaining for much longer.
Apr
04
For Long Island Bus, a temporary reprieve
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Nassau County has not invested in its own bus system. (Graph via TSTC)
Thanks to last-minute action by the New York State Senate, Nassau County bus riders will be spared a slate of cuts that would have decimated Long Island Bus service. On Friday, the MTA, Nassau County and Senator Republicans led by Charles Fuschillo (R, Merrick) and Jack Martins (R-C-I, Mineola) announced an $8.6 million compromise that will see the MTA receive half of the money it wanted in exchange for a commitment to keep service alive through December 31. It’s a start but only that.
“We have heard from many of our constituents that depend on Long Island Bus services to get to work, school or go shopping,” Senate Majority Leader Dean G. Skelos said in a statement. “They are very concerned that if these cuts go through, they will have no other way to get around. Fortunately, we were able to reach an agreement to avert the cuts and prevent any disruption in service. I want to thank Senator Fuschillo and Senator Martins for their leadership in responding to this issue.”
Essentially, the Senate has made $8.6 million in capital money available to the MTA for LI Bus operations. This will be added to the $52.4 million appropriate by the 2011-2012 budget for the service, and the 27 route cuts will be off the table. Nassau County though says it will still seek to remove the MTA as the service’s operator by the end of the year.
“I applaud the efforts of our Nassau County State Senators for working with me to come together in support of our residents that rely on Long Island Bus for their transportation needs,” Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano, who has called for MTA CEO and Chairman Jay Walder’s resignation over the conflict, said. “Their assistance ensures that all current bus routes will remain intact. I remain committed to fostering communication and working with the MTA to ensure a smooth transition as we enter a public-private partnership starting January 2012. This public-private partnership will enable us to provide comparable bus routes at a much more affordable rate to Nassau County taxpayers.”
Transit advocates though were less than thrilled with the news simply because Mangano’s insistence on attempting to privatize the service seems to be utterly failing. “Over the coming months, Nassau County will have to show the same type of leadership,” the Tri-State Transportation Campaign said in a statement. “The deal gives Nassau County Executive Mangano more time to come up with a workable proposal for a local transit system. None of the privatization schemes released by the county so far appear to qualify. Affordable transit that maintains access to jobs, education, and social services is critical to the county’s economy and quality of life.”
It’s tough to see where this debacle goes from here. As Jim O’Grady at Transportation Nation noted this weekend, “Nassau County is one of the richest counties in the nation, but has, over the years, run its finances into the ground.”
The county is going to have to figure out a way to either work with the MTA or find a better solution. Privatization, in the model Mangano envisions, isn’t feasible. The County will likely have to pay more for transit under a privatized solution, and it can’t continue to expect the state to bail it out when its executive starts behaving like a spoiled child who doesn’t understand his constituents’ needs or demands. For now, the bus service has been saved, and while politicians are slapping themselves on the back, this is hardly a great cause for celebration.
Apr
02
Weekend work impacting 12 subway lines
Posted by: | CommentsIt’s Friday, Friday, gotta get the service advisories published on Friday. Subway Weekender has the map. Otherwise, you know the drill.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, April 2 to 5 a.m. Monday, April 4, Bronx-bound 2 trains skip Bronx Park East, Pelham Parkway, Allerton and Burke Avenues due to track circuit work at Bronx Park East.
From 4 a.m. Saturday, April 2 to 10 p.m. Sunday April 3, Bronx-bound 2 trains skip Jackson Avenue, Prospect Avenue, Intervale Avenue, Simpson Street, Freeman Street, 174th Street and East Tremont Avenue due to track panel installation at Freeman Street and 174th Street. Customers traveling to these stations should take the 2 to East 180th Street and transfer to a Manhattan-bound 2.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, April 2 to 5 a.m. Monday, April 4, 4 trains run local between 125th Street and Brooklyn Bridge in both directions due to track work at Grand Central-42nd Street and gap filler replacement at 14th Street-Union Square.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, April 2 to 5 a.m. Monday, April 4, Manhattan-bound 4 trains run local from Utica Avenue to Atlantic Avenue due to platform edge rehabilitation and/or replacement at Franklin Avenue.
From 1 a.m. Saturday, April 2 to 5 a.m. Monday, April 4, 4 trains skip Fulton Street in both directions due to work at the Fulton Street Transit Center. Customers traveling to or from this station should take the 2, 3, A, C or J shuttle instead. Note: J shuttle trains run between Chambers Street/Brooklyn Bridge and Fulton Street.
From 6 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. Saturday, April 2 and from 8 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. Sunday, April 3, 5 trains:
- Run every 20 minutes between 149th Street-Grand Concourse and Bowling Green.
- Skip Fulton Street in both directions.
- Run local between 125th Street and Brooklyn Bridge in both directions.
These changes are due to track work at Grand Central-42nd Street, gap filler replacement at 14th Street-Union Square and work at the Fulton Street Transit Center.
From 11:30 p.m. Friday, April 1 to 5 a.m. Monday, April 4, 5 service is suspended between Dyre Avenue and 149 Street-Grand Concourse due to work on track signals north of East 180th Street. Customers should take the 2 between East 180th Street and 149th Street-Grand Concourse. Free shuttle buses are available between East 180th Street and Dyre Avenue.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, April 2 to 5 a.m. Monday, April 4, Bronx-bound 6 trains skip Whitlock Avenue and Morrison Avenue-Soundview due to station rehabilitation at Elder Avenue and St. Lawrence Avenue.
From 4 .m. Saturday, April 2 to 10 p.m. Sunday, April 3, free shuttle buses replace 7 trains between Flushing-Main Street and Mets-Willets Point due to switch renewal work south of Mets-Willets Point. Customers may transfer between the 7 and free shuttle bus at Mets-Willets Point.
From 10:30 p.m. Friday, April 1 to 5 a.m. Monday, April 4, free shuttle buses replace A trains between Beach 90th Street and Far Rockaway due to station rehabilitations. Note: At all times until early summer, Manhattan-bound A platforms at Beach 36th and Beach 60th Streets are closed for station rehabilitation.
From 6:30 a.m. to midnight, Saturday, April 2 and Sunday, April 3, downtown C trains skip 50th, 23rd, and Spring Streets due to work on the Broadway/Lafayette-to-Bleecker Street transfer construction.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, April 2 to 5 a.m. Monday, April 4, Brooklyn-bound D trains run on the N line from 36th Street to Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue due to structural repair and station rehabilitations. There are no Brooklyn-bound D trains between 9th Avenue and Bay 50th Street stations.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, April 2 to 5 a.m. Monday, April 4, Brooklyn-bound D trains run local from 42nd Street to West 4th Street due to platform edge rehabilitation at 34th Street.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, April 2 to 5 a.m. Monday, April 4, Queens-bound F trains run on the M line from 47th-50th Sts. to Queens Plaza due to track replacement south of 57th Street-6th Avenue.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, April 2 to Monday, April 4, Brooklyn-bound F trains run on the A line from West 4th Street to Jay Street-MetroTech due to work on the Broadway/ Lafayette-to-Bleecker Street transfer construction.
From 3:30 a.m. Saturday, April 2 to 10 p.m. Sunday, April 3, J service is suspended between Jamaica Center and Crescent Street due to track work between Woodhaven Blvd. and 111th Street. Customers should take the E to Jamaica-Van Wyck. Free shuttle buses are available between Jamaica-Van Wyck E station and the Crescent Street J station.
From 12:15 a.m. to 6 a.m., Saturday, April 2, from 12:15 a.m. to 7 a.m., Sunday. April 3 and from 12:12 a.m. to 5 a.m., Monday, April 4, Q service is suspended between 57th Street-7th Avenue and Atlantic Avenue due to track work. Customers should take the N instead. Q trains run every 30 minutes between Atlantic Avenue and Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue.
From 11 p.m. Friday, April 1 to 5 a.m. Monday, April 4, A trains replace the Rockaway Park S shuttle between Broad Channel and Rockaway Park due to station rehabilitations.
Apr
01
Breaking: Second Ave. Subway slashed to one track
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Due to budget cuts, TBM Adi will not dig out a second Second Ave. tunnel after all.
Despite the news earlier this week that the tunnel boring machine digging out the Second Ave. Subway will soon start to burrow out the eastern tunnel, the MTA has again been forced to scale back the project. Due to the $10 billion gap in the capital budget, the authority will soon cancel the eastern tunnel, sources tell me. Instead, the Second Ave. Subway will be just a one-track shuttle from 57th St. and Broadway to 96th St. and Second Ave.
“With money tight and the state slashing budgets across the board, we had no choice,” an unnamed source at MTA Capital Construction said to me today. “We could either put the entire project on hiatus again while sacrificing billions of dollars in federal funds or move forward with a one-track train that can provide some service to the Upper East Side.”
For the Second Ave. Subway, this development is another obstacle in its long and tortured history. Originally set for construction in the late 1920s, the Second Ave. Subway has run into the Great Depression, a World War and numerous recessions. The latest iteration had come to fruition in the early 2000s when a robust construction economy was driving subway expansion. At the time, plans called for three tracks, but in 2008, due to rising costs, the MTA had to cancel the third track. Now the second track is gone as well.
A one-track subway would not be unique to New York. The Franklin Ave. Shuttle currently runs on only one track, but the MTA had grand plans for the Second Ave. Subway. They had hoped to ferry up to 200,000 passengers per day while alleviating overcrowding on the Lexington Ave. lines. The one-track route will still serve thousands of passengers but the configuration will mean that only one Q train at a time can go north from 57th St. or south from 96th St. The MTA estimates it will be able to run only two or three trips per hour in each direction.
On the bright side, the MTA now expects to ready the Second Ave. line much sooner than anticipated. Work on the stations will begin immediately, and the line will open on April Fools Day in 2013.
Apr
01
State GOP may wait til ’12 to attack MTA payroll tax
Posted by: | CommentsA group of Long Island Republicans who won entry into Albany last fall did so on the promise that they would immediately work to repeal the state mobility tax. Claiming that this tax, which generates $1.4 billion in annual revenue for the MTA, is a “job-killing” one, these representatives want to shift even more of the MTA funding burden onto the shoulders of city residents while at the same time enjoying the benefits of a vibrant commuter transit system. Now, though, it seems as though those repeal efforts are going to have to wait.
As Newsday reported this morning, State Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos may be tabling repeal efforts until 2012 due to concerns over political leverage. Because the GOP would prefer to wrest other concessions out of state Democrats who, by and large, support the payroll mobility tax, Skelos may wait for a better opening before launching his assault on the MTA dollars. “When we can, we will take it up,” he said.
Meanwhile, Republicans recognize that they can’t just take this money away from the MTA without offering up replacement funds. While we don’t yet know what shape or form the compromise will take, Sen. Lee Zeldin says he is “studying ways to make up for revenue losses that would occur.” The payroll tax — just 34 cents per $100 — will remain alive, controversial and in the news for another year yet.
Apr
01
Video of the Day: New York Subway 1986 NYC
Posted by: | CommentsThis one’s been making the rounds lately. I enjoyed this glimpse back into New York City Subway history, and I always appreciate a cameo of the K train, the original route to use the Chrystie St. cut. It will make for a fun ten minutes of nostalgia on a Friday morning.
If you want to know the technical details, the filmmaker offered up an explanation on the YouTube page:
The story: in 1986 I made a round trip through the USA and Canada. The starting point was New York. So I filmed some scenes in Manhattan. And was going in the underground at 43nd St & Times Square. I filmed with a big ARRIflex 16mm camera with a 120m magazine with 7250 Kodak 16mm color reversal Tungsten 400 ASA film and a Schneider Cine Xenon 1:2/16mm lens. This equipment is good for 10 Minutes recording duration at 25 f/sec.
After I time a man comes to me and said, he’s a cameraman at ABC and filming at the subway is strictly forbidden without any permission and police is on the other end of the platform. So I was leaving the station, but I had these beautiful pics of the old times in the New York subway. At the same time I recorded the stereo sound with a SONY WM-D6C with two Sennheiser micros in stereo.
In 1986 I edited the pics to the song of the band “London Beat” — “9am at a New York subway”. About 25 years later I was uploading this movie to YouTube. But SONY Music was locking my movie because of the copyright of the song. So I deleted the audio track und was uploading the silence version. After the great response to this video of the New York subway of 1986 now I opened my archive once again with the original film and composed it with the original stereo sound to this over 10 minutes long “directors cut” of all scenes, I filmed at this day in June 1986.
Enjoy.
