Archive for Asides
Mar
19
On Student MetroCards, the right audience and the right message
Posted by: | CommentsOver the last few months, I’ve been highly critical of advocacy efforts in support of Student MetroCards. The most vocal groups have targeted the MTA despite the fact that the city and state — and not the MTA — should be funding student transit. Today, though, the Straphangers Campaign ramped up their efforts to target Albany. The campaign members and City Council rep Margaret Chin parked themselves outside of Stuyvesant High School this afternoon and gave out 1200 leaflets urging parents to call Gov. David Paterson and ask him to support Student MetroCards. “Call now or pay later for student MetroCards,” Gene Russianoff said.
The Straphangers also noted that the city is supposed to reimburse the MTA for student transit due to lost revenue from subsidized fares. As it is painfully obvious that the city and state’s combined $70 million in student transit contributions do not cover the $214 million the MTA says it costs per year to run the program, the appropriate governing bodies should be paying for this program. Mayor Bloomberg continues to say that the city has no money for student transit, but someone — be it Albany, City Hall of the city’s parents — are going to have to pay.
Mar
19
DeBlasio calls for more anti-fare jumping measures
Posted by: | CommentsIn light of reports this week that both subway and bus fare-jumping cost the MTA a combined $35 million in 2009, Public Advocate Bill DeBlasio has called upon the authority to keep station agents and save money elsewhere. “It is penny wise and pound foolish,” he said yesterday, “to layoff station agents and let security cameras fail when our transit system is losing almost $30 million to turnstile jumpers. We need to do more to protect straphangers and their own funds. A good way for the MTA to save money would be to start investing in subway security.”
While DeBlasio noted the huge increase in lost revenue to fare jumpers from 2008 to 2009, the truth is that the numbers jumped because the MTA found a more accurate way to count those who hop the turnstiles. Crime, says the authority, is at an all-time low, and NYPD enforcement will continue even as station agents are eliminated. “Subway security is overseen by the NYPD’s Transit Bureau, which has done a phenomenal job in achieving record-low crime levels in the subway system,” the agency said in a statement. “These levels continue to drop, and are currently 9% below last year and 14% below 2008.”
Meanwhile, lost in the brouhaha over fare jumpers is the fact that, despite the high numbers, the rate of fare-jumping remains below two percent of overall ridership. That’s an acceptable shrinkage rate for any business. Said the MTA, “Fare evasion is an age-old problem in subway systems around the world that is expensive for the MTA and for our riders, who end up paying more when fellow New Yorkers choose to break the law. It has existed regardless of station staffing levels, which is why we continue to work with the NYPD on cost effective strategies such as targeting high-incidence locations and placing cameras in key areas.”
Mar
18
Second Ave. residents bemoan blasting
Posted by: | CommentsFor much of 2010, MTA crews have been blasting away underneath Second Ave. in the East 90s, and the residents have not complained. However, with an unannounced change in the blasting schedule, crews are now detonating charges that are louder than usual later into the evening, and as Dan Rivoli details in Our Town, Upper East Siders are less than pleased with this development. The louder blasts came about because of the need to build starter tunnels, but it’s the time change that has driven residents and local business owners up the walls. “They should let the residents know and keep us informed. Everything is in the dark,” Joe Pecora of the Second Ave. Business Association said. “There’s been a lack of communication between all entities involved.”
For its part, the MTA says that no blasts happen after the city’s cut-off time for work and that this new round of blasting should wrap next month. “This new blast does take longer to prepare and prep for and, in essence, pushes back the blasting later on into the day. But nothing has gone on past 8 p.m.,” Kevin Ortiz, agency spokesman said. Such are the problems of subway construction in a heavily developed area.
Mar
18
Fare-beating a bus problem too
Posted by: | CommentsThe Daily News continued its week-long series on fare-beating and the MTA today with a look at how the problem plagues the city’s buses. According to today’s report, 6.7 million bus riders hopped aboard without paying a fare, and the delinquent riders cost the MTA approximately $8 million in lost revenue. Meanwhile, the cops aren’t too active in stopping the bus fare-beating. They arrested or summonsed 1826 people on buses last year. “You have better odds winning Lotto than you do for getting caught by the NYPD for evading the fare on a bus,” Gene Russianoff said to the News. “This lack of enforcement by city police costs the MTA millions of dollars, money the MTA could use badly to meet a crippling deficit.”
The problem is compounded by the fact that bus drivers are explicitly told to do nothing about fare beaters. They keep track of those who don’t pay via a clicker but due to valid safety concerns, are told not to confront those who skip out on the fare. The vast majority of those sneaking on do so through the back door, but until cops ramp up enforcement efforts, this bus-based fare-beating will continue. For more on the issue of fare-beaters, check out the coverage from Tuesday and Wednesday.
Mar
16
State Senators push for more fiscal oversight
Posted by: | CommentsAs politicians have blustered about calling for more financial oversight of the MTA, a bipartisan group of State Senators have taken the plunge forward on this project. Earlier this year, Carl Marcellino, a Republican, and six co-sponsors introduced a bill that would create an MTA Interim Finance Authority. The interim authority would administer and oversee all of the MTA’s fiscal responsibilities and, ideally, lend even more transparency to what has become a fairly transparent budget process. A similar bill has been submitted to the state Assembly, but both have simply been referred to committee so far.
In discussing the bill with the Brooklyn Eagle, State Senator Martin Golden, one of the bill’s co-sponsors, leveled a familiar charge toward the MTA. “The leadership of the MTA has failed time and time again to properly manage the agency finances,” he said, “and yet, it seems that everyone knows and acknowledges that this problem exists, but no one wants to take the MTA on. No matter what actions are taken, the MTA continues to create an even greater deficit.”
Let us supposed that the Senate and Assembly approve this bill. Let us suppose that the MTA Interim Finance Authority comes into being and helps with a forensic audit of the MTA. Who will these Senators blame when the MTA’s finances are found to be acceptably accurate and the deficit keeps growing? They won’t point fingers at themselves, but they are the ones to blame.
Mar
15
Labor lends a powerful voice to the Student MetroCard fight
Posted by: | CommentsAs the MTA counts down the days to the elimination of the Student MetroCard program, the Transport Workers Union Local 100 is lending its powerful voice to the fight. As Rachel Monahan and Pete Donohue of the Daily News detail, union officials have asked the state to pressure the city to increase its contributions to student transit. “The City of New York has a responsibility to ensure that our children have the means to get to school,” TWU head John Samuelsen said.
Labor is entering this fray because TWU members know that a healthy MTA is will only help them and because many of the union members are parents who will be forced to pay for student transit if the city and state don’t pony up the dough for this program. While a Bloomberg spokesperson defended the city’s $45 million contribution as “doing its part [so] that the program stays in place,” the truth remains that the city pays far more per student for yellow school bus transportation than it does for student MetroCards. The MTA is not a school bus provider, and the city and state should ensure that this program is fully funded. The TWU’s support on this issue could help tip the money the MTA’s way.
Mar
12
Report: No pay cuts for MTA admins
Posted by: | CommentsAlthough the MTA is still planning on laying off 680 administrative workers later this year in an effort to save $65 million annually, a report in amNew York today alleges that the authority will not be enacting a 10 percent pay cut as was originally planned. Heather Haddon reports that the MTA was able to “cut expenses to avoid the $49 million pay reduction.” While union officials responded as union officials will to this news, I’m left wondering about the accounting. The total package of service cuts will, for instance, save New York City Transit $77.6 million in annual reductions. As much as I don’t like to advocate for cutting salaries, I’d much rather see Transit enact just $28.6 million worth of cuts and have those administrators take their pay cuts than suffer through the upcoming service cuts.
Mar
12
A night off
Posted by: | CommentsI had grand plans to travel to West Palm Beach to spend some time with my grandparnets this weekend. In the last four hours, however, my second computer in as many months died, and my flight was diverted to Orlando due to storms in the Palm Beach area. So I’m hanging out in the Orlando airport with nothing to do. I’ll get some posts up during the day. For now, I’ve got nothing for you.
Mar
11
A groundbreaking at Atlantic Yards
Posted by: | CommentsEarlier this afternoon, Bruce Ratner and a bunch of New York politicos celebrated the groundbreaking of the Barclays Center at the Atlantic Yards. The ceremony was filled with all of the pomp and circumstance one would expect from an oft-delayed groundbreaking, but I can’t help thinking about how the MTA has voluntarily allowed itself to get screwed over by Ratner at a time when it most needs the money.
Less than nine months ago, the Board agreed to sweeten their sweetheart deal for the land rights above the Vanderbilt Yards. Instead of a $100 million payment, the agency agreed to accept $20 million now and $80 million deferred over the next 22 years. Without reappraising the land and without considering other offers, the cash-strapped agency simply forewent money it badly needs.
Over the last few months, a few who pay more attention to the Atlantic Yards happenings than I do have written about this decision. Norman Oder at Atlantic Yards Report tackled it in December, and Noticing New York wrote an extensive post on the topic as well. Today, the Daily Intel calls everyone involved with the deal losers, and the MTA’s fiscal woes march ever onward.
Mar
11
Transit wraps 7 line work three weeks early
Posted by: | CommentsFor Queens residents who live along the 7 train, the last few weekends have been headache-inducing, to say the least. With no 7 trains between Times Square and Queensboro Plaza, those heading east (or into the city) had to find alternate routes involving transfers, shuttle buses or the N and R trains. This work was to continue for the next three weekends, but Transit announced earlier this week that the work had wrapped up ahead of schedule. For Queens residents, this came as welcome news indeed.
“We were able to accomplish a lot of extremely important work in a shorter time period than we had planned and we are grateful for the patience of 7 Line riders for whom this service is a lifeline on the weekend,” NYC Transit President Thomas F. Prendergast said in a statement. “After meeting with the community, we took another hard look at what we could do to restore service as quickly as possible.”
Transit says they replaced the tracks on the curve leaving Vernon-Jackson and installed a new switch at Hunter’s Point station. Workers shored up the tunnel wall in the Steinway Tube and installed the elevator shaft at Court House Square. With this announcement of an early completion, 7 train riders are in for a smooth ride until after the baseball season when Transit plans to conduct track work near the 111th St. station.
