Archive for Uncategorized
Apr
25
Once more unto the Paterson breach
Posted by: | CommentsAt the risk of sounding like Captain Ahab as he pursued his elusive whale, allow me to opine tonight on David Paterson’s appointment to the MTA. I realize I’ve already questioned his credentials, but with the advocacy groups praising his appointment, someone has to cast a critical eye on this move. I firmly believe it was not a wise one for the MTA.
This morning’s clip comes to us via Fox 5. New York’s former governor sat down with the Good Day New York hosts yesterday to talk about his upcoming role on the MTA Board. Take a gander if you have a few minutes:
For those who want to get right to the meaty part, here’s what Paterson had to say when the Fox hosts asked him about his pending appointment to the MTA Board:
You have to be confirmed by the Senate, and it’s kind of ironic because about ten years because myself and another State Senator Eric Schneiderman, who’s now our attorney general, we actually we were in an action suing the MTA because at the time the MTA had two separate sets of books, one for the public and one for their internal practices and it created a lot of mistrust with the public. What we’re trying to do now is establish the kind of policies that the people of New York could be proud of.
The emphasis clearly is mine, and his statements are more than a bit dismaying. When it comes to recent political history in New York State, the MTA has simply been unable to shake this image of having two sets of books. Despite releasing more budget data than any other state authority and making all of this information available online to the public, New Yorkers are stuck with this ten-year-old image of two sets of books. It was, as I’ve mentioned before, a claim discredited in the state’s highest court and one put forward by a comptroller who ended up in jail on corruption charges.
For the past few years, whenever any politician has cast a wary eye on the MTA, the claim of two sets of books has arisen to the forefront. Yet, it’s a claim with no foundation in established fact. The MTA hasn’t been very good — or even adequate — at spending money efficiently, but it’s been willing to show exactly how it’s spending (or, as some may say, wasting) money. It doesn’t keep two sets of books, and perpetuating this myth does nothing but harm the cause of transit in New York State.
Paterson went on a popular television show and put forward this theory as though it were fact. He also admitted that he did not know how long his MTA Board appointment would be, and he again assailed the payroll tax that he himself saw through Albany. “At one point we had to tax businesses along the MTA corridor a whole lot more than they deserved to pay. Fortunately, this new governor has put an end to that. But at the time we had to close a $20 billion deficit,” he said. That $20 billion isn’t quite accurate either as the payroll tax was designed to close the MTA’s operating budget gap and not its capital funding hole.
At this point, it’s awfully hard to take Paterson seriously as an MTA Board member. Luckily, he’ll be one of 22, and so he won’t be in a position to cause much damage. But let’s not kid ourselves: He’s as qualified to sit on the MTA Board as he was to serve as this state’s governor for two years.
Jun
17
Weekend work impacting service on 16 lines
Posted by: | CommentsBusy weekend of work again. Watch the IRT lines in particular. Subway Weekender has the map.
From 11:30 p.m. Friday, June 17 to 5 a.m. Monday, June 20, there are no 1 trains between 242nd Street and 168th Street due to station and structural rehab work at Dyckman Street, canopy and platform edge work from 242nd Street to 207th Street. A trains, free shuttle buses and the M3 bus provide alternate service. Free shuttle buses operate:
- On Broadway between 242nd Street and 215th Street, then connect to the 207th Street A station.
- On St. Nicholas Avenue between 191st Street and 168th Street
From 4 a.m. Saturday, June 18 to 10 p.m. Sunday, June 19, Bronx-bound 2 trains run express from 3rd Avenue-149th Street to East 180th Street due to track panel installation at Freeman Street and 174th Street.
From 6:30 a.m. to midnight, Saturday, June 18 and Sunday, June 19, Brooklyn-bound 3 trains run express from Atlantic Avenue to Utica Avenue due to cable installation at Nostrand Avenue.
From 12:01 a.m. to 6:30 a.m. Saturday, June 18 and Sunday, June 19 and from 12:01 a.m. to 5 a.m. Monday, June 20, downtown 4 trains run express from Grand Central-42nd Street to Brooklyn Bridge due to gap filler replacement at 14th Street-Union Square.
From 12:01 a.m. to 6:30 a.m. Saturday, June 18 and Sunday, June 19 and from 12:01 a.m. to 5 a.m. Monday, June 20, Brooklyn-bound 4 trains run express from Atlantic Avenue to Utica Avenue due to cable installation at Nostrand Avenue.
From 11:30 p.m. Friday, June 17 to 5 a.m. Monday, June 20, there is no 5 service between Dyre Avenue and 149th Street-Grand Concourse due to track work south of Morris Park. Free shuttle buses and 2 trains provide alternate service. Shuttle buses replace the 5 between Dyre Avenue and East 180th Street. Customers may transfer between the shuttle bus and the 2 train at East 180th Street. The 2 makes all 5 stops between East 180th Street and 149th Street-Grand Concourse. Note: 5 trains run every 20 minutes between Bowling Green and 149th Street-Grand Concourse.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, June 18 to 5 a.m. Monday, June 20, downtown 6 trains run express from Grand Central-42nd Street to Brooklyn Bridge due to gap filler replacement at 14th Street-Union Square.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, June 18 to 5 a.m. Monday, June 20, Manhattan-bound 6 trains skip Morrison Avenue-Soundview and Whitlock Avenue due to station rehabilitation at Elder Avenue and St. Lawrence Avenue.
From 11:30 p.m. Friday, June 17 to 5 a.m. Monday, June 20, overnight uptown A and daytime uptown C trains operate express between 59th Street-Columbus Circle and 125th Street due to track work south of 110th Street. There is no uptown local service at 72nd, 81st, 86th, 96th, 103rd, 110th, and 116th Streets this weekend. Customers traveling to these stations may take the uptown A or C to 125th Street and transfer to a downtown train. Customers heading to stations above 125th Street from these stations may take the downtown A or C to 59th Street and transfer to an uptown train.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, June 18 to 5 a.m. Monday, June 20, Brooklyn-bound A trains run local from 59th Street-Columbus Circle to West 4th Street, then are rerouted to the F line to Jay Street-MetroTech due to escalator installation work at Fulton Street and substation work at Jay Street-MetroTech.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, June 18 to 5 a.m. Monday, June 20, Brooklyn-bound C trains run on the F line from West 4th Street to Jay Street-MetroTech due to escalator installation work at Fulton Street and substation work at Jay Street-MetroTech.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, June 18 to 5 a.m. Monday, June 20, Brooklyn-bound D trains run on the N line from 36th Street to Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue (express during the day) due to structural repair/station rehabilitation from 71st Street to Bay 50th Street and ADA work at Bay Parkway.
From 5:30 a.m. to 12 noon, Saturday, June 18 and Sunday, June 19, Manhattan-bound E trains run local from Union Turnpike to Roosevelt Avenue due to cable replacement.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, June 18 to 5 a.m. Monday, June 20, Queens-bound F trains run on the A line from Jay Street-MetroTech to West 4th Street due to work on the Broadway-Lafayette-to-Bleecker Street transfer connection.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, June 18 to 5 a.m. Monday, June 20, Brooklyn-bound F trains run on the M line from 36th Street in Queens to 47th-50th Sts. due to station rehab work at Lexington Avenue-63rd Street.
From 12:01 a.m. to 12 noon, Saturday, June 18 and Sunday, June 19, Manhattan-bound F trains run local from Union Turnpike to Roosevelt Avenue due to cable replacement.
From 11 p.m. Friday, June 17 to 5 a.m. Monday June 20, there are no G trains between Hoyt-Schermerhorn Sts. and Church Avenue due to track work north of Hoyt-Schermerhorn Sts. G trains operate in two sections:
- Between Court Square and Bedford-Nostrand Avs and
- Between Bedford-Nostrand Avs and Hoyt-Schermerhorn Sts. (every 20 minutes)
Note: The A provides connecting service between Hoyt-Schermerhorn Sts. and Jay Street-MetroTech.
From 11:30 p.m. Friday, June 17 to 5 a.m. Monday, June 20, L trains run in two sections due to track work between Union Square and 6th Avenue:
- Between Rockaway Parkway and Bedford Avenue and
- Between Bedford Avenue and Union Square (every 16 minutes). Trains skip 3rd Avenue in both directions.
M14 and free shuttle buses (overnight) replace trains between 1st and 8th Avenues.
From 12:01 a.m. to 6:30 a.m., Saturday, June 18 and Sunday, June 19 and from 12:01 a.m. to 5 a.m. Monday, June 20, Brooklyn-bound N trains operate over the Manhattan Bridge from Canal Street to DeKalb Avenue due to installation of tactile and platform tiles at Cortlandt Street. There are no Brooklyn-bound trains at City Hall, Rector Street, Whitehall Street, Court Street and Jay Street-MetroTech. Customers may use the 4 train at nearby stations.
From 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., Saturday, June 18, Brooklyn-bound Q trains skip Avenue M due to completion work on southbound stairs and annex area. Free shuttle buses operate between Avenue M and Kings Highway.
From 6:30 a.m. to midnight, Saturday, June 18 and Sunday, June 19, Brooklyn-bound R trains operate over the Manhattan Bridge from Canal Street to DeKalb Avenue due to installation of tactile and platform tiles at Cortlandt Street.
Mar
07
Coming soon: In-tunnel subway advertising
Posted by: | CommentsAs the cash-starved MTA looks to milk dollars out of its existing physical plant, the authority may soon begin running moving ads inside its subway tunnels, WNYC’s Jim O’Grady reported this morning. The authority, says O’Grady, has been receiving bids from companies looking to run these ads and believes these ads will help boost its ad revenue. “Anywhere there’s a dark tunnel, you could do it,” authority spokesman Aaron Donovan said said.
O’Grady has more on the latest push to find non-tax sources for dollars:
The tunnel ads would show a string of varied images that, when viewed from a passing train, would move like a flip book. A similar effect is visible in a subway artwork called Masstransiscope between the Manhattan Bridge and the DeKalb Avenue station in Brooklyn. As the D train glides by an unused station at Myrtle Avenue, painted images flash behind vertical slits and appear to be animated.
Donovan said most ideas for non-traditional ad placement come from advertisers themselves. In recent years, the MTA has permitted video on the outside of buses and ads that wrap entire train cars, like the 6 train that became a long rolling ad for Target last fall, when the company opened a store on 116th Street in Harlem.
Then there is a program called “station domination,” in which a single company plasters ads on multiple surfaces — columns, stairwells, turnstiles — throughout a subway station. Ads at Union Square Station have even been projected onto floors and walls. And now the MTA website displays ads for free credit checks and the Crate & Barrel wedding registry.
Over the past few years, the MTA has seen a marked increase in advertising revenue. Despite a recession that has hit the advertising industry particularly hard, the authority drew in $109 million annually in 2009 and 2010 and has seen that total annual take increase from $27 million just 20 years ago. The authority is hoping to realize $120 million in sales this year.
These days, ads are everywhere underground. From branded stations to fully wrapped train cars, we see commercial space throughout the system, and the in-tunnel ads will be just another source of revenue upon which transit agencies throughout the world have long relied. For a few dollars more, I’ll take it.
