Updated 9:24 p.m.: This morning, the Daily News reported on an initiative put forward by New York City Transit President Thomas Prendergast that would see some high-traffic stations get some badly-needed renovations. According to Prendergast, eight stations — including Yankee Stadium and Third Ave./149th St. in the Bronx, Union Square and Times Square in Manhattan, Atlantic Ave./Pacific St. and Crown Heights-Utica Ave. in Brooklyn and Flushing-Main St. and Roosevelt Ave./74th St. in Queens — will get blitzed by teams of carpenters, masons, ironworkers and painters in an effort to spruce up stations that had been renovated within the last decade.
Prendergast decided to pursue these eight stations both as a display of the MTA’s new component-based approach toward station maintenance and because these high-traffic hubs were falling apart, just a decade or less after their last makeovers. The stations will then receive more frequent maintenance inspections. “We let conditions slip,” he said.
More specifically, Prendergast’s crack team of repairman are part of Transit’s new dedicated Station Maintenance teams. According to Transit, these teams will target previously rehabilitated stations in an effort to repair defects, and then the stations will enter the new Station Maintenance Program that will help preserve investments and avoid future disrepair. Transit chosen these station in this pilot because they include the four heaviest used stations in each borough.
This new project goes hand in hand with the new Target Component Program I mentioned above. This program will focus on station renewal rather than full-scale rehab. It is, according to Transit, a “less holistic approach” aimed at focusing on components in 150 stations that need repair. It’s a wider effort but one that won’t see all stations returned to a State of Good Repair.
This evening, CBS covered the story, and their video report featured a brief snippet from yours truly. Unfortunately, I can’t embed the video, but you can view it on CBS’ website. In a nutshell, I like the component-based maintenance plan. It is, after all, far more realistic than the seemingly unattainable State of Good Repair. But I wonder if the money used on the Station Maintenance program would be better spent on stations in far worse shape than these. I know Transit wants to keep its crown jewels looking shiny, but there are some very decrepit stations both within and without of the borough of Manhattan.
Anyway, check out the video. I always enjoy being a talking head for the local newscasts.