Second Ave. Sagas

Jan

Photo: Enrico Natali’s Subway

By Benjamin Kabak · Comments (1) ·

When the Nostalgia Train ran last month, straphangers itching to experience or relive riding on trains from another era had the chance to do so. It wasn’t quite the same as being there though as the cars, as they’re usually kept on display, have a decidedly museum-y feel to them. Yet, the novelty never wears off.

For a different kind of glimpse back into the city’s history, we have Enrico Natali. In 1960, the photographer would surreptitiously capture scenes from the New York City subway. Today, we do the same with cell phone cameras and digital devices, but Natali used a Yashica. Starting this weekend, his photos will be on display in California, a far ride from New York, but luckily for the Internet, we can view them from the comfort of our own computers.

The Daily Mail has a bunch of shots and a small article about Natali, and the Museum of Contemporary Photography has a page of 28 Natali photos. My favorite is this capture of 51st Street. The missing tiles on the wall are evocative of stations that today are in need of repair. After 52 years, some things never change.

Categories : Subway History

Comments (1)

Jan

For convention center, Genting may fund ‘Train to the Plane’

By Benjamin Kabak · Comments (54) ·

New Yorkers of a certain age remember a then-ubiquitous television ditty from the early 1980s. “Take the train, take the train to the plane,” went the jingle. It was an advertisement for a supposedly super-fast airport subway service that ran express on the 6th Ave. in Manhattan, switched to the 8th Ave. tracks at West 4th St., made one stop in Brooklyn at Jay St.-Borough Hall and then bypassed the rest of the IND Fulton Line until Howard Beach.

By 1990, the Train to the Plane died. It was a slow and painful demise brought on in part because the service was ahead of its time. It wasn’t truly a train to the plane. Rather, it was a train to a bus to the plane, and no one wanted to wind up in Howard Beach still a significant ride away from any JFK Airport terminals. Today, with the success of the AirTrain and when a super-express to JFK from Manhattan would be worthwhile, ridership along the IND Fulton line has grown such that sacrificing regular service to bypass stops would create deep animosity in Brooklyn and Queens.

Yet, as plans for a convention center in Ozone Park take center stage, the Train to the Plane is back on the table. We first got wind of this idea yesterday when transit advocates expressed their lukewarm embrace of the plan. In a recent radio appearance, though, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said a super-express along the IND line is a big part of the plan and that Genting will pay for the servce, whatever that means.

“It’s a non-binding letter of intent,” Cuomo said of Genting’s proposal. “All that letter of intent means we have an intention to. It was a proposal I wanted to talk about in the State of the State — the terms, the conditions, Port Authority land, Genting would want to reinstitute the train to the plane, which they would pay the cost of. But the terms and conditions will be in a piece of legislation.”

Far from clearing up the matter, Cuomo’s statement simply leads to more questions. What did Genting volunteer to pay for? Will they fund restoration of a service that wasn’t ripe for the subway 20 years ago and isn’t a better fit today? Will they fund operating costs in perpetuity? Can they guarantee that a Train to the Convention Center that bypasses some crowded stops and used to rely on a key switch and a dead end at Queensbridge won’t have a negative impact on the 6th and 8th Ave. IND lines? What protections does the MTA have against being forced to spend any money on this new service?

On the one hand, if Genting were able to answer these questions and provide the money, a funding deal could provide the model for a so-called public-private partnership. On the other, it’s hard to see how this plan wouldn’t leave thousands of riders and the MTA holding the short straw. Redeveloping the Javits Center land is a fine idea. Having someone else pay billions to build a convention center isn’t a bad one either. But transportation planning must be a part of the process, and right now, all we’re getting are platitudes with few promises.

Categories : Queens

Comments (54)

Jan

‘Mr. Lhota Goes to Albany’

By Benjamin Kabak · Comments (10) ·

After passing through the Senate yesterday, Joe Lhota is now the MTA CEO and Chairman.

No one will ever accuse Albany of moving quickly. Two months and three weeks after Gov. Andrew Cuomo nominated Joe Lhota to serve as the next MTA CEO and Chairman, the State Senate finally voted to confirm him to the position. The vote, replete with two short committee hearings and plenty of grandstanding from Senators, carried with no nays, and Lhota will officially assume his role atop the beleaguered authority.

After the confirmation vote, as politicians issued their perfunctory congratulations, the governor was so happy that his nominees were approved that he didn’t even mention Lhota by name. “New York will benefit from the leadership and experience of these dedicated public servants,” Mr. “I Am The Government” said of Lhota and two other public authority nominees. “These new members of the administration will transform the state’s transportation and energy infrastructure while creating jobs for New Yorkers. I thank Majority Leader Skelos and Senators Fuschillo, Dilan, Ranzenhofer, Perkins, Maziarz, Parker, and DeFrancisco for the expeditious confirmation process.”

Lhota, who, as an executive at Madison Square Garden, rode the subway daily from Brooklyn Heights to Manhattan, pledged to be a “rider-chairman” during his hearings and said as much after the fact. “As a life-long New Yorker and transit rider, I understand the importance of the MTA to New York’s economy and the responsibility of being chairman,” he said. “I’m grateful to Governor Cuomo for his nomination and to the Senate for its support, and I look forward to creating a more efficient and effective MTA for our riders and New York taxpayers.”

In a sense, efficiency and effectiveness were the key words that emerged from two hours of Senate confirmation hearings. Lhota stood before first the Senate Transportation Committee and later the Senate Finance Committee as he withstood petty complaints from some of the more narrow-minded Senators and bigger-picture concerns from the few representatives in Albany who seem to understand the importance of and current problems with New York City’s transit system. From complaints about weekend service changes to rats to particularly groans about specific stations, the Senators in Albany basically reenacted what would have happened had 20 random straphangers gathered in a room to grill Lhota. Both the new Chairman and the State Senators tried their best to avoid controversial big-picture topics of government structure.

A few moments from the hearings, though, are worth our attention. The first key moment involved an exchange between Lee Zeldin, the Long Island Republican so hellbent on ripping away billions from the MTA budget, and Lhota. Every the payroll tax avenger, Zeldin said he wanted the MTA to be so accountable “for the taxpayer dollars so there isn’t a need to use taxpayer dollars at all.”

Lhota would have none of it. “There is no way the MTA can operate without taxpayer dollars. The entire operation of the MTA cannot be paid for from the riders,” he said. “It was never envisioned that way.” Throughout the hearings, Lhota repeatedly had to inform State Senators that the MTA is likely the most transparent authority in the state with voluminous budget materials available for all to see and constant audits and oversight from the city, state and federal government. These are things State Senators should know.

In another moment of candor, Eric Adams from Brooklyn’s District 20, which ends across the street from my apartment, placed much of the MTA’s problems on Albany’s shoulders. “If we want to get New Yorkers out of cars, then we need a first-class transportation system. Albany has not done enough,” he said.

Yet, as Streetsblog’s Noah Kazis noted, it wasn’t clear what would be enough. Lhota, who wasn’t there to take controversial stances, declined the opportunity to argue for bridge tolls with dedicated transit revenues. Albany, he said, determines the MTA’s funding equation, and those are decisions for state representatives to address. Instead, Lhota pledged to do the most with what the MTA has and be a better communicator — noble, if bland, goals.

Of course, no day in Albany would be complete without unnecessary references to a tired cliche, and here Lhota acquitted himself nicely. During the Finance Committee hearing, Lhota said it was time to cease repeating eight-year-old claims proven false about two sets of books. “It needs to end,” he said. “It was nothing more than a marketing gimmick by a former state controller who didn’t know what he was talking about.”

Later during the full Senate meeting on Lhota’s nomination, Velmanette Montgomery praised Lhota for the wrong reasons. She said she was pleased to hear that the MTA would no longer be keeping two sets of books because the incoming chair said “it needs to end.” That is, of course, a gross distortion of Lhota’s words but a clear sign of the kind of inept representation we enjoy in our state capital. Why listen today if you’re not going to listen for the next decade?

After the hearing, Lhota even had to clear up Montgomery’s SNAFU. “There were never two sets of books,” he said adamantly to reporters. “There will never be two sets of books.”

Ultimately, Lhota emerged from Albany displaying a measured sense of calm and a keen understanding of the MTA’s system and the challenges it faced. I was originally skeptical of his appointment as he was an executive with little background in transit, but if he’s willing to be more than a Cuomo “Yes Man,” I think he could do a good job as the new MTA CEO and Chairman. I might not be a true believer yet, but as Lhota walked away with the nomination, I was impressed. He handled himself well in the face of the same old, same old in Albany. If anything, it was a good start to a tough job.

Categories : MTA Politics

Comments (10)

Round-up: Lhota confirmed, FastTrack starts tonight · Two brief items for the end of your day: The New York State Senate confirmed Joseph Lhota as the next CEO and Chairman of the MTA. I’ll have more from the confirmation hearings later, but as a preview, the lovely “two sets of books” meme that just won’t die reared its head. Lhota acquitted himself quite well during the committee confirmation hearings, and after expressing initial skepticism over his appointment, his performance today gave me hope that he’ll be an effective leader who won’t just rubber-stamp everything Gov. Cuomo sends his way.

In more important news, the MTA’s partial line shutdown program, dubbed FastTrack, starts tonight along the East Side. The full details are right here in a press release. Starting tonight and continuing for four nights, there will be no 4, 5 or 6 service between Atlantic Ave. and Grand Central Terminal from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. Straphangers are, of course, treating this like the apocalypse. Plan your evening rides, late-night journeys and early-morning commutes accordingly. I’ll have more on this as well tomorrow. · (9)

Link: End the ‘No Pants Subway Ride’ · Yesterday afternoon, thousands of straphangers gathered at various subway rides to participate in Improv Everywhere’s 11th Annual No-Pants Subway Ride. Although I participated one year, I didn’t even bother to give the event any press beforehand. It’s a stale idea that no longer carries with it any element of fun, surprise or prank simply because people without pants now outnumber people wearing pants on the subway when the times comes. AT&T’s flash mob commercial is more original than that.

I’m not the only one who finds the annual event past its prime. Over at Gothamist, John Del Signore urges the organizers to just give it up already. Generally, he writes, we have either no or too much desire to see each other in our underwear. I like the money ‘graph though: “It’s not edgy if hundreds of people are doing it. It’s conformity, not originality, no matter what message you’re advertising on your ass. Want to be bold and daring? Take off your pants and ride the subway on any other day than this. Dropping trou and following the herd as part of a premeditated Facebook status update isn’t outrageous.”

Perhaps Del Signore and I need to lighten up or perhaps you kids need to get off our lawns. Either way, if and when this event becomes but a footnote in the history of the subways, I won’t shed too many tears or my pants. · (16)

Jan

Queens Rail Connections: La Guardia, Convention Center

By Benjamin Kabak · Comments (56) ·

Behind Staten Island, Queens is the borough with the most potential for better rail service and with obvious connections as well. La Guardia Airport sits tantalizingly out of reach from the subway while the 7 line’s promise of service beyond Flushing has remained unrealized for decades. Service into and out of Brooklyn that doesn’t need to detour into Manhattan is inadequate, and transit to the eastern reaches of the county could be much faster.

Still, New York’s planners are dreaming big when it comes to Queens, and two projects that may rely, to varying degrees, on rail connections are on the table. First up is a plan from the Port Authority to replace La Guardia Airport’s Central Terminal Building. The agency released a request for information (PDF) last month, and The Journal profiled the planned upgrades late last week.

Essentially, the new terminal building will replace the 46-year-old structure that isn’t prepared for today’s modern airplanes. The Port Authority is planning a $3.6-billion construction effort that would commence in 2014 and wrap by 2021. Now, before we get our hopes up, the current project does not include a rail component simply because the Port Authority cannot control that element of the project, but while we often build without keeping future provisioning in mind, the Port Authority is requiring its bidders to do so. The RFI says:

While the Project scope does not include rail service, the new CTB shall be designed so as not to preclude future rail access. The design shall incorporate provisions for track alignment and connections compatible with current New York City plans for light and heavy rail, should future funding become available.

A faint glimmer of hope is better than nothing at all, but any such rail link would have to overcome extreme NIMBY opposition in Queens. If recent history is any indication, such a plan would involve a fight for the ages — if the money for a La Guardia subway connection ever materialized.

Across the borough, where plans to build a massive convention center are taking center stage, transit advocates are leery. As I noted last week, transit access to Ozone Park is rather sparse, and building a convention center at the Aqueduct site would raise significant transportation concerns. Transportation Nation’s Andrea Bernstein has more on the vague plan to provide express service from Manhattan to the Aqueduct:

One idea bandied about was that the MTA would run express trains along the A line. But that idea was tried once before — in the now-defunct “Plane to the Train.” That service was plagued by low ridership, and created hostility by setting up a service that whisked past waiting straphangers on the local platforms. “If one of their ideas is to create a convention express modeled after the JFK airport express, that’s going to be much harder to do than it was in the 1970?s and ’80?s,” the Straphangers’ Campaign’s Gene Russianoff said.

Russianoff noted that many neighborhoods along the A and C lines — including Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, and Bedford-Stuyvesant — have undergone rapid growth in recent years, and couldn’t withstand reductions in service.

But Bob Yaro, president of the Regional Plan Association, which is backing the convention plan, thought adding express trains might be possible. Yaro also said the air train to JFK could be extended to Aqueduct, or the LIRR Rockaway Beach line could be brought back to life. Both plans would cost considerably more.

Extending the JFK air train seems likely but useless. To reach the air train still requires a significant amount of travel time to Jamaica on the E or Howard Beach on the A. Adding an Aqueduct stop wouldn’t improve Manhattan travel times. Reactivating the Rockaway Beach line would also be an expensive undertaking that would face opposition from residents who live along the old right-of-way and QueensWay advocates who want to turn the ROW into a park. Of course, the dollars remain an issue as well.

For now, then, as the MTA’s capital dollars are focused on Manhattan, these Queens’ projects will remain on paper. The La Guardia rail connection would be a vital link for the city while a convention center cannot sprout up in Ozone Park without speedier and more reliable rail service to Manhattan. Hopefully, those pushing these plans are paying attention.

Categories : Queens

Comments (56)

Jan

Overenforcing quality-of-life offenses underground

By Benjamin Kabak · Comments (23) ·

This woman could find herself under arrest for treating the subway bench like her bed. (Photo by flickr user SpecialKRB)

The New York City Transit Rules of Conduct present an entertaining document for those with the patience to wade through a whole bunch of legalese. It is, for instance, a violation to play to music in the subways other than that “listened to solely by headphones or earphones and inaudible to others,” and straphangers may not “cause annoyance, alarm or inconvenience to a reasonable person or create a breach of the peace.” Clearly, these are rules that aren’t enforced more often than they are.

Now, while the same standard applies to just about every rule Transit has put forward, now and then, cops do decide to enforce the rules. One of those rules — 1050.7 (10) — concerns straphanger behavior on subway seats. No person, the rule says, may “occupy more than one seat on a station, platform or conveyance when to do so would interfere or tend to interfere with the operation of the Authority’s transit system or the comfort of other passengers.” The next part bans passengers from “plac[ing] his or her foot on a seat on a station, platform or conveyance.” To violate that one is to commit a crime that can lead to an arrest.

Arrests, as I’m sure most passengers know, are few and far between. In fact, even a summons for such behavior is rare, and we’ve seen countless people both take up more than their fair share of space or prop their feet up late at night on an empty train. Personally, I don’t condone such behavior. It’s inconsiderate of others who must later sit in that seat and inherently selfish, but as crimes go, it is nearly victimless.

Yet, leave it up to the NYPD to over-enforce such a rule. As Joseph Goldstein and Christine Haughney of The Times reported this weekend, violators of such minor offenses have faced inexplicable arrests and nights in jail simply because they put their feet up on a subway seat. The write:

Police officers handed out more than 6,000 tickets for these violations in 2011. But a $50 ticket would have been welcome compared with the trouble many passengers found themselves in; roughly 1,600 people like Mr. Peppers were arrested, sometimes waiting more than a day to be brought before a judge and released, according to statistics from district attorneys’ offices.

In some instances, passengers were arrested because they had outstanding warrants, or did not have photo identification. Some arrests were harder to explain, with no apparent cause other than the seat violation. In at least one case, the arrest led to deportation.

It is not clear why [William] Peppers [who spent 12 hours in jail] was not just given a ticket. He had an arrest record that dated back three decades and involved firearm possession, robbery and the sale of crack cocaine; in 2009 he was released from prison, where he has spent much of his adult life. But he and his lawyer said there was no warrant for his arrest.

In interviews, public defenders who represent many of the passengers arrested say their clients tend to be among the working class, often kitchen workers who are exhausted as they begin or end long shifts at Manhattan restaurants…In a recent decision, a Brooklyn judge, Noach Dear, dismissed the case of a man cited for taking up more than one seat on an A train at 3:10 a.m. on Dec. 24. “There appears to be a disconnect between the code’s goals and its enforcement,” Judge Dear wrote in his decision. He said that he and other Brooklyn judges had found these arrests happened “late at night or early in the morning when subways are generally at their least crowded levels.”

Citing the controversial “broken windows” theory, NYPD officials claim targeting these quality-of-life offenders keeps the subway system safe. “One of the reasons that crime on the subways has plummeted from almost 50 crimes a day in 1990 to only seven now is because the NYPD enforces violations large and small, often encountering armed or wanted felons engaged in relatively minor offenses, like putting their feet up, smoking on a platform, walking or riding between cars, or fare beating,” Paul Browne, an NYPD spokesman, said.

Still, off the record, cops claim that supervisors push them to “bring in one collar” per month. Oftentimes, violators do have outstanding warrants, but now some otherwise innocent defenders are fighting back. One diabetic who wound up in jail secured a $150,000 judgment against the city when cops denied him access to insulin. He was arrested for putting his foot on a seat in order to inject himself with his insulin. Another has filed a suit because police detained him on grounds of an outstanding warrant when such a warrant did not exist. A third had his case dismissed on a promise of good behavior after he was arrested when he dozed off and his leg “leaned on the empty seat next to him,” says The Times.

As I read this story over the weekend, the one word I kept returning to was “overreaction.” It’s important to maintain, as one of those endless automated announcements reminds us, an orderly and clean subway system, but doing so while violating the civil rights of others and basic common sense seems a bit over the top to me. Perhaps such a violation should carry a fine, but to arrest people for putting their foot on a seat in an empty subway car at 2:30 a.m. isn’t what these Rules of Conduct are about.

Categories : MTA Absurdity

Comments (23)

Jan

Qpocalypse starts as work impacts 15 subway lines

By Benjamin Kabak · Comments (7) ·

For weekend straphangers, December is always a welcome month. Weekend work slows down considerably, and taking the trains on Saturday and Sunday is a decidedly humane experience. Now it’s January, and well, things are B-A-D.

The MTA is conducting work that impacts 15 lines this weekend, but that hardly tells the entire story. For seven of the next eight weekends, Q service is suspended between Prospect Park and 57th St., and on Monday evening, Transit’s FasTrack program takes center stage as the 4, 5 and 6 enjoy some weeknight shutdowns. Anyway, you know the drill. Subway Weekender has your map.

From 4 a.m. Saturday, January 7 to 10 p.m. Sunday, January 8, downtown 2 trains operate express from East 180th Street to 3rd Avenue/149th Street due to track panel installation at East 180th Street.

From 10 p.m. Friday, January 6 to 5 a.m., Monday, January 9, 2 trains run local in both directions between 34th Street-Penn Station and Chambers Street due to switch renewal north of 14th Street.

From 10 p.m. Friday, January 6 to 5 a.m. Monday, January 9, there is no 3 service between 34th Street-Penn Station and New Lots Avenue due to switch renewal north of 14th Street. 2 and 4 trains provide alternate service.

From 10 p.m. Friday, January 6 to 5 a.m. Monday, January 9, 4 train service is extended to and from New Lots Avenue replacing the 3 in Brooklyn due to switch renewal north of 14th Street. Trains run local in both directions between Atlantic Avenue and New Lots Avenue.

From 10 p.m. Friday, January 6 to 5 a.m. Monday, January 9, downtown 4 trains run express from 14th Street-Union Square to Brooklyn Bridge due to work on the Broadway/Lafayette-to-Bleecker Street transfer construction and station painting at Astor Place and Spring Street.

From 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., Saturday, January 7 and from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., Sunday, January 8, downtown 5 trains run express from East 180th Street to 3rd Avenue-149th Street due to track panel installation at East 180th Street. Note: Trains run every 20 minutes during this time.

From 10 p.m. Friday, January 6 to 5 a.m. Monday, January 9, downtown 6 trains run express from 14th Street-Union Square to Brooklyn Bridge due to work on the Broadway/Lafayette-to-Bleecker Street transfer construction and station painting at Astor Place and Spring Street.

From 11 p.m. Friday, January 6 to 4:45 a.m. Monday, January 9, free shuttle buses replace A trains between Beach 90th Street and Far Rockaway due to track panel installation from Beach 67th to Beach 60th Streets. (Repeats next two weekends.)

From 6:30 a.m. to midnight, Saturday, January 7 and Sunday, January 8, downtown C trains skip 50th, 23rd, and Spring Streets due to electrical and substation work at Jay Street-MetroTech.

From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, January 7 to 5 a.m. Monday, January 9, Brooklyn-bound D trains run via the N from 36th Street to Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue due to station and line structure rehabilitation near 25th Avenue.

From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, January 7 to 5 a.m. Monday, January 9, E trains run via the F line in both directions between 36th Street in Queens and West 4th Street due to work on the 5th Avenue Interlocking Signal System. E platforms at 5th Avenue, Lexington Avenue-53rd Street and Court Square are closed.

From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, January 7 to 5 a.m. Monday, January 9, Brooklyn-bound F trains run via the A line from West 4th Street to Jay Street-MetroTech due to electrical and substation work at Jay Street-MetroTech.

From 12:01 a.m. to 5:30 a.m., Saturday, January 7, Manhattan-bound F trains run local from Forest Hills-71st Avenue to Roosevelt Avenue due to track maintenance work between 65th Street and Northern Boulevard.

From 4 a.m. Saturday, January 7 to 10 p.m. January 8, Jamaica Center-bound J trains skip Kosciuszko Street, Gates Avenue, Halsey Street and Chauncey Street due to track panel installation north of Hewes Street.

From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, January 7 to 5 a.m. Monday, January 9, uptown N and R trains skip Prince, 8th, 23rd, and 28th Streets due to track replacement south of 28th Street and track maintenance at 8th Street.

From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, January 7 to 5 a.m. Monday, January 9, N trains stop at DeKalb Avenue in both directions due to track replacement work at Atlantic Avenue.

From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, January 7 to 5 a.m., January 9, there is no Q trains service between 57th Street-7th Avenue and Prospect Park due to track replacement work at Atlantic Avenue. For service between 57th Street-7th Avenue and Atlantic Avenue-Pacific Street, customers may take the R or N instead. Free shuttle buses provide service between Atlantic Avenue-Pacific Street and Prospect Park. (Repeats next three weekends in January and last three weekends in February.)

(Rockaway Shuttle)
From 11 p.m. Friday, January 6 to 4:45 a.m. Monday, January 9, A trains replace S trains between Broad Channel and Rockaway Park due to track panel installation from Beach 67th to Beach 60th Streets. Free shuttle buses replace A trains between Beach 90th Street and Far Rockaway. (Repeats next two weekends.)

Categories : Service Advisories

Comments (7)

Jan

Rendering: A mezzanine at 34th and 11th

By Benjamin Kabak · Comments (33) ·

The new Manhattan terminus for the 7 train will feature a lengthy mezzanine and a direct entrance into the Javits Center. (Click the image to enlarg)

During the one and only time I went into the construction site for the 7 line extension, I wasn’t allowed to bring a camera. It is, as any subway construction site is, a grandiose cavern with equipment everywhere. When I saw it this past summer, eventual platforms were under construction and the two-story cavern was receiving its finishing touches.

Today, The Architect’s Newspaper shares some photos and renderings from the site. Tom Stoelker had a chance to journey down to 34th ST. and 11th Ave. late last month, and today, he published his piece on the site. It has photos of the work in progress as well as the latest in renderings. The scene above shows the station mezzanine, complete with entrance to the seemingly doomed Javits Center, and his post also features a nifty cutaway of the 7 train’s new deep cavern station.

The 7 line extension is still set to open in December of 2013, less than two years from now. By then, hopefully, work will have started at the Hudson Yards site, and we’ll have a better sense of what the future holds for the Javits Center. The subway, which has long ushered in development to the city’s wilds, will be there waiting for it all to grow.

Categories : 7 Line Extension

Comments (33)

Jan

69th St. NIMBYs rear their ugly heads again

By Benjamin Kabak · Comments (46) ·

Upper East Side NIMBYs are worried that shady folk might 'hang out' at a planned subway entrance at 69th Street and Lexington Ave.

Remember how the MTA wants to make the 68th St. station along Lexington Ave. ADA-accessible and easy to navigate by adding an entrance with elevators at 69th St.? And remember how a bunch of entitled East Side residents (along with their fireplaces) threw a fit about the plan back in October? Well, they’re back.

At last night’s Community Board 8 meeting, those overly elitist and out-of-touch residents of 69th St. once again spoke out against the MTA’s plans. This time, they brought along lawyers who threatened to defend their so-called “bucolic” lives on 69th St. between Lexington and Park Avenues in the very heart of the nation’s densest urban area.

DNA Info’s Amy Zimmer was once again on the scene. She wrote:

Residents on the tony block, many of which came to a Community Board 8 meeting Wednesday night, are worried the entrances would ruin their quiet residential enclave. “Sixty-ninth Street is a really bucolic street,” said Charles Salfeld, a resident of the Imperial House at the southwest corner of East 69th Street and Lexington Avenue. “But [by] putting this subway entrance in front of our building, you turn 69th Street into 68th Street, which is a busy commercial street…The idea of spending $57 million because you want to put in an elevator, and that elevator is going to change the character of our buildings, is madness.”

…Residents are teaming up — and hiring legal muscle — to stop the project. “The co-ops on 69th Street have gotten together and formed a block association and retained counsel,” resident Bill Roskin said, with his lawyer from Davidoff Malito & Hutcher sitting next to him.

Roskin told MTA officials that owners on the “pristine” block were hopeful to have a discussion about changing the entrances…Transit officials said it would be more complicated and expensive to build the entrances on East 67th or 70th streets, and that they have already spent a lot of time looking at alternative scenarios and narrowing them down to the most feasible ones.Roskin told DNAinfo he was particularly concerned that the unmanned station would “attract people looking to hang out.”

Few locals seemed to care about alleviating the crush of straphangers coming on or off the platforms. “So it’s congested,” Salfeld said. “Manhattan is a congested place.”

People might hang out. At a subway station. On Lexington Ave. and 69th St. If that’s not NIMBYism acting as a front for veiled classism or racism, I don’t know what it is.

According to sources who were at the meeting, this group of residents could charitably be described as an unpleasant bunch, and now they’re going to sue. Much like the residents of 86th St. who objected to subway entrances on their less “bucolic” and “pristine” block, they’re going to lose. They should be ashamed of themselves, but they’re not. It’s the ugly, ugly side of New Yorkers rearing its head. It’s NIMBYism, and it should not be tolerated.

Categories : Manhattan

Comments (46)

Page 8 of 360« First «...6 789 10...»Last »

Photo: Enrico Natali’s Subway

For convention center, Genting may fund ‘Train to the Plane’

‘Mr. Lhota Goes to Albany’

Queens Rail Connections: La Guardia, Convention Center

Overenforcing quality-of-life offenses underground

Qpocalypse starts as work impacts 15 subway lines

Rendering: A mezzanine at 34th and 11th

69th St. NIMBYs rear their ugly heads again

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