This was not the best week for the MTA:
- On Monday, the agency announced that planned service upgrades would be shelved. Coupled with a few other announcements — such as fewer on-time trains — it ended being a pretty bad Monday for the MTA.
- On Wednesday, the Straphangers Campaign announced that about half of all subway cars can be considered clean.
- But, hey, I was on TV, and the MTA landed a $1-billion land rights deal for the Hudson Yards. It wasn’t all bad.
On with the service advisories:
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, March 29 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 31, there are no 2 trains between Atlantic Avenue and Chambers Street. Uptown 2 trains replace the 5 from Bowling Green to 149th Street and uptown 5 trains replace the 2 from Chambers Street to 149th Street. These changes are due to several projects, including station rehab at Chambers Street and tunnel lighting in the Clark Street tunnel and Wall Street.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, March 29 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 31, there are no 3 trains running. The M7, M102 and free shuttle buses replace the 3 between 148th Street and 135th Street. The 4 trains will make all 3 stops between Atlantic Avenue and New Lots Avenue. These changes are due to third rail work at 145th Street.
From 4 a.m. Saturday, March 29 to 10 p.m. Sunday, March 30, Bronx-bound 4 trains skip 161st, 167th, 170th Streets, Mt. Eden Avenue and 176th Street due to track panel installation at 161st and 167th Streets.
From 4 a.m. Saturday, March 29 to 10 p.m. Sunday, March 30, Flushing-bound 7 trains run express from Queensboro Plaza to Flushing-Main Street due to track and switch work at 74th Street.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, March 29 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 31, there is no C train service between 168th Street and 145th Street; customers should take the A instead. Customers should note, however, that the Queens-bound A and Brooklyn-bound C trains run express from Hoyt-Schermerhorn Sts. to Utica Avenue and uptown AC trains skip Spring, 23rd and 50th Streets. These changes are due to several projects including roadbed replacement at 175th Street, tunnel lighting work between 168th and 207th Sts., hydraulics work between Hoyt-Schermerhorn and Utica Avenue and at West 4th Street.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, March 29 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 31, free shuttle buses replace A trains between 168th Street and 207th Street. Customers may transfer between the Broadway or Ft. Washington Avenue shuttle buses and the A train at 168th Street due to roadbed replacement at 175th Street and structural and tunnel lighting work between 168th and 207th Sts.
From 11 p.m. Friday, March 28 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 31, free shuttle buses replace A trains between Far Rockaway and Beach 90th Street due to track tie replacement work from Beach 67th Street to Far Rockaway.
From 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday, March 30, Manhattan-bound D trains run on the N line from Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue to 36th Street (Brooklyn) due to fiber optic cable installation between 9th Avenue and 36th Street. The last stop for some Coney Island-bound N trains is Kings Highway.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, March 29 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 31, Queens-bound E trains run express during the midnight hours from Roosevelt Avenue to Forest Hills-71st Avenue due to electrical conduit installation.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, March 29 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 31, Queens-bound E trains skip Spring and 23rd Street due to hydraulics work at West 4th Street.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, March 29 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 31, Manhattan-bound F trains run on the V line from Roosevelt Avenue to 47th-50th Streets due to work in the 63rd Street tunnel.
From 8:30 p.m. Friday, March 28 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 31, there are no G trains between Forest Hills-71st Avenue and Court Square due to electrical conduit installation. Customers should take the E or R instead.
From 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, March 29 and Sunday, March 30, Queens-bound J trains skip Hewes Street, Lorimer Street and Flushing Avenue due to tie and rail replacement.
From 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday, March 29 and Sunday, March 30, Q trains run in two sections due to track maintenance work:
– Between 57th Street-7th Avenue (Manhattan) and Brighton Beach and
– Between Brighton Beach and Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, March 29 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 31, Forest Hills-bound R trains run express from Roosevelt Avenue to Forest Hills due to electrical conduit installation.
2 comments
I think your posts on the deferred/canceled service upgrades have really missed the boat.
Recall that the MTA originally planned a steeper fare hike. Governor Spitzer insisted that it be scaled back. Spitzer compounded the misery by holding the largely symbolic “base fare” at $2.00, ensuring that the beneficiaries of his generosity would be those who ride the subway the least often. Had the MTA been allowed to go forward with their original fare proposal, they’d have the resources to implement the service improvements that they’ve now been forced to postpone.
I do agree with you that the MTA is guilty of, at the very least, very poor PR management. Making the improvements contingent on unpredictable future tax revenues always struck me as a bad idea. And I don’t understand how Lee Sander could have been so sure they had the funds at the beginning of March, only to pull the rug out a few weeks later.
But I do applaud the basic idea, which is that you shouldn’t make service changes that exacerbate the deficit. The real fault is with politicians, and in particular ex-Governor Spitzer, who forced the MTA into givebacks that left the agency more dependent on fluctuating real estate taxes than it should be.
I don’t think, Marc, that I’ve “really missed the boat.” That’s a pretty harsh critique of my work.
You want to lay the blame for these financial problems on Spitzer’s back, then so be it. But the reality is that about four weeks ago, Elliot Sander stood in front of a large crowd of people and promised service upgrades. He said that the MTA’s finances were looking good and that the upgrades would be forthcoming, possibly as soon as this summer. Even had they raised the base fares, it’s doubtful that they would have come up with the money to cover this tax revenue shortfall. And my point, in the end, was that the MTA should tone down their public promises of service upgrades if our current situation is the endgame.
I agree with you that our politicians should shoulder the blame. For decades, they have routinely shortchanged the MTA, and that’s a problem that should be rectified. I’ve written about that on numerous occasions. But in this case, I stand by what I wrote last week: The MTA should not have made public statements about the service upgrades if they couldn’t stand behind them 100 percent. Considering the MTA’s need for the congestion pricing revenue, now is not the time for the agency to be suffering from a credibility problem.