For transit advocates, this weekend represents the calm before the storm. The Senate has filed its bill to fund the MTA, and it will be ripe for a vote come Monday. Meanwhile, it’s prospects for pure passing look dim.
While Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith continues to say that he’ll deliver 32 votes for it, no one knows whence these votes will come. Some State Senates refuse to vote for any sort of payroll tax; others don’t like the idea of taxicab revenue heading upstate (vote in a Crain’s poll); others see the practical problems of collecting revenue from cabs; and some just want to toll the bridges.
From a practical political perspective though, this Senate plan — if it passes — is going to be just a one-house solution. The Assembly is going to pass Sheldon Silver’s modified tax-and-toll plan, and the two chambers will have to conference.
This reality was made abundantly clear by Elizabeth Benjamin today when she reported on a cab protest at City Hall. New York State Assembly representatives joined taxi drivers in protesting the $1 fee Senator Smith’s bill has proposed. Sheldon Silver, meanwhile, has pledged a passing vote on his version of the bill. It’s a political mess.
Meanwhile, Streetsblog points us to an Assembly representative who wants to tax jet fuel in order to fund the MTA. Ben Fried calls this one of the most “far-fetched nonsensical ‘solutions'” offered so far and adds: “Of course, there’s still time for more, so let’s hear ’em: What’s the wackiest thing you can think of to slap a tax on to fund the MTA? Pet food? Cell phone minutes? Shoe strings? Nothing, apparently, is off limits. Except driving.”
And so we wait.
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From 5 a.m. to 12 noon Sunday, April 26, Manhattan-bound 2 trains skip Jackson Avenue due to track repair.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, April 25 to 5 a.m. Monday, April 27, downtown 2 and 3 trains run local from 96th Street to Chambers Street due to a track dig-out north of 50th Street. Note: Overnight, downtown 3 trains run local from 96th Street to 42nd Street.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, April 25 to 5 a.m. Monday, April 27, uptown 2 and 3 trains run local from 42nd Street to 96th Street due to a track dig-out north of 50th Street.
From 4 a.m. Saturday, April 25 to 10 p.m. Sunday April 26, 3 trains run in two sections due to switch repairs and station painting at Sutter Avenue, Saratoga Avenue, Rockaway Avenue and Junius Street:
- Between 148th Street and Utica Avenue and
- Between Utica and New Lots Avenue (every 20 minutes)
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, April 25 to 5 a.m. Monday, April 27, there are no 5 trains between 149th and East 180th Streets due to structural work north of East 180th Street. Customers should take the 2 instead.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, April 25 to 5 a.m. Monday, April 27, shuttle trains run every 30 minutes between East 180th Street and Dyre Avenue due to structural work north of East 180th Street.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, April 25 to 5 a.m. Monday, April 27, Bronx-bound 6 trains run express from 3rd Avenue to Hunts Point Avenue due to platform edge rehabilitation at Cypress Avenue, East 143rd Street, East 149th Street, and Longwood Avenue stations. From 4 a.m. Saturday, April 25 to 10 p.m. Sunday, April 26, the last stop for some Bronx-bound 6 trains is 3rd Avenue.
From 4 a.m. Saturday, April 25 to 10 p.m. Sunday, April 26, Manhattan-bound 6 trains run express from Pelham Bay Park to Hunts Point Avenue due to panel installation from Castle Hill Avenue to Parkchester.
From 11:30 p.m. Friday, April 24 to 5 a.m. Monday, April 27, free shuttle buses replace A trains between 168th Street and 207th Street due to tunnel structure and lighting work. Customers may transfer between the Broadway or Ft. Washington Avenue shuttle buses and the A train at 168th Street.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, April 25 to 5 a.m. Monday, April 27, uptown A trains run local from Jay Street to 168th Street due to the Jay Street station rehabilitation and construction of the underground connector to Lawrence Street. Note: C trains are not running during this time.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, April 25, to 5 a.m. Monday, April 27, downtown A trains run local from 168th Street to 59th Street, then express to Canal Street, where trains resume local service to Jay Street due to Jay Street station rehabilitation, construction of the underground connector to Lawrence Street and the Chambers Street Signal Modernization project. Note: C trains are not running at this time.
From 10:30 p.m. Friday, April 24 to 5 a.m. Monday, April 27, free shuttle buses replace A trains between Beach 90th Street and Far Rockaway due to track panel work. Note: A trains to Far Rockaway run to Rockaway Park instead.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, April 25, to 5 a.m. Monday, April 27, there are no C trains running. A trains replace the C between 168th and Jay Street and F trains replace the C between Jay Street and Euclid Avenue. This is due to the Jay Street station rehabilitation and construction of the underground connector to Lawrence Street.
From 11:30 p.m. Friday, April 24 to 5 a.m. Monday, April 27, free shuttle buses replace D trains between 205th Street and Bedford Park Blvd. due to a track chip-out of Bedford Park Blvd.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, April 25 to 5 a.m. Monday, April 27, Coney Island-bound D trains run on the N line from 36th Street to Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue due to work at the 38th Street Yard.
From 12:01 p.m. Saturday, April 25 to 5 a.m. Monday, April 27, there are no E trains between West 4th Street and World Trade Center due to the Chambers Street Signal Modernization project. Customers may take the A train instead.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, April 25 to 5 a.m. Monday, April 27, G trains replace the F between Hoyt-Schermerhorn Sts. and Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue due to the Jay Street station rehabilitation and construction of the underground connector to Lawrence Street.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, April 25 to 5 a.m. Monday, April 27, there are no G trains between Forest Hills-71st Avenue and Court Square. Customers should take the E or R instead.
From 5 a.m. to midnight, Saturday, April 25 and Sunday, April 26, N trains run local between 59th Street-4th Avenue and DeKalb Avenue due to subway tunnel rehabilitation.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, April 25 to 5 a.m. Monday, April 27, NR trains are rerouted over the Manhattan Bridge between Canal Street and DeKalb Avenue in both directions due to electrical work in the Montague Tunnel. Customers may take the 4 at nearby stations.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, April 25 to 5 a.m. Monday, April 27, Manhattan-bound Q trains skip Newkirk Avenue due to station rehabilitation.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, April 25 to 5 a.m. Monday, April 27, Manhattan-bound Q trains run express from Kings Highway to Prospect Park due to Brighton Line station rehabilitation.
5 comments
Don’t be fooled into thinking that those “What’s next…” scenarios are so nonsensical that they wouldn’t happen. One already has — I’m specifically looking at toe one about funding the MTA with a tax on cell-phone minutes.
There’s a line item on my Verizon wireless bill which reads “NY Local McTd Sales Tax” – the “Metropolitan Commuter Transportation District” tax – which is a 3/8% sales tax collected in the 5 boroughs and Dutchess, Nassau, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Suffolk, and Westchester Counties for just that purpose. (See the link here)
Can you do an entry on whether or not the MTA can default on its debt? Did it come near during the fiscal crisis or any other time? Would it be in much better shape if it went through bankruptcy?
I usually gloss over the grammatical errors, but “calm before the store”?
And “whence” means “from where”, so “from whence” is redundant….
Pornography tax for the MTA? Increase the cigarette tax for the MTA too!
Jet fuel tax makes sense, actually. Air travel and the subway are not substitutes, but they both come from the realm of transportation, and air travel is something that needs to be discouraged in order to reduce emissions. You could even argue that reducing air travel will (slightly) increase subway ridership by prompting more people on the East Coast to take Amtrak instead, so that they’ll take the subway from Penn Station to their final destination.