Let’s end the week where we started it — with news of fare hikes. This time, we’ll focus on fare hike protests.
The first is close to home. On Monday afternoon at exactly 12 noon, a group of Staten Island drivers plan to protest the Verrazano Bridge toll hike with a little civil disobedience. A Staten Island-based driver is organizing an effort to pay the $10 toll with 1000 pennies.
Various state representatives, all of whom voted against the toll, support this effort. “This protest is a great way for Staten Islanders to show their frustration and send a strong message to Albany that Staten Islanders are tired of being treated like an ATM,” Assemblyman Lou Tobacco said. “I applaud the efforts of protest organizer Scott LoBaido and believe that we need more grassroots efforts like this one, locally and statewide, in order to truly reform New York state government.”
The MTA is ready for it and says that paying the tolls in pennies is not illegal. “We’re sure the bridge staff is going to handle any event professionally and with safety being the highest priority,” Judie Glave from MTA Bridges and Tunnels said.
Meanwhile, State Senators from Duchess, Orange, Putnam and Rockland counties are convening a task force of area residents who want more service from the MTA. The task force will put together a list of specific service enhancements that those in the area wish to see.
“The MTA tax is unfair, unreasonable and unequally distributed” State Senator William Larkin said. “This task force will give the Hudson Valley the voice to be heard in New York City and bring our transit needs into the open for discussion and future action. If they expect businesses to pay for services that the vast majority don’t use, they had better make room at the table to hear our concerns.”
I would imagine the upstate Senators will be far more successful in their efforts than the Staten Island residents will be. Now on to the service advisories:
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, May 16 to 5 a.m. Monday, May 18, uptown 2 and 3 trains run local from Times Square-42nd Street to 96th Street due to a track dig-out north of 50th Street.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, May 16 to 5 a.m. Monday, May 18, downtown 23 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 Times Square-42nd Street.
From 3:30 a.m. Saturday, May 16 to 11 p.m. Sunday, May 17, free shuttle buses replace 3 trains between Utica Avenue and New Lots Avenue due to track panel installation south of Van Siclen Avenue and switch work south of Junius Street.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, May 16, to 5 a.m. Monday, May 18, 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, May 16 to 10 p.m. Sunday, May 17, Bronx-bound 6 trains run express from Hunts Point Avenue to Parkchester due to track panel installation between Morrison-Sound View Avenues and St. Lawrence Avenue.
From 4 a.m. Saturday, May 16 to 10 p.m. Sunday, May 17, the last stop for some Bronx-bound 6 trains is 3rd Avenue due to track panel installation between Morrison-Sound View Avenues and St. Lawrence Avenue.
From 4 a.m. to 10 p.m., Saturday, May 16, Manhattan-bound 7 trains run express from Willets Point to Queensboro Plaza due to track panel installation.
From 4:30 a.m. to 12 noon, Sunday, May 17, there are no 7 trains between Times Square-42nd Street and Queensboro Plaza due to rail work along the Davis Street curve. The N and free shuttle buses provide alternate service.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, May 16 to 5 a.m. Monday, May 18, Brooklyn-bound A trains run local from 168th Street to West 4th Street, then on the F line to Jay Street, then resume local service to Euclid Avenue due to the Chambers Street Signal Modernization Project.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, May 16 to 5 a.m. Monday, May 18, Manhattan-bound A trains run local from Euclid Avenue to Broadway-Junction, then express to Hoyt-Schermerhorn Sts., then resume local service to 168th Street due to track repairs.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, May 16, to 5 a.m. Monday, May 18, there are no C trains running due to the Chambers Street Signal Modernization Project. Customers should take the A instead.
From 11:30 p.m. Friday, May 15, to 5 a.m. Monday, May 18, free shuttle buses replace trains between 205th Street and Bedford Park Blvd. due to a track chip out north of Bedford Park Boulevard.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, May 16 to 5 a.m. Monday, May 18, 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 a.m. Saturday, May 16 to 5 a.m. Monday, May 18, Manhattan-bound E and R trains run express from Roosevelt Avenue to Queens Plaza due to rail vent maintenance.
From 12:30 a.m. Saturday, May 16 to 5 a.m. Monday, May 18, Jamaica-bound E and F trains run local from Roosevelt Avenue to Forest Hills-71st Avenue due to a track chip out north of Grand Avenue.
From 11:30 p.m. Friday, May 15 to 5 a.m. Monday, May 18, Manhattan-bound E and F trains run local from Forest Hills-71st Avenue to Roosevelt Avenue due to a track chip out north of Grand Avenue.
From 12:01 a.m. to 12 noon, Saturday, May 16 and Sunday, May 17, Manhattan-bound F trains skip Ft. Hamilton Parkway, 15th Street-Prospect Park and 4th Avenue due to pump equipment rehabilitation.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, May 16 to 5 a.m. Monday, May 18, Queens-bound F trains run on the V from 47th-50th Streets to Roosevelt Avenue due to maintenance work on insulators and cables along the track.
From 12:01 a.m. to 12 noon, Saturday, May 16, Manhattan-bound F trains skip 169th Street, Sutphin and Van Wyck Blvds. due to track drain installation.
From 8:30 p.m. Friday, May 15 to 5 a.m. Monday, May 18, there is no G train service between Forest Hills-71st Avenue and Court Square. Customers should take the E or R instead.
From 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, May 16 and Sunday, May 17, Queens-bound J trains skip Hewes Street, Lorimer Street and Flushing Avenue due to installation new ties along the track.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, May 16 to 5 a.m. Monday, May 18, the last stop for some Coney Island-bound N trains is Kings Highway due to track repair near Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, May 16 to 5 a.m. Monday, May 18, N trains run local between 59th Street-4th Avenue and Pacific Street due to subway tunnel rehabilitation.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, May 16 to 5 a.m. Monday, May 18, Brooklyn-bound NR trains are rerouted over the Manhattan Bridge between Canal Street and DeKalb Avenue due to subway tunnel rehabilitation. Customers may take the 4 at nearby stations.
From 11:30 p.m. Friday, May 15 to 5 a.m. Monday, May 18, free shuttle buses replace Q trains between Prospect Park and Kings Highway due to rehabilitations of stations along the Brighton Line.
From 12:30 a.m. Saturday, May 16 to 5 a.m. Monday, May 18, R trains are extended to the 179th Street F station due to a track chip out north of Grand Avenue.
9 comments
I like the idea of protesting by paying with pennies. It reminds me of civil libertarian protesters who tried to derail British ID card efforts by standing in line to get IDs all at the same time nationwide.
I never knew people still had a use for pennies these days.
About that matter of paying with all pennies:
Anybody who, like me, is old enough to remember the 1964-65 New York World’s Fair may remember the civil rights protests that occurred at the time of the opening of the Fair. One tactic used by the protesters was to pay the $2.00 admission with 199 pennies, and then to argue about it and demand that his money be recounted.
(Two dollars was a lot more money in 1964 than it is now. For instance, the subway fare was 15 cents.)
The idea was to delay as long as possible the line of people behind him waiting to get in.
If the person behind him on the line tried to supply the missing penny himself, the protestor would refuse it and say that the admission was $2.00, not $2.01.
Another tactic used by those protestors was to deliberately run out of gas on the roads leading to the Fair, in order to block up traffic and stop people from getting to the Fair.
This is long overdue. While I do not think this will be a solution to Staten Island’s problem by any means, its a definite start. Other Boroughs get free bridges, why cant staten Island? Because of the ferry? Try getting back to staten island at night from midtown with the ferry. Thats the ONLY option we got, as the X1/S79 shuts down after a certain time. Youre lucky if it only takes two hours, and thats from the north shore. Id hate to think how long it would take if it were the south shore.
Of course, you can take a cab, which will probably cost you about $50+ bucks.
My big criticism towards this protest though is that they are giving the MTA more money purposely, which is counter intuitive. If anything, residents should be doing this almost daily until a fair price is set. That’s alot of pennies though. You’d have to buy them by the box (which is $25 in pennies rolled), and
All these protests and arguements within the senate about the bridges being free apparently has nothing to do with Staten Islanders once again getting the short end of the stick. $11 for that bridge is ludicrous. Thank god for the residential discount. Still, for what we pay, we get almost nothing in return. We get the longest commutes in the nation, and we get to use that money to fund the LIRR.
I’m just shocked that people from Staten Island are actually protesting. This is long overdue, but more needs to be done.
The handful of times I had to return from Manhattan to the South Shore after midnight, it took me about 3 hours.
I wonder why no drivers ever pick up people on the Brooklyn side of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge and take them to the other side, in order to be able to use the carpool discount. Is it the no-hitchhiking law, or are New Yorkers just generally too wary of each other? They do that all the time to get over the Golden Gate Bridge.
In some way, the tolls are “fair” because they are priced in to everything on the island. In other words, because people who move to Staten Island expect to start paying the tolls, they make lower offers for their new house, are willing to pay less for food, etc. But this is a very unfair distribution because some people just happen to need to drive across the bridge often and some never do it.
In San Francisco, they also smile and make eye contact. Here, the last time my girlfriend tried to do it to a stranger, he thought she was hitting on him.
It is funny that the protesters are gonna pay with 1,000 pennies. If you read the last paragraph in the article as Staten Island residents their fair is only $5.48 “The discounted E-ZPass toll for Staten Island residents will rise to $5.48.”
So paying $10 in pennies is just a symbolic act. I guess it it some peoples version of “tea bagging”
Says the article, “The protest is a “patriotic” and peaceful way for Staten Islanders to express their anger, he maintained. “Staten has needed to vent for a very long time.”
I know too many Staten Islanders, and am just laughing at the thought of them carrying this off peacefully. Most likely the guys from the 9th, 10th, 11th etc. cars in line will be jumping out and assaulting the penny-payers, while the rest of us sail through the E-ZPass lanes.
I just remembered more about that World’s Fair situation that I described in my post above.
The Fair management issued a rule that from that point on, no more that a certain number of coins will be accepted for paying the admission.(I’m not sure if it was 8 coins, or 10, or 12, whatever.)
The police announced that any motorist who ran out of gas on the roads leading to the Fair would be given a free pint of gas (enough to get him to a gas station) and that he would be arrested if he refused to accept it.
Like I said, this penny-paying business brings back nostalgic memories of the spring of 1964. On the other side of the tracks(literally), the original Shea Stadium was opening up.