The new South Ferry station, seen here in January of 2013, will reopen in two years after a complete rebuild. (Photo by Benjamin Kabak)
One of the many challenges currently facing the MTA involves the lingering damage from Superstorm Sandy. Although it’s been nearly 2.5 years since the storm and its surge swept through New York, the MTA has repaired only two of the damaged subway tunnels, and the rest are seemingly on borrowed time. The agency simply can’t spend the money fast enough and can’t take multiple tunnels out of service at the same time. So long as the infrastructure holds up enough, the MTA can make the repairs over the next few years, but it’s a battle against the corrosive effects of saltwater and time.
In addition to the tunnels, the new South Ferry station remains out of service. Although the MTA is officially hoping to reopen South Ferry in 2016, in all likelihood, as we’ve heard rumored, the station will remain closed into 2017. It needs a full rebuild and more as the MTA is working to solve some problems with the original construction and fortify and harden the station and surrounding tunnels. It’s a project nearly as expensive as the original new-build station was nearly a decade ago.
But the money is on the way. Not that funding was in doubt, but in a statement released earlier this week, Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand along with Congressman Jerry Nadler announced $343 million for South Ferry, a new federal grant in addition to the nearly $200 million in federal dollars they had delivered last winter. This isn’t new money; the MTA had been expecting it as part of the Sandy recovery package. Still, it’s always a plus to have the cash in hand.
“After Superstorm Sandy devastated New York and damaged critical infrastructure throughout the city, we need to make sure we aren’t just building back, but that we are building back stronger so we can be prepared when the next storm hits,” Senator Gillibrand said. “I’m pleased to announce this federal funding for the South Ferry station and will continue to fight for resources to strengthen and build back the critical transportation infrastructure New Yorkers rely on to get to work every day.”
What I find most interesting about the press release though aren’t the mundane statements or announcement of the money. Rather, it’s a three-sentence description of the rehab work. “This project,” the release notes, “will rehabilitate the South Ferry Terminal Station to a State of Good Repair and protect the restored infrastructure from future flooding. The rehabilitation work will include leak remediation and repairs to the station, rail tracks, line equipment, signals and power equipment. Flood protection measures will include hardening of station entrances, vents, manholes, hatches conduits and ducts.”
Take a close look at that second sentence. The rehab work includes leak mitigation. This is essentially a tacit admission that the MTA’s contractors royally screwed up the job the first time around. Due to Sandy, the MTA has a do-over, but it’s not one they ever wanted. At least now, though, they can correct one mistake of the past, and as the federal recovery dollars continue to flow, I can’t help but wonder where this money is for the MTA’s capital plans needed for the future and not just those to rebuild after a storm.
17 comments
Too bad they wouldn’t got with the real do-over. Just expand the platform of the pre-existing South Ferry station northward, renovate it to be nicer, and live with the platform extenders. For much less money.
That fixes nothing but the 5-car issue. There are numerous other deficiencies, like the lack of recovery time and train cleaning time, the 190-ft-radius curve, the narrow platform, and the incompatibility of gap fillers with ADA. Gap fillers in general are an old relic that does not deserve to be used in the NYC subway anymore.
If you’re interested, here’s the MTA’s Purpose and Need document from when they were building the new South Ferry. Section 1.5 is two full pages of why the old station is inadequate.
http://web.mta.info/capconstr/.....d_need.pdf
“Gap fillers in general are an old relic that does not deserve to be used in the NYC subway anymore.”
I await your proposal for Union Square.
The curve is slow, but it doesn’t limit capacity relative to the new station with no tail tracks.
The train could be cleaned at 242nd street only.
No it wouldn’t be idea, but cost-benefit and opportunity cost would have led to the lower cost solution. The high cost solution was chosen because the federal money seemed “free,” but nothing is ever free.
And the new station also has deficiencies. It is deeper, requiring more time to get to and from the train, and — more vulnerable to flooding while located right next to the Harbor. The only other station that close to water is PATH at Hoboken.
I agree.
And rather than say “…federal dollars they [senators] had delivered”, I would say tax dollars the taxpayers delivered.
1. Federal money is other people’s money and other people’s money is free.
2. Federal taxes paid by me are too high, Federal taxes paid by you are too low.
Maybe what we need is for the people who ride the subway and vote for these clowns to pay a tax assessment before exiting the subway; if you didn’t pay enough Federal tax for your share of the South Ferry, Path, 2nd Ave, the shovel-leaner, the 181st st elevator button-pusher etc then you have to
wash dishesdo track work until you’ve paid up.This would be fun to watch.
Given that aside from Rogers Junction in Brooklyn the gap fillers at 14th are the chokepoint of the Lex, it would be very good if they could be removed from service in some way. The best thing coming to mind would be extending the platform south, but that would obviously require massive construction. On the other hand, it was done when the platforms were being extended to ten cars in the first place…
I use the 1 train everyday at Rector St and I can tell you that the loop is a much more efficient operation. During peak periods terminal hold-outs were a big problem at then new terminal because for some reason they were unable to get the trains turned around fast enough. The delays disappeared after the loop went back into service. The original proposal for the station called for three tracks.
Completely untrue. Terminal hold outs continue to be a problem. On both ends but its regulated by timely holds at Chambers and the delay at Rector getting passengers to move forward.
In addition to what Brooklynite said, those gap fillers regularly break and when they do they either shut down South Ferry or if they’re stuck open shut down all service south of Chambers.
There’s switched on both sides of the station, there isn’t enough room to extend the old one
They would have to have moved the switch to the north. The move would be to the north, since that would have just meant digging up and putting pack part of Battery Park.
The elevation changes dramatically after the switch. It would take reengineering the loops as well as Joralemon St tube in that area. Its not feasible.
If you think too hard about it (or perhaps not hard enough), it’s really something how quickly the feds found billions for Sandy relief but couldn’t find a few hundred million dollars to help with the cost of the station at 41st and 10th Ave. What shortsightedness from our politicians.
Understood, but Sandy recovery funds are a completely separate pool of money & couldn’t be used for the station at 41st & 10th.
I think you’ve missed the point. I haven’t said that the MTA should take Sandy money and use it for the station. Obviously, they can’t do that.
The point is, the politicians find money when they want to. Cuomo and his rather ridiculous LaGuardia AirTrain; the Calatrava Stegosaurus; etc.
If the powers that be really wanted a 41st and 10th 7 stop, it would be built today. They just didn’t care.
If all of the developers of the Hudson Yards area were made to contribute towards the cost of building that station it could have happened.