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For the Hamptons, a new ‘Cannonball’ from Penn Station

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on April 18, 2013

A 94-minute, non-stop ride to the East End is in the offering for the looming summer beach season as the LIRR has announced plans to run its Cannonball train non-stop from Penn Station every Friday from May 24 through Labor Day. The one-seat ride will skip Jamaica and head straight to Westhampton with subsequent stops at Southampton East Hampton, Bridgehampton and Montauk. The Friday train will depart Penn Station at 4:07 p.m. with westbound service — including a stop at Jamaica — departing Montauk at 6:37 p.m. on Sunday nights.

“There’s no better way to get from Manhattan to the Hamptons,” LIRR President Helena E. Williams said in a statement. “Our customers have long asked for a one-seat ride from Penn Station to the Hamptons and we are listening to them. This move eliminates the need to change trains with baggage at Jamaica.”

With a 34 percent increase in summer ridership last year, the LIRR is hoping to boost service along the Montauk Branch. The speedy ride east will cost passengers $27, and passengers have the option to reserve a seat for an additional fee. Previously, such Cannonball service had originated at the Hunterspoint Avenue Terminal in Long Island City with many riders picking up the train at Jamaica, and the new service does away with the transfer. For Hamptons-bound travelers, the Cannonball train has been a mainstay since the 1890s, and it remains both the longest route and the only one with a name operated by the MTA.

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7 Line ExtensionAsidesMTA Absurdity

Scientists: 7 line extension safe from electric eels

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on April 17, 2013

In what is possibly the weirdest MTA-related story in years, DNA Info reports today that the 7 line extension is safe from electric eels. Now, an astute reader may be wondering how this came about a year before the project is due to wrap and why anyone would be focusing on electric eels in the first place. Well, the story is quite strange.

As Jill Colvin reports, MTA Board Member Charlie Moerdler raised the issue at a recent board member when he claimed to remember eels coming ashore and wreaking havoc on metal pipes during construction of the Javits Center. Moerdler helped the Javits Center secure an exemption to New York’s plumbing rules, and the convention center received permission to use plastic piping. “That’s the issue. Does it apply to the 7 line and does it apply to the area where the Hudson Yards is?” he asked.

Colvin dug up the March 1980 Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Javits Center and could find no mention of electric eels raising any alarms. She also spoke with the eel project coordinator at the Hudson River Eel Project who said that electric eels do not live in New York Harbor or the Hudson River. “I don’t think you have to worry about electric eel damage,” Chris Bowser said. The MTA, meanwhile, has no plans to to eel-proof the West Side subway extension, and I for one am glad that’s settled.

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7 Line ExtensionAsidesStaten Island

Staten Island pol sounds off on 7-to-Secaucus plan

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on April 12, 2013

Albany: Home to a bunch of crooks, stool pigeons and politicians who are adept at cutting off their noses to spite their face. We know that Albany’s relationship with sensible transit planning isn’t a particularly strong one, but Diane Savino, a State Senator from Staten Island takes the cake this week. In response to the EDC endorsement of the 7 line to Secaucus, Savino has vowed a war. She will do all she can to block any state funding for such a subway extension until and unless Staten Island gets a subway connection to the rest of the city first.

“Are they out of their minds?” Savino said to the Staten Island Advance. “We are part of New York City, we are a borough of over half a million people, it is past time we have similar transportation alternatives that are provided to the other boroughs. The NYCEDC would be better served by following their mandate, serving the people of the City of New York.”

Savino’s attitude is beyond provincial and focuses far too much on state borders instead of the proper measures of use, efficiency and economic development. Would a subway from Staten Island to Manhattan (or even to the R train along 4th Ave.) be feasible, cheaper and, most importantly, as heavily utilized as an extension into Secaucus? Without much further study, we don’t know, but the Hoboken/Secaucus area has a much higher population density than Staten Island. Were Savino to make good on her threat, it could seriously impact a project that could be of great benefit to all of New York City.

Meanwhile, if Savino is serious about a subway to Staten Island, she could start by being a better transit advocate. Over the years, she has voted to reduce MTA subsidies without reading the bill at hand, she has urged for a repeal of the payroll mobility tax, and she has was disproportionately outraged over a request for information the MTA issued two years ago.

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AsidesMTA Construction

Washington Heights: Fix up 181st St. already

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on April 2, 2013

Remember when, five months ago, a hurricane flooded the New York City subway system, thus washing out tunnels and a few stations? It certainly didn’t take too long for the MTA to get service up and running and implement solutions — from the temporary to the permanent — to restore service. The same has not happened at 181st St. in Washington Heights, and a neighborhood group is raising a stink about it.

In 2009, when a ceiling collapse at the deep station along the 1 train led to service problems and safety concerns, the MTA vowed quick, but it’s been nearly four years with only temporary construction in place. Now, WE ACT is speaking out. “When Sandy hit, they got stuff moving quickly at the South Ferry,” the group’s spokesman Jacob Carlson said. “It’s been four years since the roof collapsed and not a hammer has been lifted.”

Money doesn’t seem to be the culprit here. The MTA had vowed to start work a year ago, but each time the due date came around, the project was delayed. Last week, though, Citnalta won a $42 million contract for the work, but no start date has been unveiled. As various maintenance projects move forward, I’m left with the same concern: When the MTA has a fire under its belly lit by politicians and Board members, action happens quickly. When projects are left to languish, they languish with a vengeance. For riders at 181st St., they continue to eye the ceiling warily as repairs slowly inch down the pike.

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AsidesMTA Economics

With newfound transit money, a debate over spending it

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on March 28, 2013

As the New York economy has continued to improve, a bit of good news concerning transit funding emerged from Albany yesterday. Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced “major investments in public transit” as part of his 2013-2014 budget. For the MTA, this means an additional increase of approximately $40 million more than it requested for operations support and a reauthorization of capital financing for both the 2005-2009 and 2010-2014 campaigns.

So how to spend it then? Opinions were diverse. “They should increase bus and subway service where they can,” \Gene Russianoff of the Straphangers Campaign said. “That should be their top priority.” MTA Board members agreed. “We ought to be looking for ways to give back,” Allen Cappelli said. “We did the fare and toll increases, and people have the right to expect we’d look to expand service.”

TWU officials had other ideas. John Samuelsen, president of the union, said the money should go toward a new contract for the MTA’s workers — an idea long at odds with the MTA’s triple-zero approach. And therein lies the rub. It’s clear to me that the MTA should restore services lost to the 2010 cuts or expand its current offerings, but someone else always wants the money. For now, though, we’ll have to wait as the MTA won’t unveil an updated budget until the summer.

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AsidesView from Underground

Judge: NYC Transit rule on IDs unconstitutional

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on March 25, 2013

A New York City Transit rule requiring subway passengers to carry an ID with them at all times is unconstitutional, a federal judge ruled last week. The ruling comes in response to a lawsuit filed by the New York Civil Liberties Union on behalf of two photographers arrested taking photos of the Nostalgia Train at Broad Channel a few years ago. The NYCLU has trumpeted the case as a defense of New Yorkers’ rights to take photographs in the subway without fear of arrest or having to show ID to the police.

The rule under dispute — Section 1050.5.4(3) of Transit’s Rules of Conduct — required “all persons on or in any facility or conveyance….[to] provide accurate, complete and true information or documents requested by New York City police officers or Authority personnel acting within the scope of their employment and otherwise in accordance with law.” According to Judge Cheryl Pollak’s decision, the law as worded is far too vague and “reaches a substantial amount of constitutionally protected conduct.” It also “vests almost unlimited discretion in the NYPD officers charged with enforcement” as they are supposed to determine what constitutes “accurate, complete and true information or documents.” (The ruling, complete with a discussion as to how NYPD officers didn’t even understand the law they were enforcing, is available here as a PDF.)

Although the MTA has not yet responded to the decision, the NYCLU championed this legal verdict. “This decision is a victory for the freedom of people to walk around free from showing their papers, a core American right,” NYCLU Staff Attorney Mariko Hirose said in a statement. “It’s past time for the NYPD to learn about the Constitution and stop harassing and even arresting people for exercising their basic rights.” In the past, wrongful arrests for subway photography have cost the city, and time and again, courts have sided with the public in such disputes.

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AsidesBrooklyn

Transit finally announces late April opening for Smith-9th Streets

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on March 21, 2013

It’s not quite the first quarter of 2013, but it will have to do. Barring an earthquake, alien invasion, Godzilla or some other act of God, the Smith/9th Sts. station on the Culver Viaduct will reopen during the week of April 22nd, Transit announced tonight. The station, which has been closed for the better part of two years, has undergone extensive renovations, and although some elements which do not impact overall functionality remain unfinished, the F and G trains can begin stopping there again soon.

“This has been a long and complicated project but we are grateful for the community’s patience while we performed this necessary work,” Thomas F. Prendergast, president of MTA New York City Transit, said in a station. “This station will be 80 years old this summer and this rehabilitation will see it reach that milestone with a much improved appearance and functionality.”

The elevated station — the highest in the system, in fact — spans the Gowanus Canal and serves as the subway gateway to Red Hook. The rehabilitation project has been reconfigured and delayed numerous times, and the 22-month station closure has impacted accessibility in transit-poor parts of Brooklyn. Its return in a month will be quite welcome indeed.

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AsidesSecond Avenue Subway

Link: Anatomy of a SAS construction rescue

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on March 21, 2013

On Tuesday night, Joseph Barone found himself in a life threatening situation as he trapped in a pit of mud and freezing water in the Second Ave. Subway construction site, 100 feet below street level. For first responders and construction crews, danger similar to that Barone faced has been rare during this subway project as safety has increased over the past century. When the city first built the IRT, 16 workers died, but for the SAS extension, no one has lost a life yet. Tuesday was, in fact, the closest we’ve come to a fatality so far.

Today, The Times goes underground to profile the Barone rescue mission. The worker found himself stuck in mud and pinned beneath plywood as his co-workers struggled to improvise. Using a rig, they braced Barone; using a ConEd suction cup, they tried to clear the mud. Meanwhile, the hours ticked away.

After four hours, Barone was freed, but he suffered ligament damage and hypothermia. One firefighter involved got stuck in the same muck and broke an arm. Two others suffered minor injuries, but all four are expected to make a full recovery. The photos we see of the construction sites are breathtaking, but there’s a human element involved. These workers put themselves at risk every day, and on Tuesday, one narrowly escaped. [The New York Times]

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AsidesMTA Politics

Still no replacement 79 days after Lhota’s departure

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on March 20, 2013

It took the Cardinals in the Vatican two days to pick a new pope. It’s been 79 days and counting since Gov. Andrew Cuomo last had a permanent MTA Chairman and CEO. Joe Lhota, the GOP’s leading fundraiser in the race for mayor and, as of last Friday, still a straphanger on the 42nd Street shuttle, left his role as the agency’s CEO and Chairman as 2012 melted into 2013, and in the meantime, there’s been absolute silence from the governor’s office.

Earlier this week, DNA Info’s Jill Colvin canvassed the usual suspects as she assessed the MTA vacancy. The agency is in very good interim hands right now with Tom Prendergast serving as the MTA’s operational head and Fernando Ferrer as temporary Board chairman, but the lack of action from Albany on a key political appointee is concerning to transit advocates. “They have other fish to fry and this is not at the top of their to-do basket,” Gene Russianoff of the Straphangers Campaign said. “It can go on too long. I don’t think it’s at that point yet, but I wish it were further along than I sense it is.”

When Jay Walder left, Gov. Andrew Cuomo quickly convened a search committee to identify the best replacement, but no such body has been put together this time around. Cuomo, whose name has been at the forefront of the MTA’s post-Sandy recovery efforts, hasn’t shown much willingness to engage in transit policy and politics, but Ferrer, who doesn’t want the permanent job, believes something will happen soon. “I know he’s working on this,” he said. “That answer satisfies me completely. And I expect a move here fairly soon.” Meanwhile, the agency is in a “wait-and-see” mode as the days tick away.

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AsidesSecond Avenue Subway

Worker trapped in mud at Second Ave. Subway site

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on March 19, 2013

A worker at 2nd Ave. and 95th St. is trapped in mud at the Second Ave. Subway construction site, according to multiple reports. As NBC New York reports, “The worker has been stuck in what firefighters at the scene described as ‘muck’ from the waist down inside a trench about 75 feet below street level at 95th Street and 2nd Avenue. The 911 call was placed at about 8:40 p.m.”

According to recent reports, crews are attempting to, according to PIX 11, use “hands, buckets and small tools to keep the man from slipping deeper into the muck.” While the worker’s condition is unknown, he has since been anchored by a series of ropes and will not be further trapped in the muck. As of 30 minutes ago, the vacuum truck was still on the way. I’ll update this post as more information comes in.

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