Second Ave. Sagas

Category: Asides

  • A new December date for underground cell service

    A brief update on an ongoing project: After unveiling the next group of stations set for underground cell service nearly a year ago, Transit Wireless says the first set of these stations should start coming online next month. According to an an update on DNAInfo, Transit Wireless and the MTA will bring the service to Upper West Stations along the IND and IRT lines from 59th to 96th Sts. by the end of December with some stations receiving service as early as October. Along with Times Squares and Rockefeller Center, this group of stations is considered phase one of a seven-phase project.

    While waiting for the subway at 14th St. recently, I had a few spare minutes and started playing around with the WiFi offerings. That the service was free over the summer was an added bonus, and although the signal is stronger at various points along the platform, it seemed pretty reliable when I was online.

    The free WiFi is supposed to end tomorrow, and while Transit Wireless was working toward anther sponsor earlier this summer, they have yet to announce it. Furthermore, only AT&T and T-Mobile customers can use the cell network. Despite these limitations, it’s still a great improvement for New Yorkers who yearn to be plugged in as they while away the minutes until the next train arrives.

  • Once more unto the MTA’s trash cans

    The MTA’s announcement yesterday that they would be eliminating trash cans at eight more stations throughout the city was not exactly met with applause. Despite the fact that the pilot has apparently led to fewer rats and lower trash collection costs without a corresponding increase in litter or track fires, New Yorkers seem to fear counterintuitive change, and press coverage is replete with riders outraged at being asked to carry their garbage all the way up a flight of stairs to the nearest Department of Sanitation receptacle on the street. I can’t say I’m too surprised there.

    What is surprising though are some of the excuses transit rider advocates are putting forward. In covering the story today, Matt Flegenheimer of The Times spoke with Straphangers’ head Gene Russianoff. As is the nature of his organization, Gene is very defensive of changes to the subway system that could impact riders whether these changes lead to a net gain or not. His take: “If you have a big, drippy ice cream cone, what are you going to do? Stuff it in your purse?”

    Besides the fact that, as a long-time reader noted, one eats the container when devouring a big drippy ice cream cones, I had another question: What is anyone doing eating a big drippy ice cream cone on the subway in the first place? The subways — not exactly known for cleanliness — are hardly the spot for a meal, let alone something that’s going to cause a mess, and it’s debatable whether someone should be eating anything that requires much clean up while traveling around.

    So perhaps we’re looking at this the wrong way. Perhaps the solution is to examine why people are eating underground, what they’re eating underground and whether we should continue to allow people to eat underground. Plenty of subway systems — DC, Singapore and even our own PATH system — don’t allow food and don’t have trash cans, or rodents, all over the place. No one yet has succumbed to a subway food ban-induced starvation.

  • Ratings agencies warn of MTA Payroll Tax ruling fallout

    S&P’s and Moody’s warned Monday that fallout from the ruling that overturned the Payroll Mobility Tax could have a negative impact on the MTA’s bond ratings if the decision is upheld by a higher court. Moody’s issued a so-called credit-negative yesterday while S&P’s statement warned of a “weakened” financial position for the authority “absent added support from the state, fare increases, or service cuts to offset the loss of revenue.”

    A Moody’s analyst warned against reading too much into the statement, for now. “It doesn’t mean there is a ratings change,” David Jacobson said to Transportation Nation. “What we are saying is that the court case, could — key word ‘could’ — have a negative impact, but it is not enough to warrant a change in the rating or the outlook.” However, if these agencies decide to lower the MTA’s rating, the costs of borrowing will increase, and that is a spike the MTA can ill afford right now.

    Meanwhile, as the MTA continues its offensive against the controversial ruling, Joe Lhota sat down last week with Transportation Nation reporter Alex Goldmark to review the authority’s finances. According to the Chairman, the MTA more heavily subsidizes commuter rail trips over the subway. The MTA spends $7 to each LIRR ride, $4 per Metro-North rider and $1 per subway rider. Of course, with far more subway riders than anything else, the $1 quickly adds up, but it’s more expensive to provide that commuter rail service on a per-rider basis than it is to keep the subways going. Just some food for thought.

  • A $65 million insurance request from Irene

    The MTA drew criticism last year for being overly cautious when it shut down subway service in the face of Hurricane Irene. While New York City Transit was spared the brunt of the storm a year ago, Metro-North’s Port Jervis line suffered a wash-out, and the agency incurred significant planning costs. Yesterday, the MTA announced that it has submitted a $65 million claim to FEMA for reimbursement of these expenses.

    So far, the MTA has recovered approximately $27.7 million in insurance proceeds and is targeting around $50 million as its total recovery. Of the $65 million, $21million will cove repairs of the Metro-North washouts west of the Hudson River, and New York City Transit has submitted a request for $22 million. That breaks down as $8 million in overtime costs for storm preparedness and $14 million in lost revenue when the subway system shut down for the first time in its history.

    Meanwhile, as the one-year anniversary of the storm comes and goes, it’s tough to say that the MTA is any better prepared long-term for shifting ocean levels, major weather catastrophes and a changing environment. A request to FEMA to cover last year’s expenses helps the budget, but comprehensive long-term planning will help avoid shutdowns in the future.

  • LI judge declares PMT unconstitutional; $1.4B in MTA funds in jeopardy

    A state judge from Nassau County has declared the controversial but necessary payroll mobility tax unconstitutional in an ruling issued today. Relying on what I believe are very tenuous home-rule grounds, Supreme Court Judge R. Bruce Cozzens, a Conservative/Repubican party candidate when he last ran for reelection in 2011, struck down the measure which generates up to $1.4 billion a year for the MTA. “The MTA payroll tax is a special law, which does not serve a substantial state interest,” he said. Without a home rule request for all municipalities impacted — an nearly unprecedented requirement — the law cannot stand, he said.

    I haven’t read the full decision and cannot comment on the immediate impact reaction. Needless to say, though, this isn’t good news for an agency already under tremendous budget stress. It jeopardizes both the operating and capital budgets in the short- and long-term. Without an adequate replacement for the lost revenue, it’s unclear how the MTA could cover such a budget gap.

    Transit advocates did not hold back in condemning the decision. “This decision threatens the foundation of the state’s economy. Public transportation is critical to the New York City metropolitan area—an area which provides 45 percent of the state’s tax revenue, paying for countless public services from Niagara Falls to Montauk,” Paul Steely White, executive director of Transportation Alternatives, said. “We hope Governor Cuomo resolves this case, and that the appeals court will consider the substantial state interest when reviewing this ruling.” The MTA said it will “vigorously” pursue an appeal. I’ll have more as it becomes available.

  • A subway system more, but less, accessible

    The MTA and advocates for New York’s disabled have been in a seemingly decades-long fight over accessibility. Faced with an unfunded federal mandate, the MTA agreed to make 100 key stations ADA-accessible by 2020, and although the authority is on pace to do just that, it hasn’t always gone above and beyond what’s required by the letter of the law. Furthermore, as stations themselves become accessible, significant kinks in the system remain.

    This week, Michele Kaplan, a wheelchair-bound New Yorker, and DNA Info reporter Janet Upadhye toured the subway system, and from the eyes of one who cannot walk, the picture painted in the article is a grim one. Even as stations themselves are wheelchair-friendly, gaps remain between the train and platform that are too wide or too steep to navigate. Those of us with full use of our legs may not notice the slight step, but it can be a real barrier for wheelchair users. “The elevators make it accessible for me to get to the platform,” Kaplan said. “But some trains are so high above the platform that my wheelchair cannot make it onto the train…This happens all the time. After a long day it’s the worst, because I never know what time I’ll get home.”

    The problem persists because train and platform heights are not identical throughout the system, and short of rebuilding every non-conforming platform, the MTA is left with few options. Ramps, employed by commuter rail systems, aren’t practical for the subway, and frustration seems to rule the day. Kaplan has started a Tumblr to document the problem and hopes to raise the issue with MTA head Joe Lhota. A resolution is a long way off.

  • Cable fire torpedoes Brooklyn subway service

    Update (6:30 p.m.): Due to a two-alarm cable fire near the DeKalb Ave. subway station, service to and from Brooklyn is seriously snared right now. According to the latest from Transit, there is no service between Lower Manhattan and Downtown Brooklyn on the B, D, N, Q or R lines right now, and customers traveling between the two boroughs are being urged to take the 2, 3, 4 or 5 trains.

    As of around 5:30 p.m., B and D train service is running Manhattan north of 34th St., and D trains are running south of Atlantic Ave. to Coney Island. Q trains are operating in Brooklyn only between Prospect Park and Coney Island, and Brooklyn N trains are running between 36th St. and Coney Island only. Some downtown F trains are running along the G from Queens Plaza to Jay St.-MetroTech. Bus service too in the Downtown Brooklyn area is delayed as well.

    In other words, it’s a mess, and the MTA doesn’t expect service to be back to normal any time soon. Be prepared for a messy evening commute. I’ll try to update this as more information becomes available, and in the meantime, keep an eye on the MTA’s service advisory page.

  • Link: Penn Station past, Penn Station present

    Some short history tonight as I’m not feeling 100 percent: Penn Station, the original version, has been in the news lately as last week marked the 50th anniversary of the march to save the station. As David Dunlap detailed in The Times last week, the upper crust of Manhattan along with city historians marched, albeit futilely, against the plan to demolish Penn Station. While they failed in their efforts, many credit the Penn Station movement with saving Grand Central a few years later. New York would not wipe two historic train stations from its streets in as many years.

    Today, we mourn the loss of Penn Station as an architectural calamity. After all, the current iteration is an eyesore underneath an arena. But the old version suffered from a capacity too small to meet the demand. Ultimately, something had to give, and out of its destruction arose the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission, both a barrier to urban growth and a nod to the city’s history. Whether that’s a net positive is heavily debated today.

    Meanwhile, bits of Penn Station, as Jim O’Grady discovered earlier this week, survive. Entryways, design elements and staircases survived the destruction, and one day, if the money shows up Moynihan Station could become the city’s next grand train depot, welcoming visitors in a more regal manner than today’s Penn Station does. The city sure does spend a lot of time living down the legacy and fighting for the future of train stations that often seem to prioritize aesthetics over functionality.

  • Second Ave. Real Estate Sagas: A four-year gamble

    When last we checked in on the Second Ave. real estate scene earlier this year, the residential market seemed to promise a good time to rent or buy for those who could wait out the construction. With rates dropping along the subway’s path, buyers who could hold onto their property would surely realize profits by late 2016, and renters, meanwhile, could find a cheap place to live for a few years, albeit one in the middle of a construction zone. But what of commercial real estate?

    Today, Alessia Pirolo of The Wall Street Journal examined some recent commercial transactions along Second Avenue and find a few hearty souls willing to take advantage of low rates. According to Pirolo, retail rental rates have dropped by as much as 40 percent since construction started and some store owners are willing to gamble for the next four and a half years. “The rent was very attractive,” one owner said. “When we signed the lease, the construction was taken into consideration.”

    As residents say they’ll support any local business willing to open amidst SAS construction, owners know that toughing it out for four years could pay dividends as the subway will bring a huge boost in foot traffic and business. Landlords, said one broker, could expect a bump of at least 20 percent from the pre-construction peak. “Private money always follows public money,” Jason Pruger of Newmark said. “Look at the High Line.”

  • Link: NYT Mag goes inside the Second Ave. Subway

    Earlier today, I found myself at the 63rd St. F station for the first time in a while, and it was a sight to behold. The faux-wall and red tiling are nearly all gone from the platform level, and a blue construction wall marks the station as a work zone. The fake dropped ceiling is gone, and the original two-track cavern shape is clearly visible. I snapped a shot that seems indicative of the wait that remains before the Second Ave. Subway runs through that station, but work is clearly moving forward.

    This weekend, The New York Times sent a photographer and a writer from the magazine into the Second Ave. Subway, albeit a few blocks north. Kim Tingley wrote about the sandhogs building the 72nd St. station cavern as Richard Barnes snapped a series of breathtaking photos that show the scope and ambition in the project. The 10 shots in the slideshow left me wanting more.

    The photos, though, weren’t the only thing of which I wanted more. Tingley’s piece was a short bit on the workers risking their lives to build the subway 80 years in the making, and she did mention the costs — $86 million 80 years ago for a full line, $4.5 billion for a 33-block extension today. That by itself is worth a story. Why does this construction — which doesn’t cross a river and adds only a few new stations — cost so much? We’ve heard reasons ranging from environmental impact mitigation to the depths of stations to work rules and safety requirements. At some point, though, a publication with the resources and space of The Times should level a serious gaze on infrastructure costs. The photos — especially No. 3 and No. 6 — are fantastic, but the story runs just as deep as the station caverns.