Updating this earlier story: The Daily News is reporting that the temporary injunction barring the MTA from dismissing 475 station agents today will remain in place through the weekend. Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Alice Schlesinger heard arguments late last night and issued the TRO, but Justice Saliann Scarpulla declined to hear further arguments in the case today. The legal proceedings are expected to resume on Monday or Tuesday. In the meantime, the station agents will stay on the job, and union heads will continue to present spurious arguments concerning safety or stimulus funding. (To which I respond, wouldn’t the MTA use stimulus funding to stave off service cuts before it rolls back agent dismissal? After all, the authority is in the business of transit service.) There is no word on how much this injunction is costing the MTA, but agents will continue to draw their salaries until at least next week.
Category:
Asides
For now, station agent jobs saved via injunction
written by Benjamin Kabak on May 6, 2010
At around 10:20 p.m. last night, Judge Alice Schlesinger of the New York Supreme Court issued a temporary injunction barring the MTA from firing nearly 500 station agents today. Questioning whether that the authority’s decision to cut agents “ has… been done pursuant to the proper procedure,” Judge Schlesinger has staved out what union officials are calling ill-advised cuts that impact the safety of the subway system. The two sides have continued their arguments this morning in court, and although I’m amidst a takehome final today, I’ll update the news as soon as I hear an outcome later.
According to The Post, the TWU is arguing that the MTA “didn’t give the booth closures public hearings, notify the local community boards, or make ‘adequate alternate arrangements for the safety and convenience of the public.'” To the best of my knowledge, the MTA isn’t legally required to hold any hearings to notify community boards of staffing changes. If that is to be a requirement going forward, the decision to implement it is one best left to the politica — and not the judicial — process. Of course, the TWU could always put a hold on its four-percent raises in an effort to stave off these job cuts, but I wouldn’t expect to see that concession any time soon.
For its part, Transit believes it will win the case. “Once this legal matter has been resolved we will proceed with the planned lay-offs of the Station Agents,” an agency statement said.
Watch the MTA’s developers conference live
written by Benjamin Kabak on May 5, 2010
This evening, from 6:30 p.m. until 10 p.m., the MTA and Google will be hosting a developers conference as the authority prepares to release more data for mobile apps. Moderated by Anil Dash, the conference is now set to include the MTA’s Jay Walder, Derek Gottfrid of The Times, Berhard Seefeld from Google Maps, Nick Grossman from OpenPlans, Beth Noveck from the White House and Anthony Shorris from the NYU’s Rudin Center for Transportation Policy and Management. Due to a final exam I have to take tomorrow, I won’t be able to make it to the conference, but those of you at home can watch it live on UStream. The MTA’s live video feed will start promptly at 6:30, and the authority says it will make an archived video available on its website later this week.
Report: Albany neglected station-agent funding request
written by Benjamin Kabak on May 5, 2010
Tomorrow morning, 478 station agents will not show up for work. In a move that will save $21 million and is part of the MTA’s overall efforts at cutting costs, these station agents are being let go, but it seems the union tried to save them. According to Heather Haddon of amNew York, labor leaders asked Albany for an eleventh hour bailout today, but state officials have so far failed to act. With Albany deadlocked over a budget, I wouldn’t expect any money to come the MTA’s way to avoid firings of service cuts.
Meanwhile, the Haddon article supposedly highlights how, anecdotally at least, crime is on the rise underground, but the accompanying photo is an absurd one of an elderly station agent. I don’t think any potential criminal would be deterred by his presence, and both the MTA and NYPD say that crime is holding steady underground as compared with the overall crime rate in the city. The biggest issue may be fare jumping, but the MTA has not committed to replacing turnstiles with the HEETs at those entrances losing their station agents.
A pro-transit primary challenger faces an anti-everything incumbent
written by Benjamin Kabak on May 4, 2010
Since 1994, Carl Kruger has brought his windshield perspective to Albany. A Democratic who represents some transit-rich and not-very-transit-rich areas of Brooklyn, Kruger emerged over the last few years as one of the Fare Hike Four, those State Senators who vowed to anything to put a stop to a rational and equitable plan of East River bridge tolls or congestion pricing that would have allowed the MTA to avoid massive service cuts. Now, with anti-incumbent sentiment running deep, Kruger has a primary challenger in Igor Oberman, an administrative judge at the Taxi & Limousine Commission.
Oberman spoke with Streetsblog yesterday, and he’s saying all the right things. “Are bridge tolls popular in this district? No,” he said. “But more popular than cutting student MetroCards.” Oberman, who believes that the subways are “as important to the [residents] as police service or ambulances,” criticized Kruger for never taking the subways and vowed to fight for better transit if elected. While only those in District 27 can vote in this primary, there are other ways pro-transit forces can make their voices felt, and it’s about time these obstructionist Senators were give a run for their seats.
For Staten Island, a few more years for the R44s
written by Benjamin Kabak on May 3, 2010
For New York City Transit, a typical subway car has a lifespan of approximately 40 years. After those four decades are up, the agency prefers to replace old technology with newer cars that won’t require as much maintenance and feature cutting-edge transportation technologies. If that lifespan guideline were to be applied to the R44s currently in service along the Staten Island Railway, the MTA’s latest iteration of its 2010-2014 capital plan will call for rolling stock replacements, but it does not. Staten Island will be, according to Maura Yates, left with its R44s for at least another five years.
Although the R44s on the A line are going to be replaced, the news, however, is not all doom and gloom for those Staten Islanders looking for the MTA to focus on improving transit options on the island. Recently, the 63 R44 cars that make up the SIR fleet underwent an $11 million retrofit that should keep them running smoothly for a few more years, and the MTA is still planning to spend over $20 million to build the Arthur Kill Station.
Staten Island representatives to the MTA Board are satisfied with the investment and know the MTA will closely monitor the SIR’s aging rolling stock. “The irony is that our tracks, unlike our roads, are in better shape than the rest of the city,” Allen Cappelli said, “so our cars don’t take the kind of pounding that they do in other places. It was the recommendation that they did not need to put money in the budget to replace them. However, if a problem develops and we need to replace the cars, I’ve been assured we’ll buy the cars, but I’m not expecting that will have to happen.”
How the cuts impact disabled riders
written by Benjamin Kabak on May 3, 2010
When the MTA scales back service next month, its disabled riders will see many of their Access-A-Ride and paratransit options whittled down. The authority currently feels its Access-A-Ride options are too inclusive and too broad and that cost savings can be found by better personalizing paratransit trips and excluding some who have previously been included. To that end, the authority will implement $40 million worth of savings by replacing door-to-door service with feeder routes to accessible fixed-route transit stops, determining eligibility on a trip-by-trip rather than season-by-season basis and streamlining management and scheduling.
While the main focus of the coverage around the service cuts has delved into the labor battles and impact on everyday riders, City Limits recently highlighted how the cuts will impact the disabled riders. Many will find their trips longer and more circuitous; others will rely more on taxi vouchers than transit options. Still, as the MTA cuts services, they’re forging ahead with ADA compliancy efforts as more stations are slated to become accessible throughout five years covered by the next capital campaign. It is a challenging balancing act as the MTA stretches their dollars to keep pace with demand.
Government: Al Qaeda behind NYC subway plot
written by Benjamin Kabak on April 30, 2010
It’s time for a little Friday afternoon catch-up. I’ve had this tab open all week, and no time to slot it in, but here we go: According to federal prosecutors, Al Qaeda was responsible for organizing the plot against the New York City subways that the FBI stopped in September. It’s not much of a surprise to hear that the subways are on the terrorist organization’s radar, but as I’ve said in the past, that the plot was stopped before it could be carried out is a testament to the nation’s increased attention to the severity of these plots. The cameras the MTA is working to fix are an important part of a security system, but law enforcement efforts that uncover plots before they can unfold are what is truly keeping us safe.
Dead man’s switch deployed on G train
written by Benjamin Kabak on April 29, 2010
Every subway train comes equipped with a dead man’s switch. As seen in The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3, this is a handle the train operator must keep depressed while the train is in motion. If he lets go — if something happens or the driver becomes incapacitated — the train will stop. This week, along the G train, Domenick Occhiogrosso, 50, pulled his train out of Long Island City and suffered a fatal heart attack while the train was in motion. His death triggered the dead man’s switch, and the train came to a stop. The conductor discovered Occhogrosso unconscious in the booth, and he was pronounced dead at 9:20 a.m. yesterday morning.
City’s tab for 7 line extension coming due
written by Benjamin Kabak on April 28, 2010
One of the more appealing aspects of the 7 line extension has involved the identify of those footing the bill. While the MTA clearly does not see this extension as a priority, Mayor Bloomberg pledged $2.1 billion in city money both because the Hudson Yards area is Manhattan’s last frontier and because the Mayor’s real estate buddies would benefit. Today, Adam Lisberg reports that taxpayer dollars will go toward the project starting in 2011, and the city’s to fund this extension could come under some limited scrutiny.
So far, Lisberg notes, the city’s payments for construction bonds have come in the form of revenue from developer fees and investment income, but with Related yet to sign a deal, the development dollars have tried up for now. Instead, the city will have to put between $31-$46 million toward the project next year, and as New York is facing spending cuts, few are happy with the prospects of a 7 line extension bill. Still, this was the mayor’s decision through and through, and he’ll have to live with it. Now, if only we could see that station at 10th Ave. and 41st St. built too.