Second Ave. Sagas

Category: LIRR

  • The Long Island Rail Road, where everyone is disabled

    With Google Transit coming to New York and hypothetical service cuts heading our way, we haven’t had any time this week to talk about this past weekend’s great transit story. So without further ado, may I present to you the Long Island Rail Road, churning out disabled workers since 1966.

    The fun started on Sunday when The Times published an expose on the “disability epic among a railroad’s retirees.” Four reporters worked on the story, and Walt Bogdanich reported the shocking news:

    Virtually every career employee — as many as 97 percent in one recent year — applies for and gets disability payments soon after retirement, a computer analysis of federal records by The New York Times has found. Since 2000, those records show, about a quarter of a billion dollars in federal disability money has gone to former L.I.R.R. employees, including about 2,000 who retired during that time.

    The L.I.R.R.’s disability rate suggests it is one of the nation’s most dangerous places to work. Yet in four of the last five years, the railroad has won national awards for improving worker safety.

    “Short of the gulag, I can’t imagine any work force that would have a so-to-speak 90 percent disability attrition rate,” said Glenn Scammel, long one of Capitol Hill’s top experts on railroads. “That defies both logic and experience.”

    The quartet’s piece goes on to talk about the economic benefits of this scam and the ways in which those in charge at the Railroad Retirement Board, a federal agency that pays these disability claims, allowed this to happen under their noses. Included in the extensive story are tales about retirees on disability playing golf at 50 and a married couple bilking the agency out of $280,000 annually. I wish I could find retirement that paid so well.

    Since Sunday, things have really hit the fan. In quick succession, Gov. David Paterson ordered Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to investigate the railroad’s books and the LIRR’s work rules. On Monday, Cuomo unleashed his subpoena power, and yesterday, Federal Agents raided the Long Island headquarters of the Railroad Retirement Board.

    Right now, it’s unclear how this impacts the MTA. While the Transportation Authority is not on the hook for these disability payments, they lose significant man hours to early retirees alleging disabilities, and as members of the RRB, they pay significantly more than they otherwise would in certain payroll and Social Security taxes.

    For now, this whole scandal simply looks back. It will provide more ammunition for the opponents of the MTA who feel that the agency doesn’t offer responsible oversight and shouldn’t be running the vital transportation network in the New York City area. As the truth emerges, I’m sure many at the MTA and at LIRR will emerged worse for the wear. Perhaps this is the first step toward better oversight both within and of the MTA. If anything, it’ll force the Long Island Rail Road to clean up its act.

  • The fare hike was one thing, but beer prices too?!

    At Yankee Stadium, 24 ounces of Heineken will run you about $12.50. At the corner bodega, a six-pack of Heineken can be yours for around $8-$10. And on the Long Island Rail Road, that same beer will cost a measly $2.50. For now.

    But bad news awaits those commuters who enjoy a relaxing beverage on their train rides home. For the first time in over ten years, the MTA is considering raising concession prices on board their trains. It was bad enough they raised the fares, but the beer prices also? Where will the madness end?

    Steve Ritea of Newsday has more:

    “We haven’t raised beer prices in four years and there has been no across the board price increases since 1996,” said LIRR spokesman Joe Calderone. “This price increase will help us offset higher labor and product costs for beer, wine, liquor and snacks. The increase also is in line with prices charged by other vendors at Penn Station.”

    On the LIRR, domestic beers would increase by a quarter, to $2.25 and imported beer from $2.50 to $3. Top shelf liquor would go from $4.25 to $5.50 while house spirits jump from $4 to $5.25. A glass of wine goes from $3 to $3.50. Soda and water would increase from $1.25 to $1.50 and peanuts from 75 cents to $1.

    Prices on Metro-North also will be higher, with top shelf liquor increasing from $5.50 to $6.50 and wine from $4.50 to $5.50.

    In 2007, the MTA’s various subdivisions didn’t profit as much as one would expect from the sale of booze on board the trains. Despite grossing $2.5 million in concession sales, for example, LIRR took home a net profit of just $500,00. In this day and age of grossly overpriced beers at bars and ballgames around the city, the MTA is showing curious restraint in keeping their prices low.

    I’m sure the commuter-rail passengers will grouse about this move. Those bar cars I know are popular around 6 p.m. But $3 for an import is a better deal than most happy hours, and the MTA is in revenue-capture mode these days. Personally, the next time I want a good deal on a drink, I’m hoping on the train. White Plains, anyone?

  • MTA set to fix that pesky armrest problem

    Is that an armrest in your pocket or are you just happy to see me? (Photo by Michelle V. Agins/The New York Times)

    Rest easy, commuters. Your pants are safe from the terror that are the armrests on commuter rail trains. The MTA has heard your cries, and they will fix the problem of the pants-eating armrests.

    According to The New York Times, Metro-North and the L.I.R.R. plan to submit a request to the MTA board this month asking for a $3.59 million contract to purchase replacement armrests that won’t tear unsuspecting passengers’ pants. As William Neuman notes, that comes to about $70.50 an armrest. The armrest replacement project should be completed by the end of 2009 on L.I.R.R. cars and mid-2010 on Metro-North.

    The Times notes the PR benefit of this move:

    What the railroads are really buying is goodwill from riders. Together, the railroads have paid out more than $100,000 in claims to hundreds of riders whose clothing has been torn on the armrests. Interviews with riders suggest that hundreds or thousands more have damaged their clothes but never submitted a claim.

    The old armrests are made of a rubbery material that seems to latch onto clothes and not let go. They are also long and tapered and are attached at an angle that allows them to slide unobserved into pants pockets as a rider sits down.

    The new armrests are shorter, with a smoother finish, which, according to the board summary, “does not ‘grab’ clothing.”

    While tailors around Penn Station and Grand Central Terminal lose out, commuters are sure to be thrilled with armrests that fill their pockets with loving caresses instead of tearing glances. Phew.

  • Alcohol task force wants commuters to have a drink on them

    I’ve got some good news for you commuters that can’t stomach the thought of a sober ride home. The task force convened to examine the MTA’s alcohol policy has returned a verdict: You can keep on drinkin’ on Metro-North and LIRR trains.

    The MTA issued a press release just a few hours ago detailing the task force’s decision:

    The final report unanimously recommended that the current policy should not be changed. Upon review of the report, Chairman Kalikow and Executive Director and CEO Sander agreed with the recommendation…

    The report based its conclusion on four main findings:

    – Based on MTA Police Department testimony and data, State DWI/DUI statistics, and the polling of police departments along MTA railroad Rights-of-Way, no correlation was able to be drawn between the sale or consumption of alcohol on MTA facilities and DWI incidents in or around either railroad (since 2003, only four DWI cases were reported on commuter rail property, and not a single one was attributed to drinking on MTA trains or facilities);

    – The sale of alcohol, beverages and snacks were considered an amenity for customers, particularly for those traveling longer distances;

    – Alcohol was readily available for purchase in multiple locations in or around LIRR and MNR stations/terminals; and

    – Preventing the consumption of alcohol prior to arrival at or on commuter railroad trains was not feasible.

    MTA Executive Director and CEO Elliot “Lee” Sander uttered the understatement of the year in announcing this decision. “Many of our customers enjoy this amenity, and I am pleased that the Task Force confirmed that the current policy provides a benefit without compromising safety,” he said. It’s safe to assume that a whole bunch of white-collar, suburban commuters may just have taken their eyes off of their Blackberries long enough to riot had the MTA banned alcohol on these trains.

    Meanwhile, The Times reports that alcohol-related medical cases are far from uncommon on commuter rails:

    The police issued 287 tickets on the Long Island and Metro-North lines last year to people on trains or in stations who were drinking alcohol and creating a disturbance. Far more prevalent, the police said, were instances of people on commuter lines who needed medical help because of extreme drunkenness. There were 994 such cases on the two railroads last year, but officials said that in virtually every case, the riders appeared to have done most or all of their drinking before they ever got on a train.

    I’d hate to think what these folks who drink themselves into a stupor on Metro-North or the Long Island Railroad do for a day job. Maybe it’s just too hard to travel back to North White Plains and face yet another night in suburbia with the family.

    But anywhere, there you have it, folks. The MTA will allow you to keep on drinking yourself silly on the way home. Now, if only we could enjoy some booze on the subways. Just imagine how nice that would smell on Sunday morning.

  • If you see an armrest, say something

    Today’s ridiculous MTA story comes to us courtesy of The New York Times. Armrests on LIRR’s and Metro-North’s M7 lines are destroying people’s pants!

    Any way you cut it, $102,009.17 buys an awful lot of pants.

    That is how much the Long Island Rail Road and the Metro-North Railroad have paid over the last four years to customers who have torn clothing on the notoriously fabric-snagging armrests in a line of cars known as the M7.

    The payments range from $1,405.61 for the new Paul Stuart suit that a man ripped on Metro-North last year, to $10 or $20 for minor damage fixed by a tailor.

    That’s right: armrests. These armrests, you see, are “are longer and narrower than those on older cars and can slide unobtrusively into a trouser pocket as a passenger sits down — and then snag as he settles into his seat or when he stands up to leave,” reports William Neuman.

    This problem, The Times notes, is fairly widespread. Train riders nod knowingly when the tell-tale sound of a tear rings out amid the silence of the morning commute, and the MTA hasn’t been too quick to reimburse the full price of lost clothing. The officials opt instead for the sale price or a depreciated assessment of older pairs of pants and skirts.

    So to solve this rather amusing problem that should have been focus-grouped out of existence before the M7s came on the tracks a few years ago, the MTA may invest $1-$2 million in an armrest replacement program. Ah, the luxury of a commuter rail.

    For fun, what could we buy with the $102,009.17 that the MTA has given out so far:

    • 1342 30-day unlimited MetroCards.
    • 4250 7-day unlimited MetroCards.
    • 61,083 swipes with a pay-per-ride card (counting the free rides).
    • One fourth of a new bus.