Second Ave. Sagas

Category: Queens

  • Wrong time, right idea for G train activists

    The G train activists are so sincere. They have a website and blog devoted to their cause, and they’re working really hard to push the G train connection to Atlantic Ave. The only problem is that their efforts are coming at what is probably the worst time for rider activism in the city.

    Yesterday, one day after the MTA learned it wouldn’t have congestion pricing revenues for their coffers, G train activists took their case before the sympathetic City Council. Good ol’ John Liu and the transportation committee were more than willing to take the MTA to task for neglecting the only subway that connects Brooklyn to Queens without traveling into Manhattan. Raanan Geberer from the Brooklyn Daily Eagle tells us more, but it’s nothing all that new:

    Brooklyn officials and activists told horror stories and demanded better service on the much-maligned “G” train, while the MTA, in effect, pleaded poverty based on today’s economic situation…

    Current MTA plans for the line, which has suffered serious cutbacks since late 2001, involve what could be interpreted as “giving with one hand and taking from the other.” This would involve extending the line from the awkward Smith-9th Street southern terminal in Red Hook down to Church Avenue, adding five well-used stops.

    But in return, the permanent northern terminal would become Court Square, near Long Island City. Cutbacks from a Forest Hills terminal to Court Square were what started the G protest rolling back in late 2001 – nowadays, the G only goes to Forest Hills on the weekends and late at night, and when track work ensues, it doesn’t even run then.

    There’s nothing like City Council members grandstanding on an obvious issue either. “Many people call the G train the stepchild of the transit system, but I call it the abused child, the abandoned child,” Councilmember Letitia James said. “When I was a girl, when I got a `G’ on a paper, it meant “good.” But in the case of the G train, `G’ means God-awful, and it means the train is running like it’s in a ghetto.”

    Said Joanne Simon, “Rider consensus is that the route serves too few stations, that the stations have suffered significant neglect, and the service is inadequate.”

    Of course, none of these charges are new, but what’s the MTA to do? They have to balance the demands of the service with the volume in the Queens Boulevard tunnel, the track work on the Culver Viaduct and their currently bleak financial situation. The MTA has already withdrawn plans to add cars and more service to the G line, and they still don’t know if the Church Ave. extension will be permanent or temporary.

    Meanwhile, while it’s reasonable for G train advocates to ask for better service, some of their demands — like an underground connection to Atlantic Ave. — are just flat-out absurd. An above-ground free transit would be appropriate, but sinking hundreds of millions of dollars into a 600-foot tunnel will never be the best use of MTA funds.

    The G train activists have their point: The G line has become a vital subway line for communities along its path and an important connector for folks wishing to avoid the long trip from Queens to Brooklyn via Manhattan. When the money is there, G train upgrades are seemingly on the top of the MTA’s list. But right now, with congestion price hopes dashed and a nation on the brink of a recession, the G train activists are simply fighting for the right causes but at a very wrong time.

  • Renovating the Rockaways

    Take the A Train past Howard Beach to the Rockaways. Journeying over the vast expanse of Jamaica Bay, the A train arrives in the Rockaways where the subway stations there are in a serious state of disrepair. If all goes according to plan, however, the MTA will begin work on a $190-million renovation project this fall that would see all nine of the peninsula stations receiving much-needed overhauls. The state legislature must approve the plans, and only after that can the Rockaways finally get modern stations with canopies and public address systems. [The Daily News]

  • G train now with less waiting, more inconvenient transfers

    Around these parts, we’ve known for a while that service changes were heading the G train’s way. Earlier this week, the MTA made it officially, and the changes are rather extensive to the much-maligned train.

    Of course, as with anything MTA, the changes come with the good and the bad. The Daily News reported on these changes earlier this week. Peter Kadushin gives us the details:

    The Transit Authority’s 2008 Service Enhancement Program trades increased frequency of G service – up to 50% on weekday evenings and 20% during afternoons – for the elimination of off-peak service to 13 stations across the borough.

    The new plan means G service in Queens will end at Court Square in Long Island City, one stop shy of a key location – Queens Plaza on the E, R and V lines. That will force riders to make an extra transfer to get access to Queens Blvd. and Forest Hills.

    Of note also is the Church Ave. extension. The G will now terminate at Chuch Ave., deep in the heart of Brooklyn. But why, oh, why is the train stopping at Court Square? (Yes, yes, I know. They can’t turn the train around at Queens Plaza. But still.)

    Gene Russianoff, Straphangers Campaign guru, wasn’t too pleased. “The thrust of the G advocacy has been about building ridership,” he said. “But at every turn, they make it hard. These changes make the line less convenient for people.”

    Less waiting; more transfers. That’s a questionable trade-off, but in the end, it’s one I would make.

  • MTA to continue express service after Mets games

    In its oversight role yesterday, the City Council’s Transportation Committee posed an important question often on the minds of New York’s sports fans: What does the MTA do to accommodate increased ridership during ball games and other special events?

    Now, as you might guess, I have some very strong feelings on this matter. For example, the MTA sure doesn’t run extra 2 trains at Grand Concourse-149th St. after Yankee games even though many Yankee fans use that station to get home to the West Side. Up until last year, Mets fans suffered from the same problem. As I wrote in May, the lack of 7 express service from Shea to Manhattan after Mets games was one of the more infuriating aspects of trekking out to Flushing.

    Two months after I wrote about that 7 service, the MTA announced a post-game express pilot program. For the duration of the 2007 baseball season, up until that fateful final game for the Mets, New York City Transit offered 7 express service following weekday night games. And it was good.

    Today, at that City Council Transportation Committee hearing, Larry Gould, the senior director of operations analysis for NYCT, said that this experimental service will probably continue into 2008 and, according to a report in Newsday, expand. Gould noted that the MTA will look into providing express trains after weekend games as well.

    During the hearing, John Liu, committee head, pressed Gould on providing express service after the U.S. Open, and Liu delivered the quote of the year. “I don’t think it’s rocket science here,” Liu said. “You’ve done it for the Mets games. Why not do it for the tennis games?”

    Oh, John, it’s not rocket science; it’s MTA scheduling. That can be much harder to comprehend than rocket science.

    But, to give NYCT credit, Gould said that the program should encompass the 2008 U.S. Open too. In particular, this is great news for folks leaving the Open at 2 a.m. after matches run long, as they did earlier this year, and great news for all as the MTA is showing a willingness to take full advantage of express service options on existing tracks.

  • It’s never good when the 7 line shuts down

    Update 3:53 p.m.: Well, phew, the MTA got everything up and running just before rush hour. Service is restored along the 7 line in both directions from Flushing to Times Square. There is, however, no express service today. I guess the LED lights will all be saying LCL tonight.

    Update 3:13 p.m.: As of a minute or two ago, the MTA announced that there is limited
    service between Times Square and Queensboro Plaza. At Queensboro Plaza riders can transfer to the N or W trains or buses that head deeper into Queens. The other lines though that run along Queens boulevard are bound to be crowded.

    =====

    Due to a mechanical failure on the 7 line, there is no service in either direction on the 7 line right now, the MTA informs us at 3:04 p.m.. More from the service alert:

    Limited Shuttle Bus service is available between Flushing – Main Street and 74th Street – Broadway where customers can transfer to the E, F, R or V for service into Manhattan.

    In addition, customers are advised to take the Q32 from 42nd Street and Madison Avenue, running along Queens Boulevard and Roosevelt Avenue, making nearby station stops between Grand Central-42nd Street and 82nd Street-Jackson Heights.

    For additional stops, customers can use the Q23, Q48, Q66 or Q72 bus service.

    William Neuman at the Cityroom has more. Apparently, the line went down at around 1:35 p.m. when power to one of the electrical signals went out. Paul J. Fleuranges, NYCT spokesman, said the MTA does not know when the power will be restored. Another spokesman Charles F. Seaton noted that the power outage is affected just one part of the line, but all train service had to be halted to fix the problem.

    With rush hour looming in an hour or so, the MTA is racing against the clock to get service on a very popular line restored, and this outage won’t help the 7 improve on that C-minus it received in August.

  • LED lights on the 7 detail express or local service

    New signs illuminate the 7 train. Wonder express or local no longer. (Photos by Ryan O’Horo.)

    On and off for the last few months, I’ve gotten questions about the 7 train. Take, for example, this one from my friend Carla: “How about doing an expose on why the 7 can’t get its damn local/express signage right?”

    While I don’t ride the 7 train much — two trips to Shea this summer and one to the U.S. Open — I’ve wondered this lately myself. A few years ago, 7 express trains were demarcated by the diamond 7, and locals operated under the traditional round purple bullets.

    But earlier this year, something changed. These signs, used interchangeably on the same trains, stopped meaning anything. Passengers had to rely on increasingly inaudible announcements to determine which trains were local and which trains were express. Well, not anymore.

    This week, loyal reader Ryan O’Horo e-mailed about me about a 7 train equipped with LED lights that are designed to differentiate between express service and local service. A thread on Subchat corroborated the story. It seems like the MTA is testing out a way to allow passengers to tell the difference. The lights are hanging on only a few cars on the 7 line. Here’s what Ryan had to say:

    Spent a good amount to time checking it out. It’s only this one train and the displays are mounted in the front, side and rear rollsigns both inside and outside the car. Simple modules that look custom and they’re just kind of hanging out in the rollsign, no fancy mounts.

    According to the Subchat thread, the signs — using EXP for express and LCL for local — are supposed to go green or red, respectively, depending upon the service. So far, we haven’t seen that happen. But we have seen a lot of the signs as Ryan took a set of photos I uploaded to flickr. The thumbnails of a few images below lead to the larger images. For more shots, the photoset is here:

    img_3525-800x600.JPG lllrotate.jpg img_3537-800x600.JPG

    While clearly still an experimental stab at identifying trains, these LED signs are a good step in the right direction. I will forever wonder why the diamond-bullet variances couldn’t work to identify express and local services. I am also a little mystified as to why the MTA is invested in LED lights when they already have signs that should tell the difference between express and local service. But as long as the Authority is willing to listen to those Queens-bound customers who didn’t know if their trains were express or local, we can’t complain too much now.

  • MTA struggling to upgrade key technologies

    As we await news of the fare hike, let’s instead check in with some technology problems plaguing New York City Transit. Both concern flooding in the system; one’s about the water and the other, people.

    Last week, as Midtown Manhattan exploded in a burst of steam, subway problems in Queens were seemingly neglected. However, that day, as a friend mine related, the underground trains in Queens were an utter mess. Flooding problems effectively isolated hundreds of thousands of Queens commuters on Wednesday.

    “Literally at those levels of rainfall we do not yet have the physical capacity to pump it out as fast as it’s coming in,” NYCT President Howard Roberts said.

    Today, the MTA will further an ongoing and aggressive push to revamp the pump system along the tracks that shuttle the F, E, V, R and G into Queens. amNew York has more:

    Queens train lines prone to flooding will soon weather storms better.

    New York City Transit is already upgrading its pump system for the Queens Boulevard line, where the E, F, R and V lines run, and Monday moved toward adding another pump to the mix…The MTA board will vote on the extra pump Wednesday.

    The pumps in these key tunnels have not seen serious upgrades since they were installed 75 years ago. When the MTA board meets to ponder the fate of the fares, the pumps will come under scrutiny as well. I anticipate the board to quickly agree to upgrade the pumps. They can strand Queens residents only so many times.

    Meanwhile, a few miles south in Brooklyn, the efforts to automate the L train have hit a few speed bumps. Originally, the trains along the L line were supposed to be fully automated by 2004 or 2005 at the latest. Well, it’s 2007, and still no sign of those automated trains. Business as usual for the MTA, right? Well, not quite.

    According to a report in the Daily News, these efforts to automate the L won’t come to fruition until at least 2009 because the MTA didn’t anticipate the populartion boom in Williamsburg and didn’t order enough cars to meet demand on the overtaxed L line.

    To make matters worse, officials at Siemens, the manufacturers of these automated trains, claim they warned the MTA about the gentrifying north Brooklyn neighborhoods when the projected started during the waxing days of the 21st Century. Train drivers, for now, are happy because their jobs are safe, but riders on the L who have long complained about poor service must be grumbling more than usual these days.

  • Breaking: MTA to offer post-Mets games express service

    Via amNew York’s Tracker blog comes a hot tip: The MTA will soon be offering Manhattan-bound baseball fans express service after Mets games.

    Hallelujah, the baseball fan in me says.

    Two months ago, on the eve of the Subway Series, I wrote about the slooooow locals from Flushing to Manhattan after Mets games. At the time, I wondered why the MTA couldn’t offer express service. I asked, “Since nearly everyone on the 7 from Shea heads to Manhattan or Queensboro Plaza, why can’t every other train on the express tracks and make express stops?”

    Well, at the time, amNew York, in an article available only through the Google cache posed the question to the MTA. The response:

    New York Transit spokesman Paul Fleuranges said adding express service from games is easier said than done. Without increasing manpower and trains, wait times would increase on the local and express tracks, Fleuranges said. And with more people waiting to board the subway, crowded conditions would make it difficult for those trying to get to parking lots or the LIRR.

    “We provide a very high level of service for Met and Yankee games,” Fleuranges said. “That’s a cost to us and we have to balance the needs of the entire system and weigh that against the needs of the entire system.”

    But now, according to that tidbit of a post on the Tracker blog, Mets fans will get to enjoy that express service. I’ll have more on this development as details are revealed, but while Louis, a commenter here who was strongly against the express service, may be upset, the rest of you returning from Shea will finally have a fast train back to the city.

    Now if only we could do something this quickly about our F express plans…

    Update 5:25 p.m.: The MTA has issued a press release touting this new express service. The news, folks, is very, very good:

    The service change, which begins following the conclusion of the Mets – Cincinnati Reds game on Thursday, July 12th, will shave about six minutes off the trip, making it the smart choice for many savvy baseball fans headed home.

    Express trains will leave Willets Point shortly after the conclusion of each home game and the service will last until about one hour after the game. The express trains will be queued outside of Willets Point and arrive on the middle track every six minutes. The travel time between Willets Point/Shea Stadium and Queensboro Plaza will be trimmed by six minutes from 19 on the local to 13 minutes via express. To Times Square-42nd Street, the ride by express train will also be reduced by six minutes from the 31 minutes it takes the local.

    According to the MTA, the service changes will take place during weeknight home games, and it is designed, according to MTA CEO Elliot “Lee” Sander, to get more people out of their cars and into the subway. “The subway has always been the fastest, most economical and ecologically-friendly way to travel to and from the game and the addition of express service makes it even more attractive,” Sander said.

    This is great news for Mets fans who have long called for this express service.

  • Sunnyside residents worried about East Side Access impact

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    Tunnels for the East Side Access project will run through the Sunnyside neighborhood in Queens. (Map courtesy of MTA Capital Construction)

    Unhappy residents make poor political partners and, as the MTA is learning, excellent stories for journalists. While Second Ave. residents have expressed their collective dismay over a looming eviction, some New Yorkers across the East River aren’t too happy with the plans for the East Side Access project.

    According to a story last week in the Queens Chronicle, Sunnyside residents are concerned that the increased rail traffic will mean a corresponding increase in noise for the neighborhood. Jennifer Manley of the Chronicle has more:

    According to Metropolitan Transportation Authority employees familiar with the plans, two new sets of train tracks will be laid parallel to the LIRR main line, one to the north and one to the south. A loop track tunnel will also be built below ground to run empty trains to a new storage yard…

    At the Sunnyside Towers, a six-story co-op building on Barnett Avenue, some upper-floor residents have learned to live with the rumble of passing trains, but are not pleased with the prospect of more. “When you live right here, you are getting the screech of metal hitting metal, and it’s sickening,” complained Ayne Horyn, who lives on the fourth floor…Estimates are that train activity could increase between 30 percent and 50 percent, with an additional 24 trains a day, and as many as 19 more trains during peak hours.

    While some residents are working with MTA on noise-dampening solutions, others are resigned to the fact that these transportation upgrades will bring a decrease in the quality of life for some Queens dwellers.

    It’s been a rough week for the MTA and its public relations image. The Second Ave. residents are garnering sympathy because no one thought this subway line would actually end up a reality. And while Queens residents will soon have their chance to air their concerns with MTA CEO Elliot “Lee” Sander, an air of inevitability permeates these capital construction projects. Once the money starts flowing and the wheels start turning, it’s tough to stem that impending tide.