Staten Island

Thoughts on getting to, and around, Staten Island

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on September 16, 2013

This Ferris wheel sure will look great surrounded by a mall, hotel and acres of parking lots.

What do you do with Staten Island? What is its role in the future of New York City? How does the city develop accessible areas while opening up other parts of the island? And should these other parts even be opened? These are the perennial questions facing the city’s isolated borough, and with development plans on tap and a mayoral election in full swing, Staten Island is inching, perhaps reluctantly, into the spotlight.

Over the next few years, for some reason or another, the St. George area in Staten Island may become a destination. Near the ferry terminal is a quaint minor league ballpark where some of the greenest prospects play, and in a few years, a 350,000 square foot outlet mall, a 200-room hotel and a 625-foot tall Ferris wheel are set to debut. These aren’t attractions for the natives; they are very much designed to attract tourist dollars to the area.

The city is actually being blatant in their attempts at drawing people to Staten Island. NYC & Co. recently unveiled a new initiative promoting day trips to Staten Island. The campaign encourages visitors to check out the North Shore, and The Wall Street Journal recently urged its readers to look even further than that. Anne Kadet urged her readers to dig deeper, and Staten Island’s politicians hopped aboard the effort.

“We welcome thousands of visitors who travel on the Staten Island Ferry every day, and we’re glad for this opportunity to show them a few more family-friendly reasons to visit with us,” Councilwoman Debi Rose said. “There’s no shortage of things to do, places to stay, and places to eat for visitors coming to Staten Island. We’re not ‘the forgotten borough’ but ‘the unforgettable borough.'”

So that’s all well and good, but what about Staten Island’s problems? We can send a bunch of tourists to Staten Island on the ferry, but then they will find themselves stranded at the norther end of the borough trying to decipher a convoluted bus map or relying on expensive cabs to get anywhere else. Tourists, by and large, don’t rent cars when traveling through New York, and the car ride to Staten Island — via congested roads in Brooklyn — is hardly an easy or convenient trip. The Staten Island Rail Road serves some of the island, but large areas are without easy transit access. What can the city do?

The easy solution is a North Shore rail line reactivation. Despite the glaringly obvious need, the MTA over a year ago issued a feasibility study promoting bus rapid transit instead. A subway connection, via the Narrows to Brooklyn or the harbor to Manhattan, is discussed only on message boards devoted to our transit dreams. Meanwhile, the plans for these St. George attractions call for a considerable amount of parking. Shocking, I know.

There’s no easy solution to this problem, and many Staten Islanders are OK with that. They don’t necessarily want the density that comes with transit or the crowds that come with tourist attractions. The city though is intent on turning at least a part of Staten Island into a destination for better or worse, but they’re doing it without addressing fundamental problems of access and accessibility. We may not want a giant Ferris wheel sitting in the harbor, vulnerable to whatever weather may come its way, and we certainly don’t want a Ferris wheel, mall and hotel without a way to get there that doesn’t involve more cars on the road. But that’s what we’re on the verge of getting.

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Service Advisories

Weekend work impacting 14 subway lines

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on September 13, 2013

Busy week, huh? Tom Prendergast began a year-long push for capital funding while, across the river, New Jersey seems primed to extend PATH to Newark airport. The MTA, meanwhile, wants to make buses sexier or at least more appealing to Millennials (and everyone else).

Anyway, here are the weekend changes. Ride safely.


From 11:30 p.m. Friday, September 13 to 5 a.m. Monday, September 16, there is no 1 train service between 14th Street and South Ferry due to Cortlandt Street reconstruction.

  • Free shuttle buses provide alternate service between Chambers Street and South Ferry.
  • 1 trains run express in both directions between 34th Street-Penn Station and 14th Street.
  • 2 and 3 trains run local in both directions between 34th Street-Penn Station and Chambers Street.

Overnight note: Downtown 1 trains run local from Times Square-42nd Street to 14th Street during the overnight hours.


From 11:30 p.m. Friday, September 13 to 5 a.m. Monday, September 16, 2 trains run local in both directions between 34th Street-Penn Station and Chambers Street due to Cortlandt Street reconstruction.


From 6:30 a.m. to midnight, Saturday, September 14 and Sunday, September 15, 3 trains run local in both directions between 34th Street-Penn Station and Chambers Street due to Cortlandt Street reconstruction.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, September 14 to 5 a.m. Monday, September 16, 4 trains run local in both directions between Grand Central-42nd Street and Brooklyn Bridge due to signal work between 14th Street-Union Square and 42nd Street-Grand Central.


From 6 a.m. to 11:30 p.m., Saturday, September 14 and from 8 a.m. to 11:30 p.m., Sunday, September 15, 5 trains run local in both directions between Grand Central-42nd Street and Brooklyn Bridge, and every 20 minutes between Dyre Avenue and Bowling Green due to signal work between 14th Street-Union Square and 42nd Street-Grand Central.


From 5:45 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday, September 14 and Sunday, September 15, Pelham Bay Park-bound 6 trains run express from Hunts Point Avenue to Parkchester due to rail work north of Whitlock Avenue.


From 11:30 p.m. Friday, September 13 to 5 a.m. Monday, September 16, there are no D trains between Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center and 34th Street-Herald Square due to New York State Department of Transportation Inspection of the Manhattan Bridge. Customers should take the F, N, Q, R or special shuttle train instead. D service operates as follows:

  1. Between Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue and Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center (express between 36th Street and Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center)
  2. Between 34th Street-Herald Square and 205th Street
  3. Special shuttle trains operate every 20 minutes between Grand Street and West 4th Street, stopping at Broadway-Lafayette.
  • For service between Manhattan and Brooklyn, customers may take the N, Q, or R. Transfer between the D and N, Q, R trains at 34th Street-Herald Square and /or Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center.
  • For West 4th Street and Broadway-Lafayette Street, customers should take the F instead. Transfer between D and F trains is available at 34th Street-Herald Square.
  • For Grand Street, customers may take the shuttle train and transfer between trains at Broadway Lafayette. Or use the N, Q, or R at the nearby Canal Street station.


From 11:30 p.m. Friday, September 13, to 5 a.m. September 16, E trains are rerouted via the F line in both directions between Roosevelt Avenue and West 4th Street due to a Sandy-related survey of the 53rd Street tube.

  • E trains travel via the 63rd Street and 6th Avenue corridors, stopping at F stations.
  • Free shuttle buses run between Court Square-23rd Street and 21st Street-Queensbridge, stopping at Queens Plaza.


From 11:30 p.m. Friday, September 13 to 5 a.m. Monday, September 16, Coney Island-bound F trains run express from Jay Street-MetroTech to Church Avenue due to work on the Church Avenue Interlocking.


From 11:30 p.m. Friday, September 13 to 5 a.m. Monday, September 16, there is no G train service between Church Avenue and Hoyt-Schermerhorn Sts due to work on the Church Avenue Interlocking. Customers should take the F instead. To connect between F and G service, customers should take the A or C between Hoyt-Schermerhorn Sts and Jay Street-MetroTech. G service operates in two sections:

  • Between Court Square and Bedford-Nostrand Avs.
  • Between Bedford-Nostrand Avs and Hoyt-Schermerhorn Sts, every 20 minutes.


From 11:45 p.m. Friday, September 13 to 5 a.m. Monday, September 16, there is no L train service between Lorimer Street and Myrtle-Wyckoff Aves due to track tie renewal at Graham Avenue. L trains operate in two sections:

  • Between 8th Avenue and Lorimer Street
  • Between Myrtle-Wyckoff Avs and Rockaway Parkway

Free shuttle buses provide alternate service between Lorimer Street and Myrtle-Wyckoff Avs.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, September 14 and 5 a.m. Monday, September 16, N trains run local in both directions between DeKalb Avenue and 59th Street in Brooklyn due to New York State Department of Transportation Inspection of the Manhattan Bridge.


From 10:45 p.m. Friday, September 13 to 5 a.m. Monday, September 16, 57th St-7th Ave-bound Q trains run express from Sheepshead Bay to Kings Highway due to track panel and roadbed work south of Kings Highway.


12:01 a.m. to 6:30 a.m. Saturday, September 14 and Sunday, September 15, and from 12:01 a.m. to 5 a.m. Monday, September 16, there is no R train service between 59th Street and 36th Street in Brooklyn due to New York State Department of Transportation Inspection of the Manhattan Bridge. Customers should take the N instead. R trains run between Bay Ridge-95th Street and 59th Street.

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View from Underground

Great moments in Transit Museum memorabilia

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on September 13, 2013

That pad arrived in the mail last night from the Transit Museum, and I unabashedly love it. It’s a small blank slate for your very own Planned Service Changes. The pad contains 25 sheets of 4 x 6 stickies and is available right here for purchase. One day I should profile the hilariously specific subway merch available for sale at the Transit Museum shop.

And for more great photos of all things transit in and around New York City, follow me on Instagram.

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Buses

Making buses ‘sexier’ to Millennials (or anyone)

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on September 13, 2013
If buses are our future, improvements in service must be as well.

If buses are our future, improvements in service must be as well.

The MTA has developed something of a Millennial fetish over the past few months. These are the young adults of my generation or even younger, the city’s 20-somethings who don’t own apartments or cars. They rent and rely on the subway to get them anywhere at any time, and the MTA, in its twenty-year needs assessment, recognized this cohort as a key driver of transit needs and demands for the next two decades. This focus on one large and important demographic may be overblown, but here we are.

As much as Millennials embrace the subway system (and CitiBike and, yes, taxis), they do not like buses. Can you blame them? New York City buses are hardly a paragon of reliable transit. They’re slow and off-schedule. They run infrequently along routes that are often incomprehensible, and it can sometimes be quicker to walk. Millennials — and New Yorkers of any age group — are in a hurry, and the bus isn’t the thing to take if you’re in a hurry.

Yet, for some reason, buses have emerged as the center piece of the mayoral campaign and a significant component of the MTA’s attempts to expand the transit system. For those vying for Gracie Mansion, buses are an easy improvement to trump. NYC DOT has control over city streets which gives the mayor an opportunity to implement bus plans, and the MTA is willing to go along with just about anything DOT wants when it comes to reallocating street space to buses. They’re cheap and relatively quick to put in place, and they don’t involve digging up entire streets and disrupting life and commerce for nearly a decade as subway construction along Second Ave. does.

This love of buses isn’t a phenomenon unique to the mayoral campaign. The MTA too is pushing buses, and in a talk at NYU’s Rudin Center yesterday, William Wheeler, the MTA’s Director of Planning, spoke at length about getting more Millennials to ride the bus. On the one hand, I’m concerned that the MTA’s focus on buses isn’t completely genuine. Perhaps because subway construction costs are so high in New York, the MTA has decided to punt. Instead of tackling the root causes of high construction costs — a lengthy review process, the potential for protracted litigation, onerous union work rules — the agency can just turn to buses for a low-cost, but also low-capacity, fix. Put some flashing lights on it; require preboard fare payment; and voila, Select Bus Service.

On the other hand, it’s important to build out a bus network where subways right now cannot or will not go, and there’s nothing underhanded or even partly malicious about it. The city should, in fact, demand a better bus route with ridership climbing instead of declining, especially if public transit has lost much of the stigma it used to have. It’s not just for the lower and middle class workers; it’s safe at night; it’s the way to get around.

During his talk, Wheeler spoke at length about the need for the next mayor to fight for bus lanes. The debacles on 34th St. and 125th St. shouldn’t be allowed to happen, according to the planners. But Wheeler also spoke about making buses more attractive to a younger generation of potential riders. He discussed adding wifi to the city buses as though free Internet would somehow be a carrot for a bunch of young people who already all have smartphones that hook up to the next-gen LTE networks. It’s an unnecessary idea.

I think this is a problem with a rather simple solution: If you’d like to attract riders to buses, make it more convenient and quicker. Buses don’t have to stop every two blocks or be beholden to traffic. Fight for dedicated lands, signal prioritization and pre-board fare payment options. Increase service and let people know where buses are and where they’re going. If buses can be faster and just as reliable as subway service — which, for all of our complaints, is pretty reliable — people will ride them. But if buses show up once an hour, not on schedule, and inch their way down an avenue, people who value their time will not ride. Making buses sexier doesn’t require anything more than that.

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AsidesView from Underground

A brief thought on transit access and the rental market

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

It’s no real secret that New Yorkers are more than willing to pay a premium for access. Housing in the middle of Manhattan costs more than housing in the far reaches of Brooklyn and Queens, and Craigslist rentals tout access to nearby subway stations as a selling point. It’s a bit surprising then to read this Wall Street Journal article and see nary a mention of transit.

The gist of the article is this: Some renters are moving to Outer Borough developments instead of what The Journal calls “less-sought-after” neighborhoods in Manhattan. Josh Barbanel credits this willingness to cross the river “first because of lower rents, and later because of their grittier feel.” Now, though, rents are rising in these areas — such as Long Island City — while Midtown East, Murray Hill/Kips Bay and Midtown West have seen rents remain stagnant or even decline slightly.

As landlords look to space and amenities as one explanation, access is definitely another. It’s easier and quicker to take the 7 train from Long Island City to Grand Central than it is to get from 44th St. and 11th Ave. to the East Side. Waterfront neighborhoods in the Outer Boroughs have far superior transit access to Manhattan’s key job centers than do the neighborhoods cut off from the subway system. This is, of course, why Manhattan landlords should push for a Second Ave. Subway, a station along the 7 line at 41st and 10th and various other Manhattan-centric capital projects. Transit access remains a major, underappreciated driver of the New York City housing market, and somehow, The Journal omitted it.

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PANYNJ

Crain’s: $1 billion PATH airport extension on Christie’s radar

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on September 11, 2013

PATH may soon extend from Newark Penn to Liberty International Airport.

As New York City area airports go, Newark’s is relatively easy to get to. NJ Transit and Amtrak both provide regular and frequent service to the AirTrain station, and while the AirTrain is a bit sluggish, it works. Now, at the cost of $1 billion, it’s going to get even easier to get there as Governor Chris Christie will approve a PATH extension to the airport.

Crain’s New York broke the story on Wednesday evening. Daniel Geiger notes that Gov. Christie was set to announce his support on Thursday but canceled his public appearance. Still, the money will be on the way. Geiger reports:

Mr. Christie’s backing would almost certainly assure that the extension project, which has been mulled over by transit officials for more than a year, would be included in the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey’s roughly $30 billion capital plan, which is expected to be released to the public in the coming months.

The extension would be of special benefit to lower Manhattan PATH riders, who would be able to take the line
all the way to Newark Airport and transfer to the Air Train to travel to the airport’s terminals. Downtown PATH service currently ends at Newark Penn Station, and the most common approach for riders coming from Manhattan now is to take New Jersey Transit from Penn Station in Manhattan to the Air Train, a route that requires downtown riders to first head to midtown.

Airport advocates hailed the decision. “A one-seat PATH ride from lower Manhattan directly to Newark Airport Airtrain is a major step forward,” said Joseph Sitt, a Manhattan landlord who earlier this year founded the Global Gateway Alliance to encourage airport improvements.

This move comes after a year’s worth of study. The Port Authority first announced its plans to examine a PATH extension last September, and at the time, they estimated a $600 million project. That cost has, clearly, grown by two-thirds and will clock in at a lofty $1 billion. The details too are still unclear as we don’t yet know where the extension would terminate, but the right-of-way tracks the current NJ Transit/Amtrak routing.

I’m still on the fence about this plan. As I said last year, extending PATH to the airport is a big help for Newark-bound riders from Brooklyn, Lower Manhattan, and Jersey City. But it’s a $1 billion investment in at-grade tracks through a preexisting right-of-way to serve an airport that isn’t lacking in transit connections. It’s $1 billion arguably better spent on La Guardia connectivity, a high-speed connection from Lower Manhattan to JFK or — dare I say it? — those projected cost overruns for the long lost ARC Tunnel. And why has the price tag jumped by 66 percent in 12 months?

We’ll hear more about this plan in the “coming months” as the Port Authority gears up to unveil a $30 billion capital plan. It’s an embrace of transit from a governor who has been openly antagonist toward it, but is it a wise investment? I’m not convinced yet.

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View from Underground

Subway etiquette, or why is this man sitting on the floor of the 1 train using his laptop?

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on September 10, 2013

Why is this man sitting on the floor of a 1 train with his laptop open?

Earlier this week, amidst the brouhaha of the mayoral campaign, the above image hit the Internet, and it immediately created a stir. Why is this man sitting in front of a door on an obviously crowded 1 train while working on his laptop? The doors will inevitably open, and he will inevitably be the one sitting on the floor as though everyone can just walk around him.

The comments on Reddit were not kind, and then the subject of the photo showed up to defend himself. From there, it got ugly. His response was equally as galling as the public shaming that ensued ahead of it:

Some background: I’m wrapping up my PhD thesis. In parallel, I started a new job, my wife went back to school, and we have a new baby (second kid). My wife and I generally sleep 3-4 hours on a good night. Rest of the time is work, work, work, weekends included, with the exception of one free weeknight a week each of us gets in order to preserve some meager amount of sanity.

This means I could either get some work done on the subway or reduce the aforementioned amount of sleep even further. (BTW, at this specific instant I am reviewing the latest comments my adviser gave to my method section.) Usually I manage to get a sit but I got delayed at daycare this morning, hence this pitiful situation. I apologize for inconveniencing you- personally, I did not feel that the train was so packed (the aisle was quite empty). I switched to a sit at 72nd St.

Anyhow, have a good day and I hope poor sods such as myself will be your greatest sources of consternation in life. And to all of the worried parties, the subway floor is relatively clean (you discover this when your toddler throws a temper tantrum on it…). As far as I can see my pants are fine.

So who’s worse: the people who refuse to ask him to move or the obnoxiously holier-than-thou response to the obnoxiously holier-than-thou actions? It’s a tough call, but I can’t say this guy’s reasoning rings anything more than hollow. Millions of people ride the subway to and from work, and millions of people have busy lives, families and obligations. New Yorkers like to say the world revolves around them, but this guy is putting it into practice. He’s sitting on the subway floor of one of the crowded train lines in the city at rush hour, and as the picture was apparently taken outside, he did this from at least 125th St. down to 72nd St. It’s not considerate, but I’m not the final arbiter of subway manners. What say you?

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AsidesBronxBrooklynQueens

Link: A Triboro RX takedown from LTV Squad

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on September 10, 2013

While browsing LTV Squad’s latest offering on a former subway station entrance, I came across another piece from the mysterious author known as Control. It is, at once, both the most obnoxious and the most compelling takedown of the Triboro RX line I’ve seen so far. While many transit advocates — myself included — are salivating over the idea of such a circumferential routing, Control throws a bunch of hot water over it.

So what are the challenges? The main issue surrounds the way some of the right of way is currently used. A considerable amount of products bound for New York rely on the heavy rail lines used for freight that the Triboro RX would commandeer for passenger rail. Control believes the prices of food and goods would skyrocket, and trash collection could become problematic as well. These are arguments that have been put forward by supporters of a trans-harbor freight rail tunnel who also wish to keep the ROW for freight rail.

The physical challenges too are tremendous. If the MTA can’t get an FRA waiver, the ROW isn’t wide enough to accommodate separate tracks for passenger rail and freight. I’m far less sympathetic to the fact that there has been some encroachment onto the right of way or that eminent domain would be necessary to complete the route, but we can’t ignore those challenges.

Ultimately, I think Control’s take is worth a read. His conclusion — “MOVE CLOSER TO WHERE YOU WORK” — is myopic and undermines his point, but ultimately, Triboro RX isn’t as easy as drawing some lines on a map and calling it a done deal. He writes that “the Triboro RX subway will never, ever happen,” and it’s probably better to pick easier battles.

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Capital Program 2015-2019

Asking nicely for help for $29 billion

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on September 10, 2013

One of less glamorous parts of the MTA Chair’s job involves begging. Every five years, the MTA begins anew planning for the next five-year capital plan, and the head of the agency must go, cap in hand, to various interest groups and politicians asking either for vocal support or money. The ask — nearly $30 billion — is high, but so are the stakes. It requires a cohesive and coherent argument for transit investment as well as a plan for all that money.

On Monday, at the annual Crain’s New York Business Breakfast, Tom Prendergast began his two-year tour in support of the next MTA capital plan. Although the 2015-2019 program has no clear outline yet and the big ticket investments remain a work in progress, Prendergast is already fighting for those dollars. Addressing a crowd of city business leaders, Prendergast defended the MTA’s recent progress and asked for help convincing Albany and the feds to invest in transit.

“We need all of you to become advocates for public transportation and there’s a very specific way you can help,” Prendergast said. “About this time next year, we’ll be bringing our next Capital Program — covering capital projects from 2015 to 2019 — to our Board. We expect it to be roughly the same size as our current Capital Program before the Sandy projects were added, and we’ll be working with our elected officials to identify funding sources for it. But we need your help, too. And when people ask me, ‘How can the business community be supportive?’, the answer is simple: Capital Program, Capital Program, Capital Program. I need your support to figure out how to make these critical investments in our region.”

Prendergast didn’t stop there, though, and his next request was nearly as important as his initial ask. “Our Capital Programs have come to rely more and more on borrowing, and we simply don’t want to keep adding to our debt load,” he said. “That’s why I need you to tell your Congressional and State representatives that the Program needs an infusion of new money this time.”

New money can take many forms, but direct grants are the most obvious. The MTA cannot afford to borrow or bond out more money unless the bonding is explicitly for and pegged to revenue-generating projects such as new subway lines. Borrowing to attain a state of good repair will simply add to to the unsustainable debt burden.

So what will the MTA get for its money? The agency is expected to request $29 billion for the next five years, and it won’t always be, as Prendergast repeatedly said, “sexy.” That isn’t, by the way, his phase. During his brief atop the MTA, Joe Lhota said nearly the same thing, and Prendergast has picked up that message. The MTA needs to rebuild parts of the system that are over 100 years old, including extensive parts of Contracts 1 and 2 of the IRT. Beyond that, the MTA wants to add countdown clocks and, more importantly, train tracking technology to the B Division, and the Metrocard replacement comes due in 2019, just sneaking into the next five-year plan.

As to the megaprojects, Prendergast hedged. He spoke about the need to wrap up East Side Access and Phase 1 of the Second Ave. Subway, and he mentioned that he hopes to see all of the Second Ave. line become a reality before the 100th anniversary of the first bond issue. That’s not, however, until 2036. When pressed by reporters after his talk, he admitted that Phase 2 will be examined for possible funding. I’m holding out hope it will be included. It’s hard, after all, to spend $29 billion on new signal systems, and Metro-North’s Penn Station Access plan won’t be that expensive.

And so it begin is definitely one way to sum up Prendergast’s talk. It didn’t break new ground or reveal anything exciting or special. It simply repeated what needs to be said over and over again: The MTA is asking for a lot of money, it needs the money, and it needs business support to realize its plans. For the next 12 months, that’s going to be the party line.

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Service Advisories

FASTRACK shutters East Side local service

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on September 9, 2013
This week's FASTRACK along the East Side local tracks leaves riders with plenty of alternate routes.

This week’s FASTRACK along the East Side local tracks leaves riders with plenty of alternate routes.

As FASTRACK treatements go, this one’s easy: Beginning tonight at 10 p.m. and continuing 5 a.m. each night this week, there will be no local service along Lexington Ave. between Harlem and Grand Central. The 6 train will run express from 125th St. to 42nd St. in both direction, bypassing 51st St., 68th St., 77th St., 96th St., 103rd St., 110th St. and 116th St. Customers looking for the interim stops can either walk from nearby express stations or transfer to the M101 Limited, making all local 6 stops and running up 3rd Ave. and down Lexington Ave. The worst of this week’s changes concern the 5. Service along the 5 train into Manhattan will end early, and riders will have to switch to the 2 at Grand Concourse to catch the 5 at East 180th St.

This is the FASTRACK calm before the storm though. Beginning next Monday, for the first time ever, there will be no service along Central Park West/8th Ave. north of 59th Street. That won’t be too fun for anyone. More on that next Monday.

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