Second Avenue Subway

MTA silent but Mica, feds hint at SAS Phase 2

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on November 2, 2011

Over the past few years, as the MTA has showed off progress underneath Second Ave., authority officials have made it a point to downplay anything more than Phase 1 of the subway. Although the environmental study for a full-length Second Ave. Subway came out in 2004, funding for only a northern extension of the BMT line from 57th St. and Broadway to 96th St. and Second Ave. is in place, and the future of the remaining phases is hazy at best.

On the record, MTA officials have never spoken about the possibilities for future phases. When I interviewed Jay Walder last year, he talked about firming up Phase 1 funding commitments and looking for ways to reduce construction costs. On future phases, he hedged.

“If you look at the Second Ave. Subway piece, to their credit, the planners…are achieving a very usable segment of a railway so that when it opens in 2016, you will have something that will connect into the rest of the system.” Walder said to me. “If we don’t stop there, where do we go from here? The intent is that it goes south from there, and funding-available, that is exactly what everyone’s objective will be. We also have pieces of preexisting tunnel north so you may well have the opportunity to pick up both ends of that.”

Yesterday, though, a very faint glimmer of a Phase 2 future emerged when Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.), Chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) toured the Second Ave. construction site. The federal government has been a very active funding partner for Phase 1. Their investment and pledge of $1.4 billion pushed the MTA to realize a subway line eight decades in the works, and without the federal dollars, the Second Ave. Subway would still just be a dream on paper.

Lately, though, with the feds on an austerity kick despite the need to create jobs, funding for the Second Ave. Subway had come under fire. The House had voted to take away $40 million funding, but after their tour on Tuesday, Mica and Maloney promised to restore those dollars. “The Second Avenue Subway is a great example of what can be done when we invest in our infrastructure, and I thank Chairman Mica for committing to help ensure that the federal government meets its responsibility to fund the subway’s first phase,” Maloney said in a statement.

Mica meanwhile was more expansive in his views. Noting how the Second Ave. Subway is a major infrastructure project with the ability to create a substantial number of jobs, Mica spoke of the future. “For the benefit of other major transportation and infrastructure projects like the Second Avenue Subway, and the stability needed to undertake these kinds of projects around the country, it is essential that Congress complete a six-year transportation bill as soon as possible,” he said.

Speaking with reporters after their tour, Mica stressed how he would lobby for continuous federal funding to maintain the pace of this project, and in those words, I can find that glimmer of hope for the future. If the feds can continue supporting this project, they will put pressure on New York to find the money to go forward. Phase 2 — the northern extension up Second Ave. to the IRT stop at 125th St. and Lexington — would ensure that those working on Phase 1 aren’t unemployed when the construction project ramps down, and the transportation benefits would be tremendous.

I’ve long held out hope for Phase 2 to start as Phase 1 winds down. As Chapter 3 of the FEIS explains, due to preexisting tunnels, the MTA would use cut-and-cover construction methods to build Phase 2. It would likely cost far less than Phase 1 and shouldn’t take nearly as long to finish. In a sense, it is likely to be the easiest segment of the Second Ave. Subway.

Still, I’m getting ahead of myself. The MTA has to make sure Phase 1 is set to finish on time and on budget before it can launch into Phase 2 planning. But I want to believe the project will keep going. I want to believe the MTA won’t cease construction entirely and then ramp it back up to build Phase 2. It’s going to take the perfect alignment of political stars and funding fates, but maybe, just maybe, this little subway 82 years in the making has legs that extend a bit further north than 96th St.

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East Side Access Project

New GCT entrance delayed until 2012

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on November 1, 2011

An entrance into Grand Central along 47th Street was supposed to open in September, but the MTA is now targeting early 2012.

In January of 2010, MTA Capital Construction announced an incremental benefit of East Side Access construction. Although at the time the project was not set to open until 2016, the MTA planned to debut a new entrance this September on 47th Street between Park and Lexington Avenues. It is not yet meant to be.

Many frequent Metro-North commuters had noted that the entrance hadn’t opened in September as planned, and I recently reached out to the MTA for an official statement on the delay. While the completion date for East Side Access has been delayed with a report on a new estimated date due out later this year, the entrance could have opened as planned. It was not meant to be, and now the MTA expects to ready this entry point early next year.

“We expect the entrance will open in the first quarter of 2012,” MTA spokesman Aaron Donovan said. “Metro-North has shifted to a more sophisticated security system for Grand Central, and the entrance needs to be made compatible with the new system.”

The new entrance, when it opens, will feature an escalator from the street to the 47th St. cross passageway and a staircase from the street to the platform shared by Tracks 11 and 13. Meanwhile, we’re stilling waiting for the bad news from MTA Capital Construction President Michael Horodniceanu concerning the estimated revenue service date for ESA. My money is on 2018.

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AsidesSubway Security

In hearing, TWU raises issue of assaults on MTA employees

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on November 1, 2011

TWU officials and MTA employees went before the City Council yesterday to highlight threats to their personal safety. As both The Daily News and amNew York recount, the numbers are incomplete — police reports 96 felonies up from 82 last year while the union claims 170 reported attacks up from 134 last year — but union brass want the MTA and NYPD to do more to protect bus drivers and subway personnel. “If there were two sanitation workers, or police officers or City Council members being assaulted every week in New York City, they’d call in the National Guard to stop those assaults from happening.” Samuelsen said.

At the hearings yesterday, politicians tried to find a potential scapegoat. TWU officials pinpointed rider frustration over service cuts and general “economic hopelessness” as reasons for the increase but also warned of a general laissez faire attitude toward these attacks. Despite warnings that assaults on MTA employees carry a possible seven-year prison sentence, the MTA and NYPD are not proactive in protecting employees. A bus driver partition program is slowly coming to high-crime bus routes, but beyond that, police presence has remained stagnant.

To combat this problem, the MTA and NYPD have to strike a balance between proper enforcement and targeted patrol. While the increase of nearly 20 percent is shocking, 96 reported assaults out of a few billion total riders is a shocking low number and one hard to decrease. Is this ultimately a hazard of the job or one which deserves more attention and resources? After all, as James Vacca, head of the Council’s transit committee, said, “These people are not just a threat to drivers. They’re a threat to people like myself who are on the train and depend on transit every day.”

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Manhattan

On the allure of Manhattan-centric transit growth

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on November 1, 2011

The Triboro RX line would improve transit access in Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx but skips over powerful Manhattan.

Historically, the New York City Subway system has always focused on delivering people into the heart of Manhattan. It grew out of the need to bring people from the north, south and east to Wall St. and spread it tentacles through midtown, upper Manhattan and the Outer Boroughs always shuttling people to what we now know as the Manhattan Central Business District. The alluring draw of Manhattan still dictates the city’s expansionist transit policies, but should it?

The MTA likes to tout its megaprojects, and since the start of the century, they have embarked on a rather ambitious expansion plan to grow the transit network. The Second Ave. Subway will alleviate congestion on the Lexington Ave. IRT while better providing transit access from the Upper East Side to Midtown and Lower Manhattan. The 7 line extension will open up a new frontier of development along Manhattan’s Far West Side while East Side Access will bring LIRR to Manhattan’s East Side. The Fulton St. Transit Center and the new South Ferry station are all a part of the comprehensive effort to develop Lower Manhattan.

Take a deep breath because that’s a lot of Manhattan. At a time when areas in the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens are undergoing rapid transformation as residential neighborhoods, job centers and desirable places for growth, the New York City subway system remains singularly focused on bringing people into Manhattan, its own job since the early 1900s. On the one hand, it should be concerned with Manhattan because most commuters want to get to and from Manhattan every day, and since Manhattan is an island, it has only so many entry points.

On the other, the Manhattan-centric nature of the subway system makes interborough and some intra-borough travel quite complicated or convoluted. It’s nigh impossible to travel from Bay Ridge to JFK Airport on the subway without a considerable investment in time, and many of the job centers focused around health care remain frustratingly out of the way for straphangers. Yet, the only non-Manhattan projects involve some Select Bus Service corridors that take forever to go from planning to reality.

Meanwhile, city officials starting at the top are making noises about another Manhattan-centric subway project. Mayor Bloomberg, as we know, wants to build an extension of the 7 train to Secaucus. Doing so would funnel more workers from Hudson County, New Jersey, into Midtown via the Hudson Yards development. It’s a developer’s dream and one that would improve both mobility and desirability west of the Hudson.

That said, I don’t blame Staten Island politicians who feel slighted over the rumored plans. The city would rather build the subway to New Jersey than ponder Outer Borough expansion plans. After all, those expansion plans wouldn’t have the same impact as a subway that funnels commuters straight into midtown would. Still, as Bloomberg draws responses to his proposal for a new high tech campus somewhere in the city, the push to add jobs outside of Manhattan will inevitably lead to demand for better transit options.

The short wishlist of Outer Borough transit projects is centered around the Triboro RX line. Last mentioned by the MTA in 2008 as part of Lee Sander’s 40-year plan, the Triboro RX line would use preexising rights-of-way and tracks to connect Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx while staying clear of Manhattan. It would pass through job hubs and offer connections to at least 17 other subway lines. It could be amended to cross the Narrows to Staten Island and would extend somewhere into the Bronx.

Beyond that, the city could use better transit access to LaGuardia, a Nostrand and/or Utica Ave. subway extension and service past Flushing/Main St. on the 7 line. None of these projects offer the sexy political allure of Manhattan, but they would do wonders for mobility in and around the region. The dollars and the will though just aren’t there, and we’ll watch as Manhattan remains, for better or worse, the center of attention.

Addendum: As the good Cap’n just reminded me, he offered up his take on Manhattan recently. Check out this piece for a different view on why Manhattan has all the fun.

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AsidesTaxis

A summit to move forward the stalled taxi bill

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on October 31, 2011

Since earlier this summer when the state legislature passed a bill that would expand livery cab service outside of Manhattan, the measure has gone nowhere. Lawmakers have not sent the bill to Gov. Andrew Cuomo for his approval, and the Governor hasn’t done much to move the legislation along. Now, in an attempt to end Albany gridlock, Cuomo is going to host a summit featuring the various stakeholders in this battle with the aim of finding a compromise suitable to everyone.

According to a brief item in The Post, “representatives from the livery-car industry, yellow-cab owners, disability advocates, borough politicians and the Mayor’s Office” will attend the meeting next week, but it’s unclear exactly what sort of compromise will be reached. Taxi medallion owners have pressured state representatives to stall the bill in the hopes of protecting their investments while New Yorkers who reside north of 96th St. or outside of Manhattan see powerful special interests fighting for nothing. Yellow cab drivers don’t cruise these areas and would lose little business from an expansion of the livery cab system.

Convening a meeting is a clear step in the right direction toward a resolution, but I’m wary of one that will feature yellow cab owners and no drivers. These are powerful and rich interests after all. Still, if this meeting moves the bill closer to Cuomo’s desk, the city will be better off for it. Now about that transit lockbox…

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AsidesNew York City Transit

Cutting off service to combat Halloween vandalism

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on October 31, 2011

Every year come October 31, a few unruly folk have to ruin the fun for everyone. On Halloween night, as costumes become the norm, kids from around the city let their wild sides loose, and attacking city property seems to jump to the top of the agenda. Hooligans egg buses and descend upon innocent passengers. This year, as they’ve done in the past, the MTA wants to put a stop to it by cutting short some bus routes.

As both The Daily News reported yesterday, the MTA may temporarily cease service in areas prone to vandalism. According to Transit officials, bus service along the Bx 8 in Edgewater Park, the Bx 24 in Country Club and the B31 in Gerritsen Beach could all be reduced tonight. Teenagers in Gerritsen Beach, in particular, sparked a controversy last year when they were outed by a local blogger. “These areas have notoriously been problem areas,” Kevin Ortiz, a Transit spokesman, told The News. “It’s definitely a safety concern. We deploy this action plan to ensure employees and customers are provided with a safe environment when working or using our buses.”

Now, the MTA should make sure its riders and employees are safe throughout Halloween, but something about this plan to scale back service bothers me. Shouldn’t police presence be increased to ensure that public is maintained before Transit throws in the towel? Should we cut off bus service to those in some of the least transit-accessible areas in the city due to some bad eggs? Giving in isn’t the precedent I’d like to see established.

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Taxis

Amidst noisy commutes, slightly quieter cabs

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on October 31, 2011

Whenever I’m driving somewhere and I’m in the car by myself, I like to turn up on the volume on the music I’ve taken with me for the ride. Maybe I’ll sing along; maybe I’ll just enjoy the background music. No matter what, though, it’s a time for me to control the soundtrack to my ride.

At all other times, though, we don’t want to hear any extraneous sounds during our commutes. For example, few things annoy commuters more than tinny music trickling through leaky headphones, and subway riders have had a very strident reaction toward the MTA’s ongoing attempts to bring cell service to its underground stations. In fact, in a recent poll, the Straphangers Campaign found that over 43 percent of respondents thought that allowing cell reception under was a bad idea. Elsewhere, we grow weary of the pre-recorded announcements that provide a noisy intrusion into a commute we want to be our own.

Driving these sympathies are feelings of self. We ride the subway with everyone else, but we want our commutes to be our own. We want to set the pace, the space, the time, the sounds, and this onslaught of other voices — from MTA warnings to cell conversations to music — grows annoying. Just as bad as the subways are taxis. Once upon a time, a variety of public figures from Elmo to Joe Torre told us to buckle our seat belts, and today, interactive TVs complete with ads and talking heads bombard us with sounds.

This weekend, when I got into a cab to head from the subway to Chelsea Piers amidst a strange bout of winter weather in late October, the TV started playing, and it would not stop. Five ads rolled before Brian Williams started yammering about NBC News. With the cabbie’s radio on, albeit at a respectful volume, the TV was just too much, and we scrambled to press the mute button. Now, though, we will soon gain a respite from the taxi noises.

As Christine Haughney reports in The Times today, quieter TVs are coming to a taxi near you. She reports:

The two major software providers of Taxi TV technology, Creative Mobile Technologies and VeriFone Media, have taken several steps designed for a quieter ride. In some taxis, the default volume has been lowered, and the volume button has been relocated; passengers will also get a quick tutorial on how to lower the volume or mute it altogether. And now, for the first time, passengers can even silence the introduction video that plays before the regular Taxi TV programming begins.

For many passengers, the changes are long overdue: in a recent survey of 22,000 riders, 31 percent said the televisions were the worst element of the ride. Cabbies also welcomed the changes, even if they cannot hit the mute button themselves.

“All day we hear it, same thing all day,” said Ghayyur Abbas, 34, a taxi driver who on a recent night blared Rihanna at an even higher volume to block out jokes that the comedian Jimmy Kimmel was making on Taxi TV. Mr. Abbas said he dreaded the coming weeks, when Taxi TV would start running a chorus of holiday-themed jingles: “Halloween is coming. Then it’s going to start. Then Christmas.”

So far, says Haughney, approximately half of the city’s taxis are now quieter with more changes on the horizon. “We’ve had to balance the interests of the advertisers and the passengers and the drivers,” Jesse Davis, head of a company that has outfit 6600 taxis, said. “The advertiser or content provider wants the sound as loud as possible. The drivers, for the most part, would rather not hear it.”

One of Davis’ co-workers from Creative Mobile Technologies noted that fewer customers were muting the quieter TVs, but drivers still find the volume intrusively, repetitive and annoying. So do I, and the mute button is the first thing I find after telling the driver where I’m going.

New York is known for its noise. Horns blare; trains rumble by. We want quiet as we ride. We want to control the volume. We want to pick the music. Maybe one day, we will, but for now, a quieter taxi ride is a step in the right direction. If only we could do away with those TVs for good though.

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Service Advisories

Weekend work impacting travel on 14 lines

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on October 28, 2011

How about a little news roundup before the weekend? I didn’t have a chance to cover these stories this week, but they do deserve some attention.

First up, the LIRR. The ongoing disability scandal reached a temporary denouement this week as 11 people were charged with fraud in a scandal that may have cost the government as much as $1 billion. Among those facing charges are seven retired LIRR workers, one ex-union president, a federal employee, a doctor and an office manager. A second doctor will be facing charges as well. While this is a scandal that largely impacts the federal retirement benefit panel, the MTA is tangentially at risk financially due to increased health care premiums for retired employees. This story is far from over.

Next up, something lighter. Helvetica has a competitor underground. As David Dunlap explored at City Room today, because of signs promoting the 9/11 Memorial, the familiar MTA font is no longer alone. Dunlap notes that seeing these signs throughout Lower Manhattan is a bit jarring. He writes that “standardized signage helps everyone navigate a system cobbled together by different builders in different eras, at different levels, with different architectural styles and different kinds of trains.” The new wayfinding font certainly sticks out.

And with that, it’s the weekend. The service advisories are below. Check out Subway Weekender for the map or the MTA’s own Weekender if you’re into Vignelli.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, October 29 to 5 a.m. Monday, October 31, there is no 2 service in Brooklyn due to track work south of Wall Street, platform edge rehabilitation at Hoyt Street and the installation of fiber optic cable ducts between Nevins Street and Hoyt Street. 2 trains run between the Dyre Avenue 5 station and the South Ferry 1 station.

  • 5 trains replace the 2 in Brooklyn
  • 2 trains are rerouted to the 1 between Chambers Street and South Ferry
  • 2 trains replace the 5 between East 180th Street and Dyre Avenue.
  • 5 trains replace the 2 between East 180th Street and 241st Street.

Note: Customers may use a free out-of-system transfer between the 2 at South Ferry and the 4 or 5 at Bowling Green station.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, October 29 to 5 a.m. Monday, October 31, there is no 3 service in Brooklyn due to track work south of Wall Street, platform edge rehabilitation at Hoyt Street and the installation of fiber optic cable ducts between Nevins Street and Hoyt Street. 3 trains operate between 148th Street and 14th Street. Customers should take the 4 instead.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, October 29 to 5 a.m. Monday, October 31, 4 train service is extended to and from New Lots Avenue due to track work south of Wall Street, platform edge rehabilitation at Hoyt Street and the installation of fiber optic cable ducts between Nevins Street and Hoyt Street. 4 trains operate local in Brooklyn.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, October 29 to 5 a.m. Monday, October 31, 5 service is extended to and from Flatbush Avenue due to track work south of Wall Street, platform edge rehabilitation at Hoyt Street and the installation of fiber optic cable ducts between Nevins Street and Hoyt Street. (See 2 train entry for details.)


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, October 29 to 5 a.m. Monday, October 31, Manhattan-bound 6 trains run express from Hunts Point Avenue to 3rd Avenue-138th Street due to station painting at Brooke Avenue.


From 11:30 p.m. Friday, October 28 to 5 a.m. Monday, October 31, there is no 7 train service between Times Square-42nd Street and Queensboro Plaza due to CBTC (signal) work between Grand Central-42nd Street and Hunters Point Avenue. Customers should use the E, N, Q, S and free shuttle buses provide alternate service.

  • Use E, N or Q between Manhattan and Queens
  • Free shuttle buses run between Vernon Blvd-Jackson Avenue and Queensboro Plaza
  • Q service is extended to and from Astoria-Ditmars Blvd during the daytime hours
  • In Manhattan, the 42nd Street shuttle operates overnight

From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, October 29 to 5 a.m. Monday, October 31, Queensboro Plaza-bound 7 trains operate express from 74th Street to Queensboro Plaza due to track panel installation south of 33rd St-Rawson Street. Customers must backride for missed stations. For service into Manhattan, customers may take the 7 to 74th Street-Roosevelt Avenue and transfer to Manhattan-bound E or F trains.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, October 29 to 5 a.m. Monday, October 31, Manhattan-bound A trains run on the F line from Jay Street-MetroTech to West 4th Street, then local to 59th Street-Columbus Circle due to work on the Fulton Street Transit Center. For Chambers Street, Canal Street, or Spring Street, customers should transfer between the A, C and E at West 4th Street.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, October 29 to 5 a.m. Monday, October 31, there are no A trains at Fulton Street in either direction due to work on the Fulton Street Transit Center. Customers should use Chambers Street instead.


From 6:30 a.m. to midnight, Saturday, October 29 and Sunday, October 30, uptown C trains run on the F line from Jay Street-MetroTech to West 4th Street and there are no C trains at Fulton Street in either direction due to work on the Fulton Street Transit Center.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, October 29 to 5 a.m. Monday, October 31, Coney Island-bound D trains run on the N line from 36th Street to Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue due to structural repair and station rehabilitation from 71st Street to Bay 50th Street and ADA work at Bay Parkway.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, October 29 to 5 a.m. Monday, October 31, the World Trade Center E station is closed due to track work south of Canal Street. E trains originate and terminate at the Chambers Street A, C station.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, October 29 to 5 a.m. Monday, October 31, Queens-bound F trains run via the M line from 47th-50th Sts-Rockefeller Center to Queens Plaza due to the installation of temporary barricades and station reconstruction work at Lexington Avenue-63rd Street.


From 12:01 a.m. to 5 a.m. Saturday, October 29, Manhattan-bound F trains run local from Roosevelt Avenue to 36th Street due to rail and plate renewal and track resurfacing along the Queens Blvd Line.


From 6 a.m. Saturday, October 29 to 6 p.m. Sunday, October 30, J trains operate in two sections due to replacement of rail at Marcy Avenue:

  • The last stop for some Manhattan-bound J trains is Broadway Junction.
  • Customers may transfer at Broadway Junction to continue to Chambers Street.


From 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday, October 29 and 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday, October 30, Q service is extended to and from Astoria-Ditmars Blvd. in order to provide more Queens-Manhattan alternatives due to the 7 suspension between Times Square and Queensboro Plaza.


From 11 p.m. Friday, October 28 to 6 p.m. Saturday, October 29, Manhattan-bound Q trains skip Avenue J due to Brighton station rehabilitations.

(42nd Street Shuttle)
During the weekend, the 42nd Street (S) shuttle extends operating hours overnight in order to provide cross-town service due to the 7 suspension between Times Square and Queensboro Plaza.

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7 Line Extension

7 to Secaucus: NJ on board; Staten Island not

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on October 28, 2011

As the crow flies, Secaucus is closing to Midtown than Staten Island is.

In news that will shock no one, New Jersey is willing to throw its political support behind Mayor Bloomberg’s plan to send the 7 train to Secaucus while Staten Island politicians are objecting. As the plan exists right now as nothing more than a long-standing dream suddenly drawing Bloomberg’s attention, the cross-border state politics and interborough maneuverings will likely dominate the coverage as long as the idea is still alive.

The first word from west of Hudson came from Gov. Chris Christie earlier this week. He likes the project because it requires less of an investment from New Jersey and because New York would pick up some of the tab — an aspect of ARC that led to resentment over the project’s funding. Christie, who didn’t say too much this week, proclaimed that New Jersey will “do our share.” in a radio interview, he said, “All of this will be able to come together.”

Staten Islanders, meanwhile, had far more to say about the project, and none of it involved much praise. Already smarting over Port Authority fare hikes that they said unfairly impact their constituents, Staten Island politicians banded together to oppose the project. Calling upon Gov. Andrew Cuomo to help improve Staten Island’s transit options, the bipartisan group bemoaned the focus on New Jersey in a letter to Albany.

“”This is a project that is worthy of consideration in the future. Now is not the time to explore more ways to get from New Jersey to Manhattan when it’s our toll money paying for it,” the letter said. “We would also encourage you to have your appointees on the Port Authority Board reject any funding for exorbitant projects until we have reached an agreement on how we can lessen the overall financial impact for residents of Richmond County. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey simply must find alternative means of revenue, then off the backs of Staten Islanders.”

Allen Cappelli, an MTA Board member from Staten Island, expressed his concern that the 7 line extension was targeting the wrong folk. “I applaud the mayor for his vision of connecting part of the region to the transit system. I’d hoped that his vision would include Staten Island and its 500,000 residents,” he said. “We ought to be talking about connecting Staten Island too. hat’s regional interconnectivity. It’s fine to give lip service to the world’s greatest parking lot – the Staten Island Expressway – but words are not good enough.”

The keys though are demographics, geography and politics. If the Mayor’s goal is to increase the region’s interconnectivity while alleviating congestion across the Hudson and shepherding people to the Hudson Yards development and Midtown, the 7 line extension to Secaucus makes far more sense than a subway to Staten Island. The population density in Hudson County is nearly double that of Staten Island, and the New Jersey county, separated from the city by only a river and a state border, is closer to Midtown than the borough of Staten Island is. It is also is home to more people who work in Manhattan than Staten Island is. Finally, a subway to New Jersey could draw on funding from two states and the Port Authority while New York would likely have to foot the entire bill for any Staten Island-centric improvements.

Of course, that bill remains problematic. No one knows how much this will cost and who’s going to pay. One commentator though has found the perfect donor. If Mayor Bloomberg is so concerned with building his legacy, Stephen Smith writing at Forbes says, why doesn’t he just cut the check for construction himself? It would indeed be a groundbreaking public/private partnership.

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Fulton Street

A glimpse at the commercial plans for Fulton St.

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on October 28, 2011

The Fulton Street Transit Center will feature retail and cafes at street level.

As progress continues on the Fulton Street Transit Center, the MTA is finally readying post-construction plans. The $1.4 billion project isn’t going to wrap until 2014, but the authority wants the pieces in place as this project has taken long enough. Earlier this week, the MTA unveiled a series of renderings of the inside of the transit center’s oculus, and their plans are coming into view.

Essentially, the MTA is going to make the Fulton Street Transit Center a downstair destination for shopping and dining. They want to recreate the aura of Grand Central in Lower Manhattan, but instead of managing the real estate themselves, they’re going to try a new approach. They will, as Andrew Grossman of The Wall Street Journal detailed, lease all of the space to one company who will then be in charge of doling out parcels for what an MTA document has termed “Lower Manhattan’s next great public space.” Grossman explains:

The move would put one firm in charge of filling 70,000 square feet of retail space in the three-story building. The MTA envisions big retailers taking space, along with a “grand bar” overlooking the Manhattan skyline and what it calls “destination” restaurants, similar to the Campbell Apartment in Grand Central.

Whichever firm leases the retail space would also be responsible for cleaning and maintaining it, said Michael Horodniceanu, the president of the MTA’s capital-construction division. That would allow the MTA to focus on maintaining underground space…

The MTA sees the site as a busy public space where people eat, drink and shop in addition to catching trains. It’s a goal similar to the one the Port Authority has for its transit hub under construction at the World Trade Center a few blocks away. That agency has inked a deal with mall operator Westfield Group to develop and manage retail throughout the site, including at the $3.4 billion transit hub designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava.

The MTA is hoping to draw an anchor tenant for the third floor of the transit center. The renderings show a spot that looks suspiciously similar to an Apple Store.

In short, the agency has unveiled their planned uses to the floors of the transit center. Street level will include retail shops and markets or cafes. The second level will feature destination bars and restaurants, and the third level will play host to an anchor tenant. It could be an alluring spot for an Apple Store if the computer giant wants to open up in Lower Manhattan around the corner from J&R. Whatever company rents that spot though will find a space with views down through the oculus.

In addition to this commercial spaces, the MTA also plans to make the Fulton hub its first all-digital station. Instead of static signs pointing the way, the authority will install dynamic real-time signage that will be updated to reflect the status of current services. It is the culmination of the MTA’s efforts at bringing real-time information to the commuting masses.

And yet, despite the flashy renderings and ambitious plans, despite the rent dollars that will flow in, I still believe Fulton St. is something of a boondoggle with plenty of missed opportunities. It’s a project that was funded by the federal government who wanted to boost Lower Manhattan, but it’s one of three that will deliver more retail space to the area. It’s a $1.4 billion transit expense that doesn’t do a thing to improve train service and mobility in and out of the area. Finally, it’s centerpiece is a three-story building with a fancy roof in an area of high rises and valuable air rights.

Similar to the dollars being spent for the 7 line extension, the MTA didn’t have much flexibility with the $1.4 billion it received. Had they opted against a Fulton Street Transit Center, the feds would have sent the money elsewhere. Still, this project could have been better. If the MTA and its real estate management partner can deliver on tenants, it could still become a destination shopping area. It sure is shaping up to be an expensive one to build though.

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