Subway Advertising

A September nostalgia train with a sponsored twist

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

A vintage IRT trainset will be decked out in Boardwalk Empire ads this month.

Railfans and regular straphangers love vintage train car rides, but the MTA has found them to be a bit costly. During times of austerity, the authority hasn’t been as willing to let loose the old trainsets as they once were, but it seems as though they’ve solved this problem through advertising. For the month of September, a Boardwalk Empire-branded vintage trainset will run on the West Side IRT on the weekends as HBO gears up to promote the new series.

Here’s what the pitch e-mail has to say:

Starting on Saturday, September 3rd an authentic vintage 1920’s train will run on the express 2/3 track in Manhattan throughout September (specifically, from 12 to 6 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays). Originally operated by the Interborough Rapid Transit (IRT) system, the train began service back in 1917 and will once again be operational. Customers who have the opportunity to ride the vintage train will be transported back in time to the Prohibition era with authentic details such as rattan seats, ceiling fans and drop sash windows, as well as a custom branded interior featuring Boardwalk Empire-inspired period artwork.

For the weekend of the premier — September 24 and 25 — so-called “brand ambassadors” will be giving away free MetroCards as well. HBO is apparently going all out, and as you can see from the image above, the faux-vintage ads in the Nostalgia Train cars have given way to Boardwalk Empire branding.

This is of course a rather unique promotion since there aren’t too many period pieces on TV that take place in New York, but I’m curious about the economics of it. I’ve reached out to the MTA for more information, and if I hear a pricetag, I’ll pass it along. In the meantime, click through for another look at the sponsored subway car. I wonder if it’ll be an air conditioned ride.

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AsidesMTA Absurdity

A dubious distinction for 138th Street

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

Over the past few months, Transportation Alternatives has been pushing its Rider Rebellion campaign on the public. They want to show how transit riders support “affordable fares, better service and the end of service cuts.” In essence, its goal is to convince politicians to invest more heavily in the system to avoid decay, and they’re trying to do so by highlighting some of the more unsavory aspects of the system. Recently, they named 138th Street/Grand Concourse the smelliest system in the station to highlight how budget woes have led the MTA to cut cleaners. It’s quite the dubious distinction.

“We asked our fellow transit riders to stand up, cover their noses and tell us which station smells the worst,” Paul Steely White, TA’s executive director, said. “While recent budget cuts by the state legislature have forced subway riders to deal with higher fares and less frequent trains, it has also led to cutbacks in the general upkeep of stations. Stations have got dirtier and smellier and the conditions are unacceptable.”

The 138th Street station edged out 34th St./Herald Square, Jamaica Center and Grant Ave. in a text poll. Unfortunately, though, only 229 folks voted so the results aren’t entire scientific. Still, the point remains: Stations aren’t as clean as they should be, and riders have to suffer the stench because of it.

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PANYNJ

Paying for it now, later or not at all

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

When the MTA starts operating trains to 11th and 34th Street in a few years, it will be doing so to a station paid for by the City of New York and over tracks paid for by the same. It’s all well and good that someone else decided to foot the bill for this transit extension, but once construction wraps up, that’s all she wrote. For the rest of its existence, the MTA will have to pay the operating and maintenance costs for this extension of the subway system.

The same thing, of course, happens all around town. Phase 1 of the Second Ave. Subway will increase operating costs as the MTA will have to run trains to the Upper East Side while maintaining levels of service to Astoria and Brooklyn along the BMT lines. The East Side Access project will require more rolling stock, more personnel and more long-term upkeep for the LIRR as well. Even as the capital dollars stop, these projects still cost the MTA money.

Meanwhile, politicians are often arguing for an increase in the MTA’s expenditures without even realizing. Constantly, elected officials and community boards call upon the authority to increase bus frequency or add new routes to better serve neighborhoods. But who is going to pay? In an ideal world, any new fares generated by the increased service would cover its operating costs, but since we live in a world in which transit fares are kept artificially low to stimulate ridership while direct subsidies are eliminated, no one ends up paying the operating costs. The MTA’s expenses mount, and they have to cut from somewhere else in the budget.

Recently, we’ve seen a somewhat similar drama play out with the Port Authority. A few weeks ago, the PA proposed a massive increase in tolls and fares, and the proceeds were to go toward an ambitious ten-year capital plan that would have improved rivers airports, roads and rails throughout the region. After a faux-political uproar, the PA approved a reduced fare and toll hike package but had to scale back some upgrade projects as well. For example, upgrades described by the authority as “critically” at Newark and LaGuardia Airports will be delayed.

Earlier this week, Port Authority head Chris Ward lashed out at politicians who refused to accept the Port Authority’s budget on the one hand and want fancy new projects on the other. “The reality,” he said to the New York Building Congress, “is that you cannot always do more with less. Sometimes you simply must do more, and we’ll be playing catchup with the rest of the world until that reality becomes a part of our political conversation.”

During his speech, Ward also praised Governors Chris Christie and Andrew Cuomo for ultimately accepting the Port Authority’s budget. “We live in the reality of practical decision making and decisions were made for what can in fact be a level of tolls that work within this region, and the governors showed their leadership,” he said. (For more on Ward’s speech, check out Transportation Nation’s coverage.)

Now, of course, Ward has to strike a conciliatory tone toward the two state executives, but his first statement bears a closer look. For years, we’ve heard a lot about doing more with less. The MTA is trying to make every dollar count, as they remind us frequently, and Albany is still pushing for a forensic audit. Some politicians want to roll back the payroll tax; others balk at tolling the East River; and everyone wants more, more, more.

At a certain time, though, more is going to cost something. If we want more reliable service, better airports or even a smoother ride into the Lincoln Tunnel, we’ll have to pay for it. As I wrote last week, decisions we make now burden the future and that includes decisions made to avoid funding a project. If we can’t stomach the costs now and the infrastructure falls into further disrepair, it’s just going to be more costly to fix it in the future. Chris Ward knows what he’s talking about, but does anyone controlling the purse strings see it that way too?

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AsidesSubway Security

NYPD Transit Chief: Gadgets fueling increase in crime

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

Every three or four months (January, April), those who cover the subways get to dust off the same old story about crime underground, and today, we have the August edition of that tale. Courtesy of John Doyle and The Daily News, we learn that subway thieves are still targeting electronics as grand larcenies — defined as the theft of a cellular communication device — have risen 28 percent this year, offsetting any gains due to the decrease of more serious subway crimes. “The system is as safe as it’s ever been, but you need to be mindful,” Joseph Fox, the new head of the NYPD’s transit bureau, said. “Be aware when the doors are closing; there are still some people who will reach in and snatch [your belongings].”

As the News notes, felony assaults are down this year, but robberies and grand larcenies mostly concerning iPods, smart phones and iPads are up. Some riders say they won’t use their eReaders underground, which defeats the purpose of carrying them around, but the simple solution is vigilance. Hold onto your stuff; keep an eye on those around you; and use common sense on some of the less crowded subways. “I don’t take my phone out or take a Kindle or iPad out,” Amy Kirkhem said to The News. “I could see it being easy for someone to grab. You don’t want to be careless.”

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LIRR

MTA finally says bollocks to LIRR bollards

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

The bollards at Atlantic Ave. which may have called tombstones are going to be replaced this winter. (Photo by Benjamin Kabak)

When the Long Island Rail Road finally opened its new Atlantic Ave. terminal in early 2010, its security features drew some criticism amidst the praise for the station. Surrounding the outside at the corner of Ashland Place and Hanson Place are a series of giant stone bollards that look more like tombstones. They make walking into and out of the terminal more challenging than they need to be, and for security measures, they are overwhelmingly intrusive.

The opening of the terminal drew a flurry of attention to the bollards. I didn’t go for them last year while Streetsblog noted how they exceeded the NYPD’s anti-terrorism guidelines. The Brooklyn Paper has been waging a protracted war against them, and this week, Gersh Kuntzman claimed a victory.

As the paper reported this week, the LIRR will be removing the concrete barriers over the winter and replacing them with something less oppressive. “The new, smaller bollards are less intrusive and more acceptable to the community,” MTA spokesman Sal Arena said to the paper.

Daniel Bush had more:

The MTA would not provide details of the plan, but a preliminary rendering reveals several dozen three-foot-high bollards stretching around the corner of Hanson Place and Atlantic Avenue at the terminal’s main entrance. Spaced approximately four feet apart, the proposed stainless steel cylinders — which resemble bollards seen in front of international consulates and other high-profile buildings — are far less obtrusive than the existing barriers.

Yet they appear to meet the criteria set forth in an NYPD security report which advised that bollards in front of high-risk buildings measure 30 to 36 inches high, and be spaced four feet apart. Those types of barriers are classified by the State Department as K-12, meaning that they can withstand the impact of a 15,000-pound truck traveling 50 miles per hour.

MTA spokesman Kevin Ortiz said that the new bollards were “reviewed by and endorsed by the NYPD.”

As City Council representative Letitia James said of the current barriers, “There’s nothing aesthetically pleasing about [them].” The new ones sound like a marked improvement indeed.

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View from Underground

Thoughts on a weekend without any travel at all

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

Grand Central sat empty on Friday night as Hurricane Irene approached. (Photo courtesy of MTA, Aaron Donovan)

I had some errands to run on Friday evening before Hurricane Irene arrived, and as walked down Broadway in Soho, business owners were hard at work boarding up their windows. After a dinner in Chinatown, I hopped on the 4 train for what would be my last subway ride until Monday afternoon. When I went to check on the trains on Saturday at around 2 p.m., stations were already boarded up, and the city has come to a standstill.

When Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the MTA announced the system-wide closure, I didn’t know what to make of it. For my entire life, New Yorkers have scoffed at weather-related warnings. Until recently, blizzard watches never developed; big snowstorms failed to dump much on the city; and even previous hurricanes had petered out before arriving in the northeast. Maybe it’s the unique geography of New York City and the landmass of Long Island, but something seems to slow down big storms before they dump much on us.

This time, though, the state wasn’t going to take any chances. After stranding passengers in the December blizzard, the MTA had to act, and the new governor wasn’t going to sit idly by. Cuomo ordered a system shutdown, and some of the starker images from the New York area emerged from our quiet transit system. Grand Central was entirely perfectly empty by Saturday afternoon. The bustling hub for transit and commerce had nary a soul inside. It was as though Cameron Crowe’s Vanilla Sky had come to pass.

Over the next 42 hours, we sat and waited for life to resume. The storm came and went with parts north bearing the brunt of it, and the city could not spring to life. At first, I thought the roads would be more choked with cars as New Yorkers tried to drive into Manhattan and throughout the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn and Staten Island to go on with their lives. Yet, as the MTA shut down, so too did most businesses. Employees couldn’t get to work without their trains, and it made no sense to open if the city was at a transportation standstill.

With the MTA’s network out, though, we had an opportunity to see just how dependent the city is on the subways, buses and railroads the service us. In Park Slope, the businesses that were open on Sunday were staffed by locals. These folks live in the neighborhood or close enough to hoof it when the trains aren’t running, but many others were shuttered. People couldn’t get to work, and so work didn’t happen.

By and large, New Yorkers regard the transit system as a necessary evil. We think nothing of taking a 20-minute train ride, as I did last night, from the West Village to Brownstone Brooklyn. It just happens. Sometimes, it’s slow; sometimes, it’s crowded; sometimes, we wait out for service interruptions. Usually, thought it just is.

So I’m left with a question: Why can’t politicians see the importance of the system? Without the subways and the buses, New York becomes a city of neighborhoods, and no one can go anywhere. With the transit system, we have a vibrant economy that powers the nation and sometimes the world. The subways are the prime people-movers in that economy. Without political support, the system will slowly wither and die. Every day cannot be as quite as it was with Irene looming, but unless attitudes toward transit change, that’s where we’re heading. It’s not a pleasant future to contemplate.

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AsidesMTA Absurdity

Liu: ‘I hold [Walder] responsible’ for MTA funding woes

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on August 30, 2011

Over the years, John Liu has become a prominent New York City politician who doesn’t have a clue about MTA finances. As early as 2007, I questioned his knowledge of transit funding, and he has over the years continued to espouse falsehoods and non-sequitors about the MTA. Now, with Jay Walder’s looming departure, he has somehow managed to raise his own bar yet again.

In a brief interview with a local Queens community paper, Liu slammed Walder for leaving the MTA, and while I don’t disagree with the overarching sentiment that Walder is leaving before he finishes the job, Liu’s statements are patently absurd. “I’m very disappointed that Walder’s leaving and I hold him responsible,” Liu said. “He basically just threw his hands up and waved the white flag. I think it was a cop-out.” Responsible for what, exactly? Considering the only recent MTA report to come out of Liu’s office was a petty one on service changes, I’m sure Walder isn’t going to take Liu’s accusations too seriously.

Meanwhile, Liu, who refuses to take the position that pension reform is needed because it would alienate his high-powered friends in labor, thinks the solution to the MTA’s woes can be found through the magically federal government fairy. The MTA, he says, will be fine if only the feds would give it more money. And this a politician many think will try to run for mayor in 2013?

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AsidesView from Underground

‘GUYS, there are rats in the subway, and the Daily News is ON IT’

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on August 30, 2011

With apologies to The Times Is On It, the Daily News offers up a breath-taking expose on rats in the subway: There are lots of rats in the subway, they live in garbage storage rooms, and the MTA has done very little to combat the problems despite assurances a few years ago that they would. It’s a story we’ve heard over and over and over and over again. Rats, it seems, just come with the territory.

In his piece on rats this week, Pete Donohue tries to offer up a new twist. He notes that Howard Roberts in 2009 pledged to “do something better” about the subway’s rat problems. Of course, two years and another Transit president later, nothing much has happened. The MTA says it’s going to try to seal up garbage collection rooms and place more rat poison there, but then, we’ll just be left with dead rats instead. The authority also says it’s going to have this program in place at 25 stations by the spring, but I have to wonder what takes so long.

I’m not going to hold my breath on any of this. While waiting for a train earlier this week, I spied a rat poison warning sign that was dated July 2002. The MTA will haphazardly bait the system and then leave up the signs for a decade. It’s always been the way of things, and we’ll just continue to coexist with the multitude of rodents that inhabit the system.

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View from Underground

In the face of Irene, making the right call

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on August 30, 2011

Metro North's Port Jervis line will be closed indefinitely as the MTA addresses what it called catastrophic damage. (Photo by Metropolitan Transportation Authority)

By the time I ventured out of Brooklyn on Monday afternoon for the first time since arriving home on Friday night, Irene’s impact within the five boroughs of New York City had largely dissipated. A few neighborhoods are dealing with flood waters and downed trees while others are still waiting for power to be restored. But as dramatic images of flooding in upstate New York and Vermont pour in, New York City remained unscathed.

Of course, since the city emerged from the storm with only a death or two and little long-term damage, many pundits have begun to question our preparedness. Did we have to shutdown the city so completely on Saturday? Was it an overreaction to cut off subway service and shut down mass transit? Why couldn’t meteorologists better predict the weather? It’s typical Monday-morning quarterbacking but this for a natural disaster.

Outside of the city, the storm has been devastating. So far, 40 people have died from it, and that total is expected to rise. The property loss is estimated to be well over $10 billion, and even locally, the MTA announced last night that Port Jervis line will not enjoy Metro-North service for months due to “catastrophic damage” to track beds, bridges and signal system. The railroad will run shuttle buses for now, but they do not anticipate service any time soon. More details are available in a press release, and the photos are breathtaking in their starkness.

Now, even before we knew the full extent of the damage to Metro-North’s westernmost reaches, straphangers were wondering if the MTA overreacted. Why didn’t they run less frequent shorter trains during the storm? Why didn’t they wait to shut down the system until later in the day on Saturday? Why wasn’t it back up and running before yesterday morning? Eventually, these are questions that someone — the MTA, the governor’s office — will likely answer with a report in a few months, but for now, the answer is a simple one.

As the storm bore down on New York City, meteorologists simply couldn’t know that it was going to largely skip over New York City. They couldn’t know that the worst would hit to the north of us. They couldn’t know that the bands of rain would spin out for a bit at 2 a.m. on Sunday morning and that the winds would be worst to the east of us. Even as it appeared as though New York would largely be spared the worst of it, forecasters continue to warn of uncertainty, and as people from the south who are in the regular paths of hurricanes know, it’s better to prepare for the worst than be left unprepared for a big storm.

For the safety of New Yorkers, for the safety of MTA employees and for the safety and security of the subway equipment, shutting down the system was the right decision. Less than a day after the storm passed, the system was up and running with few hiccups, and we could breath easy. We dodged a bullet this time, but it won’t be the last one we face.

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AsidesMetro-NorthNew Jersey Transit

Monday evening Metro-North, NJ Transit updates

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on August 29, 2011

After a quiet Monday morning spend digging out from this weekend’s storm, the MTA announced this evening that most of its Metro-North service will be restored for Tuesday morning. The agency says that 85 percent of its morning peak customers will have service tomorrow as the entire Hudson and New Haven Main Lines along with the Lower Harlem Line to North White Plains will enjoy a regular schedule. Service will remain suspended on the Upper Harlem and New Canaan, Danbury and Waterbury branch lines as well as the Port Jervis Line west of the Hudson. It might be a few days for the remaining 15 percent of impacted Metro-North riders.

Meanwhile, across the river, New Jersey Transit said it would restore “most” service by Tuesday morning. As the Wall Street Journal summarized, the authority still expects “delays and cancellations,” but Northeast Corridor trains will run to and from New Brunswick. Trains will leave from New York once an hour and run into the city every 20 minutes. Montclair-Boonton line will go only as far as Little Falls while the Port Jervis line could remain shut for a while.

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