My fridge, complete with a T train, in all of its glory.
It will be a long, long time before the robin’s egg blue T train makes it way down Second Ave. In fact, the T isn’t set to begin service until Phase 3 extends the subway route to Houston St., and the Q will run north of 57th St. when Phase 1 is completed. That’s not, however, stopping the MTA from cashing in.
Last August, I wrote about the T train-themed merchandise for sale at the Transit Museum gift shop, and this week, Christine Haughney reports that the Second Ave. Subway stuff is selling like hot cakes.
According to the Transit Museum, out of 23 subway lines, the T is the 10th best seller. Of course, the famous A train, immortalized by Billy Strayhorn, is the top seller, but T teddy bears, mouse pads and t-shirts beat out such popular routes as the 2, B and D trains. Some designers, though, as Haughney reports, aren’t impressed:
the authority has alienated some designers more comfortable decorating the beige and taupe living rooms of the Upper East Side. Ms. Hilton said that she rarely had clients request blue or teal. One client, a 10-year-old girl, has asked that her bedroom be decorated in baby blue and her bathroom in turquoise. “In my world, it’s not a popular color,” she said. “But kids are asking for these colors.”
It happens that teal has been identified by the fashion world as color of the year. “It has a very upscale connotation,” said Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute, which surveys fashion designers each year and determines the latest color. “People with more discriminating tastes tend to choose that as a favorite color.”
John Barman, a prominent designer on the Upper East Side, echoed Ms. Hilton’s concerns about having a turquoise train line in beige territory. He hopes the city never pairs the turquoise T line with its orange lines, because that would produce a garish Howard Johnson effect. “It’s more of a Florida color,” he said delicately.
Amusingly — or sadly — enough, the MTA is cashing in on the T train when there’s no guarantee we’ll even see the T train. Optimistically, Phase 3 of the Second Ave. Subway won’t be around until at least 2030, and right now, the dollars for more than just Phase 1 aren’t there. But get your T train shirts while you still can. It might just be a collector’s item.
While the MTA is realizing dollars from a dream, others are making real money carting out Second Ave. dirt and debris. WNYC’s Ilya Maritz followed the rubble from underneath Second Ave. to various locations around the city. Some of the rock has gone to St. Peter’s College which is using it to build a dorm while much of is going toward creating the Ferry Point Golf Course in the Bronx as well. Ultimately, SAS construction has produced around 5000 tons of debris per day, but contracts have sold only around 1000-2000 tons daily for approximately $11 per ton. All in all, it’s not a bad day’s work.
The federal government is raining on the MTA’s parade again. For the past year, the Federal Transit Administration has warned that the East Side Access Project and Phase 1 of the Second Ave. Subway would not wrap in 2016 as the MTA predicts. Rather, the government believes the two projects will finish in 2018, around 15 months later than planned and over budget. A new report reiterates that stance.
