View from Underground

Photo of the Day: Readying a new entrance

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on January 11, 2011

What: A new subway entrance for the Times Square complex.
Where: The southeast corner of West 42nd St. and 8th Ave. on the ground level of the new 11 Times Square building.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve found myself at opposites ends of the block that spans from 7th to 8th Avenues on 42nd Street. Usually thronged with tourists, it’s not one of my favorite areas of the city, but as I got out of the subway last week at 7th Ave., I stared at the Times Square subway entrance. It used to have many bullets welcoming riders to the subway, but over the years, various letters and numbers have disappeared. The 9 train went first in the late 2005, and the W followed suit last June. Now, the bullets are bright white beacons of trains that no longer run.

A few days later, I had to go to the Port Authority area and happened upon the scene above. The developers at 11 Times Square had used the same bullet motif, but this time, they weren’t so static. It’s easy to remove and add train lines as they come and go from the subway landscape. The current map always seems static enough, but over the years, we’ve lost and gained some trains. Today, this entrance features 11 subway bullets. What will it have next year?

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AsidesBuses

Ironing out the SBS wrinkles

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on January 11, 2011

In amNew York today, Theresa Juva speaks to some East Side bus riders who are frustrated with the Select Bus Service glitches. Riders at popular stops have found that the machines run out of paper too frequently, and the MTA’s technicians aren’t notified until the paper is out. Furthermore, the machines have been installed too close to the curb and facing the street, thus creating a safety hazard for those purchasing a trip. I’ve also received emails from riders who have found their cards demagnetized by the SBS fare dispensers. It is, in other words, a work in progress.

For its part, Transit officials say they’re troubleshooting the machines. The authority is working to upgrade software to clear paper jams and alert technicians as the paper for the receipts dwindles down. “A lot of times with new equipment you have to do improvements,” spokesman Charles Seaton said. Of course, this could all be avoided if SBS didn’t require something as clunky and 1900s as a paper receipt, but I digress. Ultimately, though, it’s worth remember that the East Side Select Bus Service is still a relatively new service that’s working as a high-volume model for the MTA’s and DOT’s future Select Bus Service plans. If the machines don’t work now, the authority can better plan for future SBS iterations. Some aspects of the improved bus service work better than other, but as the guinea pigs along 1st and 2nd Ave. have found, you can’t beat faster bus service.

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Capital Program 2010-2014

The effects of putting lipstick on a pig

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on January 11, 2011

An unidentified subway station's ceiling does little to restore confidence in the system. (Photo by flickr user morganglines)

Outside of the ceiling at the now-shuttered City Hall station which is actually a work of art, the ceilings of many New York City subway stations are works of art in the sarcastically metaphorical sense. With chipped paint peeling off the roofs and water stains cascading down from hidden orifices, the MTA’s ceilings do not inspire confidence in the system. If the authority can’t keep a fresh coat of paint on its stations, what exactly does that say about the way it maintains its system?

Now, over the years, I’ve tackled the MTA’s paint job problems. In 2007, the MTA had plans to paint 200 stations in five years, but that plan was delayed because the authority couldn’t figure out how to decide which stations would go first. By 2008, these plans had ballooned into some comical scheme in which the MTA would paint just 12 stations a year, and it would take 39 years to outfit all 468 stations with new paint. The delay, the authority said, came about because of lead abatement problems, but the whole thing seemed to be a microcosm for MTA mismanagement.

Flashfoward to today. We’re now a year into the MTA’s new component-based approach to subway repair, and the paint is still suffering. In his column yesterday, Daily News transit beat writer Pete Donohue tackled the saga of the ceilings. The MTA has a ceiling problem. He revisited the collapse in 2009 of the arched roof at 181st St. and notes that the ceilings at 168th St. have seen bits of plaster crumble onto the tracks.

He details the ways in which stations aren’t repaired and how the system is physically decaying today as trackbeds are replaced, repaired and better maintained than the physical stations:

A major collapse may not be likely at 168th St., but signs that it has been decaying for decades abound: missing wall tiles, crumbling concrete, nauseating stains caused by leaks dating back to the 10-cent token. Tin, cone-shaped public address speakers – attached to exposed metal pipes above the platform – seem like relics from a WWII bunker.

One ceiling leak is dealt with in a manner worthy of a Rube Goldberg award: A metal tray, suspended just below the ceiling, captures the water, which then flows down a pipe to another tray, then through another pipe that disappears into the ground near the rails.

The problem is one of priorities and funding. The MTA must first invest its capital money into its track and signal system to make sure its trains are running smoothly and on schedule. No one wants to revisit the 1970s when track fires were a daily occurrence, and trains ran without electricity. The number one priority is and must be the parts of the system involved in actual transportation.

But as the MTA invests heavily in its rolling stock and track, it doesn’t have the money or resources to devote to its stations. It can upgrade and rehab only a few stations every year, and those that miss the cut fall further and further into disrepair. The Chambers St. stop on the BMT Nassau St. line look as though it hasn’t gotten an upgrade since 1967 when the Chrystie Street work changed the station configuration, and it probably has indeed been that long. The renovated Times Square station might look better than it did, but even its paint work is showing the signs of age. West Fourth St. is a disaster unto itself.

As Donohue writes, the authority’s component-based repair system is the right way to tackle a seeming monstrous task. Something as simple as a cosmetic upgrade at a station — brighter lightbulbs, a repaired staircase, a cleaner floor, fresh paint — will make the system more welcoming and more pleasant for its riders. People won’t be disgusted by their stations and might think of transit as something better than a hassle every morning. “Start with the roof, fellas,” Donohue says to the MTA, and why not? After all, most system roofs certainly need it. Look up at your own risk.

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MTA Economics

A State Senate with its sights set on the payroll tax

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on January 10, 2011

For all of its criticism, the state’s Payroll Mobility Tax delivers $1.3 billion a year to the MTA, and without that tax, the authority would have to either cut a tremendous amount of services or jack up the fares well beyond any acceptable level. We’ve long heard how New York Republicans in the State Senate would like to repeal the payroll tax, and now, as Streetblog’s Noah Kazis reported today, a splinter group of State Democrats has joined the repeal efforts.

The Independent Democratic Caucus, a splinter group consisting of Diane Savino, David Valesky, David Carlucci and Jeffrey Klein have already called the payroll tax a Democratic failure, and now they will join the Republicans in seeking a repeal. From their full agenda comes this gem:

MTA Tax Reform: Gross mismanagement is blamed for 1/3 of the MTA’s current fiscal debt. Our goal is to conduct a comprehensive forensic audit of the MTA to find areas of waste and corruption and determine the need and the efficacy of the current MTA tax.

As Kazis says, there’s a lot to be concerned about in this two-sentence statement. He writes on Streetsblog, “It’s the phrase “determine the need” that’s most threatening, with its suggestion that there may be no need at all. Remember, the transit agency’s capital program — which covers expansions and badly-needed repairs — is a staggering $10 billion short and the agency just went through a painful round of service cuts, fare hikes and layoffs to make its operations budget add up. Even a deal that exempts the suburbs from the payroll tax but not the city would cause some combination of more service cuts, higher fares, and deferred maintenance.”

I have two takes on this development. First, enough with the threats of a forensic audit. For two years, since the payroll mobility tax first found its way to the legislative docket, representatives have been threatening forensic audits, but none have been forthcoming. At some point, these politicians must take responsibility for the fact that they have direct oversight over the MTA. If they want a forensic audit, then they should do one. My belief is that they’ll find out that far, far less than one-third of the MTA’s current fiscal debt is a result of “gross mismanagement” and will lose their ability to scapegoat the MTA for their own failures of government. Bring on the audit.

That said, the payroll tax should go. It’s a crazy way to subsidize transit, especially in a bad economy, and repeal seems all but inevitable. That said, as I mentioned earlier today, if the payroll tax goes, it must be replaced with something else. The MTA can’t afford to see a $1.3 billion revenue stream dry up, and even congestion pricing — the ideal trade-off for the end of the payroll tax — would generate only between $400-$500 million a year for the authority.

Again, we’re seeing State Senators playing a game of Russian Roulette with the MTA’s finances, and for the city’s 5 million subway riders, this story almost can’t have a happy ending.

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MTA Economics

Did the MTA ‘lose’ during Cuomo’s State of the State?

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on January 10, 2011

New York’s newest governor gave his State of the State speech went unmarked in this space last week because of what he didn’t say. While he talked about smart growth, he didn’t discuss the MTA, and that silence left many fearful for the future of the city’s vital transit authority.

Today, City Hall News goes one better and names the MTA and Jay Walder the speech’s losers. They say:

Jay Walder – Walder took the Amtrak up to Albany to see Cuomo’s speech, but the fare might have been better put towards the cash-starved MTA operational budget. The governor did not mention anything about transportation or the beleaguered agency during his speech, leaving many straphangers and transportation advocates wondering whether it will even be on his priorities list. And with Republicans now in control of the Senate, a repeal of the payroll tax seems more likely than any expansion of one, no matter how bad the budget looks.

A repeal of the payroll tax by the State Senate would be a largely symbolic move as it is doubtful that the Assembly would pass a similar repeal or that Cuomo would sign off on the bill. Still, the MTA budget is under fire, and the payroll tax may become the victim of legislation logroll in which Republicans push through repeal in exchange for a congestion pricing measure.

With the recent fare hike fresh in New Yorkers’ minds, politicians are playing fast and loose with the MTA’s delicate budget. Things may just get far, far worse before they get better.

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AsidesFare Hikes

Reminder: The end of the fare hike grace period

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on January 10, 2011

For those of you who tried to stock up on MetroCards before the fares went up in December, today is a key day for today is the day the MTA’s grace period clock starts to run. For straphangers waiting to use their cheaper cards, you must start using them today in order to get full value out of them. As the fare hike page details, one-day cards are no longer valid after today; seven-day cards expire after the 16th; 14-day cards are good through January 23; and 30-day cards will work through February 8. Customers who don’t take advantage of the grace period can mail back their unused cards — or any portion of it — to get a prorated refund from the MTA. That process usually takes around three weeks. So start swiping today.

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PANYNJ

Making way for transit on the Bayonne Bridge

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on January 10, 2011

The Port Authority is looking to raise the Bayonne Bridge. Will the work allow for better transit connections? (Photo by flickr user andy in nyc)

In late-December, amidst holiday vacations and blizzard hullabaloos, the Port Authority announced its preferred method for dealing with the pesky Bayonne Bridge. Unfortunately, as container ships grow larger, the bridge is not tall enough, and to address this issue without risking a steep decline in business through the region’s ports, the Port Authority had to decide between replacing the bridge and raising it. With cash short, the PA said it will try to raise the bridge, leaving many to wonder what future transit will have over this key link between Staten Island and New Jersey.

To solve the height problem and keep the project’s budget manageable, the Port Authority would like to raise the bridge from 151 feet to 215 feet. The water crossing much reach that height after the Panama Canal is widened in 2014, and in today’s economy, building a new bridge isn’t a feasible solution. Just ask supporters of the ARC Tunnel about that. In its December 30th release on the decision, the PA had the following to say about its plan:

The “Raise the Roadway” solution will involve reconstruction of the existing approaches, ramps, and main span roadway to a higher elevation that would allow the crossing to accommodate larger ships for years to come. The alternative, as compared with others reviewed to replace the bridge, is the most cost effective, and has the fewest environmental and neighborhood impacts. This bridge modification approach also minimizes visual and physical impacts to the historic bridge and seeks to preserve the iconic arch, while improving the navigational clearance restriction.

Port Authority staff is currently drilling down on engineering issues for the proposed solution, including roadway design, lane configuration and upgrades to the existing 10-foot-wide lanes, providing median dividers and shoulders, and adding additional safety and security measures. The Port Authority also will work with its regional partners to initiate and expedite the environmental regulatory process.

Noticeably missing from the Port Authority’s own initial announcement was any mention of transit. Those who wish to see Staten Island’s nascent transit network better connected to New Jersey’s and who are pushing for a North Shore Rail Line reactivation were dismayed by the news. As Maureen Donnelly reported in the Staten Island Advance last week, the borough’s transit activists are not happy that the Port Authority has said that “it’s too soon in the process to make an informed determination whether space might be set aside to handle bus or rail traffic over the bridge.”

A PA spokesman said that raising the roadway “does not preclude the use of mass transit,” but borough officials aren’t satisfied. “We have a significant opportunity here, and it would be the right thing for the Port Authority to at least provide the space — and we’ll work on trying to figure out how to establish whether it’s a rail link or bus rapid transit, or something of that sort,” Linda Baran, president of the SI Chamber of Commerce, said. “They’d be crazy not to have a dedicated lane. This is something that’s feasible.”

Feasible is almost too tame a word for this scenario. After killing the ARC Tunnel, might New Jersey, the primary mover behind the Bayonne Bridge makeover, be again sacrificing a once-in-a-generation opportunity to improve transit access and interconnectedness between Staten Island and the Garden State? In an ideal world, the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail would run over the bridge and offer a connection to the North Shore Rail Line. Of course, in an ideal world, costs don’t matter while here they do. Anything less than a truly dedicated bus lane shouldn’t even be on the table.

The Bayonne Bridge has stood for 80 years at its current height and with its current configuration. As New York and New Jersey look for ways to improve transit connections, this bridge shouldn’t be overlooked, and now’s the time to act. The region can’t afford to wait another 80 years before having another go at it.

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View from Underground

Video of the Day: Ten years, still no pants

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on January 9, 2011

Once upon a time, the annual No Pants Subway Ride was a stunt perpetrated by just a handful of people, but then in 2006, six of eight pantsless riders were arrested as cops overreacted to a playful prank. Since then, the No Pants Subway Ride has gone from a small happening to an event that takes over the subway every January.

Today marks the tenth anniversary of the No Pants Subway Ride, and at 3 p.m. this afternoon, thousands of riders will enter the subway from locations in three boroughs, drop trou at some point and ride onward. The full details are right here, and the event is certainly an amusing one. As the Improv Everywhere founds say, “Our aim is to make people laugh, not piss them off.”

The video atop this post highlights last year’s event, and while the shock value of seeing pantsless riders has worn off, a few innocent stranphangers still managed to be surprised when bare legs board their trains.

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AsidesSubway Security

Ziegler, 37-year NYPD vet, named MTA security chief

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on January 8, 2011

The MTA announced yesterday that Douglas Ziegler, a 37-year veteran of the New York Police Department and, at one time, the highest ranking black officer, as the new Director of Security. Ziegler, who retired from the force in June, has a law degree and served in various leadership positions with the NYPD. “The safety and security of the millions of people who use our transit system every day is our top priority, and Chief Zeigler is uniquely qualified to lead our multi-faceted security program,” MTA Chairman and CEO Jay H. Walder said in a statement. “Chief Zeigler brings with him a wealth of knowledge from three decades at the NYPD that will guide MTA security policy and support the continuation of our tight partnership with local, state and federal law enforcement.”

Ziegler, who replaces William Morange, will be instrumental in coordinating security efforts with Homeland Security, the FBI, the National Guard and the city and state police. He’ll also oversee the MTA’s own police department which is in charge of protecting the authority’s rail network in 14 counties and two states. “The MTA’s services are so important to our way of life here in New York, and I look forward to working with the MTA Police and our colleagues in law enforcement to keep our customers safe and our system secure,” he said.

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AsidesService Advisories

Reminder: weekend work canceled

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on January 7, 2011

Just a quick reminder in the usual spot for the weekend service advisories: Due to today’s snow storm, the MTA has canceled all weekend work. The Culver Viaduct project will start next weekend instead, and trains will operate on a normal weekend schedule. The snow didn’t build up much in the five boroughs, but the MTA went to Plan 4 when the forecast called for five inches. You just can’t predict the weather.

Meanwhile, allow me to take a second to remind you of other places where you can find Second Ave. Sagas. You can follow me on Twitter or be a fan on Facebook. Get instant notifications of new SAS materials and witty and informative updates about the subway system as well.

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