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Looking for a study in why passive sentence structure is a poor way to communicate, especially in the context of public transit service announcements? English teachers take note: the MTA's Weekender is a bonafide study in this. Below, a translation of the poorly written, redundant and unclear information available for this weekend's subway service changes. And to boot, beginning at a time this weekend the MTA can't, apparently, be bothered to make publicly available online, the Manhattan-bound 1 platform at 238th Street will temporarily close through winter 2019 – South Ferry-bound trains will skip 238 Street during this time.
Buy the ticket, take the ride

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Cuomo reveals new LIRR entrance and public plaza at Penn Station

Rendering via the Governor’s office

September 6, 2018

Cuomo reveals new LIRR entrance and public plaza at Penn Station

By Dana Schulz

Rendering via the Governor's office At a well-timed press event this morning, Governor Cuomo touted the state's $100 billion building program, the largest in the nation, and said if elected for another term, he'd increase that commitment to $150 billion. Among the many airport redesigns and the subway emergency plan, perhaps no project is more dear to Cuomo's heart than that of Penn Station. And after a tour of the Moynihan Train Hall, on budget and on track to open by the end of 2020, the Governor announced that the dire safety, security, and circulation situation at Penn Station cannot wait two more years. While construction wraps up at the LIRR and Amtrak's future home, the state will build a new LIRR facility in the existing Penn Station. The proposal will double access to the trains with new entrances and an enlarged concourse and will create a permanent public plaza at 33rd Street and 7th Avenue.
All the renderings and details ahead

There will be no G-train service between Bed-Stuy and LIC every weekend in September

Via Wikimedia

September 5, 2018

There will be no G-train service between Bed-Stuy and LIC every weekend in September

Making weekend plans in Brooklyn this month will be a bit trickier than normal. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is suspending service between Bed-Stuy's Bedford-Nostrand station and Long Island City's Court Square station every weekend in September for "track maintenance." There will be free shuttle buses available for North Brooklyn-bound straphangers (h/t Brooklyn Paper).
OH G

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Perkins Eastman reimagines Manhattan’s street grid with more pedestrian-friendly space

Rendering via Perkins Eastman

September 4, 2018

Perkins Eastman reimagines Manhattan’s street grid with more pedestrian-friendly space

As a solution to Manhattan's growing gridlock, planning and design firm Perkins Eastman is proposing a physical redesign of New York City's street grid. In a CityLab article penned by Jonathan Cohn, who leads the firm's transportation and public infrastructure studio, and Yunyue Chen, the recipient of Perkin Eastman's 2017 Architectural Fellowship for the Public Realm, they argue the city should "transform the streets radically, dedicating them to pedestrians." This includes grouping blocks into larger neighborhoods and organizing them into either thoroughfares and local streets.
Get the details

The West 35th Street/Hudson Blvd entrance under construction. Image via Wiki Commons.

September 4, 2018

The second entrance at 34th Street-Hudson Yards 7 station is finally open

The Manhattan 7 subway extension makes it the only line south of 59th Street to offer service west of Ninth Avenue, providing a long-awaited public transit option–with a station at 34th Street and Eleventh Avenue–for the Jacob Javits Convention Center, the High Line, and Hudson River Park and serving as a selling point for Hudson Yards and the many new developments rising on the far west side. Delays plagued the extension overall, with its opening in September of 2015 happening two years behind its original scheduled date. It was announced at the time that the station's second entrance on 35th Street would take longer to complete. Now, two years later, the second entrance is open.
More ways to hit the west side

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Your Labor Day weekend subway guide: J’Ouvert diversions and station reopenings

Photo via Wikipedia

August 31, 2018

Your Labor Day weekend subway guide: J’Ouvert diversions and station reopenings

This Labor Day weekend, there will be the usual slew of service changes in addition to some special ones just for the holiday. The 2 train will be skipping Church Avenue in the wee hours of Monday during the J'Ouvert Festival – an odd rerouting, seemingly in the name of obstruction, likely to limit attendance to the celebration, which has attracted controversy following past years' violence. The Eastern Parkway-Brooklyn Museum stop will be passed during the West Indian Day Parade. In good news, southbound service at the Cathedral Parkway-110th Street B and C stop – which has been closed for four months for structural repairs – will resume at noon on Sunday and northbound service at 5am on Tuesday. As well, regular A and Rockaway Park Shuttle service will resume on Tuesday following a disruptive summer of flood protection work. Plus, the LaGuardia Link Q70 bus will operate free of charge all weekend.
Here's what else is in store

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With a higher cost and shorter route, de Blasio’s BQX streetcar plan is back on the table

Rendering via NYCEDC

August 30, 2018

With a higher cost and shorter route, de Blasio’s BQX streetcar plan is back on the table

The long-delayed plan to bring a light-rail trolley between Brooklyn and Queens has been revived, following the completion of a two-year feasibility study, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Thursday. But the proposal differs from the original idea for the Brooklyn Queens Connector (BQX) the mayor had first released in 2016. The cost of the revised project has jumped to $2.7 billion from $2.5 billion, the number of miles on the route has dropped from 16 miles to 11 miles and the city expects the cars to run by 2029, instead of the original projection of 2024.
Find out more

In the 1890s, New Yorkers took a bicycle railroad to Brooklyn’s beaches

Boynton’s Bicycle Railroad, via Wiki Commons

August 28, 2018

In the 1890s, New Yorkers took a bicycle railroad to Brooklyn’s beaches

By Lucie Levine

As Labor Day draws near and New Yorkers run to squeeze a few more beach days into the end of the summer, packed trains and ferries carry crowds to the city’s sandy shores. But, beachgoers of yore weren’t simply piling onto the Q train to get out to Coney Island. They reached the southern tip of Brooklyn via a much more zany (or visionary?) mode of conveyance: Boynton’s Bicycle Railroad. In the summer of 1890, Boynton’s Bicycle, so named because it featured two rails, one beneath the train and one above it, shuttled passengers between Gravesend and Coney Island via an abandoned section of the Sea Beach and Brighton Railroad.
The Story Rolls on This Way

M train’s taking a break from the rails this weekend and 167th Street B, D station set to close

Photo by Adam E. Moreira via Wikipedia

August 24, 2018

M train’s taking a break from the rails this weekend and 167th Street B, D station set to close

The M train is not running this weekend, a fact the MTA buries in the second sentence of a note about station improvements along the J line. As well, beginning the Monday, the 167th Street B and D station will be joining the slew of other "temporarily closed" stations until January 2019. Strangely, the MTA does not list any service changes for the L train, despite an extended closure of weekend service between Brooklyn and Manhattan.
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Another blow to Uber, ride-hailing app launches for NYC yellow taxis

Earlier this month, Mayor Bill de Blasio signed a package of bills to limit for-hire vehicles, like Uber and Lyft, by placing a one-year cap on new licenses. And this week the Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) approved a pilot program for a new ride-hailing app for yellow taxis, according to Curbed NY. Calling itself the "next generation taxi app," Waave promises to give New Yorkers upfront fares, surge-free pricing and estimated time of arrival before the car arrives, all features currently offered by Uber.
Get the details

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MTA to host town hall meetings on ambitious Fast Forward plan

Image © 6sqft

August 20, 2018

MTA to host town hall meetings on ambitious Fast Forward plan

Instead of airing grievances about the subway on Twitter, you will soon be able to complain to the boss of the system face-to-face. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced on Sunday that Andy Byford, president of NYC Transit, will host a series of town hall public meetings about the Fast Forward plan, the ambitious proposal to modernize the subway over the next decade. The first meeting will take place at York College in Queens on Tuesday, Aug. 21 from 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm.
Get the details

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No G trains this weekend and other bad subway news

Photo via Wikipedia

August 17, 2018

No G trains this weekend and other bad subway news

This weekend, the L continues its mini shutdown and is not running between Brooklyn and Manhattan, A and S service remains confusing and limited in the Rockaways, and the G train is taking a summer vacation and going on hiatus, leaving a free shuttle bus and the F to pick up the slack. And beginning this weekend, 5 trains will stop running in a hunk of the Bronx through September.
Read it and weep

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Via NYC Ferry

August 15, 2018

NYC Ferry now connects the South Bronx and Wall Street, cutting travel time in half

A new ferry route connecting the South Bronx and Wall Street launched on Wednesday, the first-ever ferry service between the two boroughs in the 21st century. The new route starts at Clason Point Park in Soundview and makes stops at East 90th Street, East 34th Street and ends at Wall Street's Pier 11. The entire trip takes about 45 minutes. "The new Soundview ferry will cut commute times in half for thousands of Bronxites," Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a statement. "Our all-of-the-above approach to transit gives New Yorkers reliable options to get where they need to go."
Learn more

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MTA postpones select bus service expansion amid funding crisis

Via jason smith on Flickr

August 15, 2018

MTA postpones select bus service expansion amid funding crisis

Bad news for bus riders. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority will not expand select bus service over the next few years as originally planned in order to cut costs amid a looming financial crisis for the agency, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday. Mayor Bill de Blasio first announced last year a plan to expand the select, or express, bus routes by upgrading 21 new routes over the next decade. But the MTA said it can save $28 million through 2022 by postponing the program temporarily.
More here

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August 10, 2018

RPA report shows subway platform temperatures of 104 degrees

Are subway platforms really as hot as the inside of a rotisserie, or does it just seem that way? On Thursday, August 9, 2018, the Regional Plan Association (RPA) sent out an intrepid task force of staff and interns to measure the temperature in the city's ten busiest subway stations. The temperature outside was 86 degrees. The data they collected helped to inform a report titled, "Save Our Subways: A Plan To Transform New York City’s Rapid Transit System."
Roasted alive?

In 1981 the MTA rolled out 7,000 pure white subway cars to curb graffiti and guess what happened next

Image courtesy of the NY Transit Museum Collections.

August 10, 2018

In 1981 the MTA rolled out 7,000 pure white subway cars to curb graffiti and guess what happened next

Throughout the 1970s and '80s, New York City struggled with infrastructure failure, poverty, crime and garbage. One front in what seemed like a constant battle against total chaos was the attempt to keep subway cars graffiti-free. Inspired by a single white car sitting in a train yard in Corona, Queens that somehow managed to remain tag-free for two months (behind a security system that included a chain-link fence, barbed wire and guard dogs, but never mind that) in September 1981, the MTA rolled out one dozen all-white 7 trains–7,000 cars in all. The new program was dubbed “The Great White Fleet,” and officials hoped the bright white cars would do their part to keep graffiti at bay.
A rolling canvas

174-175 Street B, D station to close through December

Image via Wiki Commons

August 10, 2018

174-175 Street B, D station to close through December

On the heels of the news that the L train will not run between Brooklyn and Manhattan for 15 weekends, yet another subway station is also temporarily closing. This time, it's the 174-175 Street B, D station, which will be modernized as part of an $88 million contract to repair a total of three stations in Harlem and the Bronx in dire need of renovations. It will close through December beginning Monday.
Here are all the service changes to anticipate this weekend

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NYC Council passes one-year cap on Uber and Lyft

Via joiseyshowaa on Flickr

August 9, 2018

NYC Council passes one-year cap on Uber and Lyft

The New York City Council approved on Wednesday a package of legislation to regulate for-hire vehicles, like Uber and Lyft, making New York the first major city to cap new licenses. The legislation will stop issuing licenses to for-hire vehicles for one year, as the city studies the growing industry. And a minimum wage, which could start at $17.22 an hour, will be established for app-based drivers, which no city has done before.
More here

The L-train will not run between Brooklyn and Manhattan for 15 weekends

L train stop at Bedford; via Roshan Vyas on Flickr

August 7, 2018

The L-train will not run between Brooklyn and Manhattan for 15 weekends

The MTA announced on Saturday that the L train will not run between Manhattan and Brooklyn over 15 weekends. Between this coming weekend and mid-April, the L will only operate between Broadway Junction and Carnasie-Rockaway Parkway during specific weekends. As Gothamist reported, this "pre-shutdown shutdown" will prepare for the 15-month shutdown of the L-train scheduled to begin sometime in April.
More L-shutdown nightmares

The city is looking to bring Metro-North service to the South Bronx

Photo via Wikimedia

August 6, 2018

The city is looking to bring Metro-North service to the South Bronx

It's no surprise the Bronx ranks as the fastest-growing county in New York. In the last year alone, plans announced for the South Bronx have included the city's first soccer stadium, a 1,300-unit residential project on the waterfront, a development with Hip-Hop museum and food hall and a $10M revitalization investment from Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Furthering the area's development boom, a study officially launched last week to look at the expansion of Metro-North service East and South Bronx communities, including Hunts Point, Parkschester/Van Nest, Morris Park and Co-op City.
Get the details

Broadway Arcade Railway, 1884, New York Transit Museum, via Wikimedia Commons

August 3, 2018

Proposed ‘arcade railway’ below Broadway would aid 1860s gridlock

Post-Civil War, pre-subway New York City had–surprise–a traffic problem. The number of horse cars and stages that clogged the streets was growing at an alarming rate. Among the proposed solutions was a railway that would be built beneath Broadway, branching out to the east and west at 23rd Street all the way up to the northern tip of Manhattan. The idea was gaining political support, but not everyone was onboard with the idea.
So what happened?

E and F trains masquerading as one another and more weekend subway changes

Photo by FHKE via Flickr

August 3, 2018

E and F trains masquerading as one another and more weekend subway changes

Despite continued work in the Rockaways, E and F train riders share the pity prize for most debilitating service changes this weekend. The E will be masquerading as both the F and R, in parts, and skipping a huge portion of its usual stops, including express stations, while the F will be masquerading as the E (naturally) as well as the A, in parts. This weekend's work also holds particularly unpleasant change-ups for N and R straphangers.
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MTA ‘deeply apologizes’ for announcing N train tunnel closure via Twitter

Photo via Wiki Commons

August 1, 2018

MTA ‘deeply apologizes’ for announcing N train tunnel closure via Twitter

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority on Monday morning began work on the N, R and D line tunnels running in Brooklyn from 36th Street to 59th Street, causing massive delays. But the agency never told rush-hour commuters, who checked the MTA's website to find it labeled it as "good service" on the yellow lines. Only after about an hour of frustrated tweets directed at the MTA did the agency announce the long-term structural project, via Twitter.
More here

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The city’s first shared electric moped service launches in Brooklyn

Photo via Revel Transit

July 30, 2018

The city’s first shared electric moped service launches in Brooklyn