Transit

The Metropolitan Transporation Authority will deploy 700 additional "magnetic wands" to clean hundreds of pounds of steel dust from insulated joints on tracks, which accumulates when the brakes are applied. When dust builds up on joints, it can trip the circuit on the joint and cause red signals, sending a ripple of delays throughout the system. Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Thursday tested out the wands at a Sunset Park subway station and announced a plan to buy additional wands to clean all 11,000 insulated joints deemed a priority, using funds from the recently funded-in-full emergency subway action plan.
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104th Street J, Z service restored – and that’s the end of good weekend subway service news

Photo Adam B/Flickr

April 13, 2018

104th Street J, Z service restored – and that’s the end of good weekend subway service news

The good news is that Manhattan-bound J and Z service has been restored at 104th Street. The bad news is the usual slew of weekend service changes, in addition to a number of longer-term station closures. Rockaway remains without shuttle service at Broad Channel, the 2 and 3 are still not going between Brooklyn and Manhattan on weekends, and this weekend, G trains are also offering straphangers less service than usual.
L train riders, feel lucky: there is no planned work on the line this weekend

Transit

Car Free Day will celebrate Earth Day by closing 30 blocks of Broadway

Photo courtesy of NYC DOT/Flickr

April 12, 2018

Car Free Day will celebrate Earth Day by closing 30 blocks of Broadway

By Michelle Sinclair Colman

The day before Earth Day, on Saturday April 21st, 30 blocks of Broadway will be closed to vehicular traffic, from Times Square to Union Square, from 9am to 3pm. This third annual Car Free Day aims to promote sustainability and protecting the environment by promoting walking and eco-friendly modes of transportation, like cycling and mass transit. Citi Bike will be offering free day passes for their bikes, in partnership with Mastercard, and the Department of Transportation will host a slew of free events along the route.
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Grand Central Terminal; image via Wikimedia

April 11, 2018

Amtrak will reroute some trains from Penn Station to Grand Central this summer

Last year, when Amtrak first announced eight weeks of infrastructure repairs at Penn Station, all hell broke loose. Gov. Andrew Cuomo predicted the planned work would cause a "summer of hell" for commuters and even asked President Donald Trump for emergency federal funds. But, to the surprise of many, the disruption proved to be mild and the repairs even finished ahead of schedule. Promising another painless process, Amtrak announced on Tuesday plans for track work at Penn Station again this summer. From May 26 to Sept. 4, trains that run along the Hudson River will be routed from Penn Station to Grand Central. Schedules for Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North trains will remain unaffected.
More details here

Transit

Travel uptown on a WWI-era subway to mark the 100th anniversary of Woodlawn station

Via NY Transit Museum

April 6, 2018

Travel uptown on a WWI-era subway to mark the 100th anniversary of Woodlawn station

Before the Woodlawn station opened a century ago, the surrounding area of Norwood in the Bronx was mostly rural with lots of farmland. While residential development began with the opening of the Woodlawn Cemetery, the neighborhood's transformation really took off when the subway was extended to reach this part of the city. To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the first train pulling into the northern terminal of the IRT Jerome Avenue Line, the New York Transit Museum is giving guests the chance to travel on World War I-era cars to relive this important part of subway history.
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Two stations to close for the long term this weekend and other service changes

Photo by Robert S/Flickr

April 6, 2018

Two stations to close for the long term this weekend and other service changes

To add insult to injury, even the MTA's Weekender offered poor service regarding the subway's poor service this weekend, with more than usual repetitive data points, errors, and redundant information. Other bad news outside of this weekend's temporary subway changes is two more long-term ones: The Cathedral Park station will start being skipped in both directions by A, B and C trains through September and the Rockaway Park Shuttle will cease servicing Broad Channel until May. Additionally there are a number of other significant service changes this weekend, especially for 2, 3, 5, A, C and 7 riders.
All the weekend subway madness

Transit

Future of de Blasio’s $2.5B BQX streetcar at risk

Photo courtesy of Friends of the BQX

April 4, 2018

Future of de Blasio’s $2.5B BQX streetcar at risk

With the unveiling of its inaugural prototype last fall, things were looking up for the Brooklyn Queens Connector (BQX) streetcar, a proposed light-rail trolley that would run 16-miles along the East River between the two boroughs. The Friends of the BQX even held an event to show off the ultra-sleek, 46-foot long prototype car. However, studies into the project's construction feasibility, as well as its ability to pay for itself, are still underway, according to the Daily News. At an event at NYU, Deputy Mayor Alicia Glen said the administration is still determining the project's ability to be self-funding.
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MTA sued over L train shutdown plan to transform 14th Street into an all-bus corridor

Photo via Dan Phiffer’s Flickr

April 4, 2018

MTA sued over L train shutdown plan to transform 14th Street into an all-bus corridor

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority released late last year its mitigation plan for the 15-month shutdown of the L train, set to begin in April of next year, calling for an all-bus, no-car corridor on 14th Street between Third and Ninth Avenues. The city says the MTA will have to run 70 buses every hour across the Williamsburg Bridge in order to accommodate the projected 84,000 daily bus riders. According to the New York Times, this would make 14th Street the busiest bus route in the country. In response, a coalition of Lower Manhattan neighborhood groups on Tuesday filed a federal lawsuit against the MTA and the city's Department of Transportation in attempt to stop repairs of the L train, claiming the agencies failed to conduct an environmental review before releasing its plan.
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What would congestion pricing mean for NYC real estate?

Photo via joiseyshowaa/Flickr

April 3, 2018

What would congestion pricing mean for NYC real estate?

By Michelle Sinclair Colman

Congestion pricing is dead in the water again. But New York City’s traffic and subway problems continue to get worse while the population and Cuomo and De Blasio’s battles continue to grow. Something has to give. With that in mind, the question remains, if congestion pricing ever happens, what is the relationship between congestion pricing […]

De Blasio agrees to fund half of the MTA’s $836M emergency subway rescue plan

Image © 6sqft

April 2, 2018

De Blasio agrees to fund half of the MTA’s $836M emergency subway rescue plan

After months of refusal, Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Saturday the city will pay for half of the emergency rescue plan for the subway, which was announced by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in July. The mayor's decision to fork over $418 million for subway repairs came after the state lawmakers passed on Friday Gov. Andrew Cuomo's $168.3 billion budget. The approved budget includes giving the state power to take funding from the city if it did not pay for its share, as the Daily News reported. The state has already paid its half of the $836 emergency plan, aimed at repairing, upgrading and stabilizing the beleaguered transit system.
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City studying gondolas for Governor’s Island transit option ahead of planned new development

Among a growing chorus of futuristic transportation suggestions meant to meet the city's exploding need to get from point A to point B, Crain's reports that the city's Economic Development Corp. is studying a gondola that would operate from lower Manhattan to Governors Island. Though the idea has been proposed before, anticipation of a planned redevelopment project on the 172-acre island has fostered a new urgency.
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Transit

Underground moving sidewalks were NYC’s transit plan of the future at the turn of the 20th century

Photos courtesy the New York Public Library’s Digital Gallery

March 30, 2018

Underground moving sidewalks were NYC’s transit plan of the future at the turn of the 20th century

By Emily Nonko

As the city currently tackles a plethora of issues with its public transit system, New Yorkers have been presented with no shortage of innovations to make commuting (hopefully) better. Take a look back at the turn of the 20th century, though, and the moving sidewalk was considered the future of urban transportation. According to Gizmodo, "The moving sidewalk represented a bold new vision for tomorrow... This idea of rolling pavement appealed to people in major cities who didn't yet see the rise of the automobile as inevitable and were looking for an affordable alternative to more elaborate infrastructure like subway trains." In 1903, an article in Harper's Weekly said that moving sidewalks were the perfect solution for the city to tackle congestion issues that would arise with new bridge connections bringing people from Brooklyn into New York City.
They would move at 9MPH

3 service fully out, Rockaway without trains, and more weekend subway madness

Photo by Giuseppe Milo via Flickr

March 30, 2018

3 service fully out, Rockaway without trains, and more weekend subway madness

Seasoned straphangers are certainly expectant of bad subway service news by this point, but that doesn't make this weekend's changeups any easier to navigate. The D and F are masquerading as each other across boroughs, 3 train riders are out of luck, and the Rockaways especially are hard hit by a lack of service on the only two lines which reach the area. On the bright side, free bus service to LaGuardia Airport on the LaGuardia Link Q70 has been reinstated through April 7. Also in the realm of good news, eight extra trains will run out of Penn Station on the Long Island Rail Road for Good Friday and the start of Passover today. See the MTA's press release for all of the additional afternoon departures. As well, MTA NYCTA President Andy Byford answered questions on Twitter yesterday and revealed his favorite Smiths song.
All the weekend service changes

Transit

Governor Cuomo looking to give the state control of Penn Station area

Photo outside Penn Station via Maciek Lulko/Flickr

March 29, 2018

Governor Cuomo looking to give the state control of Penn Station area

By Michelle Sinclair Colman

Less than one week before the state's deadline to adopt its budget, Governor Andrew Cuomo proposed the “New York Pennsylvania Station Area Redevelopment Project,” a state-controlled development area around Penn Station. In the constant one-upmanship between Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio, this would give Cuomo control over one of Manhattan’s top name-brand landmarks, according to a draft proposal acquired by Politico.
More details ahead

New pilot safety program gives cyclists the green light to follow pedestrian signals

Image: Wikimedia

March 28, 2018

New pilot safety program gives cyclists the green light to follow pedestrian signals

On Tuesday, New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) officials announced a new pilot program that allows bicyclists to follow pedestrian head-start signals at 50 intersections throughout Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens, AM New York reports. The signals at those intersections have a range of 7 to 11 seconds–known as leading pedestrian intervals (LPI)–before drivers can proceed through the intersections or make turns through crosswalks. Now bike riders can follow these pedestrian signals instead of traffic lights (legally, that is), giving cyclists the safety benefits of added visibility that pedestrians have at those intersections.
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JetBlue taps RXR Realty and Vantage Airport Group for JFK expansion

Rendering of JFK Airport via Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office

March 27, 2018

JetBlue taps RXR Realty and Vantage Airport Group for JFK expansion

JetBlue Airways this week selected RXR Realty and Vantage Airport Group to lead its planned terminal expansion at John F. Kennedy International Airport. The project, estimated to cost between $2 billion and $3 billion, will add larger gates in order to fit wider planes. JetBlue, which currently operates out of JFK's Terminal 5, will expand across to Terminal 6 and possibly Terminal 7, according to the Wall Street Journal. The proposed expansion comes over a year after Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced a $10 billion overhaul of JFK, aimed at expanding and redeveloping terminals, redesigning on-airport roadways for easier access and adding more dining and retail options. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the agency which oversees the airport's operations, will work with JetBlue about if and when the project can proceed.
More details here

Approved spending bill includes funding for Gateway project, but on Trump’s terms

The path for a future Hudson River tunnel is being preserved at Hudson Yards, photo via Amtrak

March 26, 2018

Approved spending bill includes funding for Gateway project, but on Trump’s terms

Update 3/26/18: While Congress on Thursday approved the $1.3 trillion spending bill, the package does not include direct funding for the Gateway tunnel project. Instead, the bill provides $650 million for Amtrak's Northeast Corridor and allocates over $2 billion in available grants for which the Gateway Program Development Corp. can apply. President Donald Trump, who threatened to veto the spending bill if funding for Gateway was included, and his administration will remain in control of Gateway's funding fate. The Department of Transportation (DOT) said in a statement that the bill "removes preferential treatment for the New York and New Jersey Gateway projects." And DOT board members, appointed by the president, review all federal grants to Amtrak, as Bloomberg reported. After months of back-and-forth negotiations among politicians, the Gateway tunnel project might get another chance at survival. The project, which would construct a new rail tunnel under the Hudson River and repair an existing one, could potentially receive up to $541 million in a tentative $1.3 trillion spending bill drafted by Congress on Wednesday, according to the New York Times. Although the bill does not mention Gateway by name, provides way less than the $900 million planners sought for the project, and has been opposed by both President Donald Trump and Speaker Paul Ryan, the tentative spending bill has made supporters more hopeful about the project's future. The bill will go to a vote in the House on Thursday, followed by the Senate.
More details here

Grimshaw Architects reveal design for new $1.4B Newark Airport terminal

Renderings courtesy of Grimshaw Architects

March 23, 2018

Grimshaw Architects reveal design for new $1.4B Newark Airport terminal

By Emily Nonko

With major renovations underway at both JFK and LaGuardia Airports, Newark is the latest to join the crew. Grimshaw Architects has just announced its involvement building a new terminal at Newark Airport, the third airport serving New York City. According to dezeen, Grimshaw will serve as lead design architect, alongside design firm STV and contractor Tutor Perini/Parsons, to build a two-leveled, T-shaped building spanning one million square feet with 33 different gates.
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Transit

March 23, 2018

This weekend, A trains get local, C skips stations, but the L is just fine

It's a good weekend to hit north Brooklyn as the L and G trains are refreshingly free of caveats and complications. The A and C lines are less refreshing with a mess of skipped stations on local trains and local service on express trains. Also, if you're headed past Church Avenue on the F to Coney Island, you're out of luck. Look to free shuttle buses for alternate service, or try the D, N or Q.
Read on for more information, if less clarity

Transit

Despite declining service, MTA will most likely raise fares in 2019

Image via Ged Carroll’s Flickr

March 22, 2018

Despite declining service, MTA will most likely raise fares in 2019

Without another option to bring in revenue to the cash-strapped Metropolitan Transportation Authority, straphangers will most likely have to pay higher fares next year. The fare hike would be the sixth since 2009 when the state legislature approved a financial rescue plan that included increasing fares every other year. While funding for the financially-troubled authority continues to be negotiated among lawmakers before the state's budget deadline next month, MTA Chairman Joe Lhota told the Daily News he did not see a scenario where the fares could remain the same.
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March 20, 2018

MTA releases new bus performance dashboard

Is "eternity" really a viable measuring unit when describing how long it takes to get to your destination via New York City bus? The MTA has created a new and unique bus performance dashboard that details customer-focused performance metrics for the city's bus routes, which, as 6sqft recently reported, are considered among the country's slowest. This new method of compiling and viewing data is part of the MTA’s plan to improve bus service across the city, and according to the MTA, no other transit system in the world offers the same level of detail in an online dashboard.
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MTA bans booze, plans hellish commute for St. Patrick’s Day crowds

Photo by Yaffa Phillips via Flickr

March 16, 2018

MTA bans booze, plans hellish commute for St. Patrick’s Day crowds

The MTA is blessing this St. Patrick's Day weekend with "Many Extra Trains" on the railroads (sorry, straphangers) but also an alcohol ban on Metro-North and LIRR trains. The subway's permanent alcohol ban will not be changed on this occasion, unsurprisingly and only somewhat disappointingly (based on SantaCon, it's probably for the best).
Certain lines' changes are truly baffling

Transit

Paul Ryan warns NY and NJ that Trump won’t fund Gateway Tunnel project

Tunnel photo via The Gateway Program Development Corporation; Paul Ryan photo via Gage Skidmore/Flickr

March 15, 2018

Paul Ryan warns NY and NJ that Trump won’t fund Gateway Tunnel project

By Dana Schulz

Amtrak and New Jersey Transit's Northeast Corridor--that which connects the state to Manhattan via the Hudson River tunnels--creates more than $50 billion in economic activity annually. And the region as a whole is home to 30 percent of all U.S. jobs, amounting to $3 trillion a year for the economy. But despite Donald Trump's eagerness to both stimulate the economy and bring jobs back from overseas, he seems unphased by the dire need to construct a new rail tunnel to replace those built in 1910 that suffered major damage during Hurricane Sandy. According to Politico, in a meeting yesterday with New York and New Jersey Republicans, Speaker Paul Ryan made it clear that he will not include the $30 billion Gateway Tunnel project in the upcoming $1 trillion+ omnibus spending package if it means Trump will veto the bill, claiming that the President can't stop talking about his opposition to what's largely considered the most important infrastructure project in the nation.
All the details

MTA considers raising subway speed limits to reduce delays

Image: Wikipedia.

March 15, 2018

MTA considers raising subway speed limits to reduce delays

New Yorkers love to complain about the slowness of the subway, but what sometimes seems like a snail's pace is as likely due to speed limits imposed to keep the system safe as it is to crumbling infrastructure and antiquated signals, according to new info released by the MTA. The New York Post reports that after a series of tragic accidents in the 1990s and 2000s, speed limits were lowered throughout the system. Now, a new initiative is investigating ways of keeping subways safe as well as picking up speed.
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MTA hit with federal lawsuit over lack of wheelchair accessibility

Elevator at the Lincoln Center subway station, via Wiki Commons

March 14, 2018

MTA hit with federal lawsuit over lack of wheelchair accessibility