5 Buses Rerouted For Fulton Mall Reconstruction
Earlier today, MTA NYC Transit announced that 5 Brooklyn bus routes will be rerouted due to Phase I of the Fulton Mall Reconstruction Project. Here are the complete details courtesy of the press release I received:
Beginning Monday, July 12, the Fulton Mall between Boerum Place/Adams Street and Smith/Jay Streets will be closed in both directions for construction for approximately two weeks, the first phase in the Fulton Mall Reconstruction Project. As a result of this work, which is being done by the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC), several bus routes will be rerouted off Fulton Street.
The B25, B38 & B52 buses will be detoured off Fulton Street onto Livingston Street in the vicinity, and will make corresponding bus stops on Livingston Street. Also, a new bus stop will be installed on Lafayette Avenue at St. Felix Street (between St. Felix Street and Fort Green Place) for these buses.
In addition, the B61/B65 terminal at Smith Street will be moved one block south between Schermerhorn and Livingston Streets.
The B26 and B54 routes will remain on the Fulton Mall during this phase.
xoxo Transit Blogger
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TransportAzumah Receives Restraining Order
Eight days ago, I wrote about 16-year-old Ali Fadil of Little Neck, Queens. He was the starting force behind the QM22 being saved after it was one of the numerous routes to be cut by the MTA due to their financial crisis.
Ali had reached out to elected officials & got nowhere in his attempts to help save the route. He eventually contacted Joel Azuma, owner of TransportAzumah a private bus company which ended up taking over the route & 3 others.
Fast forward to yesterday where a Manhattan Supreme Court Judge signed off on a temporary restraining order against the bus company to shut down the potentially illegal service. James Fanelli of the New York Daily News has more:
Drive it somewhere else.
That’s the message the city sent to a young entrepreneur who started a private bus line to help out stranded riders along recently cut MTA routes.
A Manhattan Supreme Court judge Tuesday signed the city Law Department’s request for a temporary restraining order against Joel Azumah, shutting down his bootleg bus service.
“We are pleased that the court granted our request for a restraining order,” the Law Department said in a statement. “The operator has been running an unauthorized bus line, and safety is the city’s paramount priority.”
Azumah called the city’s actions “illegal” and vowed to fight it.
“My customers are very, very, very angry,” Azumah, 27, fumed. “They had the benefit of a service that they were enjoying.”
Click here for the complete report.
As I mentioned in the previous entry, I applaud the teen for his role in jump starting the process to rescue this route. It is a shame that the company is being harassed for trying to help out riders left in the cold by the MTA & more accurately, their elected officials. I am very interested in seeing how this case plays out. I will update it as it goes along.
xoxo Transit Blogger
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Clerk Assaulted While Trying To Help A Rider
This story should cause some interesting debate in the fight of the usefulness & need for token booth clerks in the NYC Subway. Elected officials & transit advocates like to point out at every possible chance that eliminating these positions poses as a threat to riders security even though rules are in place preventing them from getting involved physically.
The story in question is of 35 year old token booth clerk Tareque Ahmed who was assaulted while trying to save a female rider being attacked by a male at the 36th Station on the 
& 
. Erik Badia & Pete Donohue of the New York Daily News has more:
A token booth clerk who could lose his job to MTA layoffs was beaten in a Queens subway station when he tried to help a woman being attacked on the platform, authorities said Monday.
Tareque Ahmed, 35, said he was knocked to the ground and kicked repeatedly at the 36th St. station in Queens at approximately 11:45 p.m. Sunday.
A man had been beating up a woman, when Ahmed yelled to a co-worker to call police.
“He saw something and said something,” fellow token booth clerk Rushdi Huq said of Ahmed Monday. “Imagine what’s going to happen when the clerks are laid off and there’s no one there to help.”
Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials deny riders will be more vulnerable with fewer transit workers.
Click here for the complete report.
Let me first applaud Tareque Ahmed for stepping up to the plate & trying to help a rider in distress even if he possibly will get reprimanded for doing so. Lets face it, incidents like these are bound to happen in a system the size of ours. However there is no denying that some of these positions are not completely necessary.
If the MTA is dead set in wanting to eliminate these positions, they should have a plan in place with the NYPD to fill the void. This would help the MTA in their cost cutting while appeasing to the security concerns of riders.
xoxo Transit Blogger
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Bill S3772-A Stalls In The State Assembly
Last Wednesday, I strongly opined on a terrible piece of legislation that would derail the MTA’s much needed plans to save during their financial crisis. The legislation in question was Bill S3772-A which passed in the State Senate. It would have prevented the MTA from laying off many positions under the false paradigm of security threats.
Fast forward to this past Thursday night where the bill officially has stalled for now since it was not taken up by the State Assembly before it adjourned for the summer. Pete Donohue of the New York Daily News who has more:
A bill prohibiting the MTA from laying off more token booth clerks has stalled – at least for now.
The legislation to halt more pink slips wasn’t taken up by the state Assembly before it adjourned late Thursday night for the summer.
Click here for the brief report.
Thankfully this bill has stalled although I won’t breathe a sigh of relief as it could just be a temporary victory due to scheduling. For those interested in my views on the bill, read the entry linked to in the first paragraph.
xoxo Transit Blogger
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MTA Eliminates 120 More Workers
The cost cutting via blue-collar workforce positions within the MTA continued this past Friday as the agency laid off 120 more workers. At the same time, they filled a new white-collar management position by hiring Diana Ritter Jones & giving her a $217,000 annual salary. Pete Donohue of the New York Daily News has more:
ANOTHER BATCH of transit workers was laid off yesterday, bringing the number of pink-slipped employees to about 1,000.
The latest wave of layoffs – 120 subway car mechanics and inspectors – will turn in their gear at a NYC Transit facility in Brooklyn today.
MTA officials, meanwhile, announced the hiring of a state commissioner of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities to fill a newly created managing director post with a $217,000 salary.
Diana Jones Ritter will manage headquarters staff and oversee the consolidation of divisional press offices, corporate communications departments and five call centers. The consolidation will save an estimated $10 million, the MTA said.
Click here for the complete report.
If the New York Daily News’ goal was to anger people with this story, they succeeded. I am all for the agency finding ways to crawl out from the financial hole it finds itself in. However it pains me to continue seeing it happen on the backs of its blue-collar workforce while nowhere near as much is being done within the white-collar section.
Saving $10M annually while doing much needed consolidation is good, does it need to be done via yet another new position with a 6 figure salary? Couldn’t this job have been filled by someone from within as part of their current tasks? Spending six figures on yet another position sure does not seem like the wisest financial decision yet it occurred.
They seriously need to get their house in order while tackling their biggest foe, the lack of sustainable funding options from the city & state government.
xoxo Transit Blogger
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