0

Service Diversions 06-26-10

Posted by
on June 26th, 2010 at 5:08 am

I just updated the service diversions page which contains some history as it is the first update with the V Train & W Train removed. All of the diversions that were scheduled to end by 11:59 PM Friday have been removed.

I suggest you print out a copy of the diversions to carry with you or use your mobile device to access the phone friendly version of Transit Blogger. The next update will be Monday morning sometime after 05:01 AM when I remove all of the diversions scheduled to end by 5:00 AM Monday.

Have a safe & wonderful weekend!

xoxo Transit Blogger

You might enjoy reading these related entries:
Service Diversions
0

Service Advisory For Heritage Of Pride Events

Posted by
on June 25th, 2010 at 4:39 pm

This upcoming Sunday, multiple events will be taking place in Manhattan as part of the Heritage Of Pride. MTA NYC Transit has issued a service advisory for the events which I just received a few minutes ago:

The annual Pride March will be held on Sunday, June 27 beginning at 12 noon and running to approximately 5 p.m. Parade formation will be between 41st Street and 36th Street and between 6th Avenue and Park Avenue. The parade will begin at 5th Avenue at 36th Street, continue south on Fifth Avenue, turn right on 9th Street and continue along 9th Street crossing 6th Avenue onto Christopher Street and end at Greenwich Street.

Parade goers can get to the festivities using the D, F, N, Q or R to 34th Street-Herald Square, the 6 to 33rd, 28th and 23rd Sts., the R or N to 28th or 23rd Streets, and any train to 14th Street at 6th Avenue or Union Square. In the Village, revelers may take the A, C, D, E or F to West 4th Street or the 1 to Christopher Street/Sheridan Square. The following bus routes serving the area may be rerouted during the march: M2, M3, M4, M7, M14, M16, M20, M23, M34, Q32, X1 and X10.

The Pier Dance will also take place on Sunday at Pier 54 at 13th Street and the Hudson River from 4 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. To get there by train, customers may take the A, C, E, or L to 14th Street (8th Avenue) or the 1, 2, or 3 to 14th Street (7th Avenue). Customers traveling by bus may take the M11 or the M20 to 14th Street-Hudson Street, or the M14 to 14th Street-9th Avenue.

Please be aware that on Sunday, downtown F trains run express from 34th Street to West 4th Street. Uptown E trains run express from Canal Street to 42nd Street and uptown A and C trains run express from Canal Street to 59th Street.

xoxo Transit Blogger

You might enjoy reading these related entries:
Manhattan, Service Alerts
0

MTA Contractor Dies This Morning In Brooklyn

Posted by
on June 25th, 2010 at 4:24 pm

These stories are never easy to write about. It is with sadness that I must write about a MTA contractor who died this morning at the Ave M stop on the Q Train which has been under rehabilitation for months. Here is a very brief report on the incident courtesy of Shari Logan & Tom Namako of the New York Post:

An MTA contractor died after a shipment of metal subway panels fell on him at the Ave. M stop on the Q line this morning, officials said.

He worked at a company called Granite Construction.

The panels were being used to reconstruct the station — they essentially act as the walls on elevated platforms.

I would like to offer my condolences to the friends, family, & peers of this yet to be identified worker.

xoxo Transit Blogger

You might enjoy reading these related entries:
Brooklyn, Death
2

MetroCard Scammer To Serve 1 Year In Jail

Posted by
on June 24th, 2010 at 11:56 pm

Apparently crime does pay or at least until you get caught that is. 42 year old Corey Grant was sentenced to a year in prison for his role in a $800,000 MetroCard scam. He & his wife teamed with a 3rd accomplice after she found a Metrocard Vending Machine (MVM) that gave out free rides. Leonard Greene of the New York Post has more:

A Long Island man who pleaded guilty to an $800,000 MetroCard scam was sentenced today to a year in jail for selling free rides on the subway and the Long Island Railroad.

Carey Grant, 42, was busted two years ago along with his wife and a friend, after they discovered a glitch in a Penn Station MetroCard machine that allowed them to buy fare cards for free.

Prosecutors said Grant’s wife, Lisa Foster Jordan first discovered the gift machine in 2005, and then conspired with her husband and a friend, Christopher Clemente, to sell tickets to friends and family.

Soon, the trio were placing orders for thousands of free tickets which they sold at discounted prices, officials said.

The ruse was discovered during a routine audit after which authorities were able to link the free tickets to two individual bank cards.

Click here for the complete report.

Is anyone else disgusted that this scam artist is only serving a year in jail? You have to ask yourself, is that nearly enough punishment to match what he stole from the MTA & in the end taxpayers? Most scam artists thrive on pulling the wool over your eyes even if they make no money. I’d bet anything that once he gets out, he will end up finding another scam to run. If you do the math, the time served versus what is made benefits him. I also think the people who purchased rides from him should be punished.

On a separate note, I think it is pathetic that in this day & age, it took the MTA nearly 3 years to catch up to the scam. Who knows how many other people could have known about this loophole & cost the agency much needed revenue? Plus one has to wonder if this could possibly be going on with other machines albeit most likely on a lesser scale. I suggest that they find a way to audit their machines more frequently & look into safeguards to prevent this from ever happening again.

xoxo Transit Blogger

You might enjoy reading these related entries:
Crime
0

Rally For The Final W Train

Posted by
on June 24th, 2010 at 5:53 pm

As I noted here, there are some upcoming service changes involving the M Train, V Train, & W Train. This entry however will focus on the W Train. A few days ago, loyal Transit Blogger reader Danielle sent me a notice about a group rally to salute the final W departing Astoria. I wanted to share this with all of my readers as I am sure some of you would like to attend:

On Friday Night, June 25, 2010, the W Train—the bastard stepchild of the BMT-Astoria Line—will make its final run from Ditmars Boulevard to Whitehall Street, a victim of the MTA’s 2010 Budget Cuts. On the final night of the W, and on its last fateful ride, come celebrate with us as we commemorate the short, complicated and often pathetic life of our beloved W.

All cultures mourn in different ways. Some cultures wear black, others sing songs and eulogize the dead. Others pour out a 40 on the station platform at 36th Avenue. All expressions of mourning are welcome. We will remember the good times—like the day we were super late to work and the W went express from Astoria Boulevard to Queensboro Plaza, or the first time we met the “Have a Smile” guy.
We’ll remember the bad times, like when the W was named the “Worst Train in the MTA Subway” by the Straphangers Campaign, or when the blind guy who plays “The Girl from Ipanema” played so loud you couldn’t hear your iPod.

The final W Train Departs Ditmars Blvd. at 10:17 p.m. on Friday, June 25. It will stop at Astoria Blvd. at 10:19, 30th Avenue at 10:20, Broadway at 10:21, 36th Avenue at 10:23 and 39th Avenue at 10:25.

At Union Square, we’ll disembark and wait for the 11:02 W, which will be the final W train that comes back to Astoria.

On Monday morning, June 28, the Q will come to Astoria on weekdays and the memory of the W will begin to fade. Let us send our train line out in style.

After we return to Astoria, perhaps we’ll throw a wake at the Beer Garden?

-Bill Reese

http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=109181082452638

I am not sure if I will be attending but I urge my readers to go & support a fun event to give the W Train the sendoff it deserves.

xoxo Transit Blogger

You might enjoy reading these related entries:
Queens, Subway