MTA NYC Transit To Inspect 168th Street Station
In what boils down to a common sense move considering the unfortunate events that unfolded at the 181st Street 
station, MTA New York City Transit will inspect the 168th Street station due to it having a similar ceiling structure as its neighbor station to the north. Here are the details courtesy of a press release I just received a short time ago:
Following the partial collapse of the architectural ceiling façade at the 181st Street station Sunday night, New York City Transit, along with a private contractor, has been working around the clock to remove debris, repair damaged sections of track and complete the installation of a protective shield throughout the caverned half.
However, because the 168th Street station has a similar ceiling design, it is prudent that we take advantage of the ongoing service disruption to thoroughly inspect that ceiling’s façade as well. As a result, this inspection will be performed between 12:01 a.m., Sunday, August 23rd and 5 a.m. on Monday, August 24th. Because trains can reverse direction only at locations where there are track switches, this inspection will necessitate the lengthening of the bus shuttle south to 137th Street.
1 train service will continue to operate in two sections at least until 5 a.m. Monday when it will be determined whether or not service along the line can be resumed.
• 1 train service will operate in both directions between South Ferry and 137th St
• FREE Shuttle buses will operate between 137th St. and Dyckman St.
• 1 train service will operate in both directions between Van Cortlandt Park – 242nd St. and Dyckman St., skipping 207th Street in the southbound direction. Customers at 207th Street should use the A for downtown service instead.
• The M3 bus, which operates along St. Nicholas Avenue, will be FARE FREE for northbound customers at 168th Street; in both directions at 181st Street; and southbound at 191st Street.
If it is possible to restore service, customers should be advised that trains will bypass 181st Street until work on the ceiling is completed.
This suspension in service will continue to have an impact on wheelchair customers who rely on the 1 train. Those customers are advised to do the following:
• Customers who use wheelchairs seeking Manhattan bound service at 231st Street should call 1-800-834-1173 and make arrangements for a shuttle bus to take them to 207th Street, where they can transfer to the A for downtown service
• Customers who use wheelchairs heading northbound on the 1 should transfer at 72nd Street to the M5 bus to 168th Street. At 168th Street they can transfer to a free shuttle bus that will take them to stops heading northbound. Another option for these customers would be to take the A train to 168th Street where they can transfer to a FREE shuttle bus that will make all 1 station stops heading northbound
Additional Transit personnel will be on hand at both the 137th Street and Dyckman Street stations on the 1 line to assist customers with travel information. Customers in Upper Manhattan who can use the A Line at stations between 207th Street and 137th Street are advised to do so to avoid overcrowding on the 1 Line. In addition, 1 line customers should add additional time to their commute during this outage. We apologize for the inconvenience.
xoxo Transit Blogger
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Change To 08-21 Service Diversions
Earlier this morning, I posted the latest scheduled service diversions for the upcoming weekend & following week. A couple of the scheduled diversions called for the bypassing of some Harlem stations on the due to rail repairs.
However earlier this afternoon, I was notified by MTA NYC Transit that these specific diversions were being canceled due to the desire to lessen the impact of disruption stemming from the brick facade collapse at the 181st Street station. Here are the complete details courtesy of a press release:
Due to the ongoing work at the 181st Street station following the partial collapse of the architectural ceiling façade, MTA New York City Transit officials today postponed rail repairs that were scheduled for this weekend at the 103rd Street, 110th Street, 116th Street and 125th Street stations.
This decision was made to lessen the impact of service disruptions on customers using the 1 line, in light of the above. Had the rail repairs been done this weekend, downtown 1 trains would have bypassed the stations mentioned above from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, and uptown 1 trains would have bypassed the said stations during the same time on Sunday.
The service diversion page has been updated to reflect the cancellation.
xoxo Transit Blogger
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Service Diversions 08-21
I have just updated the service diversions page with the latest information for the weekend & upcoming week (beyond in some cases). Don’t forget to check in for any changes to the page. I also suggest printing out a copy of the page to use while riding the system. Have a safe & wonderful weekend!
xoxo Transit Blogger
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Toussaint Shoots Back At Mayor Bloomberg
A nice size majority exists that are dead set against the raises recently awarded to transit workers by an arbitration panel. One of the leaders of that majority is Mayor Bloomberg who has been quite critical of the raises especially during the current economic times. However outgoing Transport Workers Union Local 100 President Roger Toussaint decided to shoot back at the Mayor’s comments. Tom Namako & David Seifman of the New York Post have more in this report:
The outgoing president of the transit workers union today shot back today at Mayor Bloomberg’s recent criticism of fat pay raises for rank-and-file transit workers.
“I spoke directly to the Mayor in October 2008 about his view of two 4 percent raises for transit workers, and he told me that he was in favor of such raises,” said TWU boss Roger Toussaint.
But Bloomberg insisted today, “That’s only partially true.”
“When the MTA was about to make an agreement that I did not think they could afford, I said – and I’ll repeat it right here – “I am in favor of a well paid workforce that works hard,” he said at a question-and-answer session.
“If we don’t have the money, however, I wasn’t willing to sign on to it. They then were not able to do anything, and I said, ‘Well if you have to go to arbitration, there’s nothing wrong with going to arbitration.”
Bloomberg also continued to blast a decision made by the independent arbitrator — former Deputy Mayor John Zucotti – that the MTA can afford the raises by taking cash from its long-term plan, which finances items like station rehabs and Second Avenue Subway.
Click here for the complete report.
Roger is being diplomatic by not calling Bloomberg out for the phony pro transit person that he truly is. His entire reign as mayor has showcased his obsession with the bottom line with no regards for the blue-collar workforce while having a completely different perspective when it comes to those who in some shape or another align themselves with him.
He wants to paint one picture in his bullshit commercials but shows his true colors when blasting the MTA for underfunding itself conveniently leaving out the fact of years of inadequate funding from not only Albany but the city itself. As I said here, look up the word hypocritical in the dictionary & a picture of Bloomberg will be right next to it.
xoxo Transit Blogger
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Renovations Far Off For Many Subway Stations
When accidents such as the one that occurred Sunday night at the 181st Street station on the 1 happen, the media usually focuses on the problem & looks to see if it is present elsewhere. So the piece in today’s New York Post comes as no surprise as they have uncovered other stations with similar water damage. The alarming part of their piece is centered around the fact that only a handful are scheduled for repair within the next 5 years. Anna Maria Jakubek, Amber Sutherland, & Tom Namako have more:
The ceilings of several subway stations that last year were found to be riddled with water damage are still not scheduled for repair, The Post has learned. The findings come just three days after a bricks lining the 181st Street station rained down on the platform, tracks, and a No. 1 train. The Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee in 2008 gave 16 stations an “F” grade for water-leakage problems. Only three of them are scheduled for renovations over the next five years.
“I’m very concerned about it,” said Andrew Albert, an MTA board member. “It makes me wonder if stations are being renovated on basis of need, or if they’re being clustered on certain lines so they can all be done faster at once.”
Albert said he’s seen water “cause columns at some stations in The Bronx to bulge out . . . It’s decades of neglect.”
Click here for the complete report.
None of the information in this report comes as a surprise. Anyone who rides the subway notices that the majority of stations are nowhere close to being in a state of good repair. Even the alarming fact that only a handful are up for repair in the next 5 years creates little shock. The conditions have been rampant for years mainly due to a lack of money so it unfortunately has been par for the course. There are many reasons why things never change & many lead right back to the fundamental issue of adequate funding or in this case lack thereof.
Instead of politicians such as Bloomberg & the majority of clowns in Albany blasting the MTA, they should look at how they can seriously change the course of inadequate funding towards such important infrastructure. However who am I kidding, that would imply that they would give a damn about the millions of riders when their actions clearly show they do not. As far as the majority of media is concerned, they also should be ashamed for not shedding accurate light on the circumstances that prevent the MTA is nowhere close to being the kind of agency riders deserve to have providing mass transit.
xoxo Transit Blogger
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