Mayor Bloomberg Hypocritically Blasts The MTA
If you were to open up a dictionary & look up the word hypocritical, a huge picture of Mayor Bloomberg would be right next to word. The latest display comes from his decision to blast the MTA for failing to adequately fund the expansion of the system while keeping the current form in good repair. Kerry Burke & Celeste Katz have more in this report:
Mayor Bloomberg joined straphangers in skewering the MTA on Tuesday as a fallen station ceiling disrupted service for a second day.
Chunks of the ceiling at the 181st St. stop on the 1 train fell onto the tracks Sunday night, throwing service out of whack – and it will likely stay that way until the weekend, transit officials say.
The collapse “just goes to show the MTA has for decades underfunded what they needed to do to not just expand, but to maintain our stations,” said Bloomberg.
“This could have killed somebody. Fortunately, it did not,” he said, while appearing at a news conference on waterfront development.
While the disruption was more inconvenient than anything else, Bloomberg said, “Nevertheless we have to have [a] capital budget to maintain what we have.”
Click here for the complete report.
Are you kidding me? Did he really accuse the MTA of all people for underfunding the needs to expand the system while keeping the current one in good repair? Seriously Bloomberg, almost every politician including yourself should look in the mirror before throwing this kind of accusation around. Where were all of you when the MTA needed money to main & expand our system? Oh that is right, you were too busy saying how the city could not be counted on to contribute its fair share.
However lets not leave the blame squarely on the city as the crooks in Albany deserve just as much if not most of the blame for failing to adequately fund the transit agency. Instead of stepping up to the playe & fixing the system that for years as robbed the MTA of its deserved funding, politicians such as yourself are looking for any little excuse to shift the responsibility of funding back to the agency. This is then followed by the outrage & demand for the MTA to stop passing the pain on to the riders through fare hikes & service cuts.
While the MTA is not blame free for their role in this mess, lets not act like politicians such as yourself are not responsible for the lack of expansion or system upkeep to a state of good repair. Instead of spending dollar after dollar to advertise your desire to improve mass transit in New York City for the millions who depend on it, how about actually delivering instead of acting like the biggest hypocrite with your latest rant.
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Elliot Sander Ripped By MTA Board
Two stories have dominated the coverage on this blog & others like it over the last few days. The two stories in question are the state of the 181st Street station after the collapse of a brick facade & the fallout of the awarded raises to TWU Local 100 members from an arbitration panel.
This entry will take a look at the latest twist to the latter & how it has led to former MTA CEO/Executive Director Elliot Sander being ripped by the MTA Board. The negative sentiment stems from the former CEO’s decision to bypass the board & go to binding arbitration to settle the wage dispute with Transport Workers Union Local 100. Pete Donohue & Michael Saul have more:
Former MTA chief Elliot Sander bypassed his board when he went to binding arbitration to settle a transit union contract – a move board members blasted Tuesday.
“I think on decisions of that nature … the board members should vote,” board member Mitchell Pally said.
Sander, who left the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in April, confirmed he didn’t discuss arbitration with the board. He said he talked with board Chairman Dale Hemmerdinger.
“Nobody wanted a strike,” Sander said.
The MTA says a board vote is not required before going to arbitration.
Former board Chairman Peter Kalikow suggested Sander deliberately bypassed the board as part of a “choreographed ballet.”
“This whole thing has been a travesty from the beginning,” he said.
Click here for the complete report.
It is quite rich of former MTA Board Chairman Peter Kalikow to accuse anyone of engaging in choreographed activity. I & other transit advocates could be here for ages talking about the bullshit that occurred under his regime including many favors for his buddies which came in the form of choreographed bidding processes or lack thereof in some cases.
So by his logic, Elliot purposely engaged in a choreographed battle with the same union the MTA has been at war with for ages. If you were to continue with his logic, the MTA purposely failed to budget for wage increases for union members when calculating their financial figures during the fight for a rescue package from Albany. Shall I continue with the ridiculous logic being employed by Peter? For my own sanity, I will not before I bang my keyboard in frustration.
xoxo Transit Blogger
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Fox5 Takes A Look At A Rowdy LIRR Train
Just a short time ago I was in my kitchen cleaning up when I heard a Fox5 News @ 10 story about to start in regards to a rowdy Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) train. I stopped what I was doing to watch the report & found it to be of no surprise it had to do with a weekend train coming from the Hamptons.
As someone who currently lives on the island, I have spent my share of time partying in the Hamptons. I never took the train to & from there as I found the ride to be way too long. However many people I know have taken the train including the infamous 8:28 pm train from Hampton Bays which originates from Montauk at 7:34 pm.
The report in question highlighted the craziness that stems from the crowd of mostly drunk people who are coming from the Boardy Barn. This is a well known spot out east where the booze is cheap & the times are wild. This is especially the case on Sunday when they have their $2 beer specials. Before I continue on, lets take a look at a blog entry on this train from Fox 5’s Andrea Day:
This story really began when we heard about a train on the LIRR that is so bad that some riders do whatever they can to avoid it. It’s the Sunday night 8:28 out of Hampton Bays — a train that lots of people like to use after a long weekend in the Hamptons.
So I went out east and pulled up to the station to see what the 8:28 was all about. Can I tell you — it was scary! Even buying a ticket on the platform was tough because people in line were totally out of control. They were yelling, pushing, some passed out. I even had to dodge piles of vomit.
I wound up meeting a local cab driver and asked him about the scene. He told me people actually get naked in his cab on the way to the train. He didn’t seem to mind that, but was disgusted when some of them were throwing up in the back seat.
The cops there were very helpful because every time we turned on the camera to shoot, people started jumping in front and screaming.
Click here for the complete entry.
As I write this entry, 10 responses have been posted to Andrea’s entry. Some are on the side which I choose to take that these people are irresponsible & are showing a severe lack of maturation in terms of handing their alcohol intake. Others are of the belief that this is not a big deal as they are doing the right thing in taking public transportation as compared to drinking & driving.
Yes, some credit should be given for those who choose to ride the train instead of drink & drive. Unfortunately in our society, too many people lack the common sense to do what is right & way too many innocent people have paid the price. Even with saying that, there is no excuse for the kind of behavior exhibited in Andrea’s first hand report or countless other stories that I & others have seen or heard.
Doing the “right thing” does not give carte blanche for idiocy to reign supreme. While I am not of the belief that paying fares entitles a rider to the perfect ride of their choice, they do have the right to not have to put up with such behavior.
In the end, the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) & perhaps MTA Police need to prohibit alcohol consumption on these trains. When you constantly see this happening from the same crowd type including the consumption of more alcohol by some, you are doing nothing but enabling this behavior. For the prices commuters are paying to ride the LIRR, they deserve better.
xoxo Transit Blogger
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Proskauer Rose Quits The MTA
Early this morning, a report in the New York Daily News broke the story that the powerful law firm of Proskauer Rose abruptly quit the MTA. Pete Donohue has more in this report:
A powerhouse law firm that has represented the MTA in labor negotiations for two decades abruptly quit after becoming concerned agency honchos were getting too friendly with labor, sources said.
Proskauer Rose was concerned transit officials weren’t being candid about their dealings with the union, and the law firm feared it couldn’t adequately represent the Metropolitan Transportation Authority if it was shut out of secret agreements between the two sides, sources said.
The firm walked away in February days after NYC Transit President Howard Roberts held the first meeting with an arbitration panel – without inviting Proskauer lawyers or the MTA’s director of labor relations, sources said.
The agency turned to another firm, Littler Mendelson, to represent its interest in front of the arbitration panel.
Just last week, the panel granted the union a generous pact with annual pay hikes totaling more than 11% by the end of the three-year deal.
It also%A0lowered workers’ health care contributions.
The binding contract will cost the MTA another $350 million a year – at a time when it’s gone begging to Albany for more aid and raised fares to keep from going broke.
Proskauer has a reputation for aggressively fighting labor and has gone head-to-head with Transport Workers Union Local 100 for years, including court fights related to the union’s illegal 2005 strike.
Click here for the complete report.
The allegation from the Proskauer Rose camp caught my attention considering it is known of the war between the MTA & its blue-collar workforce. I wish they would provide some specific details that led them to take this stance. As of this moment, my gut tells me there is more to this story. I will keep an eye on anything that comes from it in the near future.
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181st Street Station Update
Current state of the 181st Street station after brick facade collapse. Photo courtesy of MTA NYC Transit.
Late last night, I shared the latest update on the latest condition of the 181st Street station on the 
along with the service pattern running on the line due to the accident. Now I am back with the latest update courtesy of MTA Spokesman Paul Fleuranges:
Repair work to remove debris and any remaining loose brick from the architectural façade of the ceiling at the 181st Street station is proceeding around the clock, but more work needs to be completed before 1 train service can resume between the 168th Street and Dyckman Street stations.
In order to resume train operation through the 181st Street station, NYC Transit has enlisted the services of a qualified contractor who will build a protective barrier that will stretch across the track bed and platform in the area of the arched portion of the historic ceiling which suffered a partial collapse Sunday evening. The barrier will be about 300’ long and 32’ wide at the southern half of the station. The shielding will consist of metal decking supported on 120, 12-inch deep steel beams spaced three feet apart on centers across the tracks. The beams will be supported by columns erected adjacent to the platform walls. Temporary lighting will be strung under the shielding.
Once the shielding is in place, the contractor will use it as a work platform to carefully remove any remaining loose bricks. We have a consultant on board to conduct a full investigation and design for restoration. Given the landmark status of the station, the restoration has to be done with sensitivity to preservation requirements.
Preparatory work has begun in anticipation of the arrival of the steel and other components needed to erect the shield. The contractor, under the supervision of NYC Transit’s Capital Program Management Department, is moving as expeditiously as possible to complete this work in a safe manner in order to restore service. Unfortunately, this work will take days to complete, and we do not anticipate resuming 1 service until this weekend.
Despite claims to the contrary, NYC Transit is keenly aware that the ceiling was in need of repair and restoration.
Shielding was installed over the bridge and funding was proposed in the MTA Capital Plan amendment submitted in summer of 2008 to address the ceiling condition. A Master Plan for remediation and repair of a significant portion of the ceiling façade was completed in April, and the design process was started this past June by design consultants/Architects John di Domenico & Partners LP. Funding for the work, provided for in the 2005 – 2009 MTA Capital Program, was approved by the State Legislature this past Friday.
Design work is scheduled to be completed by December and the award of a construction contract is planned for early 2010. In addition, there are two other stations (168th Street 1 and 181st Street on the A) with a similar design, but only 168th Street features a brick ceiling. The consultant contract for the 181st Street ceiling will be expanded to include inspection of the 168th Street station as well. It should be noted that all NYC Transit tunnels and elevated structures are inspected on a yearly basis.
Travel Advisories:
Customers in Upper Manhattan who can use the A Line at stations between 207th Street and 168th Street are strongly urged to do so in order to avoid overcrowding on the 1 Line during both the morning and evening rush hour periods. Until further notice, 1 train service will continue to operate in two sections, with a FREE shuttle bus in operation between affected stations in Upper Manhattan:• 1 train service will operate in both directions between South Ferry and 168th St
• FREE Shuttle buses will operate between 168th St and Dyckman St
• 1 train service will operate in both directions between Van Cortlandt Park – 242nd St and Dyckman St, skipping 207th Street. 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.
Additional Transit personnel will be on hand at both the 168th Street and Dyckman Street stations on the 1 line to assist customers with travel information. 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
1 line customers should add additional time to their commute during this outage. We apologize for the inconvenience.
I will continue to follow this story & provide updates as I receive them.
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