Subways are for sleeping: NYC Transit survival thread

yes there's a 1-800 number to call.

thx stenc

just have the credit card you purchased it with handy.

Sorta-related question: Can one buy a seven-day MetroCard at La Guardia Airport? I'm visiting soon and would like to take care of that when I arrive.

i don't know, but i can't imagine doing so wouldn't be more complicated than taking a cab from the airport and buying the metrocard in the subway station nearest your destination

taking a cab from the airport

or the bus (which takes forever)

i would suggest just getting a $10 metrocard (6 rides) instead of the weekly pass. it's a better value in most cases.

just FYI, i do not recommend fallign asleep on the subway unless you like being woken up by cops in Jamaica at 5am.

Sorta-related question: Can one buy a seven-day MetroCard at La Guardia Airport? I'm visiting soon and would like to take care of that when I arrive.

-- mike a, Friday, August 3, 2007 6:31 PM (7 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

yes you can buy them at lga.

but you can't take the subway directly from there :(

btw, in answer to the original question, I am Shit Outta Luck.

Under the TransitChek® Program a lost or stolen MetroCard® cannot be replaced.

How much do you save with TransitChek?

i think transit check is pre-tax dollars -- so you're paying for the metrocard with, well, pre-tax dollars (and your tax bill goes down). you may want to check with your HR people, though.

i think it's somewhere in the neighborhood of a 40% savings? something like that?

Fortunately, my card 'lagged' behind the expiration of the last one (ie, unused during vacations etc) I only have to pay for about 8 days. Why it isn't where I always store it I can't figger.

i have a similar problem, this is going to sound ridiculous.. but at my old job i started getting those transitchek credit cards, all exactly for $78 or whatever a monthly costs these days. i was out of work for a while so i started intermittently using them for single rides and daily passes. i have three in my wallet that have like $4-$8 on them. is there anyway i can get the money back or move the credits into one purchase?

somebody bump this thread when the trains are running.
apparently it's a mess. so not leaving for work until it's fixed.

I went to the station, and then another station, before learning that ALL trains are fucked. Home now, think I'll make a big breakfast instead.

exactly!

yes!

(had a dentist appt, cancelled!)

http://www.livescience.com/images/050114_subway_flood_03.jpg

12 noon BK FAP?

Sadly I'll prob be at the office by noon. :(((

But first I'm making bastard jambalaya w andouille. Sadly, out of shrimps.

http://us.movies1.yimg.com/movies.yahoo.com/images/hv/photo/movie_pix/twentieth_century_fox/the_day_after_tomorrow/jake_gyllenhaal/day.jpg

i need to get in by 1 for a meeting. i'm going to give it another hour or so before i try....

1st floor of my condo (neighbor's section) flooded and I am meant to not flush until they know that the sewers haven't routed into their house.
Meanwhile no ac at work means I work from home again.
End of the world.

okay scary: i woke up at 4 or whenever it really came down and my fucking cat

was outside

on our windowsill (three flights up!) in the storm

this is Brooklyn, mind you. she's never supposed to get out - she must have climbed past me while i was in the office (that window doesn't have a screen).

it was incredibly surreal. the sky looked absolutely gorgeous and amazing but my fucking cat was tiptoeing around for her life! to top it off, she's SUPER SCARED of storms and always runs under the stove when it rains.

I made it in via bus and 3 trains, wimps.

Fuck the MTA Fuck the MTA Fuck the MTA Fuck the MTA Fuck the MTA Fuck the MTA Fuck the MTA Fuck the MTA Fuck the MTA Fuck the MTA Fuck the MTA Fuck the MTA Fuck the MTA Fuck the MTA Fuck the MTA Fuck the MTA Fuck the MTA Fuck the MTA Fuck the MTA Fuck the MTA Fuck the MTA Fuck the MTA Fuck the MTA Fuck the MTA Fuck the MTA Fuck the MTA Fuck the MTA Fuck the MTA Fuck the MTA Fuck the MTA Fuck the MTA Fuck the MTA Fuck the MTA Fuck the MTA Fuck the MTA Fuck the MTA Fuck the MTA Fuck the MTA Fuck the MTA Fuck the MTA Fuck the MTA Fuck the MTA Fuck the MTA Fuck the MTA Fuck the MTA Fuck the MTA Fuck the MTA Fuck the MTA Fuck the MTA Fuck the MTA Fuck the MTA Fuck the MTA Fuck the MTA Fuck the MTA Fuck the MTA Fuck the MTA Fuck the MTA Fuck the MTA Fuck the MTA Fuck the MTA Fuck the MTA Fuck the MTA Fuck the MTA Fuck the MTA Fuck the MTA Fuck the MTA Fuck the MTA Fuck the MTA Fuck the MTA Fuck the MTA Fuck the MTA Fuck the MTA Fuck the MTA Fuck the MTA Fuck the MTA

L = fail
G = fail
B48 -> JMZ -> walk ~1 mile = win

B67 + M + D + F as E

But first I'm making bastard jambalaya w andouille. Sadly, out of shrimps.

-- Laurel, Wednesday, August 8, 2007 1:14 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Link

girl, we know you got a bike, GET PEDALING.

4-5-6 still not running, so i dont know if it's even worth bothering to try to get up to the UES yet?

i had no problem with L. F was really backed up but still got me to work. now i am angry because i'd much rather be home getting ready for 6 am departure to buffalo tomorrow.

between this morning and B*adrum, WORST NEW YORK SUMMER SINCE '77

8-8-07, never forget!

it's a damn-you-hadda-be-there urban legend.

No bklyn bound ACE.

God damn the L for being the one running fine, I could be at home right now with the dogs.

i don't know if i bother trying - it sounds like the L is running but i imagine i will be fucked at union square.

Yeah I think you're right.

We failed to give enough props yesterday on Sea Serpent Day so now they're running amok in the tunnels.

Number 7 to Times Square then Number 1 one stop to 34 Street and then I walked downtown.

have fun in your 100-degree afternoon, new yorkers

Where are you now in your travels, Tracer?

white city!

Lisboa?

MTA > viceland > blogger's sense of entitlement

Wait, you live on the 7 line?

I usually take the E or F at Roosevelt Avenue.

eeww it's supposed to be that hot here today? i rly don't know how much longer i can do this. it's gotten to the point where i can't SIT DOWN IN MY OFFICE with HEADPHONES on. i'm actually afraid the humidity will ruin my headphones. it's driving me crazy. where the fuck did the days of central air go? HUH?

Jesus. I hope nobody on here or anyone any of you know was on either of these trains

Breaking News: Two subway trains collided near the 96th Street station in Manhattan, causing one of them to derail, officials said. It was not immediately clear whether anyone was injured. https://t.co/CM1QwKCtDu

— The New York Times (@nytimes) January 4, 2024

Eight people aboard a northbound 1 train were injured when it collided with a work train around 3 p.m., according to officials and an internal police report about the collision. The injuries were not considered life-threatening, but those passengers were taken to hospitals, the report said.

How many things would have to go wrong in exactly the right way for that to happen… it seems inconceivable in 2024

This was such an incredible screw up. Should cost some folks their jobs really. https://t.co/SzzIJp6boy

— Second Ave. Sagas (@2AvSagas) January 5, 2024

The crash so far:
- Someone/someones pulled a bunch of emergency brake cords on a northbound No. 1 train at the 96th Street station
- The No. 1s behind it were rerouted onto the express
- One of those was crossing back when the stuck train somehow started moving again.

— Nolan Hicks (@ndhapple) January 4, 2024

When the guy basically shouts to make an announcement: do these people know how mics and PAs work?

Sorry if that’s mean

I mean they shuttle assholes around all day i dont blame them for getting ticked

Sudden reversal on congestion pricing is bizarre.

A friend who I’ll just say has a legit source of this knowledge explained to me that the MTA has already been spending as though it would get this extra billion per year in revenue that it’s now not going to get. Total shitshow.

absolute gutlessness by hochul and everyone else on down

oh no, what if new jerseyans can't have to pay a toll to visit manhattan diners! what the actual fuck

truly truly maddening.

https://washingtonspectator.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/hochul.jpg

otm

oh no, what if new jerseyans can't have to pay a toll to visit manhattan diners! what the actual fuck

― mookieproof, Wednesday, 12 June 2024 02:45 (ten hours ago) link

Tbf, they already pay a $16 toll to visit Manhattan

They should take the bus.

Tbf, the current tolls, at least notionally, have to do with the cost of building and operating expensive bridges and tunnels, and other activities of the Port Authority (which, at least notionally, are specific to NY-NJ relations). Congestion pricing would have to do with the currently externalized costs of packing cars into Manhattan, and would apply to vehicles from anywhere, not just New Jersey.

Thought experiment: in a world where CP already existed, but there was no way to drive across the Hudson, I think it'd be pretty reasonable to suggest building some tunnels or bridges, and charging tolls to use them.

One of the things that pisses me off wrt lawsuits and complaints and all that shit is that TOLL ROADS ALREADY EXIST. CONGESTION PRICING IS NOT NEW TECH YOU ABSOLUTE MORONS.

The rationales for killing it don’t make sense to me. They could have run it for a year and if it wasn’t having the desired impact or was having unintended negative consequences, they could have paused it.

There’s a lot of speculation that it’s really just about avoiding an election issue republicans can beat up democrats with.

that's absolute it, innit?

the version i heard is that Schumer and/or Jeffries leaned on her, with this specific notion in mind. it really makes very little sense otherwise; just a few months ago she was very clearly defending the program and articulating its rationale, and then the reversal announcement is illogical gobbledygook. the recent War on Cars episode lamenting the announcement covers those bases pretty well.

def was Jeffries

https://www.politico.com/news/2024/06/05/new-york-city-toll-hochul-democrats-00161930

and if you need a side-by-side comparison between what she said 6 months ago and now, Gothamist did a good piece on it:

https://gothamist.com/news/watch-gov-hochul-debate-herself-when-it-comes-to-implementing-congestion-pricing

the Gothamist self-debate video is brutal

A friend who I’ll just say has a legit source of this knowledge explained to me that the MTA has already been spending as though it would get this extra billion per year in revenue that it’s now not going to get.

...on unnecessary and disruptive station makeovers in wealthy parts of Manhattan, as usual

One big consideration is the renovations that were going to improve ADA access, like elevators, and the list of planned improvements is at https://new.mta.info/project/station-accessibility-upgrades#:~:text=As%20part%20of%20our%20long,an%20additional%2078%20subway%20elevators. It's not majority in Manhattan.

I don't think it seems outrageous for the MTA to plan for this revenue ahead of time, these projects can take years and the contractors & partners they need to do the work probably schedule their jobs far in advance. Also--congestion pricing is LAW. It wasn't unreasonable to expect it to go through as promised, because it is legally required for the MTA to produce this funding somehow.

for reference, the MTA's 2020-2024 capital program covers quite a range of things which are now in jeopardy. if you click through to the PDF, you can see that $15 billion out of the $51 billion five-year plan was to come from CP. here's what we'll probably lose, just from the highlights page:

The 2020-2024 Capital Program is:

• The MTA’s largest-ever capital plan by far – 70% larger than the 2015-2019 Program – making unprecedented investments in the region
• An unprecedented investment of $51.5 billion, including more than $40 billion for New York City Transit – revitalizing the system and building on the successful investment of the Subway Action Plan

The Program will deliver major benefits, including:
• More frequent and reliable service on 6 line segments, including the Lexington Avenue Line, serving over 50% of riders through modernized signaling
• 70 new ADA-accessible stations, beginning now. Stations serving over 60% of passengers will be ADA-accessible
• Over 1,900 new subway cars, more than 2,400 new buses and hundreds of new commuter rail cars
• Full funding for Second Avenue Subway Phase 2 and construction of four new Metro-North stations in the Bronx

xpost

Hochul has another bright idea about the subway

Gothamist: MTA has 'stopped work on 2nd Avenue subway' due to congestion pricing pause, officials say

Honestly manhattanites are spoiled when it comes to subways. “Wah!! I have to walk three blocks!” At least you don’t have to take a bus

The g shutdown, now that is some impactful sh1t

that "three-block" walk is 15 minutes for people in the Wagner Houses in East Harlem fyi. Phase 2 is also where the SAS would start to deliver real relief to Bronx-Manhattan commuters on the 4/5/6 line, currently one of the most crowded in the system!

no argument that there are other even more alarming transit deserts in the city, of course! and for example, killing CP also kills any hope of even hypothetically developing the Nostrand or Utica extension, or the Triboro RX/Interborough Express, which previously Hochul was pushing forward as a pet project. oops.

I found out the other day that the G used to run into Astoria (or at least within walking distance of MoMI). Service cuts took that away... :(

fucking gillibrand is talking about park-and-rides now

meanwhile the pools aren't open and the libraries are closed sundays (and today, because of juneteenth) because that shit is unaffordable even as cops take helicopters to philly, albany and the hamptons

Vote her (them) out

confirm exactly how messed up your commute was with these nice visualizations

https://pvibien.com/stringline.htm

reminds me of this NYT graphics classic, from 2018:

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/05/09/nyregion/subway-crisis-mta-decisions-signals-rules.html

Let us now praise famous delays

https://www.amny.com/transit/week-of-hell-nyc-subway-disruptions-july-2024/

https://files.mta.info/s3fs-public/inline-images/011022_BRC%20Existing%20Conditions-01_0.png

this would be so sweet :(

I have a vague memory of this going all the way to the east side of the bronx.

The concept for the IBX dates back decades. The Regional Plan Association in 1996 initially proposed a “Triboro” line, which would connect Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx over the Hell Gate Bridge. Hochul scaled back the idea in 2022, proposing the line as a Brooklyn-Queens connector only.

I think dealing with Amtrak on the Hell Gate would be too complicated.

I guess the claim is that the planned Penn Station Access project would make the Bronx connection unfeasible, but I dunno. I think only two of three tracks over the bridge are actually heavily used and there's room for a fourth.

That said, while the Brooklyn and Queens sections run perpendicular to and connect many subway lines, a theoretical Bronx section mostly runs parallel with existing lines, so the main advantage seems to be the Bronx/Queens connection.

https://i0.wp.com/welcome2thebronx.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/IMG_0454796A053C-1.webp

Those Bronx lines are pretty far apart - but yah, if the new Penn Station Access stations are completed as planned (and shown in gray on that map) then maybe there's some redundancy. Probably the bigger question is where exactly the tracks run and whether anyone will plausibly walk to the stations.

But I do think the Bronx-Queens-Brooklyn connection is pretty compelling - not to mention a subway link to Randall's Island!

Took the subway home from Penn last nite, boarded the back car and a guy in a horned demon skull mask got on at 42nd st & sat down next to me. He was constantly sticking his hand down his pants and started blowing coke on the train. It was like 8 pm.

NYC is... alive? "back"?

But I have to admit this made me slightly uncomfortable.

What is “blowing coke?”

Got on one of those soon-to-be-decommissioned orange-and-yellow cars the other day, which I enjoyed.

Some kind of weird A train switcheroo this weekend where it runs on the F line and ends at Bryant Park.

I've been back I new york and commuting on a mixture of the Q train and the east river ferry for a while and I just want to say I think public transit is lovely, and those two services in particular (the Q and the astoria line on the ferry) are outstanding. it's falling apart and it looks like shit but my experience of transit is better than 10 years ago!

platform barriers are starting to go up at my station (flushing) and i am flabbergasted at how cheap and bad they look

ours haven't been painted yellow yet but basically this

https://pix11.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/25/2024/03/subway-guard-rails.jpg?w=900

hahahaha

https://gothamist.com/news/the-nyc-subways-electrical-equipment-is-so-old-it-frequently-explodes

https://gothamist.com/news/a-state-of-collapse-how-the-mta-put-riders-on-the-fast-track-to-ruin

gothamist with some mta infrastructure stories today