Today’s Headlines

Re article by WNYC’s Kate Hinds (lead story): PCAC director Bill Henderson needs to raise his quote game. He’s quoted, “We’ve got this huge gap and we don’t have a way to fill it.” But there *is* a way to fill it — with the Move NY plan that the PCAC formally endorsed three months ago, thanks in part to Bill’s leadership. What he meant to say is that *Albany* isn’t filling the gap. Cuomo and the legislature aren’t filling the gap.

Ditto, Bill’s quoted defeatism about the difficulty of getting electeds to lead on infrastructure investment: “You have to replace rail, you have to replace signals, and you have to
paint and maintain structures. But a lot of those things aren’t sexy.” Nope. The MTA capital plan is way more than just *replacing* stuff. It includes systemwide uptake of “communications-based train control” that lets trains operate at closer distances and thereby increase capacity and cut wait
times and crowding. Any advocate who doesn’t think that’s “sexy” needs a rethink.

i really hope cuomo has an end game here with his silence. maybe he can advocate for usage fees a la MoveNY with a requisite rise in fares as well, so it doesn’t look like the fees are going solely to fund transit. So maybe let MTA raise fares in the interim, funding a portion of its capital budget, and then allow MoveNY to move forward. Its awful on its face, bc the roads and bridges are basically free, but it least gives him some sway to say that Transit is paying its “fair” (fare) share for capital improvements, and that it is time that drivers do the same as well. It’s easier to connect those issues in voters minds all at once, rather than privileging or punishing one over the other.

this is his solution to gentrification.

What’s your logic on that one? If the MTA has to raise fares, then lower income folks have a harder time living in urban neighborhoods. So it would seem that this would stimulate more gentrification.

yeah but then neighborhoods on the edges of gentrification become less desirable due to increase in commute time

Surprised this insanely idiotic Staten Island tram idea has escaped getting mentioned on Daily Headlines so far. Please help us before the city winds up getting swindled out of millions for a study by the corrupt dunces at the SIEDC. You’ll be defending yourselves because if this gets much more press every outer-borough whiner city councilman will demand one: http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2015/06/de_blasio_open_to_175_million.html

I am so tired of the “non life-threatening injuries” by the media. How about “the person is expected to survive but will face life altering injuries due to this crash”.

They might not even be horrible ideas for Brooklyn’s and Queens’ waterfronts. That’s because the waterfronts have significant populations now and no good way to supply any other kind of direct transit to Manhattan..

The SAS report is very upsetting as someone who depends on the 4/5/6.

Thanks for linking the DNAinfo story on how noncompliant the subway is with the ADA. I really think this goes under-reported. People in wheelchairs, people with other mobility issues, people with luggage going to the airport, moms and dads with strollers, all need access to the subway. Every time I see a mom struggling to carry her kid’s stroller down the subway steps, I think “are you kidding me Governor Cuomo.”

Never thought of it till a couple years ago, when I was struggling with a steel bike and 40 pounds worth of stuff in the panniers down the steps of the Ditmars Boulevard station, but once you notice it, it’s hard to forget. I work with a charity for severely injured veterans – many amputees and in wheelchairs – and it’s painful to me that our city is not able to accommodate these folks in our subway.

The NYC Subway is the least accessible public transportation system in the United States. It is also one of the least accessible in the *world*, but I haven’t dug through the accessibility of all the metros in Asia and South America to see if there are any which are worse.

I guess I very respectfully disagree. The ADA passed in 1990, so there’s this whole generation of Americans born since, some of whom signed up to serve their country in the all-volunteer military, and have lost limbs overseas in conflicts we’ve taken on since / in reaction to September 11.

Regardless of anyone’s thoughts on U.S. foreign policy, these veterans sacrifice a lot for America and the general principles of freedom and independence. It’s just painful that our subway stations and even our taxis haven’t been retrofitted or designed to welcome them, to treat them as equals like the ADA was intended to do. Tough to watch videos of these guys talking about their general challenges, and think we dont even have wheelchair accessibility in the WTC station on the E line.

end of my Sam-the-eagle soapbox speech…

Yes, mobility is key but as anyone who lives in NYC knows, most surface transportation options suck nearly all the time. I can’t speak for veterans, but I get nauseous to the point of becoming ill whenever I’m riding in a car or bus in heavy traffic. The fumes combined with the poor street condition and constant speed changes are a perfect storm to make me ill in maybe 15 minutes. The subway is just a higher quality transportation option all around. If I were confined to a wheelchair, it would be a lot easier to roll onto a subway train than to wait for a handicapped accessible vehicle, possible wait for the driver to stow the wheelchair after helping me into my seat. Or be lifted like a piece of baggage into a paratransit van (which incidentally stink like heck from whatever diesel engines they use).

So yes, it’s a question of mobility but at the same time there are different standards of mobility. Despite what some motorists in this city may believe, in general anything which goes on surface streets is a substandard transportation option compared to subway or commuter rail.

Now of course there is the calculus of how much it would cost to retrofit all subway stations for at least wheelchair accessibility, if indeed it can even be done. I don’t have a good answer to that. I will say though that anyone who fought in any of those wars deserves better than we’re giving them. Whether you were against the wars as I was or not, the country has a duty to properly care for returning soldiers. Incidentally, the same things which allow wheelchair access also make it easier for able-bodied people with heavy luggage, or those getting around with a heavily laden bike, as Maggie was.