Transit

September 7, 2016

Video: The first of 300 new R179 subway cars has (finally) arrived at the MTA’s 207th Street yard

The future has arrived, and it's delayed, of course. The first of the city's shiny new subway cars was delivered to the MTA yard at 207th street in Inwood last night. The new R179 cars are being made upstate by Canadian company Bombardier and are slated to replace old cars on the C, A, J, M and Z lines (the trains on the C line are the oldest); a final decision on which lines will get the new cars hasn't been made at this time. The newly-arrived car is a test model, though; we won't be packing into the new cars like sardines until at least 2018.
See the future pulling in

Transit

August 29, 2016

Subway Reads offers free e-books based on the length of your commute

By Dana Schulz

It can be a bit frustrating to start getting into a book on your commute when you just as soon have to put it down, which is part of the idea behind a new initiative called Subway Reads, a web platform that offers free e-books to subway riders that can be timed to their commute. The program is a collaboration among the MTA, Transit Wireless (the company behind the $250 million+ project to put Wi-Fi in 278 underground stations), and Penguin Random House. According to the Times, the platform was launched as a way to promote the fact that connectivity has already reached 175 stations, but it will only last eight weeks. During that time, users can download novellas, short stories or parts of complete books to their cellphones or tablets, and they can make their selections based on how long they expect to be on the train (the formula accounts for about a page a minute).
Find out how it works

August 25, 2016

Owner of Red Hook waterfront terminal asks city to consider his site for Brooklyn-Queens Streetcar railyard

By Dana Schulz

Just yesterday, 6sqft took a look at reports that the Brooklyn-Queens streetcar will require a train yard/maintenance facility that will likely take up an entire city block and cost around $100 million (which is included in the $2.5 billion overall cost). Finding such a large swath of available real estate would be challenging, but a local industrialist wants to ease the burden by offering up his own property. Crain's tells us that John Quadrozzi Jr., owner of the GBX Gowanus Bay Terminal on the Red Hook waterfront, wants the city to consider his site to host the train yard. The Terminal, which was originally constructed in 1922 as the New York Port Authority Grain Terminal, is a 13-acre shipping depot with an additional 33 acres of underwater property that's used for concerts, film shoots, and commercial offices, and it's expected to be very close to the streetcar's route.
Find out more

Transit

August 24, 2016

This 1927 city subway map shows early transit plans

By Michelle Cohen

If you're navigating the NYC subway and wishing you could start from scratch, these map outlines from 1927 might prove interesting. Found by hyperreal cartography, the maps, from the state's Transit Commission Office of Chief Engineer, outline the "plan of existing and proposed rapid transit lines" for New York City. What's shown on the map appears to be the Independent Subway System; the ISS or IND, as it was known, was first constructed in 1932 as the Eight Avenue Line. As one of the three networks that was integrated into the modern New York City subway, the IND was meant to be fully owned and operated by the city government, as opposed to the privately-funded Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) and Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation (BMT) companies. The three lines merged in 1940.
Investigate the possibilities

August 24, 2016

LaGuardia Airport to get $5M in repairs prior to complete revamp

By Dana Schulz

Though work on Governor Cuomo's LaGuardia Airport overhaul commenced in June, the first part of the project, the replacement of Terminal B (which will alone carry a $4 billion price tag) is expected to be completed in phases between 2018 and 2022. But travelers will now get some more immediate relief, as the Wall Street Journal reports that $5 million in improvements are coming to the terminal by the end of the year in order to keep it up and running until the new buildings opens its doors to passengers in 2020. This includes repairing the current leaky ceilings, adding well-lit signage, improving ventilation and air conditioning, putting new seating and tables into the two food courts, painting walls, sprucing up restrooms, and bettering the acoustics at security checkpoints.
More this way

August 24, 2016

POLL: For $2.5 billion, is the Brooklyn-Queens Streetcar still a good idea?

By Dana Schulz

When the Mayor officially endorsed the plan for a Brooklyn-Queens streetcar, the estimated cost to realize the project was pinned at $2.5 billion. Since then there have been plenty of purported roadblocks that some believe could balloon costs further, such as the claims that the 16-mile streetcar route would run entirely through flood zones and require two new bridges. But the latest comes via Crain's, who reports that the necessary train yard/maintenance facility for the cars may be the size of an entire city block and cost $100 million, which only adds to concerns that the Brooklyn Queens Connector (BQX) may become more of an economic burden than the city can take on. While that may or not be so, proponents maintain that the cars are absolutely necessary. Not only are a number of areas along the BQX's proposed routes underserved by existing transit, but with all of the new office and residential developments planned for Brooklyn's waterfront, the fact is, adding additional transit is a necessity, not an option.
More details on the train yard and share your opinion

Transit

August 23, 2016

Penn Station’s archaic departure board to get a digital upgrade

By Metro New York

Amtrak has plans to upgrade their main departure board located at Penn Station with new digital information screens. The idea behind the new departure screen is to provide passengers with clearer and detailed travel information. There will be several information screens placed throughout the concourse to improve the flow of passengers at the station. READ MORE […]

Transit

August 18, 2016

VIDEO: The MTA tells all about dumping its subway cars in the Atlantic Ocean

By Dana Schulz

6sqft first learned about the MTA's interesting history of dumping old subway cars into the Atlantic Ocean through Stephen Mallon's insane photo series. The initiative began in late 2000 as a way to create artificial reefs and revive marine life along the Eastern seabed. Today, 2,400 cars now rest on the ocean floor in six states from New Jersey to Georgia, and we even got a peek inside them thanks to footage from novice divers at Express Water Sports, who lead scuba tours of the Bill Perry Reef system in Myrtle Beach, SC. Now, a video from the MTA itself (h/t Tracks) explains the history of the program, its financial viability, the environmental measures involved in the process, and some concerns about the reefs in the future.
Watch the full video here

Transit

August 17, 2016

Is NYC Really That Bike-Friendly?

By Diane Pham

With CitiBike expanding deeper into NYC’s many neighborhoods and 70-plus miles of new and upgraded bike lanes added this year alone, it comes as no surprise that more and more New Yorkers are taking to the streets on two wheels. However, while things appear to be changing for the better, it may come as a surprise to many that when […]

August 10, 2016

Mapping Subways, Buses, and Free Transfers in One Place

By Michelle Cohen

One MetroCard. One map. Done.This new set of maps from map obsessive Anthony Denaro shows all the ways we can use the New York City transit system's unlimited MetroCard and transfers in one convenient, color-coded place. This includes both subways and buses, and important junctions where you can transfer within and between them. Included are all NYC transit services that can be accessed with an unlimited MetroCard. As the map's creator puts it, "Millions of NYC residents live beyond a 15-minute walk to a subway station. Hundreds of thousands of people start their commute by boarding a bus and then transferring to the subway. This is a map for us. One complex transit map, for one complex transit-reliant city."
The map, and the idea behind it

Transit

Brooklyn Bridge May Get Expanded Promenade to Accommodate Growing Crowds

By Michelle Cohen

If you’ve ever had the experience of nearly being flattened by something on foot or wheels while walking or biking across the Brooklyn Bridge on a weekend afternoon, try to survive a little bit longer, help may be on the way. City transportation officials announced Monday that plans were in the works to alleviate the pedestrian and bike traffic that threatens to become “Times Square in the Sky.” The New York Times reports that among the possibilities for the aging bridge is a new path to help reduce some of the current congestion.
Find out more

August 2, 2016

New Interactive Subway Game Lets You Build the Transit System of Your Dreams

By Michelle Cohen

A new interactive New York City subway planning game created by electrical engineer Jason Wright gives you a chance to try your hand at building the subway system of your dreams. Though based on a similar idea to Dinosaur Polo Club's Mini Metro, the game goes further and gives players a lot more to work with. “Brand New Subway” lets players start from scratch or use current subway maps, modify historic maps dating as far back as the 1900s or use maps from the future (like the planned 2025 subway system map pictured above) (h/t DNAinfo).
Try your hand at playing god of the subways

July 28, 2016

MTA Likely to Implement Fare Hike to $3 by 2017

By Dana Schulz

Start saving your quarters; the MTA all but definitively announced at its board meeting yesterday that it will raise subway and bus fares by 2017 in an effort to raise more than $300 million annually. This is part of their four-year financial plan that includes fare and toll hikes every two years to Jamison Dague of the nonprofit Citizens Budget Commission told the Daily News that if past increases are any indication, the MTA will likely raise fares from $2.75 to $3, a four percent increase that would bring in roughly $308 million through 2020. And if another increase was implemented in 2019, the cash-strapped agency would pull in an additional $594 million over two years.
More here

July 27, 2016

Should the MTA Consider These Gymnastics Ring-Like Straps in Their New Subway Design?

By Michelle Cohen

Every day, stoic straphangers face the crowds, dirt and other nasty stuff in the city's subway system (when it's running), and we don't often consider how the various moving parts of the commuting experience are designed. The old subway cars had straps to hang onto (hence the term) in addition to poles and horizontal rails; newer generations have nixed the strap altogether, including the new high-tech designs recently unveiled by Governor Cuomo. While it doesn't sound as cool as a self-driving bus, Keita Suzuki at the Japanese firm Product Design Studio has designed a transit strap that could add a little more comfort to the daily commute.
See more of a good idea

July 25, 2016

MTA Announces Details on L Train Shutdown To Begin in 2019

By Michelle Cohen

The MTA plans to announce today that the long-dreaded L train shutdown for repairs needed on the Canarsie tunnel that runs beneath the East River will commence in 2019 and take the line out of service from Manhattan to the Bedford Avenue station in Brooklyn for 18 months, as reported by the New York Times. The 18-month option was the expected choice, the alternative being a partial three-year shutdown that would give about one in five passengers service to Manhattan (20 percent of current service). The agency needs to do major repairs on damage done by the 2012 superstorm Sandy, and while the tunnel is “not in grave danger of collapse,” according to the MTA, it can’t go untreated. As 6sqft previously reported, night and weekend service is off the table because of the amount of work that needs to be done, and building a third tube would be time- and cost-prohibitive.
Find out more

Transit

July 21, 2016

Transportation Coalition Wants NYC to Fix Failing Bus Service

By Dana Schulz

On the heels of Governor Cuomo's major announcement that the MTA will build 1,025 new subway cars and modernize 31 of the city’s more than 400 stations, some New Yorkers are hoping to turn the attention to buses instead of trains. The NYC Bus Turnaround Coalition, which the Wall Street Journal notes is a newly formed partnership of transit advocacy groups, hopes to fix "a broken system plagued by outdated routes and slow, unreliable service." Since 2002, subway usage has increased by nearly 25 percent, while bus ridership has decreased by 16 percent. And between 2010 and 2015 alone the system lost 46 million riders. In response, the group released a report titled "Turnaround: Fixing New York City’s Buses" that calls for more bus lanes and bus-boarding islands, queue-jump lanes (additional bus lanes at intersections that would allow buses to bypass lines of vehicles at red lights), reconfigured bus routes, and implementing "tap-and-go" far collection at all bus doors.
Find out more

Transit

July 20, 2016

POLL: Are You Happy With Governor Cuomo’s Planned Subway Changes?

By Dana Schulz

On Monday, as 6sqft reported, Governor Cuomo unveiled the MTA's "plans to build 1,025 new subway cars, and to modernize 31 of the city’s more than 400 stations." Most of the new fleet will be of the open-gangway format, and they'll boast wider doors, Wi-fi, USB ports, better lighting, cell service, security cameras, full color digital information displays, and a new blue and gold color palette that represents New York's state colors. Since the upgrades are part of the $27 billion capital plan that was approved in May, some critics are questioning whether the changes are more cosmetic and brag-worthy, rather than functional. But the city explains that the design of the new cars will help alleviate overcrowding, thereby reducing delays. What do you think--can the MTA do better?
Cast your vote here

Transit

July 19, 2016

New Self-Driving Bus in Amsterdam Makes the MTA’s Transit Plan Look Dated

By Annie Doge

While New York City is patting itself on the back for pushing through a subway design that offers eight more inches of door space and an open-gangway format, over in the Netherlands, folks are celebrating the Future Bus, a self-driving bus created by Mercedes-Benz. Per The Verge, the Future Bus has just completed a 20 kilometer (roughly 12.5 miles) drive that took it from Amsterdam's Schipol Airport to the town of Haarlem (fun side note: Harlem the nabe takes its name from this municipality) along a route that included a number of tight bends, tunnels, and traffic lights.
more on this technology here

July 19, 2016

Controversial Toronto Politician Appointed Director of Brooklyn-Queens Streetcar

By Dana Schulz

The Post is calling him the "Canadian Anthony Weiner," and it's just been announced that he's the new Director of the Brooklyn-Queens Streetcar. Adam Giambrone ran for mayor of Toronto in 2010, but had to drop out after leaked text messages ousted him in an affair with a 19-year-old college student. Sex scandal aside, the 39-year-old is a former Toronto city councilor, a position that allowed him to chair the Toronto Transit Commission from 2006 to 2010. During that time, he advocated for a network of suburban streetcars called Transit City. It was shot down by Mayor Rob Ford, but construction has since begun on portions of it. According to NY Mag, Giambrone then went on to serve as a traveling light-rail expert in Montreal and Milwaukee.
What will he be doing here in NYC?

July 18, 2016

New High-Tech Subway Station and Car Designs Unveiled by Governor Cuomo

By Diane Pham

Straphangers rejoice! As unveiled by Governor Cuomo at the NYC Transit Museum in Brooklyn today, the MTA has announced plans to build 1,025 new subway cars, and to modernize 31 of the city's more than 400 stations. In addition to the majority of these cars taking on the globally-favored "open car end" format, they will also boast wider doors, Wi-fi, USB ports, improved lighting, cell service, full color digital information displays, security cameras for passenger safety, and interestingly, a new color palette—yes, Cuomo has also taken to branding the cars in New York's state colors, blue and gold.
Welcome to the 21st Century, new york city

Transit

The New York Wheel Gets Its First Shipment of Crane Parts

Work at the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal, via Scott Ettin for DNAinfo

July 15, 2016

The New York Wheel Gets Its First Shipment of Crane Parts

By Dana Schulz

Sunset Park was recently named one of the 15 coolest neighborhoods in the country, due in large part to the burgeoning success of Industry City and the Bush Terminal Park. And in addition to its booming creative sector, the 'hood can now include a revival of its shipping industry on its growing list of assets. As DNAinfo reports, on June 28th a cargo ship from Denmark carrying large crane parts for construction of Staten Island's New York Wheel arrived at the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal (SBMT), where it was docked for five days with around 30 union longshoreman moving the cargo. This was the first shipment to the site in more than 10 years, revitalizing it as "a working maritime port facility" that will hopefully create hundreds of jobs.
Find out more

Transit

July 14, 2016

Buy Old Subway Seats, Signs, Tokens and More From the MTA

By Michelle Cohen

We know that thing where they were dumping old subway cars into the ocean for fish to live in was pretty cool, but there are only so many the briny deep can handle, and as cars get upgraded, items from the various good old days of NYC transit increasingly become collectibles. To that end, the MTA holds monthly online sales featuring retired and vintage subway cars (yes, you can apparently buy one of those), buses and their various parts and other ephemera, with items regularly added to the trove. All items are sold with a certificate of authenticity (don't laugh, there's actually a company that makes "vintage" subway signs). The current haul includes vintage subway and bus seats, roll signs and metal hanging straps (so you can feel like a commuter without leaving your living room).
Find out how you can recreate the subway experience at home

Transit

July 13, 2016

Interactive Map Shows Massive ‘Subway Deserts’ in Underserved ‘Hoods

By Dana Schulz

Last summer, 6sqft shared an interactive map from transit data junkie Chris Whong that laid out all NYC land ares more than 500 meters from one of the city's 470 subway stations. He's now revised his Subway Deserts Map to better take into account walkability, using a 10-minute walk from a station as the buffer zone (h/t Gothamist). The "walkshed" is styled in the same hue as water, leaving only the map portions that are subway deserts. Not surprisingly, Manhattan is pretty well set, save for Alphabet City and the far east and west sides, and the majority of the Bronx is underserved, as is much of Queens, southeast Brooklyn, and the Williamsburg waterfront.
Check out the full map here

July 7, 2016

Can the Second Avenue Subway Bring New Yorkers Back to the Upper East Side?

By Michelle Sinclair Colman

Ah, the Second Avenue Subway. It’s been the topic of discussion for over 96 years (yes, the line has been in the works since 1920) and it is finally nearing completion despite reports of delays due to last minute design changes and absentee workers. But the question is, will the Second Avenue subway revitalize the Upper East Side? […]

July 6, 2016

LES Residents Propose Turning Lowline Site Into a Bus Depot During L Train Shutdown

By Dana Schulz

There's been no lack of ideas for how to deal with the impending L train shutdown, from realistic proposals like the East River Skyway to some more out-there concepts like a giant inflatable tunnel. The latest suggestion was presented at a recent public meeting between the MTA and Manhattan's Community Board 3. DNAinfo reports that local residents discussed taking the old underground trolley station at Delancey and Essex Streets (the same site that's been long proposed for the Lowline) and turning it into a transportation hub for the B39 bus that operates between Williamsburg and the Lower East Side.
Find out more

Transit

Transit

Video: The first of 300 new R179 subway cars has (finally) arrived at the MTA’s 207th Street yard

Subway Reads offers free e-books based on the length of your commute

Owner of Red Hook waterfront terminal asks city to consider his site for Brooklyn-Queens Streetcar railyard

This 1927 city subway map shows early transit plans

LaGuardia Airport to get $5M in repairs prior to complete revamp

POLL: For $2.5 billion, is the Brooklyn-Queens Streetcar still a good idea?

Penn Station’s archaic departure board to get a digital upgrade

VIDEO: The MTA tells all about dumping its subway cars in the Atlantic Ocean

Is NYC Really That Bike-Friendly?

Mapping Subways, Buses, and Free Transfers in One Place

Brooklyn Bridge May Get Expanded Promenade to Accommodate Growing Crowds

New Interactive Subway Game Lets You Build the Transit System of Your Dreams

MTA Likely to Implement Fare Hike to $3 by 2017

Should the MTA Consider These Gymnastics Ring-Like Straps in Their New Subway Design?

MTA Announces Details on L Train Shutdown To Begin in 2019

For $20.5M, West Village townhouse meets suburban mansion behind a historic facade

Transportation Coalition Wants NYC to Fix Failing Bus Service

POLL: Are You Happy With Governor Cuomo’s Planned Subway Changes?

New Self-Driving Bus in Amsterdam Makes the MTA’s Transit Plan Look Dated

Controversial Toronto Politician Appointed Director of Brooklyn-Queens Streetcar

New High-Tech Subway Station and Car Designs Unveiled by Governor Cuomo

The New York Wheel Gets Its First Shipment of Crane Parts

Buy Old Subway Seats, Signs, Tokens and More From the MTA

Interactive Map Shows Massive ‘Subway Deserts’ in Underserved ‘Hoods

Can the Second Avenue Subway Bring New Yorkers Back to the Upper East Side?

LES Residents Propose Turning Lowline Site Into a Bus Depot During L Train Shutdown

201 East 74th Street in Lenox Hill

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