January 17, 2008
New Fulton Street Transit Center - Sometime This Century
We don't know whether to laugh or cry. Last year, the MTA said that Fulton Street Transit Center would be completed by the end of 2008, leading Gothamist to write "that really means the end of 2009." Now the MTA goes beyond our forecasting and says that the project probably won't be done until 2010. Sucks to continue to be you, downtown commuters.
The project, which caused a lot excitement for its linking of disparate subway lines (the 2, 3, 4, 5, A, C, E, J, M, Z, R and W) and its soaring glass dome (also known as an oculus), is already over budget and has attracted exactly one bidder - who was rejected for offering its own wildly over budget bid. NY1 reported that construction companies joined forces to offer one rather expensive bid.
Given the way things are going, the glass dome may be downsized again. Proposed to soar 50 feet above the building and then revised to 30 feet and now 20 feet, executive director of the MTA's Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee William Henderson told the Daily News, "The way it's going, it's going to end up being a flashlight hanging from the ceiling."
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ah downtown commuters, we feel your pain up here at Columbus Circle. Our station has been "under renovation" for over a year now with no end in sight. What a dump! its a filthy mess. A total disgrace.
Tgirl, I'm totally with you about Columbus Circle, but at least the three different lines are connected to each other so you can stumble through netting, raw concrete and copper-colored dripping water to transfer.
...and what's up with that copper colored dripping water, anyway? it really is a disgrace-
The MTA is the disgrace? Do Paris, London, or Tokyo put up with this bullshit?
I meant !, not ? on that first one.
well I have been in Paris & Tokyo subways (but not London's), and I can say - no! they do not put up with this crap
they do not put up with this crap
You're saying they don't have construction delays? I'd like some proof of that. As for the dripping water I don't think those other cities built their subways six inches under the street. But they still have to pump out ground water. I've been in the London, Paris, and Tokyo subways as well and they aren't nearly the cleanest or dryest in the world. I'm giving that title to Washington DC.
While the Fulton Transit Center will look nice, the subway are lines mentioned are already mostly linked. This is just another misdirected government spending boondoggle. They could easily program the Metrocard readers to give passengers a free transfer to the lines not linked by underground passages.
OH HAI. HERE IN CHICAGO WE HAVE THE WURST TRANZIT EVAR SO PLZ STOP COMPLANING! LOL TTYL!
I'm from London and spent a lot of time in Paris. Every time I step foot on the NYC Subway I despair! It frustrates me that no one kicks up a fuss! If there was anything even close to a leaking pipe or a ridiculously late train Londoners would be demanding their fares back!
They pay through the teeth over there, but personally, I think it's worth it. I'd pay a few extra bucks per ride for a train that got me there on time, safely, not stinking or making me want to vomit at every station!
Oh drop the damn dome. That alone is the biggest boondoggle.
I want a station that has uncomplicated transfers for riders, space set aside for a future LIRR terminal, and (like Grand Central & Penn) accommodate space for retailers and advertisers so that the station itself generates revenues.
I can't imagine anything more romantic than a dinner with my sweetie in a restaurant overlooking the entrance to a subway station. Do you think I have to be a celebrity to secure that table with a view?
The costs have been driven sky high because NYC has been undergoing parallel booms in private and public construction. Hopefully the private boom will come to an end with the housing market implosion, and we can concentrate on the public infrastructure. Then we'll see reasonable -- and maybe even desperate! - bids.
I agree with Think Twice, with the addition of space for the JFK rail link (if that's not already part of the project, I can't remember whether it is).
All we want are more trains more often and we will put up with trash, rats, and dripping water. Why oh, Why did they close Cortland Street? It was reopened after 09/11 and was perfectly serviceable.
I suspect that the MTA's idea of "connecting" means a 5-10 minute walk through a tunnel.
Hey London: How's the air conditioning? How's the nightly shutdown by 01:00am?
Thank goodness the century is young. 92-odd years is reasonable I think, but I've always been an optimist.