Results tagged “7”

For the past ten months, the MTA has been experimenting with a new management structure on the L and 7 lines that officials hope will improve subway service. But has anyone noticed? Most passengers stopped by the Times say they've seen little change, though one woman believes the L has been slightly less mobbed when it pulls into Lorimer Street during rush hour. The experiment calls for a general manager to take charge of each subway line and make "quick" decisions over train schedules, maintenance of stations, and riders' complaints. NYC Transit president Howard Roberts Jr. says that as a result more trains have been running on time (though the Times questions this) and will roll out the restructuring citywide. Roberts says the managerial streamlining will result in 70 fewer positions and a savings of $7.3 million/year. Which will put the transit system just $993 million away from closing their $1 billion deficit!

In one of life's crueler ironies, it's usually either extreme heat or extreme rain that forces people to stand sweltering on a subway platform or out into the drenching elements. Today it's the former: subway service is still a disaster on several of the city's lines.

NYPIRG's Straphangers Campaign released its 2007 report on Subway Schmutz today and there was reason for encouragement. Overall, car cleanliness improved slightly between 2005 and 2007, but there was significant improvement on the 7 and L lines. The L line actually has the cleanest cars in the system according to Straphangers, with 88% of cars earning a clean rating versus 61% in 2005. The 7 train line was tied for second place, with 78% getting a clean rating versus 22% in 2005.

Starting in mid-September 2007, "additional cleaners were deployed at both terminals for these lines, working in multiple shifts to provide 24-hour coverage," according to MTA New York City Transit. Beginning on December 10, 2007, two new "line general managers" were appointed with greater authority to run the L (Greg Lombardi) and the 7 (Lou Brusati).

Riders of the East Side 4 line had less to be enthusiastic about. The 4 train plummeted from the top spot in 2005 (94% clean) to a below-average 38% clean in 2007, so start stocking up on handiwipes and Purell. As for E train riders, there's mixed news -- on the upside, it showed the largest improvement of any line (2% clean in '05 to 29% clean '07). On the downside, it's still the filthiest train in the system.

The proposed expansion of the Jacob J. Javitz convention center is essentially dead in the water as government officials admitted that the amount of money it would cost to undertake the project would not be worth the marginal return on investment that additional tax revenues would provide. Empire State Development Corporation chairman Pat Foye testified that about half of the expansion plan's $1.6 billion budget would be consumed just making repairs to the existing Javits structure.