Subway conductors no longer have to hype the Top of the Rock observation deck when they pull into Manhattan's 47-50 Streets Rockefeller Center Station. Back in October 2006, we wrote how conductors had been instructed to append the attraction "Top of the Rock" to the actual station name. An MTA sokesman said the announcement was just a courtesy to let riders know about the attraction, but the co-owners of Rockefeller Center, Tishman-Speyer, decided to remain mum on the announcements. more ›

The NY Times explores the world of the urban explorer this week. The group will also accept the following labels: urban spelunker, infiltrator, hacker and guerilla urbanist...in case you were wondering. They do exactly what their name(s) imply, granting themselves an all-access pass to the city whenever they want it. more ›

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority board decided yesterday not to act on a ban of alcoholic beverages on Metro-North and the Long Island Rail Road. Both railroads sell beer, wine, and liquor (along with soft drinks, water and snacks) from carts at Grand Central Terminal and Penn Station, as well as from bar cars on trains. Sales yielded a $1 million profit for the MTA, so the decision was probably more based on pure hard economics than anything else, although an MTA task force looking into the matter determined the sales did not pose a risk to the safety of commuters. more ›

With the Citigroup buying the naming rights to the new Mets Stadium, MTA executives are hoping to hitch a ride on the company's money train. more ›

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- Park Row bus routes have finally reopened, four years and two months after September 11 more ›

The MTA is not going ahead with a wide photography ban in the subways, but may work on a way to limit photography nonetheless. An MTA source tells the Daily news, "We are looking at a prohibition that will allow the police to make sure individuals are not photographing sensitive areas of the system - but that would still allow tourists and train lovers and people who just find beauty in the system - to photograph it without infringing on their civil liberties." In other words, the MTA still wants to crack down on possible terrorism, which is something that most people would find reasonable, if not ideal. [Via Satan's Laundromat] more ›

Grand Central after hours also include naked photography and movies. more ›

An MTA spokesperson said, "Each case will be taken on an individual basis, and we will make every effort to accommodate everyone's needs, keeping in mind the public benefits for hundreds of thousands of our customers whose lives this project will make easier." At any rate, if the MTA evicts people from their homes, they need to help find them new apartments that are "comparable in size and cost" while admittiing it "may be difficult, if not impossible" to find comparable apartments. Since the MTA can't perform magic, they'll probably need to pay out the tenants, which seems par for the course, since the project will cost BILLIONS. But, really, there's nothing to tug on the heartstrings more than kicking senior citizens out of their apartments, except for kicking children and senior citizens with kittens and puppies out of their apartments. more ›

A woman was given a $50 summons for resting her bad leg (two metal rods, blod clot) on an empty seat in a V-train. When the former schoolteacher tried to protest, the police said, "Haven't you heard of zero tolerance?" claiming she should have seen signs of the MTA cracking down on those taking up more than one seat. Um, no, and Gothamist wants to know where have the police been when those people rest their extra bags on the seats next to them, unwilling to give them up even for pregnant ladies or small children or the elderly. more ›

MTA has a $3 million subway simulator to help train subway operators. It's a replica of Lexington Avenue subway car - just in front of a movie screen. Newsday describes it as such: more ›