Results tagged “capitalconstruction”

Oh, MTA - you and your outlandish idea of putting a glorious glass dome at the renovated Fulton Street Transit Center! The proposed design, unveiled in 2004, seemed an inspiring idea for the agency. But, after years of attempts to start construction, costs have risen to $1.15 billion, from the initially estimated $750 million, causing MTA executive director Eliot Sander to say, "I am sad to say that we cannot build the transit center as currently envisioned in this market." In other words, good-bye dome-oculus thing!

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.

With the MTA's vote whether to raise subway and bus fares coming in less than three weeks, speculation is running high about what will happen. Even though Governor Spitzer said that the base subway and bus fare will remain $2, unlimited Metrocard fares - which 85% of riders use - will rise. The MTA has insisted the fare hikes are necessary, given projected deficits and upcoming capital construction, but many elected officials believe that the...

The MTA has embraced Internet technology once again to offer the public streaming webcasts of public meetings at its midtown Manhattan headquarters. Thanks to Governor Spitzer's "Executive Order 3," which requires all public agencies to broadcast meetings by July 1, the MTA is investing just over a hundred thousand dollars to set up and maintain the technology. MTA executive director and CEO Elliot Sander said, "The MTA shares Governor Spitzer’s focus on transparency and access, and we are thrilled to be able to offer this service before the mandated deadline." Of course, Sander is a Spitzer appointee.

Yesterday, the MTA lowered the first of many parts of the Tunnel Boring Machine into the lower level of the 63rd Street tunnel as part of the MTA’s East Side Access project. The lowering itself could have been dismissed by passersby as just some sort of generic routine construction work, but it was much more than just moving a boring machine. When finally assembled in about two months, the 600-ton automated Spanish-owned and Italian-made machine will dig its way beneath the streets of Manhattan the tunnel that will finally bring the Long Island Rail Road into Grand Central Terminal.

We all know the Second Avenue Subway project will be very costly. But we didn't know that the MTA was thinking about leaving the 300-foot tunnel boring machines underground when the project is done. The NY Sun reports that abandoning the $15-20 million machines may be "more efficient and cost-effective" rather than hauling them out. Apparently there's a precedent for this: The TBMs used for the Chunnel excavation were left there (however, other U.S. cities that have used TBMs aren't sure if theirs were left underground).

First rule of Fulton Street Transit Center: Nothing will go as planned. Back in 2004, the MTA unveiled designs for the new Fulton Street Transit Center, which would have included a towering steel-and-glass dome (the "oculus") AND connections between many different trains lines, providing easier transfers for subway riders.

Finally, the MTA is admitting that the Second Avenue Subway will be delayed for "at least two years." At an MTA meeting, Mysore L. Nagaraja, the president of the MTA's capital construction (which sounds like a cool but terribly frustrating job) announced this news, saying that the transit bond that voters will vote on this fall will affect the plans; Governor Pataki and the State did not give the MTA even half of the $7.9 billion they requested earlier. While civic leaders are upset, we're sure some Second Avenue residents and business owners are temporarily relieved. An analyst says that the Second Avenue subway, the T-Line, could generate $1.2 billion annually if built, which makes Gothamist wonder how much further, even with that money, the MTA would be in the red. Gothamist will go out on a limb and say that the Second Avenue subway project will gain traction after Spitzer or some other Governor's second term. Or maybe there will be more bonds created to support it. The other project that is being put on ice is the LIRR's Grand Central to Penn Station East Side Access plan. That plan has more of a chance, State wise, of passing since it involves non-New Yorkers as well...man, we despise Pataki.

Perhaps realizing that his education record, while long on reform but short on results that makes teachers and parents happy, Mayor Bloomberg announced that the city will be putting $1.3 billion into capital construction for schools. This doubles the capital fund for schools this year, and makes NYC's overall five year plan for school funding a total of $13.1 billion, with half expected to come from Albany. If you remember, a court ruled that NYC's schools deserve $5.6 billion more a year from Albany, but Albany has done nothing to put that funding into the works, so who knows what will happen. For now, the Mayor has just shifted money into this year's school funding, making later year's funds smaller. Democratic mayoral hopefuls called Bloomberg's actions a "stopgap measure" (C. Virginia Fields) and claimed credit for them (Gifford Miller).

- ...this news is less great in light of 600 token booth clerks losing their jobs, as the MTA continues to find ways to cut costs. The Daily News reports that 49 round-the-clock and 115 part-time booths will be closed. The MTA says that stations where booths have been closed have not seen any jumps in crime, but the NYC Transit Rider Council says, "People feel less safe when they don't see a token person there. Whether it is perception or reality, that's the way they feel."

The new line's cost will be about $16.8 billion dollars, with $3.8 billion of it for the first segment, between 96th and 63rd Streets. The Times notes that the first segment of the line would benefit the most riders immediately - 202,000 - while the whole line would expect to carry just over half a million riders a day. The Post reports on what the new station will be like - "sleek, brightly lit stations equipped with climate-control ventilation and built with no columns along the platform." MTA Capital Construction president Mysore Nagaraja said, "These will be 21st century stations. There will be no columns, which will provide for better circulation of riders [on and off trains]." Besides Gothamist wondering if there would be anything besides a 21st century station in 2005, Gothamist has to agree that a columnless subway platform would be easier. Think the London Underground, DC Metro, or Hong Kong MTR.