Results tagged “elliotsander”

Big news: MTA CEO Elliot Sander has resigned from the agency. Yesterday, the State Senate and Assembly passed MTA bailout legislation that also combined the MTA's CEO and Chairman positions. According to the MTA's statement, "Governor Paterson today accepted the resignation of MTA Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer Elliot G. Sander. Mr. Sander offered his resignation to the Governor earlier this year in anticipation of yesterday's passage of legislation that joins the Chairman and CEO positions at the MTA. Mr. Sander's resignation is effective May 22, 2009, ending a tenure that began January 1, 2007."

It's the zombie project! The MTA announced that nearly half a billion in federal stimulus money will be used to help pay for the long awaited, thought-to-be-deceased Fulton Street Transit Center. MTA CEO and Executive Director Elliot Sander told state lawmakers, "People have been worried that we were going to leave a hole in the ground or construct a simple subway entrance instead of the iconic structure that the community was expecting. I am here to tell you that this is not the case."

The Daily News reveals one person close to MTA CEO and executive director Elliot Sander who is no fan of the agency's proposed service cuts: His 15-year-old daughter Bria, who is a fan of the Q76 and Q79 weekend service, "to get to school plays, test prep classes and, of course, to meet friends and go shopping." Bria said, "I told him he shouldn't do it," and responding to her dad's explanation that he needs to balance the budget under law, "Whatever. He should just get the money for it. It's a big commuter system. It's cheap and it's good for the environment to ride the bus." Sing it sister! A number of bus routes will be cut or have their service reduced (for one, there's a Save the M8 campaign). The young Sander added, "The Legislature and governor should think about students who have to go to things on weekends."

After a public hearing which was full of passion and anger, the MTA's board approved its 2009 budget, which includes service cuts and a 23% increase in revenue from fare and tolls hikes. The MTA is facing a $1.2 billion budget deficit next year, and it's expected a monthly unlimited Metrocard could cost more than $100 while bus lines and subway stops are limited.

After much speculation and the local papers preparing commuters for what was to come, the MTA made their official budget proposal today and as expected, the cutbacks were dramatic. In addition to the slashing of the W and the Z lines among other cuts listed Tuesday, today's 2009 budget also included the following:

With talk of the MTA raising fares again after recently raising them (well, not the bus and subway base fare, but still), there are some suggestions about what the MTA can do instead.

This morning, the first-ever State of the MTA Address was given, with MTA CEO and Executive Director Elliot Sander Sander emphasizing the MTA was born 40 years ago out of crisis and needed federal, state, and municipal cooperation to get things done (in other words, nothing changes!).

The MTA's various fare hikes for the NYC subways and buses, as well as its railroads, went into effect this weekend. Today, subway and bus base fares still cost $2, but higher-value pay-per-ride Metrocards have less of a bonus discount while weekly and monthly unlimited ride Metrocards are more expensive.

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: an abduction on 117th St. and Madison Ave. in Manhattan, someone robbed the Commerce Bank on 5th Ave. in Brooklyn, and serious trauma at The Marina Restaurant on Jerome Ave. and Clifford Pl. in the Bronx.
• Tommy Monahan, the 9-year-old boy who died in a fire last week attempting to rescue his pets, wrote a book about his dog Sophy.
• If you're wondering where your fare hike dollars will wind up, a good portion will be in the pockets of lawyers who work at some of the most profitable and expensive legal firms in the country.

Is it possible to get a jaywalking ticket on Park Ave. north of Grand Central Terminal? We've never heard of one or seen one issued, probably because there's no Walk/Don't Walk signals at any of the intersections on the avenue between 46th and 56th Streets. Tourists hover curbside, unsure whether they're allowed to cross or not. New Yorkers who work on Park Ave. tend to blithely cross at their own risk, treating a lack of crosswalk red light as a license to proceed. Generally people have to attempt to see what the perpendicular traffic lights on the corners are signaling to figure whether crossing is allowed or not. Walkers stuck on the median have to rely on their wits, timing, and foot speed. That stretch of midtown Manhattan may soon receive signals, however, resolving a dispute that stretches back more than a 100 years.

The MTA announced today that it has formed a Sustainability Commission to create a "sustainability master plan" by Earth Day of next year. MTA Executive Director Elliot Sander said, "The MTA’s public transportation network makes the entire New York region sustainable, but in the era of climate change we have a responsibility to go even further. The commission will build on the exciting green initiatives we’ve already completed to make sustainability a permanent part of the MTA’s DNA.”

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a possible abduction at 39th St. and 4th Ave. in Brooklyn, falling debris from 820 Columbus Ave. in Manhattan, and a stabbing on East 214th St. in the Bronx.
• Queens Councilman James Gennaro was fined $2,000 after admitting to the Conflict of Interest Board that he asked a staffer to volunteer on his campaign, although he says he has no recollection of the 2003 incident
• MTA CEO Elliot Sander has instructed his division heads to only cut costs by 1.5% next year, after concluding that there is no more fat to trim or inefficiencies to reduce at the agency.
• Madonna spent two hours at Bill Clinton's Harlem offices yesterday, possibly discussing an endorsement of his wife's run for President. She has yet to visit Hillary Clinton's offices.
• A GoogleMaps mashup illustrating the geography of Seinfeld.
• Free alt-weekly New York Press changes ownership hands again. It was sold by Avalon Equity Partners to Manhattan Media for an undisclosed sum.
• Whoopi Goldberg was chosen as Rosie O'Donnell's replacement on the female chat-show The View.
• The New York Times looks at bad behavior at four star restaurants, when well-heeled diners can't wait until they get home to vomit, get naked, or have sex.

Mayor Bloomberg was uncharacteristically silent when asked about the MTA's announcement, refusing to even acknowledge a reporter as he conferred with his press secretary, posed for a picture with a fan, then walked briskly to his car. MTA CEO Elliot Sander remarked on a fare hike, "I've always said it was a real possibility." Gov. Spitzer sounded pragmatically positive regarding a price increase for riding the subway and buses, saying, "Everything has to be considered."

While everyone else was busy trying to find someone to blame in the congestion pricing gridlock, it turns out that lawmakers have been actually trying to work out a plan. Of course, this may come too late for the city to qualify for federal funding, but progress is progress. The NY Sun reports that Albany Democrats "were close to agreeing to a deal in which they would authorize the city to begin implementing the infrastructure of the program, such as buying and installing cameras."

In non-report card 7 train news, the MTA is now offering express 7 service after Mets games during weeknight games. And the service will start after tomorrow's Mets-Cincinnati Reds game. Post-game express service will last an hour, with trains leaving Willets Point-Shea Stadium every six minutes. Trips to Queensboro Plaza will now take 13 minutes (from 19 when taking the local) and trips to Times Square will now take 25 minutes (from 31).

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.

If the report released yesterday by the city's Independent Budget Office is true, it could get a lot more expensive to ride the MTA subways and buses in the future. The IBO believes that the MTA has to increase its revenues by 20% by 2010. That means subway and bus fares could go up at least 20% by 2010, making a single ride $2.40. The worst case scenario - where rates for other revenue sources are not increased - has subway and bus fares jumping to almost $3. The price of a monthly metrocard would would jump from $76 to $112. A weekly card would go from $24 to $36. The last increase in fares was in 2004.

Today until 4:30PM, auditions are being held at Grand Central Terminal for the MTA's Music Under New York program. After receiving over 200 submissions, the MTA asked over 70 musicians and performers to audition; the MTA says about 20 new acts will be added to the program.

usher the MTA into an era of high ridership and capital improvement and help ed set up many big projects (Second Avenue Subway, East Side Access). But he also oversaw the agency during the transit strike.

A subway transit worker was killed and another was seriously injured when a G train hit them at the Hoyt-Schermerhorn Station yesterday afternoon. It seems that Marvin Franklin, a 22-year-veteran, was fatally hit when he and 37-year-old Jeffrey Hill went to pick up a dolly on another track. The G train's operator did see the men, but could not brake in time; Franklin was dragged by the train, while Hill was hit but is now in stable condition at Bellevue. From the Daily News:

The ill-fated workers were performing maintenance jobs in the station while the busy A and C lines were shut down for major track work.

Continue reading "Subway Repair Work Suspended
After Death of 2nd Transit Worker in 5 Days"

It's been 33 years since the last Second Avenue Subway groundbreaking, so it's high time for new generations of straphangers to revel in the hope of a new subway line. We also expect the public -- especially the Upper East Side-residing public -- to become jaded with construction delays, traffic issues, and noise. Here's the press release from the MTA:

Tomorrow morning's historic groundbreaking ceremony for the Second Avenue Subway can be seen by all New Yorkers live on NY1, beginning at 10:30 a.m. The groundbreaking ceremony will take place in one of the subway tunnels built under Second Ave. in the 1970s but never used. Due to the limited capacity of the tunnel, the MTA arranged for the live broadcast with NY1 and will open its board room at 347 Madison Avenue for members of the public to join MTA staff for a public viewing and celebration.

Continue reading "Second Avenue Subway Groundbreaking Day!"

After his appointed MTA executive director Elliot Sander suggested that a subway and bus fare hike may be possible in 2008, Governor Eliot Spitzer takes up the topic. And the Steamroller says he will do “everything possible” to avoid a hike. Spitzer is not suggesting black magic to help ease an $800 million deficit but - wait, it's a novel idea - to have the state put in more money!

While the MTA is still looking at their budget for 2008, a fare hike for next year could be on the horizon. The Daily News talked to MTA CEO Elliot Sander, who said, "I think the whole conversation is a little premature for us to engage in, but at the same time I think it's fair for me to say it's a real possibility." The reason the MTA needs a fare hike? Annual deficits are more than $1 billion and rising and the MTA has been borrowing money to offset decreased funding.

A man's fall into the subway tracks is now cause for a lawsuit. Angel Diaz, a nurse's aide who was headed to Lincoln Hospital for a job application, says he slipped on the wet platform at the 143rd Street Station and then "tripped on a bump in the cement used to repair a leak from a janitor's closet." Diaz's lawyer says he "flew" onto the tracks, where a subway car ran over his hand.

The State Appeals Court has found that the NYC Transit Authority - the NYC division of the MTA - is responsible for maintaining subway exits and entrances. The thing is, the MTA doesn't even own the exits and entrances. Still, the court found that the NYCTA is liable for injuries that a woman suffered while falling down steps at the Columbus Circle station back in 1995. Here's an excerpt of the opinion:

In the case before us, the evidence at trial was sufficient to establish that the stairway in question was used primarily as a means of access to and from the subway. Therefore, defendants had a duty to maintain the stairway or to warn patrons of any dangerous condition. So imperative is the duty to provide a safe means of access to and from the subway that such duty may not be delegated to another. Thus, even if the responsibility to maintain the stairway resides in another entity, defendants may not avoid their responsibility "to at least provide against injury to its passengers by erecting such barricades, or giving such warning, as [would] guard against accidents" (Schlessinger, 49 Misc at 506).

Ah, the first rumble between MTA Executive Director Elliot Sander and the city! Sander has threatened to stop the 7 line extension if the city won't pay for cost overruns. Because Assemblyman Richard Brodsky asked about the project's budget, Sander wrote a letter to him (which he made public), stating, "It is M.T.A.’s position that we are under no legal obligation to absorb any additional costs or overruns." Ha! As we all know, MTA projects attract additional costs and overruns like honey does bees, and budgeting only $100 million for overruns (the city's current commitment is $2.1 billion) sounds low.

After a 13 year old Queens boy running across LIRR tracks was killed by a train, there had been much criticism about the poor state of the fences that surround the tracks. Yesterday, the MTA announced it would try to address track access issues. The MTA will survey tracks and try to "fix the most glaring deficiencies in a system requiring nearly 3,000 miles of fencing to secure," according to Newsday. MTA Executive Director Elliot Sander said, "Unfortunately we can't fence the entire system. It's a massive system. But we're going to be looking for those places that are most sensitive in a way we have not done before."

Where do the MTA's executive director and the TWU's president lunch? The Old Homestead! The NY Times reveals that Executive Director Elliot Sander ordered the rack of lamb while TWU President Roger Toussaint had the herb-rubbed roast chicken (what, no one ordered the Kobe Beef Hamburger?) and split the bill. If only we were a fly or a cow on the wall! We bet they discussed how much Pataki sucks, how the real time information boards will take forever to install, and how the new subway cars are pretty cool.

Untitled, by KDunk.

Days away from becoming Governor, Governor-elect Eliot Spitzer appointed twelve people to head various state agencies, including the Port Authority and the MTA. Well, MTA Chairman Peter Kalikow, a Pataki appointee, says he's not leaving just yet, but it seems like Elliot Sander (pictured), who was made the executive director and CEO of the MTA, will eventually take over the chairmanship. Sander is currently a corporate senior VP at transportation engineering firm DMJM Harris but may be better known to some New Yorkers as the director of the Rudin Center for Transportation Policy and Management at NYU's Wagner School of Public Service.