Results tagged “fultonstreettransitcenter”

The long, long-awaited Fulton Transit Center will be completed in 2014. Well, that's what the MTA thinks—though MTA Chairman Dale Hemmerdinger claims MTA construction chief Michael Horodniceanu "has, at least to me, signed it in blood." Why in blood? Because the project is seven years late.

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."

      

What's another delay of 12 to 18 months for the Fulton Street Transit Center? The proposed hub, which would link 11 different subway lines and has been in the works for years, was originally supposed to open this year, but costs for the hub have escalated, from the initially planned $750 million to well over a $1 billion.

The MTA unveiled its 2008-2013 Capital Plan, which explained almost $30 billion will be needed to improve mass transit and complete projects like the Second Avenue Subway, the East Side Access plan and more by 2030 (many of those projects will also be delayed). Though the current MTA capital plan doesn't expire until next year, the MTA presented this plan because the state congestion pricing legislation required them to present a plan by the end of the first quarter of 2008.

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.

Five days before the sixth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, developer Larry Silverstein released yet another round of renderings of the three Greenwich St. towers that will rise along the eastern edge of the 16-acre World Trade Center site. The final designs were unveiled yesterday at 7 World Trade Center. The buildings are scheduled to begin construction in January.

Bruni one-stars E.U., finds the restaurant with the tortured history "eclectic not only in terms of its national influences but also in the quality of different dishes." He loves some of the food, as well as the design and the wine list, but dislikes the desserts. Says "you're taking a chance every time you walk in."

News flash: The way to get stuff done at the MTA is to play MTA types against each other. There NY Times summarizes the fate of the Fulton Street Transit Hub with the headline: Planners Clash Over Transit Hub, and Riders Win.

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.

It seems like every May we get an announcement about the Fulton Street Transit Center. In 2004, it was an announcement an amazing new transit center would be built. Last year, it was that the project would be delayed and scaled back (a smaller glass dome, shorter hallways between lines). This year, it's more scaling back as it's $50 million over budget so far (the original estimated budget was $799 million). Apparently rising real estate costs are to blame - and we thought MTA Chairman Peter Kalikow owned a chunk of that land! The MTA may have to redesign the beautiful, glass domed entrance, though they say they are trying to "maintain the concept of a light and airy" space. By the time this project gets done, we'll be lucky if we see a concrete box with a couple windows and skylights!

- Solar energy (like at Stillwell Avenue at Coney Island) Robert Paaswell (former executive director of the Chicago Transit Authority; currently director of City College's University Transportation Research Center) says, "If you want to know what New York City subways are going to look like in 20 years, go to Hong Kong." We have, and you can see their version of a "smart pass," as well as glass walls and doors between platform and tracks and warning about escalators here (their subways are also like one continuous train car, since they are computer operated - it's like a sinuous tunnel).

Cemusa, a Spanish outdoor firm, has won the $1 billion contract from the Department of Transportation to sell ads on New York City's street furniture. Ad Age calls Cemusa "little known," when compared with "outdoor giants" JC Deceaux and Van Wagner. Cemusa says 100 new jobs will be created (unclear how many will be in NYC) and Ad Age reports that Nicholas Grimshaw and Partners, the firm that designed the new Fulton Street Transit Center, will be charged with designing new street furniture that will showcase the advertising. Deceaux, a French firm, was the early frontrunner as it donated money to the NYC 2012 bid, but Gothamist guesses when that fell apart, all bets were off. This will be a 20 year contract, and what we'd like to see is Cemusa asking the public to give our input on possible street furniture (we may not be happy about it, but at least it can work with our lives).

After reading about beautiful subway stations around the world from Metro Bits, Gothamist was a bit depressed that the stations we wait in are dingy and dirty, especially relative to the museum-like structures practically everywhere else. Sure, there are stations here and there that are more pleasant than others, like the soon-to-be finished West 8th Street stop in Coney Island. Perhaps this is the price we pay for having the second oldest subway station in the world, with 1.4 billion travelers and with terrible government funding. Hell, we just want them to be clean. [Via Anil]

The Fulton Street Transit Center, the subway hub project announced a year ago, has fallen a year behind schedule - and the MTA is scaling back the project due to budget constraints. The Daily News reports that the "steel-and-glass dome that was to rise to a peak of 110 feet above street level from within the aboveground entrance hall - on Broadway between Fulton and John Sts. - will be significantly smaller," and many of the halls connecting the nine different subway lines will be narrowed (from 40 feet to 29 feet). Some of the problems have been due to longer and more expensive than expected real estate acquisitions, since they need to tunnel around and create new entrances; the MTA is still working with a $750 million budget. The MTA is now saying "the new design is the economically elegant design," which Gothamist thinks is hilarious. Next time we present a lower budget for anything, we'll call it the "economically elegant" way to go. It looks like the transit center will be open in 2008, which means that when you put it through the MTA-time-calculator, think some time in 2009 instead.

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The Fulton Street Transit Center project will bring together the A, C, J, M, Z, 2, 3, 4 and 5 lines. For more information about the project, visit the MTA's site. However, the project will be introduced today at the Center for Architecture, 536 La Guardia Place, between Bleecker and West Third Streets, at 4PM. The Times says that "models, computer animations and drawings will be on view at the center through mid-July, from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekdays, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays."

The U.S. Department of Transportation has given NYC $2.85 billion for the renovation of 3 transit sites. When Secretary of Transportation Norman Minetta was asked where the money is, he said, "It's in the mail," with Mayor Bloomberg showing his expertise in billion dollar transactions by further explaining, "The federal government doesn't drive up a truck into the back and out pours bills." But that would be cooler. It turned out that $750 million was wired yesterday morning to fund a new Fulton Street Transit Center and later another $400 million was wired for a South Ferry station. Another transfer of $1.7 billion is expected later for the new PATH station.

The Times had an article about the Corbin Building, at 11 John Street, being preserved and maybe even incorporated into the MTA's plans for a new Fulton Street Transit Center. MTA Chairman Peter S. Kalikow said, "Our new transit center and downtown's historic architecture are both important to the future success of Lower Manhattan."