Results tagged “howardroberts”

As we briefly mentioned yesterday, the grades have come in on the second annual rider report cards for the L and 7 train lines. While only half the riders on the L and a quarter of those who take the 7 train turned in a report card when compared to a year ago, the results were roughly the same--consistently staying in the C-range in most categories. MTA officials were quick to highlight how riders gave both lines some more credit for how clean they kept their cars and stations (all the way up to B-minus for L cars). The lowest grades for both lines came in how riders felt about having adequate room during rush hour, with each picking up a D. The MTA tried to put the best face on the grades with NYC Transit president Howard Roberts Jr. saying, "What would have astonished me is if the results had turned out to be A’s.” Related: 2007 rider report cards for the 7 and L.

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a suspicious fire at Prospect Ave. and Ritter Pl. in the Bronx, an armed robbery attempt at Tavern on the Green in Central Park and West 67th St. in Manhattan, and an armed robbery on East 84th St. in Manhattan.
• A Staten Island native and veteran of the war in Iraq, Christopher Small, was killed in central Pennsylvania after he asked uninvited guests at his best friend's daughter's birthday party to leave. His killer later confronted him on the street and shot him three times in the head.
• In the course of opposing Columbia University's expansion plans in Manhattanville, a historian uncovered a forgotten past of an uptown dairy industry in the neighborhood.

The New York City Transit Authority, the MTA division that oversees the subways and buses, will be now split up the management of the subway lines and instead assign a manager to deal with a line or a number of lines. The NY Times spoke to NYC Transit president Howard Roberts Jr.:The goal, Mr. Roberts said, is to have 24 subway lines operating in many ways as 24 self-contained railroads. (The number may vary,...

To the surprise of no one, New Yorkers are not in favor of the MTA's proposed fare-and-toll hikes. Residents, transit advocates and elected officials have been speaking at the MTA's public hearings all week, raising a number of questions about the MTA's service, the state's and city's contributions to the MTA, and effect it will have on riders. The Manhattan public hearing reminded of us Festivus, or at least its "public airing of grievances"...

There was a bit in the MTA's August 8 Storm Report which mentioned that the MTA was working on some street furniture designs to "raise vent heights to prevent water inflow." As part of the recommendation to "Implement corrective action plan for top flood-prone locations," the MTA, with the Department of Transportation and Department of Environmental Protection, is developing short- and long-term solutions at the most flooding-vulnerable locations.

Perhaps a more promising and intriguing solution to the sidewalk grating and station entrance water inflow problem is already being pursued in conjunction with NYCDOT. In fact, in the last week the MTA, NYCT, and NYCDOT have co-sponsored a design charette with top urban designers to develop solutions to the problem. The three conceptual designs they came up with will hopefully lead to a more refined alternative that will address both pedestrian impact and neighborhood aesthetics.

Ooh - NY1 has the exclusive on this exciting bit of subway news: The MTA is planning on installing subway platform doors on the 7 line extension. The platform doors are not only a safety feature, they create savings with energy bills and keep stations cooler. Additionally, they would prevent people from being able to litter in the tracks (and that litter can cause track fires, which is a major cause of subway delays).

10. Sense of security in stations And in a sign of showing that the MTA is taking these suggestions seriously, NYC Transit president Howard Roberts says that he'll add more trains around the peak periods, which the NY Times explains "if riders are willing to travel a little earlier or a little later than they currently do, they may be rewarded with a less crowded ride." Hmm, "may" may be the operative word.

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a missing child on Church Ave. in Brooklyn, a fatal person struck by a train at Jerome Ave. and East Fordham Rd. in the Bronx, and an escaped prisoner at Church and Albany Aves. in Brooklyn.
• The trailer for Martin Scorsese's Rolling Stones concert documentary "Shine a Light" has been released and can be seen here.
• Arts group ABC No Rio has abandoned plans for a gut renovation of its LES building that it acquired for $1. Architectural and budget constraints mean that the building will have to be rebuilt from the ground up.
• One million New Yorkers, or 17% of the adults in the city lack health insurance.
• Mayor Bloomberg's got game: golf game. Even Phil Mickelson said he was impressed with the mayor's game after they played recently.
• A man being questioned in a homicide investigation is on the loose this evening after jumping out of a third story window at the 103rd Precinct station house in Jamaica, Queens.
• Disabled transit riders lauded NYC Transit head Howard Roberts for recent improvements made to the subway system, like posting notices of elevator and escalator outages online in a timely manner.
• With plans in the works to examine rezoning Sunset Park, Brownstoner asks residents what they think of tall buildings in the nabe ("If you want high buildings, you can go to Manhattan.").

The NYC Transit Authority issued a report about separate incidents that led to two track worker fatalities in April. According to the NY Times, much of the blame is placed on an "organizational culture" where "critical safety rules were not practiced in day-to-day operations."

If you take the Shuttle at Grand Central around 8AM on weekday morning, study this photograph and find this man - it's MTA CEO and Executive Director Lee Sander, and he'll be at the Shuttle platform tomorrow morning!

Yesterday, the NYC Transit Authority gave 7 train riders the chance to tell them what they think about the 7 line and service with the first ever subway/bus report cards. NYCTA president Howard Roberts Jr. hopes that eventually all subway and bus riders will be able to grade their lines so the agency can work with customers' suggestions.

The NYC Transit Authority may not be able to figure out which subway stations to paint after more than seven months, but it's taken only two months to launch the report card initiative! Back in May, NYCTA president Howard Roberts Jr. said that he wanted to know what subway and bus riders thought of their respective lines and announced that the 7 line's straphangers would get first crack at filling out report cards.

The most hilarious thing we read today was that the NYC Transit Authority has "loading guidelines" for passengers. In a story about how subways are extremely packed, the NY Times offered this gem:

Crowding is so bad that on the 4, 5, 6 and L lines, trains during the morning rush exceed the transit agency’s loading guidelines, which posit that every rider should have at least a three-square-foot space to stand in (that translates to a square patch of car floor 20 inches on each side).

This past weekend was notable for a number of shootings that left many injured and at least three dead.

With subway ridership at a new high in decades and many more riders on the way if the city's forecasts are true, the MTA has been thinking of ways to increase subway capacity. And Howard Roberts, president of the NYC Transit Authority which operates the subways and buses, says that one solution could be to extend subway platform and add two more train cars to the existing ten.

The Brooklyn DA's office arrested four NYC Transit Authority workers for trying to bilk the Workers' Compensation system of thousands of dollars for "injuries they either never sustained or grossly exaggerated." For instance, there's Valerie Scroggins, a bus driver who said that she suffered a shoulder injury last September. Between September and January of this year, she received $13,348.98 in checks for her injury. But in November, she took a fateful trip to Europe.

The NYC Transit Authority, a division of the MTA, resumed all subway track and tunnel work starting today. All non-essential work was stopped after the second transit worker death in five days occurred on Sunday.

After two transit-worker deaths in five days, NYC Transit Authority President Howard Roberts wrote what the NY Times called an "emotional letter" to the thousands of transit workers.

Referring to his 20-year career in the United States Army, the transit president, Howard H. Roberts Jr., recalled the time he served as a paratrooper with the 101st Airborne Division, where staying alive was a matter of following safety rules.

Continue reading "Transit Chief Takes Recent Deaths "Personally""

The NYC Transit Authority continued its investigation of Sunday's fatal accident involving a track worker and an oncoming G train. "Non-essential" track work has been suspended as the agency looks at its safety protocol. NYC Transit Authority president Howard Roberts suggested work should have been suspended earlier, given that another transit worker was killed last week, "If I had any idea we would be here this afternoon on this subject, clearly we would have started the process we are in now last week."

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"

The NY Times reports that a stalled train may have indirectly caused an MTA transit worker to be fatally struck by a train at the Columbus Circle station Tuesday night. Veteran worker Daniel Boggs had been in the downtown express tracks when a 3 train hit him, and some sources say the 3 train was diverted to the express tracks because another train uptown was stalled on the local tracks. From the Times:

If not for the stalled train, which was farther uptown, the train that struck Mr. Boggs, a veteran track worker, would have been on the local track because of the replacement of switches and rails that was scheduled for the express track at Columbus Circle, said the people familiar with the investigation, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the inquiry is incomplete.

Continue reading "Transit Worker's Death Investigated"

While umbrellas are most convenient when they are small enough to stow into a bag, this 43" umbrella is very tempting. It's the MTA Transit Museum Store's Grand Central Ceiling Umbrella, which was created with the Municipal Art Society.

Arching over the 80,000 square-foot Main Concourse, this extraordinary ceiling was painted from a design by French artist Paul Helleu. The blue-green and gold mural portrays the October to March zodiac and contains more than 2,500 starts, with 60 lighted to illustrate major constellations.