Results tagged “lightrail”

The NY Times has an article this weekend that focuses on the overused and so over H word. Hipsters! They're still here, in all their b&w print glory. This time they're settling down in Staten Island to make babies.

- No financial services firms or other corporate office tenants are coming to Staten Island, despite large amounts of vacant space and inexpensive commercial real estate prices compared to Manhattan. (Most of the recent job growth on Staten Island has been in industries that pay low wages.)Yikes! The Center for an Urban Future suggests that reversing zoning laws to spur development, promoting cultural institution, developing a dynamic downtown to attract young residents, improving transportation options, and, most of all, having a plan to oversee population growth are key. With so much development, some people don't want any more, but former borough president hopeful John V. Luisi told the NY Times that more housing and stores should be built near the ferry terminal in St. George, not to mention a grocery store, a la the Red Hook Fairway, would help a lot.

Spring appears to have, er, sprung, at least temporarily, in most of the Ist-A-Verse, so naturally, we're all feeling pretty good. (Yes, we know that spring doesn't start till later this month. Just let us enjoy our weather!) And that makes us that much more eager to share all of the nifty things we're up to...

• A $100,000 donation to study how a free subway can save money? Yes, someone really did it: The NY Sun explains that 92 year old Theodore Kheel has donated the 100 G's to the Institute for Rational Urban Mobility to study the concept. The belief is that making subways and other mass transit free, then drivers would have an incentive to switch. The IRUM is the group behind the 42nd Street light rail idea vision42 and Auto-Free New York. Fun fact: Kheel (who does use a chauffeur - as a commenter notes, Kheel needs assistance and uses a cane - but would be willing to pay a fee in order to be in a car) represented Christo and Jeanne-Claude Christo in their legal fight to show The Gates.
• The 7 train had its first weekend of service disruptions, and it really sucks. NY1 spoke to customers, who say, "The weekend service is already slower, but now it's 30 more minutes to get into the city. It's ridiculous," and "There's so many people here that are working people, and they have no other options, some of them. It's very difficult." The service disruptions are due to signal and track switch upgrades along the line and will last through March. 7 train riders, you tell us how your weekend travels were.
• And New York magazine asked design firm SHoP to create a fourth airport proposal-counterpoint because who in NYC really cares about Stewart Airport in Newburgh. SHoP's idea? A high-speed shuttle that would travel between all three airports and stop at major neighborhoods, plus improvements to JFK. It's the stuff dreams and billions of dollars are made of.

Longtime readers may remember the Vision42 plan we covered at the beginning of 2005. Sponsored by The Institute for Rational Urban Mobility, the project would close 42nd Street to cars and lay down a light rail from river-to-river. Yesterday, Vision42 released their economic benefits study, which, if you believe it, says that a light rail would cost $500m, but generate more than a billion dollars in value. Don't get too excited yet-- according to the Sun, the project hasn't gained a lot of traction:

- A NJ Transit light rail train hits a NJ Transit bus - luckily none of the accidents are life threatening, but come on, they are both operated by NJ Transit!

Times Square, the crossroads of the world, wants to be a little less roady and more of a place for pedestrians to cross. The Times Square Alliance has a ten point plan to further improve Times Square, namely to make it look more beautiful and for pedestrians to have an easier time of it. Times Square Alliance president Tim Tompkins said, "While Times Square is gorgeous from the neck up, it needs a makeover from the neck down." Word - you can't walk more than five steps without bumping into someone who has suddenly stopped to be conned. Main goals of the plan: Rebuild and expand Duffy Square; increase the sidewalk space and reduce sidewalk clutter; redesign newspaper boxes and stands; do not let cars "cross over" where Broadway and Seventh Avenue meet; install new signal timing for traffic lights. Now, the problems with Times Square are familiar to all, from sidewalk planters in front of buildings to slow moving packs of tourists. Gothamist is intrigued by this plan, because we're all for keeping pedestrians a priority, but the idea of Times Square as anything but a logjam of people trying to get from one place to another (look at 1957's Sweet Smell of Success - all Sidney Falco does is elbow his way around) seems like a pipe dream.

- And don't forget: This coming week is Dine in Brooklyn