Results tagged “secondavenue”

Yesterday, the Post reported that a Second Avenue building—right near where the MTA is working on Second Avenue subway construction—was vacated by the Department of Buidlings. Residents and business owners were annoyed, with one saying, "They came today at 2 p.m. and said you have to get out. The building could collapse at any minute." Now it turns out that the building, 1768 2nd Avenue was leaning by 18 inches: According to the DOB, the specific issue is a "FAIL TO MAINTAIN BLDG EXTERIOR BLDG LEANING TO NORTH BY 18' OUT OF PLUMB." While residents and business owners blame the subway construction, today the Post says that an MTA consultant sent a memo to the DOB, back in 2006, "about the poor conditions of the buildings on the block," but the memo was ignored.

Ah, the Second Avenue subway project—that mythical, subterranean Chimera that mayors and governors have spun tales about since time immemorial—is once again in danger of abandonment. With all the talk of service cutbacks as the MTA stares down the barrel of a $1 billion budged deficit, some are wondering if the transit authority should really be spending an estimated $3,000 every minute of every day to dig under Second Avenue at this particular juncture.

While Upper East Side residents feel it's been hell without a second subway line, some Second Avenue business owners are feeling the pinch from the MTA's construction of the long-awaited Second Avenue Subway. Yesterday, businesses asked Mayor Bloomberg to give them a hand, by boosting state legislation aimed at aiding them.

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.

One hundred years ago today, the Hudson & Manhattan Railroad opened for business with one mission – to get the passengers to and from the various railroad terminals on the Hudson County New Jersey side of the river to or from Manhattan who would otherwise have to take ferries. To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the PATH, the Port Authority is giving free PATH rides today between 6AM and 11PM.

Thanks to Modern Mechanix we can now see what New York was supposed to look like by the year 2000, as seen from 1927. In that article "streets on five levels have been prophesied," but by 1931, two-level streets (pictured) seemed more realistic.

A definite step towards the relief of traffic congestion on much traveled city thoroughfares by the construction of streets under streets is soon to be taken by the city of New York. When this stupendous project has been brought to completion the metropolis will have an underground lane for fast through traffic, a tunnel for local and express trains, all built underneath the surface street, which will be left for local traffic.

Continue reading "The 2nd Avenue Sub-Street"

Anyone trying to plot the best subway route to serve their departure and destination points has long since given up on the MTA website, which for years has mostly confined itself to below-ground mapping and shown a remarkable disregard for how the subway actually corresponds with the street level. Sites such as Hopstop and OnNYturf have sprung up to fill the void with integrated mapping, but now they’ve got competition from some new improvements on the NYC Transit website.

The police are investigating the murder of a 69-year-old woman in her apartment at 2400 Second Avenue. Helen Abbot's body was found by her daughter on Sunday afternoon, after she hadn't been heard from in two days. A medical examiner determined that she was strangled, stabbed and beaten to death.

The Times takes a look at Portland’s $150,000 project to retrofit some major intersections with cyclist-friendly “bike boxes.” The painted stripes and signs create a zone where cyclists can cross in front of stopped traffic to turn without getting run down by turning trucks, theoretically. Dubbed a “right hook”, it resulted in the deaths of two cyclists last October in Portland, and plenty in New York.

So much for halting the hike! Mayor Bloomberg and Governor Spitzer have both given their approval of the MTA's proposed 4-7% fare hikes for subway and bus riders. The base fare will remain $2, but the unlimited Metrocard prices will increase. The Mayor (from China apparently) said, "Based on the information that my staff and I have received and reviewed over the past few weeks, I am now satisfied that the MTA budget is a...

The two brothers who fell more than 40 stories from an Upper East Side apartment tower--only one surviving--had an inkling, if not outright concern, that the window washing scaffolding and platform they were using was not safe. A brother-in-law of Alcides and Edgar Moreno said that he talked with one of the brothers the morning of the incident, expressing their concern over the safety of the equipment, which apparently had a history of malfunctioning.The family...

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,...

Last week, the Daily News trumpeted the plight of Amarjit Singh. Singh was injured after a mentally disturbed man's stabbing rampage on Second Avenue in October, and hasn't worked since the incident.

Governor Eliot Spitzer announced that he would ask the MTA to keep the base subway and bus fare at $2 yesterday morning, earning praise from elected officials and Mike Lupica, but it's hard for riders to truly weigh in, as the cost of unlimited Metrocards will probably be going up. About 85% of riders use the unlimited cards, and the director of the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA, Bill Henderson, told the Post...

Today, the Daily News put Amarjit Singh on its cover and asks New Yorkers to help him. Who is Singh? He was the cook at the Texas Smokehouse BBQ in Murray Hill until October 6, when a mentally ill man, Lee Coleman, stormed into the kitchen and grabbed four knives. Singh tried to stop Coleman, but Coleman slashed him in the head before heading outside to repeatedly stab pedestrian Susan Barron. Coleman only stopped when...

Back Forty: Peter Hoffman of Savoy brings his fresh-from-the-farm mentality to the East Village, complete with farm implements decorating the walls. The term "Back Forty" referred to the undeveloped quarter of a 160-acre homestead where farm families went to relax and unwind. The menu may be small, but includes a grass-fed beef burger, Maine shrimp and bacon beignets, and a whole grilled Catskill trout. Wash it down with a house cocktail, or if you've got a sweet tooth, a root beer float. 190 Avenue B, near 12th Street, 212-388-1990.

A homeless man was shot in the stomach by an off-duty transit police officer after he stabbed two people randomly in Murray Hill yesterday afternoon. The assailant, identified as 38-year-old Lee Coleman, was wounded and is in serious condition; he was charged with attempted murder, assault, and criminal possession of a weapon.

It was originally named the 8th Avenue Subway, but the 'A' train turns 75 today, having opened September 10th, 1932. Officials are holding a ceremony at the line's northernmost station––Inwood/207th St.––and will be running six antique railcars from the 1930s during the day to commemorate the event. This is more than the Eighth Ave. Subway garnered on its opening day: Back in 1932, just before midnight, transit workers simply dropped chains blocking access to turnstiles up and down the line and riders were free to pay the five cent fare at any of the original 28 stations between 207th St. and Chambers St., a total distance of 12 miles.

THEATER: We like our comedy like we like our women: black and absurd. So it’s promising that the press release for a new play by Kevin Mandel uses those two irresistible words to describe A New Television Arrives, Finally. The strange story concerns “an American couple visited by a charismatic man presenting himself as a television set. Is the handsome stranger a charlatan or a guru?” Emmy award-winning actor Tom Pelphrey [Guiding Light] leads the cast at tonight’s premiere performance. - John Del Signore

Vynl, 507 Columbus AvenueOn three separate nights cameras caught the critters feasting "on scraps that were left on the dirty kitchen floor and climbing over crates of glassware" at Da Silvano's (pictured top left). The owner there said the problem was caused by nearby construction and recent renovations and claimed he will be throwing out everything edible in the restaurant and starting fresh. Ah, not even the celeb hot spots can escape the wrath of roaches and rodents.

Just as we were looking over amNewYork's story on CBGB, sad news has come in. Hilly Kristal, who opened the club in 1973, died yesterday. Battling cancer for some time, the 75 year old had quite the last year -- seeing many celebrate his legendary club upon its closing last October.

We were recently asked about recommendations for good first date spots: "she's allergic to shellfish, I hate TexMex - any thoughts?" We have plenty of thoughts. The first is that a first date, depending on how well you know the person, should be limited to drinks or coffee. This way, if things become clear that you don't want to stick around, you can leave politely without having to suffer through appetizers, an entree, and possibly a dessert. If the conversation is flowing and you're feeling a connection, you do want to have the option of eating available to you -- no need to get bombed before you get to know each other a little better.

Second Avenue Sagas notes that the survey was emailed to 20,000 people (the Manhattan Borough President's office worked with a number of organizations, including the Straphanger's Campaign, Right Rides, NOW, Hollaback, to get out the word about the online survey), which suggests the statistics could be somewhat inflated, given that the almost 1800 respondents who did fill out the subway may have been weighted towards people who have experienced subway harassment (indeed, about 67% of the respondents are women). This is a point the study acknowledges as a limitation, but says it still serves as "an invaluable 'snapshot' of a problem that persists but is inherently difficult to quantify."

Yesterday, MTA CEO and executive director Lee Sander took the case for subway and bus fare hikes to the people by standing at the Grand Central shuttle platform yesterday morning. The MTA has argued that with looming billion-dollar deficits, fare hikes, as well as agency cuts, are the only way for the MTA to stay afloat without trimming service. According to the NY Times, very few people stopped to talk to Sander who was handing out a leaflet called "The Fare Facts" which cited "growing pension and debt service costs" as why fares should go up.

The police are looking for a man they believe may be involved with four sexual attacks in the East Village and Lower East Side. The Daily News ran a graphic (pictured) of showing where and when the attacks have occurred. Early yesterday morning, a 20-year-old woman was attacked at East 9th and Second Avenue, as the Sun puts it, "just steps away from the bright lights of the 24-hour Veselka Restaurant."

Mayor Bloomberg returned from Sun Valley's media mogul conference to stump for his congestion pricing program at three churches yesterday. And today he's headed to Albany, as the congestion pricing program will be discussed by the Legislature. The Bloomberg administration has pointed out that the federal Department of Transportation is pretty willing to give $537 million in funding to NYC if the concept of congestion pricing is passed by Albany lawmakers, but the deadline for that money is today.

Sidecar: This new Park Slope spot is run by a former Blue Ribbon chef, features a contemporary American menu and is designed to be reminiscent of an old railroad dining car. The cocktail menu consists of classics like the gin fizz, interspersed with originals like "Dr. Tucker's 59," Plymouth gin with lemon and ginger. For now, however, the cocktails are only on the menu, not in the glasses -- they're still awaiting a liquor license, so feel free to BYO. 560 Fifth Avenue, between 15th and 16th Streets 718-369-0077.

The MTA has actually done something to make the community along the in-progress Second Avenue Subway happy. They have decided not to acquire two Food Emporiums for space and will instead design around them. The NY Sun reported after community opposition, a station entrance at 86th Street will be redesigned while a ventilation system at 63rd Street and Third will be repositioned.

Expensive designer jeans - the downfall of criminals! The police - and onlookers - ended up chasing a pair of women who had been using a stolen credit card in Soho for many blocks yesterday afternoon.