Results tagged “stillwellavenue”

Newsday reports that emergency track work at West 4th Street will be causing delays on the A, E, D and F lines. Apparently Brooklyn-bound F train will be running on the E between 36th Street Station in Queens and 42nd Street Times Square, and then the F will run on the A between Times Square and Jay Street-Borough Hall. And some other Brooklyn-bound F trains will "run on the D line from 47th-50th Street-Rockefeller Center...

After the Daily News broke news that the city was unhappy with developer Thor Equities' $1.5 billion plan to revitalize Coney Island (an anonymous city official calling the plan "dead in the water"), the Post gets its own tidbit. Apparently Deputy Mayor Daniel Doctoroff is offering to swap some land with Thor to keep Thor in the general Coney Island mix, but not right on Stillwell Avenue.

Under Doctoroff's compromise, Sitt would give the city the 10 acres of boardwalk land he owns along both sides of Stillwell Avenue so that the city could sell or lease it to amusement operators.

Continue reading "City, Thor Equities May Switch Coney Island Land"

Yesterday we visited the New York City Transit Authority’s Corona Maintenance Shop in Queens as part of a New York City Transit Museum tour.

Yesterday, Metro had an article about a guerrilla art piece called "No Train Like Home": A group of artists were going to decorate an F train at Stillwell Avenue with homey touches.

They plan to hang blue curtains with white flowers and duct tape welcome mats to the areas by the doors. A blue runner will warm up the middle of the car. They’ll distribute magazines and hang fake plants from overhead bars.

Continue reading "Make Yourself At Home"

It's opening day on Coney Island's boardwalk and there's still time to hop on a D,F,N, or Q train to Stillwell Avenue before things get started. 11 a.m. marks the Blessing of the Rides at Deno's Wonder Wheel with a ribbon cutting and live music. Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz will break the ceremonial egg cream at 11:30 a.m. to open the rides and the first 100 people on the Cyclone get to ride free. The Coney Island Polar Bears will serve as a chorus at 2:30 p.m. in a live performance of an original piece of music titled "Save Coney Island." Theater lovers may want to drop by the Coney Island Museum at 5 p.m. for an adaptation of Herman Melville's "The Confidence Man" (tickets $10). And 12th St. and Surf Ave. is the place to be at 6 p.m. for the 2nd Annual Band Organ Rally. Full details are available at ConeyIsland.com.

Tussletown, from our pal Cornershots.

Light and Oil on Water by mdpNY.

The NY Sun looks at the $1.5 billion Coney Island plan Thor Equities is looking to bring to Brooklyn. Thor, which has bought 10 acres of Coney Island and has already told some tenants to go and others that they'll be able to stay another summer, is looking to remake the stretch into a "into a year-round destination, and [give] it the feel of Las Vegas, Orlando, or Atlantic City.":

New designs drawn up by the architectural firm Ehrenkrantz Eckstut & Kuhn depict Thor's futuristic vision. A new roller coaster would dart in and out of new buildings along Stillwell Avenue, the first roller coaster in New York City since the Cyclone opened in 1927, according to the developer. Opposite the subway station, Thor is planning a vertical ride to the top of a 150-foot-high water tower that would be decorated with flickering holograms of whales and mermaids.

Continue reading "Coney Island Developer Wants Residential Zoning"

We used to think it was pretty sweet that disabled people got themselves a handsome little discount when riding subways and buses. But we always felt that there was probably some downside that we didn't see. In fact, it turns out that only a little over 10% of the subway stations in NYC are actually even accessible to the disabled. And apparently even a $300 million renovation of the Stillwell Avenue Station in Brooklyn wasn't enough to ensure that elevators at the stop would be ready in time for actual traffic. We were pretty excited when the terminal reopened two years ago, with its solar panels and all. But its elevators, that were supposed to be up and running in May, weren't ready until last month and even then experienced frequent service outages. Sadly, since the stop was listed as an all-access type, many disabled people who rode out there found no way out of the station and had to turn around and go find another way out.

- Guess what? With more police officers in the subways, crime goes down. At least crime like smoking, drinking alcohol, and turnstile jumping is done, as some new NYPD stats say that the number of summons issued was down 18% versus 2004 - even in spite of the new rules of conduct (but the MTA did collect more in fines).

- 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).

There is the loveliest story in the NY Times today about Yuki Endo, a young man who lives on the Upper Side and how he loves the city so much. The article, in fact, is titled, "He Loves New York, and It Loves Him Right Back," as Endo has befriended pretty much everyone in his neighborhood, from firefighters to security guards at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, from classmates to people he meets on the subway, as he lives the city. Endo is disabled, born without chromosome 18, which "makes it hard for him to speak clearly." Even still, for living in the city for 10 years, Endo might know the city better than most New Yorkers.

Yuki is fascinated with the tiniest of the city's intricacies: the toll-free number (#3333) dialed at subway pay phones to hear automated service information and changes; the elevator at the Met that people often confuse for a gallery room when the doors are open because of its wood paneling and display case; the long-forgotten news that earlier this month southbound F trains were operating on the D line from West Fourth Street to Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue, an announcement of which Yuki carried in his backpack.

The MTA is the news lately. As the transit workers contract approaches we're the MTA really try to get the good word out about itself, to varying degrees of sucess.

- The development of affordable housing on City-owned property in the residential area.So there will be a lot of rezoning, but the city seems, so far, to be committed to making sure there are affordable options for residents as well as creating jobs.

Gothamist on plans to make Coney Island a year-around destination. Tien on a trip to Coney Island, Slice's Coney Island pizza picks, and Satan Laundromat's pictures of Coney Island.

The Post also reports there will be new maps: "Trains with diamond designations like the A, B, D, M and 5 will be replaced with dotted lines on maps. Only the 6 and 7-Diamond will remain to signify express service." More information from the MTA. And for more about NYC subway, check out NYC Subway.