Results tagged “subway”

A man suspected in 14 subway robberies since January was arrested yesterday in North Carolina. Rasheem Williams, 37, who had been one of the NYPD's most wanted criminals, was apprehended, as were two other fugitives wanted by the cops, in Rocky Mount, N.C.

Traveling by subway may be an overpriced headache (especially on weekends!) but at least now you can use Google Maps to plan your treacherous trip through it. They've just improved their NYC subway system mapping in their "Transit" layer, making it easier to plot a subway commute to the address or neighborhood of your choice.

It's like white noise at this point — the NY Post's headline reads: "Expect subway service disaster this weekend." Shocking, shocking news. The good news, however, is that the Transit Riders Council, an MTA watchdog group, is finishing up their underground study (results of which will be available in early 2010). For weeks they've "monitored trouble spots and found stations without adequate signs as well as seriously delayed trains."

Howard Roberts Jr., president of NYC Transit for the past 2 1/2 years, resigned today, leading many to suspect more resignations will come, as new MTA head Jay Walder wants to leave his own stamp on the agency.

It was only a matter of time before the Swine Flu hysteria escalated to the next level and what better place for it to heat up than New York City on the D train. The Business Insider's Lawrence Delevingne caught a glimpse and an earful of the first reported swine flu-induced subway altercation this morning while nearing the 42nd St Street- Bryant Park stop.

Having to cram into a crowded subway car has been one thing these past few weekends as the MTA got to work on station and track renovations decreasing service on 18 of its 20 subway lines. But this weekend should be interesting, what with Halloween and the NYC Marathon in the mix.

Okay, fine—this story makes us feel a little more guilty for complaining about the subway's seemingly slower service (seriously, what's been going on?): Before Phillies pitcher Cliff Lee dominated the Yankees during Game 1 of the World Series, he took the subway to Yankee Stadium because traffic from Manhattan to the Bronx was terrible.

The Manhattan Bridge has been plagued with problems since it was constructed 100 years ago... and the ol' gal still isn't perfect after all this time. The NY Times reports that a $150 million project will soon be underway to replace all of the vertical suspension cables on the bridge, causing disruptions in weekend subway service (B, D, N and Q lines), closing the bikeway and even shutting down some traffic lanes... for the next four years. (The cyclists will have to share a pedestrian walkway.)

In February, NYC Transit installed video screens on the platform in the Myrtle-Wyckoff station in Brooklyn, showing the locations of every L train on the line, updated every 15 seconds. And now we know from the Twitter machine that the screens have arrived at Bedford Avenue. NYC Transit posted these photos, and we're told the screens have been installed at various points throughout the station.

Subway managers on the No. 4 line have enlisted college interns to pose as subway riders and grade token booth clerks on their courtesy levels. It's unclear why the study, which was called "Operation Courtesy," was restricted to the 4 line, but NYC Transit spokesman Charles Seaton says, "It's like a mystery shopper program," in which storeowners' send fake shoppers to review staff. It's also unclear why the MTA needs to conduct an undercover sting to verify that workers can be gruff. But to be fair, we've found many of booth clerks to be exceptionally pleasant, considering they spend their days underground in a tiny box.

While it lacks the visceral intensity of the San Francisco bus fight video masterpiece, in some ways this audio recording of a nasty argument on the D train is even more enthralling, because it leaves something to the imagination. (We're picturing Edith Bunker vs. Rachel Dratch.) Commuter Joellen Nicholson, who published the video on YouTube, calls it "just another night on the D train comin' home from work. Kudos to the subway Samaritan, who I've named 'Father Subway,' for taking control of the situation."

It's not surprising that MyFox News has a four part series (so far) dedicated to broken subway escalators (though perhaps they should also shame the MTA for lack of elevators for the disabled). This time around they report from two locations, including 53rd Street, which sports a lovely escalator behind a glass wall that's been "under repairs" for months. To make matters worse, they even closed off the stairs. Watch to find out how straphangers work that puzzle out:

The new MTA chief is pushing a plan to offer discounts for bus and subway riders on weekends and late nights. MTA CEO Jay Walder has been making a big splash since taking over the job earlier this month, talking to the media about a number of big ideas, such as installing cameras on buses to bust bus lane blockers and introducing a no-swipe MetroCard that would double as a debit card. In an exclusive interview with the Times yesterday, he revealed his latest crazy scheme.

NYC Transit has been running the Nostalgia Train to Yankees post-season games lately—maybe the throwback fever has been spreading! A reader spotted that the old skip-stop 9 line, last in service back in 2005, appears on the MTA's website when you click on the subway map's Times Square stop.

A 28-year old man was charged with public lewdness on October 9th after masturbating on the G train at 10:30 a.m. The Brooklyn Paper reports that cops responded to calls from horrified mid-morning commuters at the Smith-Ninth Street station, after spotting him “naked with an erect penis out on public view."

Unbelievable: An anonymous donor is spending $25,000 to plaster the subway system with ads promoting atheism. Which seems like a waste of money, because didn't God give up on the subway system long ago? Starting next Monday, the monthlong advertising campaign will saturate a dozen Manhattan subway stations with the slogan "A Million New Yorkers Are Good Without God. Are You?" Besides advertising Godlessness, the campaign is also promoting a new book called Good Without God, by Greg Epstein.

Folks using the 1, 2 or 3 trains, start praying that NYC Transit is able to fix issues at Park Place by the evening rush. A reader had mentioned that a train derailed at Park Place earlier today and now the MTA's NYCT Service Alert page says:

"Due to a train with ongoing mechanical problems at the Park Place Station, 2 train service is running on the 5 line between the 149th Street-Grand Concourse Station and the Nevins Street Station in both directions.

Continue reading "Subway Delays Expected After "Minor" 2 Train Derailment"

The New York Times posted an article today for anyone who's ever had to endure subway transfers to get to their beloved. They track the story of one couple, Peter Horan and Afton Vermeer, who must trek nearly an hour and a half to see each other in the same city (Horan lives in western Harlem, Vermeer in Sunset Park.) While this is not news to many couples in the city, the Times reports that it seems to be happening more and more, with a variety of repercussions.

First reports of a pregnant woman being removed from an L train and taken to the hospital yesterday morning—now news that a man had a heart attack on an A train at Columbus Circle last night! And he was saved—thanks to the efforts of cops, other passengers, and a heart defibrillator.

It might not be last weekend's subway hell, where almost all 20 subway lines were diverted due to much-needed service work, but there are still many diversions planned for this weekend. For instance, NYC Transit says for the 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and L lines, "Due to necessary maintenance work customers may experience 5 to 7 minute delays from the times listed in the published timetable" (hee, published timetable!) and "D Trains run local in both directions between 34 St-Herald Sq and West 4 St" (which is admittedly better than not running at all). Here are service advisories for today and tomorrow.

[UPDATE BELOW] For crying out loud, some lady had to go into labor on the subway during rush hour this morning, tying up service on the L line. This better be one cute baby. We've gotten multiple reports that the L is held up because of the delivery. One tipster tells us the woman actually delivered at the First Avenue L station, and a Twitter user reports that she gave birth between Brooklyn and Manhattan.

After rumors that the Transit Workers Union would "slow it down"—it being subway and bus service—yesterday during its "Day of Outrage," the jury is out on whether or not service was truly affected. One reader described, "The worst B/Q train service I can remember. Waited 20 minutes this morning, and the train was too packed to fit on. When another one finally arrived, it went half speed the entire way into Manhattan," yet another who must have slipped into a Bizarro dimension said, "My service this morning was actually noticably better than it usually is (on the F)"?

Did your subway or bus commute seem a little slower than usual today? It's possible there really wasn't "train traffic up ahead"—apparently the Transit Workers Union wants to give the MTA (and riders) hell because the agency won't pay arbitrator-decided raises. And a text message last week suggested that workers were advised to "slow it down" today.

     

Subway hell weekend is behind us, and now the transit system has been restored to its hyper-efficient, fast-paced glory. But were this weekend's irritating disruptions worth all the agita? The MTA, obviously, says yes, and NYC Transit's Twitter page is filled photographic documentation that workers were so totally busy repairing the infrastructure.

With 18 of 20 subway lines experiencing (suffering) diversions, due to the NYC Transit's necessary track work, subway riders have had to be patient. And it's a rude awakening for some people: One told WCBS 2, "That seems like a lot at one time - 18 out of 20 - so very inconvenient for a lot of people. I'm new to New York, I don't know if this is a regular thing." Welcome to New York, buddy!

As we mentioned earlier, 18 of the 20 subway lines are undergoing weekend service changes. Why? Because NYC Transit is performing work on the lines that can't be done during harsher weather. We've got the laundry of service changes after the jump, but the topline is:Riders on the 5, A, F, G, L and E get the shuttle-bus transfer at various points along their routes; the 1, 2, 7, B, N, J and R will skip a section of stops; the 4, 6 and Q lines will run express at times, bypassing more stops; and the D will run on the N during midday hours tomorrow, skipping 12 Brooklyn stops. The lines that aren't getting the service treatment? The M, the Times Square shuttle and the Franklin Avenue shuttle.

A reminder to anyone going to tonight's Yankees-Twins game—you might want to take NYC Transit's Nostalgia Train, which leaves Grand Central at 3:45 p.m. The four-car train, which headed to the Bronx on Wednesday, makes "all express stops on the Lexington Avenue Line and arriving at 161st Street-Yankee Stadium about 35 minutes later."

So now that all these station agents have been cut, who are folks turning to when they need help navigating the subway system? The NY Times says "unsuspecting Samaritans like Mr. Hossain, a snack vendor in the Times Square station," have been lending a helping hand. He told the paper, “It’s all day long. When I get a chance, I tell them go this way, go that way. But sometimes, I’m serving a customer so I don’t say anything.”

Earlier this year we chatted with Dr. Zizmor, the "subway dermatologist," about the television ads he ran prior to taking his campaign underground and off-screen. Now he's gone and combined the two! Warning, this jingle will get stuck in your head.

Forget about the subway this weekend, just forget it; it's a perfect storm of aggravation: Of the 20 lines that operate on the weekends, 18 will suffer some type of "serious" delays between tomorrow and Sunday. Riders on the 5, A, F, G, L and E have to do the dreaded shuttle-bus transfer at various points along their routes; the 1, 2, 7, B, N, J and R will skip a section of stops; and the 4, 6 and Q lines will run express at times, bypassing more stops. Oh, and the D will run on the N during midday hours tomorrow, skipping 12 Brooklyn stops. Only the M line will be spared. Yeah, the M.