Results tagged “work”

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:

On July 1st, the New York City Council was expected to pass the Bicycle Access to Buildings bill, which would require commercial landlords to allow tenants to bring bikes inside office buildings with freight elevators. Many building managers refuse to let workers bring their bicycles inside, even if their employer lets them keep their bikes at their desks, and the new bill, Intro. 871, would allow landlords the flexibility to develop individual access plans that suit their buildings and their tenants. (Department of City Planning says the biggest barrier cited by potential bicycle commuters is the lack of safe places to store their bikes.) But Councilman John Liu, who chairs the Transportation Committee, refused to bring it up for a vote. After working on the bill for eight months with the DOT, DOB, Mayor's Office, landlords, and community advocates, Liu abruptly decided that transportation agency can't handle more responsibility. Cycling advocates are pissed, and Councilman David Yassky, who authored the legislation, says Liu pulled the plug so Yassky can't claim credit during the election. Yassky tells the Post, "All I know is the bill was slated to pass the council on Tuesday and it was derailed at the last minute. I sense politics is at work."

Some Park Slope activists have so little faith in the MTA's promise to renovate the dreary Fourth Avenue and Ninth Street station that they're imploring transit officials to scale back their plans and instead make a few specific improvements immediately. The massive refurbishment was supposed to begin this year and turn the "dank and dark" station into a light-filled hub with clean windows and a new copper roof. But the plans were later scaled back and postponed in the shadow of looming budget shortfalls.

The $150 million reconstruction project on the two mile esplanade between East River park and Battery Park was supposed to be done last year, but you know the drill. Two thirds of the promenade still have a long way to go, and last year the state Department of Environmental Conservation fined the city and contractor Pile Foundation Construction Company $200,000 because workers were allowing the shoreline to erode into the water. Now a DEC spokesman says the company hasn't fixed the problem and the agency wants to revoke the work permit. When asked by the Villager when the project is now expected to be completed, the foreman laughed and said he didn’t know: "New York City isn’t exactly the fastest people in the world."

After years of hemorrhaging film production business to cheaper locations like Canada, New York City is seeing a spike in movie shoots, back up to the pre-9/11 level. Bloomberg reports that the city saw a 36% rise in production last year, with over 245 movies and television shows shot citywide in 2007. A consulting group hired by the mayor’s office determined that the industry pumps $5 billion a year into the economy and employs some 100,000 people.

The long-neglected F train station at 4th Avenue and 9th Street in Brooklyn will be refurbished starting in the fall, according to amNY. Built in 1933, the Art Deco station is on the National Register of Historic places, and the north end of the platform offers an impressive view of the Statue of Liberty.