- 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.
Photograph by wka on Flickr
