It is an image that has become all too familiar for New York City subway riders whenever it rains: Water pouring into a subway station, coming in from the ceiling, walls — even up through the drains on the ground sometimes.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) said almost half of its subway stations have flooded during the last four big rainstorms to hit the city over the past few years. And now the agency is outlining its plan to prevent that sort of thing from ever happening again.
In total, the MTA said 200 stations flooded during the major storms, which amounts to nearly half of the all stations throughout the system. In 2023, 88 stations sustained some form of flooding, and 22 stations have been labeled as problematic and needing major upgrades.
“This is on our radar, for storm water flooding,” said Eric Wilson, of the MTA Climate Resilience.
Flooding also wreaked havoc on Metro-North service during the storms. Earlier in January, the MTA showed a temporary fix to the problem: rubber mat trenches.
The transit agency has constantly been testing in-station drains and asking other city agencies to clear catch basins, hoping it will help with the flooding in parts. MTA Chairman Janno Lieber said he thinks those measures have bought the agency some time.
The MTA will likely ask state lawmakers for billions of dollars in the next capital plan in order to address the problem. At a board meeting on Wednesday, transit officials delivered new information about flooding as well as another major impact of climate change: rising temperatures.
A high-powered fan was blasting on a winter day inside an MTA communications room at the Wall Street station, revealing an expensive reality.
“We have to make a major investment and that includes air conditioning those rooms…it’s a concern. We’ve got 495 communication rooms,” said MTA President of Construction and Development Jamie Torres-Springer. “We are really sounding the alarm.”
The reason the fan was running Wednesday inside the room that controls train radios? Even though temperatures outside were in the low 40s, it was still 93 degrees inside. MTA officials said it’s a concern when it goes above 100 degrees.
“These are old systems, you’re not cooling them — we are at risk,” Lieber said.
Given the growing challenges from rainstorms to heat, the MTA plans to release a new climate blueprint in March.
NEW YORK CITY (WABC) — The MTA has been rolling out pilot programs targeting fare evasion and trying to make riders feel safer. One such measure will put emergency exit gates on a 15-second delay.
The MTA got approval from the state to implement the pilot program to put emergency gates on a short delay.
Critics are concerned in an actual emergency, waiting 15 seconds to exit could put people in a dangerous situation.
The timed delay will be tried out next month at three subway stations. All three have ample turnstiles for riders to access in case of an actual emergency.
They include the 59th Street-Lexington Avenue Station in Manhattan, the Flushing Avenue Station in Brooklyn, and the 138th Street Station in the Bronx.
The MTA is already looking at a long-term redesign of these emergency gates, aka “the gate of the future.”
That’s just one of the ideas that the MTA is testing out at various stations. They’re also trying to gauge public support, and that has been a challenge.
While some of the strategies have already proven successful, The New York Times said Tuesday morning, “New Yorkers have not been impressed.”
The MTA installed yellow subway platform barriers at the Clark Street subway station over the weekend, the second station where the gates are being piloted.
In Queens, the Sutphin Boulevard-Archer Avenue station has replaced the turnstiles with glowing green fare gates.
Some transit riders have already figured out how to open the gates without paying, a technique quickly disseminated on TikTok.
Despite the ridicule, revenue at that station has increased by 20% since implementation.
These pilot projects are described by MTA as basic attempts to temporarily resolve complex problems.
Transit officials are looking to see what works and what doesn’t. None of the ideas are expected to be long-term.
As NYC Transit President Rich Davey said Monday of some of these challenges, if you don’t experience failure, you aren’t trying hard enough.
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The Metropolitan Transit Authority is preparing to roll out a new version of its modern R211 subway cars — this version will come with what’s known as an “open gangway” allowing for passengers to move freely from one car to another.
The first versions of the R211 cars debuted on A line trains in early 2023. The latest version with the open gangway is similar to what passengers see on the London Tube, Paris Métro, or Boston T system.
MTA Transit President Richard Davey said commuters will see the cars in service in “the coming weeks” here in New York.
MTA new R211 subway cars with ‘open-gangway’ design
The open-gangway cars will debut on C trains, Davey said, which was a purposeful choice.
The new cars will only be on local lines, not express lines, Davey said.
“We thought it was more prudent to having that train stop more frequently,” he said.
New NYC subway cars will replace the ones that have been running for nearly 50 years. But you’re going to have to wait until late 2023. NBC New York’s Myles Miller reports.
The cars will also have wider doorways. Proponents say the cars help with overcrowding and also allow for more accessibility to riders with wheelchairs or stollers.
“Wider doors and additional accessible seating will drastically improve the experience for all riders and particularly those with disabilities,” MTA Chief Accessibility Officer Quemuel Arroyo said in a statement in 2023. “Future open gangway pilot cars will also allow customers with mobility devices or strollers the ability to move through a train like never before, and I’m excited to try out these new cars.”
The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority is the nation’s capital is also exploring open-gangway cars, it announced in early 2023.
Updated: We’re exploring open gangways for the new 8K train design. Open gangways improve accessibility, are safer, & allow for more capacity on a crowded train car, as well as more convenience for customers with strollers, luggage, & bikes. #wmata#metroboardmeetingpic.twitter.com/MrNba8jDvP
The economic connectivity between Long Island and New York City is as significant as ever, despite an increase in remote work spawned by the COVID pandemic.
That’s according to a new report from the Regional Plan Association, which shows a boom in local earnings and a huge spinoff of jobs and economic growth from commuters to and from the Big Apple and its suburbs.
The report, titled “Commuter Dividend,” shows that while the number of people traveling to jobs in New York City five days a week has declined, the salaries of many of those employees have climbed in recent years, generating more revenue into communities on Long Island and other suburbs.
Specifically, the RPA study found that more than one-third (33.9%) of all wages earned by those living on Long Island are from jobs in New York City. According to the report, those 306,000 Long Islanders who commute to the city earned an average annual salary of nearly $124,000 for a total of $37.9 billion in wages from their jobs in 2022.
In addition, the spending of those commuters generated some 179,000 jobs and $15 billion in earnings in various sectors here on Long Island, including hospitality, retail, real estate, healthcare and other service-related industries.
“Commuters are still incredibly important to Long Island’s economy,” said Chris Jones, a senior research fellow at the RPA, who worked on the report.
CHRIS JONES: ‘Commuters are still incredibly important to Long Island’s economy.’
One of the report’s more significant findings is the growing importance of reverse commuting. It estimated that 257,000 New York City residents held jobs located outside of the city, contributing to both city and suburban economies. Reverse commuters earned slightly higher salaries than other New York City residents, with an average wage of $85,000 and total wages of $21.8 billion, which represents 7% of all wages earned by city residents, according to the study.
And out of the 7% of all jobs held by New York City residents in the suburbs, Long Island had the highest proportion of reverse commuters, with more than 110,000 city dwellers commuting to jobs in Nassau and Suffolk counties.
“Queens and Nassau County share such a big border, and there are a lot of people in Queens who have a relatively easy commute into Nassau and Suffolk,” Jones said.
Of course, the biggest facilitator of commuting between New York City and Long Island is mass transit, specifically the Long Island Rail Road. The report notes that the recent completion of a third track on the LIRR’s mainline, as well as Grand Central Madison—providing greater access to Long Island from Manhattan’s East Side—provides more reverse commuting capacity to the east and strengthens the connection between New York City and Long Island.
In an exclusive interview with LIBN, Janno Lieber, CEO of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, touted the $15 billion of investment in recent projects that have improved service and increased capacity on the LIRR.
“We grew service dramatically. We grew the number of trains by 40 percent overall as a result of these big projects that grew our capacity because we had more tracks, more platforms and more areas for trains to pass each other and all that stuff,” Lieber said. “And even more significant, we grew the number of reverse commuter trains by 53 percent just on the Long Island Main Line, which is where a lot of that investment took place.”
JANNO LIEBER: ‘Reverse commute service is now regular and predictable…’ Courtesy of MTA
After taking a big hit from the pandemic, Lieber said ridership is recovering. He said last week was the best single week for the LIRR since the onset of COVID.
“I think it was 1.4 million riders last week, so they’re moving in the right direction there,” Lieber said. “Ridership is about 75 percent of pre-COVID numbers on a regular basis, which is pretty great, considering commuter railroads in the rest of the country are in the tank.”
The MTA CEO pointed to the improvements in reverse commuting that allows Long Island businesses and organizations to better recruit talent from the city. Lieber said he heard from representatives of Winthrop Hospital in Mineola and Brookhaven National Laboratory who wanted to expand reverse commuting capacity so they could hire more professionals from New York City.
“Reverse commute service is now regular and predictable, and people can make decisions about where they work and live and know that there will be a way to get to a job on the Island, and that is a huge boost for Long Island’s economy,” he said.
John Cameron, chairman of the Long Island Regional Planning Council and managing partner of Woodbury-based Cameron Engineering said: “The MTA should really be commended for the $15 billion of investment that they placed in East Side Access, Third Track and Double Track. That will present a number of different opportunities for Long Island on reverse commuting as well as being able to provide expedited access to the east side of Manhattan.”
Besides highlighting the economic dividends from the commuter economy, the RPA report also made some recommendations, such as implementing congestion pricing in midtown Manhattan to reduce traffic and improve pedestrian safety in the city, while generating money to invest in mass transit. It also suggested building more affordable housing near suburban transit hubs.
“Housing is a big one for Long Island,” Jones said. “You have these big investments in Long Island transit, and property values go up around transit stations when there are improvements in service. An easier commute is very valuable to prospective renters or homebuyers.”
Long Island leaders praised the RPA report.
Where New York City workers are commuting from and their total earnings. Courtesy of Regional Planning Association
“This report demonstrates that the Long Island and New York City economies benefit each other, and investments in our infrastructure can amplify the economic impact of businesses and their workforce,” said Matt Cohen, president and CEO of the Long Island Association. “We should continue to develop solutions to address the lack of available and affordable housing options to support our region’s growth.”
Cameron said the report highlights “major benefits” that are being afforded here. “It’s up to Long Island whether we want to take advantage of those,” he said. “The report can provide a road map for us moving forward to capitalize on the changing economic picture with regard to real estate and transportation.”
A suspect accused of running a drug mill out of a Bronx apartment was arrested Tuesday after authorities said he rode on the New York City subway with 40 pounds of fentanyl. Lilia Luciano has more.
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A surprise homecoming ended in a horror show for a 34-year-old MTA employee shot by a stray bullet outside the Brooklyn apartment complex where she grew up — a place she’s now “leery” about returning to, her father said Saturday.
“My daughter comes over here to see me — I didn’t know she was coming — and she gets shot!” retired MTA track worker Lawrence Doxen said about the Wednesday afternoon shooting at the Sumner Houses.
His daughter Shanay was about to visit Doxen, 66, when shots were fired at a group of men near a basketball court in the 95-degree heat by the corner of Marcus Garvey Blvd. near Park Ave. around 3:30 p.m.
A stray bullet tore through Shanay’s upper arm, her father said.
Doxen had just heard the shots and saw police cruisers out his window when someone began pounding on his door, he recalled.
“I see the cops out there. Next thing I know, five minutes later I hear Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!” he said.
At the same time, his daughter’s number popped up on his phone.
“I grab my phone and I kinda see my daughter’s name coming up here,” he recalled. “I was like, who’s knocking on my door? And I’m like, I’m not answering the door because I just heard the shots! Then the lady downstairs, she was like, ‘Dox Dox, your daughter got shot!’”
Kerry Burke
Suspects involved in the shooting of three men and a woman fled in the white Santa Fe Hyundai before crashing into a black Infinity around the corner from the crime scene on Sept. 6, 2023.
Doxen opened the door to find Shanay and the downstairs neighbor. His daughter was bleeding from her arm.
Despite her wound “she wanted to see me,” the retired MTA employee said. “She said, ‘I wanted to see my father.’”
The bullet passed through Shanay’s arm. The young mom, an MTA cleaner, is currently on the mend, her proud dad said.
“She’s good now. She’s kind of leery because we go to the park a lot,” he said. “She is in shock. That’s what people don’t think about. Trauma, you know?”
About six shots were fired, neighbors recalled. Three men ages 34, 26 and 21 were struck with shots to the back, stomach and chest, respectively, police said.
“There were shots and smoky pops,” the witness, a local man who gave his name as Jay, told the Daily News Wednesday. “There was a guy lying on the ground, he was on his back bleeding. His friend was kneeling, holding himself, he was shot in the buttocks. You could see the blood.”
The man shot in the stomach remained in critical condition Saturday, cops said. The other two men were expected to survive.
Police believe the gunman, who jumped out of a Hyundai Santa Fe, were targeting the three victims and accidentally hit Shanay with a stray round.
As the attackers sped off, they crashed into an Infiniti QX60.
The gunman jumped back into the car, which sped off and crashed head-on with a black Infiniti QX60 less than two blocks away near the corner of Myrtle and Throop Aves.
Cops hot on the heels of the suspects arrested three men at the scene after they had run into an area building.
Ben Foster, 30, who is believed to be the shooter, was charged with attempted murder and weapons possession as well as burglary and tampering with physical evidence. An accomplice, identified as Seven Jones, 23, was charged with burglary and tampering with physical evidence, cops said.
The arraignments for the two men were pending Saturday.
Shanay was just getting off of work when she decided to surprise her father with a visit, her dad said. She’ll be on medical leave for a while as she recovers, he said.
“She can’t work,” he said. “She’s a cleaner. She’s going to have to lift up garbage bags and hopefully there’s no nerve damage and stuff like that. So it’s going to be a while.”
The emotional scars may take longer, he said.
“It’s like a process right now. I still think she don’t really know what she really been through,” he said. “That’s what people forget when people get shot. The psychological effect.”
Dozens of people were injured in a crash involving a double-decker tour bus and a city bus in Manhattan Thursday evening, officials said.
There was a tangled mess of metal and glass when a Metropolitan Transportation Authority bus and a TopView Sightseeing double-decker bus collided just after 7:15 p.m. Eastern time in the Kips Bay neighborhood.
New York City Fire Department officials said 27 people were hospitalized, including the tour bus driver, and about 50 others were examined at the scene. Injuries included fractures, cuts and bruises, the fire department said. None of the injuries were believed to be life-threatening.
“We’re all quite fortunate it was not much worse,” FDNY Deputy Chief Paul Hopper said.
Crews had to use “ladders and ropes” to extricate some of the passengers from the buses, FDNY Deputy Chief Kevin Murphy added.
“The impact felt like it was almost an earthquake,” Ishrak Jahan, who was on the city bus, told CBS New York. “The whole bus was rattling and shaking. I heard the lady next to me scream, so I looked up and I saw this bus barreling towards us…I just saw glass everywhere for a second. It was honestly like I was in a movie. And it took a couple of seconds to snap back into reality when everyone started screaming. I saw blood.”
FNDY officials said they were unsure on the circumstances which led up to the collision. However, New York City Transit President Richard Davey blamed the crash on the tour bus.
“This tour bus behind us seemed to have blown a red light and T-boned our bus,” Davey told reporters. “Hit it actually twice, it was going so fast, we think.”
Pillan, who was on the tour bus with his family, told CBS New York that “a lot of people” were “thrown out of their seats. Injured, a lot of injuries. A lot of old people injured.”
Some passengers, like Paulina Rychel, were hit by a wave of glass.
“I heard the boom and then I felt it,” Rychel said.
Firefighters had a challenge taking people off the second deck of the tour bus and going through windows to take people out.
Dick Brennan joined CBS2 in 2012 as an anchor and reporter. In addition, he anchors on our digital channel CBS News New York, which is also seen on the News at Nine on our sister station WLNY-TV.
NYPD cops are seeking a crazed commuter who thrashed an MTA driver and left him drenched in lighter fluid after service was suspended along his Brooklyn bus route, police said Monday.
The victim was operating a Sheepshead Bay-bound B44 around 6 p.m. Saturday, when a service interruption forced him to pull over and let out passengers on Nostrand Ave. near Empire Blvd. in Crown Heights.
Cops are hunting this man wanted for the brutal assault on an MTA bus driver in Brooklyn Saturday. (NYPD)
All passengers disembarked as instructed — save one. When the driver approached his sole remaining passenger to offer assistance, the suspect launched his assault, cops said.
The man viciously beat the driver before pouring lighter fluid on him and fleeing the bus, according to police.
Before the madman could make his escape, the driver managed to snap a picture of him.
The victim was later treated by paramedics, who took him to Kings County Hospital in stable condition, cops said.
Anyone with information related to the assault can call the NYPD’s anonymous Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-8477.
Daniel Penny, a Marine veteran charged with second-degree manslaughter in the chokehold death of 30-year-old Jordan Neely aboard a subway train in New York City, made his first court appearance Friday. He was released on $100,000 bond. Lilia Luciano has the details.
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The death of Jordan Neely, who was seen on video being placed in a chokehold by a Marine veteran on a New York City subway train, has been ruled a homicide. The death has prompted outrage and protests. Lilia Luciano has the latest.
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REDMOND, Wash., February 24, 2023 (Newswire.com)
– StrataGen Systems, Inc. (“StrataGen”) provides clarification on its relationship with New York City Transit Authority (“NYCTA”) and provides comments on a recently published article.
StrataGen’s longtime relationship with NYCTA goes back to 2001, when NYCTA’s current Real Time Scheduling & Computer Automated Dispatch (“RTS-CAD”) system was installed. Over the past 20+ years, NYCTA has invested tens of millions of dollars in the evolution of the product and RTS-CAD has been fully customized to include apps, interfaces, custom modules, features and functions that are designed to meet the exact needs of NYCTA. That system boasts the world’s best and patented routing and scheduling algorithm and is currently in use by NYCTA to facilitate its para-transit operations and is maintained and supported by StrataGen. Irrespective of all recent events, StratagGen is fully committed to provide ongoing system maintenance and support to ensure NYCTA’s para-transit remains fully operational during this process.
While NYCTA has made a decision to terminate the contract, which is comprised of Automatic Vehicle Location Management (“AVLM”) and RTS-CAD systems, StrataGen strongly believes that this is a case of “termination for convenience” and intends to vigorously dispute any suggestions made by NYCT otherwise.
StrataGen’s AVLM has been in production since 2020 and was in use by NYTCA until January 21, 2023; NYCTA had beneficial use of the system during that time. The article refers to improved on-time performance during the month of January 2023; it is important to note that StrataGen AVLM system was fully operational and utilized by NYCTA during that time. NYTCA has demonstrated, with the help of StrataGen’s AVLM system, increased on-time performance, improved rider experience, and drivers providing improved assistance in helping their ADA passengers meet their daily transportation needs. StrataGen is alarmed to learn that NYCTA is installing iPads in the para-transit vehicles with the intention of connecting them to the original RTS-CAD system. If any confidential or proprietary information pertaining to the RTS-CAD system is disclosed to the third-party vendors or they have been granted permission to access StrataGen’s system, database, schemas, and proprietary tools and utilities, then there is a possibility that they might be in breach of StrataGen’s non-disclosure, confidentiality, and/or software license agreements. StrataGen will fully investigate this matter and take appropriate action.
It is also important to note that the delays pertaining to the new RTS-CAD project were caused by both NYCTA and StrataGen. In early 2022, the parties mutually agreed to continue with the project under a new schedule and StrataGen delivered the first set of requirements in the summer of 2022, passing the agreed upon Acceptance Test Procedures and Criteria.
About StrataGen Systems, Inc.
Using patented technology and expertise from all levels of the industry, combined with experience gained from installations worldwide, StrataGen is an international leader in the transit industry. StrataGen provides enterprise-wide and service based solutions to transit agencies of all sizes, focusing on Demand Response, ADA (Americans with Disability Act) compliant and Special Needs providers.
Striving to achieve delivery of the best results possible, StrataGen prides itself on responsiveness, commitment, and best in class customer service.
StrataGen Systems, Inc. 8271 154th Avenue NE, Suite 200 Redmond, WA, 98052
WILLIAMSBURG, Brooklyn (WABC) — A 15-year-old has died after attempting to subway surf a train on a New York City bridge Thursday.
The boy was climbing a J-train headed over the Williamsburg Bridge when he slipped and fell onto the third rail, according to police.
He was pronounced dead at the scene.
A rescue train was deployed and removed about 700 passengers from the subway train, which was stopped for the investigation.
New York City Transit President Richard Davey offered sharp words on the topic of subway surfing after the incident was reported.
“Riding on top of subway cars is reckless, dumb and dangerous, frequently leading to tragedy for the person, family and friends,” Davey said. “We implore parents to speak with their children about what can seem like a game but obviously is not.”
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