Tag Archives: MTA

Afternoon View – Staten Island Ferry

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Seatless Subway Cars Debut In NYC

The MTA debuted its new “seatless” subway cars on the E line yesterday, but Gothamist reports that they have not yet begun locking the seats in the closed position during rush hour, as is the eventual plan. When closed, the locked seats allow for 19% more passengers per car. The new cars also feature split poles to allow more people …

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MTA Caves On Anti-Mosque Ad Campaign

Wingnut Atlas Shrugged blogger Pamela Geller has forced NYC’s public transit authority to accept her bus ad campaign against the mosque near Ground Zero. The MTA initially forced Geller through several revisions of her image, asking her to remove the smoke, flames, and plane from the photo, saying that “images of 9/11 are too controversial” for city buses. Geller responded: …

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MTA Proposes More Fare Changes

The eternally cash-strapped MTA has announced a couple of proposed changes that won’t find many fans. Millions of straphangers would be hit with a $1 surcharge when they get a new MetroCard from a vending machine instead of refilling an old one under one of the MTA’s leading fare-hike and revenue-raising plans, The Post has learned. “It would provide an …

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BROOKLYN: Hasidic Jews Get Vodka Ads Yanked From City Buses

The MTA has caved to pressure from Brooklyn’s Hasidic Jews and yanked the ad campaign from a vodka company that features a woman’s butt in a bikini. An MTA rep tells Gothamist: “At the request of community leaders, the Georgi vodka ads were removed from buses that are likely to serve Brooklyn’s Hasidic neighborhoods. It has been our longstanding practice, …

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FML

Changes to NYC’s subway lines have resulted in the above new signage. MTA officials say they were unaware that “FML” has become internet shorthand for “Fuck my life.” They say they will redesign the signs. (I always thought the lines should appear in alphabetical order anyway.) The Second Avenue subway will be called the T line, opening the possibility for …

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Blame It On The Train

If the subway makes you late for work, the MTA has introduced a new online excuse note system. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority now offers delay verification reports on the Web, complete with excuse notes that riders can show to disgruntled employers. All straphangers have to do is enter a subway station, the time of their trip, any transfer information, their …

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MTA Issues New NYC Subway Map

NYC’s MTA has issued an updated version of it iconic subway map. The new map continues to distort the actual shapes and sizes of the boroughs, especially Staten Island, which is shrunk to a fraction of its real size, otherwise it wouldn’t fit on the map. And below you can see the real shape of Manhattan versus what the MTA …

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Morning View – S Train Platform

I believe that cloaked sign is the long-overdue arrivals clock. Of course, it won’t be all that useful since the S train shuttle can never be more than one stop away.

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Staten Island Ferry Crash Injures Dozens

The same Staten Island ferry aboard which 11 passengers were killed in 2003 has crashed into the dock again, resulting in 37 injuries. According to Jim Long, a spokesman for the Fire Department of New York, 17 of the 37 have been transported to area hospitals. “The other 20 will be evaluated, treated and they could be transported to hospitals,” …

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Photo Of The Day – Subway Etiquette

Jen Carlson at Gothamist directs us to fake subway etiquette signs being placed by West Village artist Jason Shelowitz. The MTA can’t actually do anything about subway preachers, of course. I just smile creepily and shout “Hail Satan!” That works about half of the time.

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OMFG WTF MTA?

The Working Families Party is warring with NYC for their refusal to allow a subway advertising campaign complaining about recently announced cuts in service. At issue is the “obscene internet shorthand” used in the ads. The MTA is not ROTFL at parody signs that use cheeky acronyms to criticize City Hall. “WTF?” asks one of two posters the Metropolitan Transportation …

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Photo Of The Day – Grand Central Cavern

Gothamist has a great set of photos of the work being done 150 feet beneath Grand Central Terminal as the $8B project to connect the Long Island Railroad to the GCT continues. When completed, LIRR commuters will enjoy a 90,000 sq.ft concourse including shops, restaurants, and connections to the subway and Metro North. And you’ll be able to get to …

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No Weekend 7 Train Until April

Most of the queens in Queens depend on the 7 train for their weekend visits to Manhattan’s gay nightlife. Gothamist reports today that the MTA is suspending weekend service on the 7 for the next ten weekends as their perform their famous “system upgrades.” The service suspension begins January 29th. There will be a replacement bus service along the 7 …

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MTA Launches New Site

NYC’s MTA has launched a new site which for the first time provides real-time updates on service interruptions and delays. And the new site includes a smartphone ready function. The authority’s older mobile site posted maps only as PDFs, a clunky format that often takes a while to load on hand-held devices. “On the Go,” which features a fresher, streamlined …

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Stay Behind The Yellow Line

The MTA is dragging their feet on repairing the rotting and crumbling edges of midtown’s subway platforms, even though their own report nine months ago showed that the wooden edges in some stations are falling apart. The crumbling conditions can be found on platforms for the downtown F at 34th Street and the uptown B and D at 47-50 Streets/Rockefeller …

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Photo Of The Day – UES Big Dig

Work on the Second Avenue subway line continues, even in the face of “doomsday” MTA service cuts, which may include ending free rides for the city’s public school students. (An excellent way to put an end to those annoyingly rising attendance rates.) The shot above was taken at 91st street, which will be the launching point for the massive tunnel-boring …

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The Nostalgia Train Starts Today

NYC’s Nostalgia Train program begins today. Via Gothamist: The Nostalgia Shoppers’ Special is made up of subway cars in service from the 1930s to the 1970s, running along the lettered lines from the Grand Concourse to Coney Island. Ceiling fans, padded seats and incandescent light bulbs were state-of-the-art when these cars were first placed in service. The cars were removed …

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Mmmm, Bouncy

Time-lapse video shows us how the Manhattan Bridge bounces as subway trains cross over. Which is how suspension bridges are supposed to work, but it’s a little freaky to watch, nonetheless. (Tipped by JMG reader BKDan)

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2nd Ave Subway Pushed Back Two Years

We’re two years into the digging of the Second Avenue subway and now the MTA says it won’t open until 2017. Maybe. The conclusion: the official completion date for phase one of the project should be pushed from June 2015 to December 2016, with possible future delays placing the opening in the summer of 2017, the sources said. And, the …

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