OK, so this isn’t the subway, but it easily could have been. There was a pretty funny fight on the PATH train. The funny part is the guys taping the fight. This is NSFW if you have speakers. Turn them down because there is some colorful language.
Thanks to AMNY Subtracker for tipping us off to this.
Well, it turns out there was a truth to the headline SUBWAYblogger wrote the other day.
The test went…umm…ok? Oh screw it, the signs didn’t work correctly. The signs regularly overestimated the arrival times of the trains!
The crazy part of the story is that the signs won’t make their way to the other subway lines until 2008 or 2009. Wow…talk about not holding your breath. By the time they get these bad boys up and running, the the Tube in London will have a few dozen plasma screens on each platform. The Tokyo subway will beam the location of the next train automatically to your cellphone in real time. Then, there will be NYC, with our hardly reliable, two line, LED screens. Sweet.
To add insult, other lines aren’t ever going to get the signs:
…there is no plan to extend the notification signs to the lettered subway lines, whose nicknames — “Forever” for “F,” “Never” for “N” and “Rarely” for “R” — indicate that such signs might just encourage riders to surface and walk or take a taxi.
Mmm…nice.
The electronic message boards have finally arrived on the L line. They aren’t fully operational just yet, but they are being tested. As a matter of fact, many of them are lit up already. You can see what they look like.
Unfortunately, the information displayed isn’t necessarily accurate yet.
“With the introduction of this new system, garbled subway messages are on their way to becoming a thing of the past along the L line and eventually the entire system,” Metropolitan Transportation Authority CEO Elliot Sander said.
The signs were supposed to be up and running back in July. What a shock…didn’t happen. But any week now, they will be up and running in full force. Next step? Outfitting the entire subway system. Let’s hope it all works before 2015.
This does not really qualify as a subway related post, but it is close enough because this is the crap that totally enrages SUBWAYblogger. Here’s the back story.
Ari Kraft was a 13 year old graffiti punk who was widely known for his talent. Yeah, we said it…punk. Sure, he was probably a nice enough kid, and word on the street was that he was a really talented artist. However, at the end of the day, he was a graffiti punk who went around illegally tagging walls. Ok, we’ll give him the benefit of the doubt and say that he might have done it on walls with permission from time to time. But like most graffiti artists, he often tagged areas that were not legal, such as along the LIRR tracks.
Ok, so Kraft and a buddy were out the other day tagging walls along the tracks and taking pictures of their work. Unfortunately, the Kraft tried to cross the tracks, and was struck by at train. He narrowly missed one train, but was then struck and killed by one he did not see coming.
SUBWAYblogger is by no means happy that the kid died. It is truely unfortunate.
However, the parents have taken it to the “are you fucking kidding me” level. They now plan to sue the MTA because they did not maintain the fences along the tracks!
Family friend and attorney Daniella Levi said the family plans to sue the MTA, the LIRR and New York City once it finishes sitting shiva for the boy. -NY Daily News
Are you kidding me?!?!?
They are going to sue the MTA because their kid, spray can in hand, found a hole in the fence, walked on to the tracks, tagged some walls, and got killed. How is that the MTA’s fault?
Here’s a thought Mom and Dad…maybe if you taught your kid that it was wrong to break the law, he would not have been on the tracks. Or maybe if you taught him it was wrong to tag property that did not belong to him, he would not have gone in the first place. The list goes on. This is the most ridiculous thing SUBWAYblogger has ever heard of.
If the MTA loses or settles, they should take the family to civil court and sue them for trespassing and destruction of property. They should sue for the exact amount that they lose to this family.
I think we all understand that parents can be upset when their kid is killed. Duh. However, don’t place blame on anyone but yourselves. Is it wrong to say that it was the kid’s fault? Because it was. He knew he shouldn’t be there. He knew it was illegal. And if he was as bright as everyone says, then he knew it wasn’t that safe. So guess what, it was your son’s fault that he was killed. Sorry, but that’s the truth. He made a bad decision that cost him his life. Plain and simple. A BIG mistake. So why take it out on the MTA?
Is SUBWAYblogger the only one furious about cases like these?
This doesn’t happen enough on my commute…
Michael Harris, and his motorized wheelchair, got off the 5 train in Brooklyn last week only to find that the elevator to street level was out of service. First of all, big freakin’ surprise. Anyway, he went to the station agent to told him to get back on a train and go back three stops. From there, he should have been able to find another station with a working elevator.
Harris got so pissed that he instead called 911. Firefighters showed up to carry him and his wheelchair to street level. First, they strapped him to the stretcher, and carried him up. He got a little dramatic with his description saying that they strapped him to gurney that “they use to carry out dead bodies.” A bit much we think.
They then went down to lug up his 300 pound wheelchair.
Mixed feelings about this story. Did this guy take it a little too far?
After all, it is no secret that the subway system is not at all handicap accessible. Only 23 stops in Manhattan have ramps and elevators. The whole system only has about 50 of the 400+ stops that have been converted.
Here’s a stat for you: There were over 1,000 service outages per year reporter for the 23 elevators in Manhattan from 2002 to 2005. Holy crap! Did they ever work?
Apparently the problem is that the homeless and drunks use them as toilets. And they tend to get vandalized a lot.
Here’s a solution. Install MetroCard swipes at all the elevators so that only the elderly and handicap can use them. That’s fair, right? If for some reason you have a temporary need to use them, go to the token booth agent and get a temporary card to swipe. That way, the bums and drunks can’t get on the elevators. Maybe then they will last longer.
Otherwise, the handicap get a special fare, and all the busses are handicap accessible. So don’t complain too much. You might have a case sometimes, but don’t push your luck.
Nice, comfortable wheelchair gloves can be very important for those who use them.
Lee Sanders, a top Executive at DMJM Harris, is the assumed top candidate to take over the MTA, however, he was just named to Governor Elect Spitzer’s transition team for transportation policy. Does anyone else find it to be a problem that DMJM Harris has millions of dollars in contracts with the city for transportation?
Sanders has been the presumed candidate to replace MTA Chairman Peter Kalikow if he steps down. Kalikow is supposed to hold the office for the next 6 years, and there isn’t really anything that Spitzer can do about it. However, it is rumored that he may step down after the Second Avenue line funding is in place. So, Sanders was expected to be the top man for that gig.
But now he is going to be co-chairing Spiter’s transition team for transportation. In either case, is this a guy that should have this level of control over the city’s transit system considering that his firm has millions of dollars in transportation contracts? Sure, he is probably very qualitifed since he obviously knows a bundle about mass transporation….but…..
Makes MY skin crawl.
Apparently, SUBWAYblogger missed the latest issue of “Suicidal Quarterly” because there must have been an article about jumping in front of trains. It must be the new cool way to go.
Being suicidal is something that really sucks, but why do you have to mess up everyone else’s day? Not only are you shutting down entire transit lines for HOURS, but think of the poor people who have to scrape your ass off the tracks. Like that’s what they want to be doing. Or the people that witness you jumping in front of the train. That’s a wee bit traumatic for a perfect stranger, don’t you think?
So today’s guy who was found under an downtown “E” train may or may not have done it on purpose. At this point, no one knows. But usually, people would notice if he got shoved onto the tracks. Especially because it happened at 10am. People would notice the struggle.
SUBWAYblogger 