New York City - Transit News

[TowerDude]

No the Beach Boys were uninspired nothings ... the best things they ever did was backing vocals for Elton John's Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me and Chicago's Wishing You Were Here.

The Beastie Boys were creative dynamos.

And yes I am aware this is getting off track.

[Velvet_Highground]

Originally Posted by mrnyc

that’s of course a mosaic version of a famous mammoth chuck close portrait. i have the wildest story about it which i could never say in public, but trust me its a good one.

….26 dollars in my hand ….

Had to listen to some Sixto Díaz Rodríguez after I played the obituary. RIP for real this time, glad I was able to catch the end of his career.

[mrnyc]

Originally Posted by TowerDude

No the Beach Boys were uninspired nothings ... the best things they ever did was backing vocals for Elton John's Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me and Chicago's Wishing You Were Here.

The Beastie Boys were creative dynamos.

And yes I am aware this is getting off track.

err ok that’s you, but that said, anyone actually serious about pop music would disagree. in fact this current best of list has the cali bb’s at numero uno:

https://ultimateclassicrock.com/top-50-american-bands/

i wouldn’t want to hear them rap tho — anymore than hear the ny bb’s sing.

[mrnyc]

this is a good idea — although i wish they would also require ebikes to make some kind of noise so you can hear the dam things coming —



NYC unveils public e-bike charging ports for delivery workers

By Ben Brachfeld
Posted on March 3, 2024

https://www.amny.com/transit/nyc-pub...orts-unveiled/

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/ny...sh/ar-BB1j8FQi


Officials announce the opening of NYC's first public e-bike charging station in Manhattan's East Village on Feb. 29, 2024.
© Provided by WINS Radio New York

[Busy Bee]

Originally Posted by TowerDude

No the Beach Boys were uninspired nothings ... the best things they ever did was backing vocals for Elton John's Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me and Chicago's Wishing You Were Here.

The Beastie Boys were creative dynamos.

And yes I am aware this is getting off track.

Ooof. Interesting take. I didn't know that opinion was possible.

[jmecklenborg]

In other music matters, some nerd figured out exactly where this photo was taken:


https://popspotsnyc.com/simonandgarfunkel/

The photo is funny since they're wearing suits...back when all pop acts wore suits. Also, I find it technically interesting since it was shot on a tripod at maybe 1/8sec in order to get the train blur. But some of the low-kelvin incandescent light from inside the train makes it onto the subjects. They no doubt spent an hour+ on this shot, since you really only get 2-3 shots when the train arrives and then leaves, and almost none of them will be usable.

[mrnyc]

^ the suits made a brief comeback in the new wave era —



***


a peek at the abandoned lower level tracks on 42nd st —


https://www.instagram.com/reel/C3jYr...NuZGw0azJyOA==

[mrnyc]

fun trivia via amny & the transit museum —



Q: What’s the history behind naming stations after multiple streets — like 174-175 Sts on the (B)(D) and 182-183 Sts and 47-50 St-Rockefeller Center? Ely W., Fordham Heights

A: The commonality of all three of these stations is that they were built by the Independent Subway System (IND) and opened between 1933 and 1940. When the IND planned out its stations, designers wanted to “fix” what they felt earlier subway operators had gotten wrong about notifying ridership – even in subtle ways – about their orientation within the city and the subway system.

IND also built on a larger scale than the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) and Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit Corporation (BMT), and nearly every station had at least two entrances. This was because IND planners had the luxury of seeing the profound impact the subway already had on New York, so they tried to accommodate for future growth.

The stations were typically named for the predominant or “major” street the station served, such as Fordham Road. For 174-175 Sts and 182-183 Sts, both ends of the station serve similarly important streets, so it seems the IND decided to include both names. The 47-50 Sts-Rockefeller Center Station was one of the busiest in the IND system (and still is today), and the name indicated the entrances from 47th Street all the way up to 50th Street.

There are a few more stations naming the entrances at both ends, all also built by the IND: Bedford-Nostrand Avs and Clinton-Washington Avs stations on the G and Clinton-Washington Avs and Kingston-Throop Avs on the C.

It’s part of what makes the transit system so endlessly fascinating; no matter how far we progress, there’s something in it to remind us of the moment in time it was constructed.

– Jodi Shapiro, Curator, New York Transit Museum

[jmecklenborg]

Originally Posted by mrnyc

fun trivia via amny & the transit museum —



Q: What’s the history behind naming stations after multiple streets — like 174-175 Sts on the (B)(D) and 182-183 Sts and 47-50 St-Rockefeller Center? Ely W., Fordham Heights

A: The commonality of all three of these stations is that they were built by the Independent Subway System (IND) and opened between 1933 and 1940. When the IND planned out its stations, designers wanted to “fix” what they felt earlier subway operators had gotten wrong about notifying ridership – even in subtle ways – about their orientation within the city and the subway system.

IND also built on a larger scale than the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) and Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit Corporation (BMT), and nearly every station had at least two entrances. This was because IND planners had the luxury of seeing the profound impact the subway already had on New York, so they tried to accommodate for future growth.

The stations were typically named for the predominant or “major” street the station served, such as Fordham Road. For 174-175 Sts and 182-183 Sts, both ends of the station serve similarly important streets, so it seems the IND decided to include both names. The 47-50 Sts-Rockefeller Center Station was one of the busiest in the IND system (and still is today), and the name indicated the entrances from 47th Street all the way up to 50th Street.

There are a few more stations naming the entrances at both ends, all also built by the IND: Bedford-Nostrand Avs and Clinton-Washington Avs stations on the G and Clinton-Washington Avs and Kingston-Throop Avs on the C.

It’s part of what makes the transit system so endlessly fascinating; no matter how far we progress, there’s something in it to remind us of the moment in time it was constructed.

– Jodi Shapiro, Curator, New York Transit Museum

This was also a possibility in NYC because the trains and platforms are so much longer than most other transit systems.

By contrast, the Boston Red Line (and never-opened Cincinnati Subway, which was built to the same specs) originally had 300-foot platforms (four 70-foot cars). This is often less than the length of a single block whereas a 600-foot platform is always longer than a block, except in very unusual circumstances.

[Busy Bee]

New York awards New Flyer with two new contracts for up to 2,090 Xcelsior® transit buses

https://www.newflyer.com/2024/03/new...transit-buses/


I just hope they don't continue with the awful Cuomo RV paint jobs. They're dreadful. I'm extremely disappointed the R-211 is continuing deliveries with those incredibly stupid decals. NYCT needs to get back to it's roots with the two-tone blue IMO. The recreational vehicle livery is beyond bad taste. Can you imagine if TfL just decided to repaint all their iconic red buses with hot rod flames? Cuz that's the analogy.

[Busy Bee]

Originally Posted by mrnyc

^ the suits made a brief comeback in the new wave era —

One... Step... Beyond.

***

a peek at the abandoned lower level tracks on 42nd st —


https://www.instagram.com/reel/C3jYr...NuZGw0azJyOA==

The slicing through of lower level 42 St is one of the dumber things MTA let happen in the last twenty years. I understand that tucking the Hudson Yards extension just under it would have increased the grades in and out of Times Sq station but it was doable and it should have been done even if they didn't know what lower 42 St could be used for in the future. Typical MTA shortsightedness.

[mrnyc]

trivia — after the great 1974 caper movie and great movie about nyc itself the taking of pelham one two three the mta has an unwritten rule to never run a pelham bay park terminal station train at 1:23am or pm.

[mrnyc]

Originally Posted by jmecklenborg

This was also a possibility in NYC because the trains and platforms are so much longer than most other transit systems.

By contrast, the Boston Red Line (and never-opened Cincinnati Subway, which was built to the same specs) originally had 300-foot platforms (four 70-foot cars). This is often less than the length of a single block whereas a 600-foot platform is always longer than a block, except in very unusual circumstances.

only across the ind, which was built later and so based on lessons learned. at first the irt and bmt stations were short. they were gradually extended between the 1920s-1960s.

[Busy Bee]

Originally Posted by mrnyc

trivia — after the great 1974 caper movie and great movie about nyc itself the taking of pelham one two three the mta has an unwritten rule to never run a pelham bay park terminal station train at 1:23am or pm.

I think I read that once somewhere...

Side note, I'm guilty of purchasing a German copy of Pelham 123 just to put on my shelf. I can't read German, I just liked the way it looked.


......

[Busy Bee]

Originally Posted by mrnyc

only across the ind, which was built later and so based on lessons learned. at first the irt and bmt stations were short. they were gradually extended between the 1920s-1960s.

One of my biggest pet-peeves about the subway is that in many instances where the platforms where extended over the decades they leave slope-downs and slope-ups because the original top of rail before and after the original shorter platform lengths changed grade quite quickly and thus the lengthening encroached into that segment and the intended level platform of the original design was lost. From an engineering perspective I would imagine that the vast majority of those situations could have been remedied by minor grade and track geometry changes at the extreme station ends but was deemed unnecessary, expensive and disruptive to service. The IND made every attempt to avoid unlevel platforms except for locations where accommodating and maneuvering around pre-existing infrastructure including IRT/BMT tunnels made that impossible - 34 St/Herald Sq being a good example.

[mrnyc]

have you seen it in the wild?
all about the track geometry car.
the tgc inspects the rails —


https://www.instagram.com/reel/C4dQe...1xZ3lqd3Zweg==

[Busy Bee]

^Did they pluck that narrator from some patty cake kids show?

[mrnyc]

^ word to the wise — never put the sound on for insta clips

[mrnyc]

more $ for busses — and three fare free bus routes per boro —



State lawmakers propose $90 million for more frequent buses, fare-free pilot in budget response

By Ben Brachfeld
Posted on March 12, 2024

https://www.amny.com/transit/state-l...-pilot-budget/

[mrnyc]

working it out on the roads —



https://www.instagram.com/reel/C4eZX...hsb2RlNWw3Mw==