The Observer has cataloged 25 reasons why Hurricane Irene was good for New York City, and Streetsblog gives us another: burnishing our urban superiority complex. After all, a major storm or disaster like this reminds us of the value of living in dense, transit-rich communities, where you can walk, cab, bike, bus, train or—if you must, if you can—drive to work, to the store, to see friends. Read More
We just got our first indication of how Conductor Cuomo might feel about raising new revenues for the M.T.A., and it’s not promising. Read More
In a new security filing, MTR Corporation reveals it will pay its new CEO $7.2 million when he starts in November, according to Bloomberg News. And to think people complained about Jay Walder’s compensation package when he was hired by the M.T.A. Read More
It will be at least two and a half years—a traffic jam between now and then holding things up would not surprise—before the Taxi of Tomorrow hits the road. Instead of the futuristic Karsan model that New Yorkers loved, the Bloomberg administration went the soccer-mom route and picked Nissan’s souped-up minivan. But the other runner-up, Ford, maybe be the winner, at least for the time being. Read More
With Jay Walder hopping the express to Hong Kong this October, the city’s transit junkies are stunned and saddened by the loss of one of the most highly regarded transportation directors in the business. Read More
We take it back. Yesterday, when it was confirmed that Apple would be coming to Grand Central Terminal, The Observer declared the marriage of two of our favorite things. Nothing could be better. Except maybe if we could gnaw on a Shack Burger while perusing the glass cube, greasing up all the iScreens. Read More
It’s two of our favorite things: Robert Zimmerman and infrastructure wonkery!
In honor of the minstrel’s 70th birthday, brilliant blog The Infrastructurist has compiled a list of the Top 10 Dylan songs about roads, bridges and levees, wherein “Only those songs with direct titular and lyrical links to infrastructure were considered.” So yes to Read More
A group of 30 transit advocates, environmentalists, planners and labor leaders sent Governor-elect Andrew Cuomo a letter [PDF] this morning with a simple request: Don’t allow, or, god forbid, encourage, the Legislature to continue raiding dedicated transit funds for the purpose of covering budget shortfalls.
The Paterson administration did exactly that not once Read More
Westward, ho… after all!
In the confusion following the disappearance of the ARC Tunnel last month, the biggest question seemed to be what would happen to the $3 billion the federal government had set aside for the trans-Hudson train tunnel, by certain measures the largest transportation project ever undertaken. Local politicians, including Mayor Bloomberg Read More
“It was a destructive and incredibly foolish decision on multiple levels,” writes New York Times columnist and eminent economist Paul Krugman in today’s paper. He was referring to Governor Chris Christie’s decision to put the kibosh on ARC, a tunnel that would burrow under the Hudson River, dramatically increasing train capacity between New York Read More
Affordable Housing or Lack Thereof
