A weekly roundup of good deeds, missteps, heroic feats and epic failures in the tri-state region and beyond.
Winners
MTA Chairman Joe Lhota — Step one is admitting you have a problem; Chairman Lhota did just that in a memo to the entire MTA staff which “acknowledges that the agency faces a crisis and does not currently deserve the public’s trust.”
LIRR and NJ Transit commuters — So far, the “Summer of Hell” hasn’t been so bad.
New York Assembly Member Jeffrey Dinowitz — The assembly member from the Bronx plans to propose a bill which would earmark a small percentage of the New York State income tax to the MTA
NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio, DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg and Parks Commissioner Mitchell Silver — For the first time ever, cars will be completely banned from Prospect Park for two months.
Losers
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo — If your MetroCard won’t get you access to the lifts at Whiteface, Gore Mountain and Belleayre, then Governor Cuomo shouldn’t be using $4.9 million in MTA funds to bail out ski centers.
NYPD — On July 4, officers blocked the Williamsburg and Manhattan Bridge bicycle and pedestrian paths (but not motor vehicle lanes) forcing people traveling between Brooklyn and Manhattan to share the road with high-speed motorized traffic.
7 Train riders — It’s looking like a “Summer of Hell” for people who ride the 7 Train. Not only have they been joined by lots of would-be LIRR riders, but this morning, many were stuck under the East River for almost an hour.
New York City children — Playstreets, which provide car-free space for kids to play during the summer, are being phased out.
I wonder, is the drop in Playstreets due to parking demand being greater?
If I understand reports correctly, the MTA payment was owed by MTA to New York State; Cuomo just had MTA pay off a state debt instead of the state getting it’s MTA payment and then paying out what it owed. Poor choice for your ‘loser’ article. If you were doing your job, you might be asking how MTA/LIRR plans to build the 3rd track and remove the grade crossings when working in such a tight space PLUS not taking the railroad out of service (at least for normal commuting purposes). LIRR so far has refused to say how it will be done, making you wonder ‘what could possibly go wrong here’… It is not clear they know for sure it can be done, let alone how. Regardless, this badly needed project will go forward; that is a win for LIRR commuters (/victims) and Nassau motorists. Also in recent days, cashless tolls started on the Goethals. You may not care, but eliminating that backup helps a bit in many ways.