Friday, November 22, 2013

No Roosevelt Island F Train Service To Manhattan Again This Weekend - Work Continuing On Second Avenue Subway 63rd Street Tunnel

According to the MTA:

F Coney Island-bound trains run via the E from Roosevelt Av to 5 Av/53 St

Weekend, 11:15 PM Fri to 5 AM Mon, Nov 22 - 25

Trains resume regular service at 47-50 Sts.

No Coney Island-bound service at 21 St-Queensbridge, Roosevelt Island, Lexington Av/63 St and 57 St.

As reported last Friday:
... During NYC Planning Department Western Queens/Roosevelt Island Transportation Study presentation to Community Board 8 (CB8) Roosevelt Island committee last night, a Roosevelt Island resident asked about why the constant Roosevelt Island F Train weekend subway service disruptions.

The NYC Planning Department representative did not have an answer.

CB 8 member Larry Parnes indicated that he thought the Roosevelt Island weekend F Train subway disruptions are caused by work related to the construction of the Second Avenue tunnel and that this work is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2013. Mr. Parnes added that he did not know if there is other work related to subway service maintenance and rehabilitation which might  require additional Roosevelt Island weekend subway service disruptions after completion of the Second Avenue tunnel work....
The excellent Transportation blog Second Avenue Sagas has much more


on the history of the 63rd Street Tunnel



as well as the present status of Second Avenue Subway constuction:
The Second Ave. Subway took another step toward completion today — and Upper East Side residents will now get something of a reprieve — as the agency announced that all blasting for Phase 1 construction is complete....
NBC New York has this September 2013 report on the Second Avenue Subway Information Center



and the NY Times on the construction



of the Second Avenue Subway project.

12 comments :

CheshireKitty said...

You should talk. Have I demanded that you substantiate/footnote all your comments? We should all try to avoid oversimplification/polemic - but, in real life, in actual discourse/conversation, are we supplying references and links for everything we say?

CheshireKitty said...

As if you didn't do the same thing when you wrote "Why do CheshireKitty and Bill hate people that fit that description?" with reference to the words "education" and "employment". Aren't you doing the very thing you say I do? Moreover, as we know, Bill is employed - and clearly has nothing against work. Am me? I'm a cat - thus, can't be expected to advance much educationally etc., or rely on anything other than my own devices for survival.

Janine said...

I am happy to have benches back on Main Street- no matter what they look like. All Islander and visitors can sit and chat with their friends and have a meeting destination spot to wait comfortably at. "Hey, I'll meet you at the bench in front of the Sweet Shop"! I also think it's not nice :-( to assume the worst of things. The "new hipster" and the "poorer income" Bull S**t needs to STOP... Stop Now. We need to welcome our new neighbors with respect that we want in return. "We are all ROOSEVELT ISLANDERS we are ONE" all unique and special but ONE because we are "the few" who live in such a rare & beautiful place. So RESPECT is required of ALL. So, in my sweetest, kindest words... Just be kind humans beings, things are ugly out there... so don't crap up my terf!

CheshireKitty said...

That is Bill Blass's specialty: Any aspect of island life is analyzed through Bill's "polarized" viewpoint - with the polarity being poor vs rich, hipster vs yuppie.


As much as NYC is Two Cities - as Deblasio repeated and the reality of which probably won him the election - RI is unfortunately Two Islands: That of the poor, disabled - including those residing at Coler, the elderly, and working-class, including the hundreds working at the hospital, vs those that can actually afford market-rate leases on RI.


You cannot afford a market-rate lease on RI if you are a moderately, if not low paid, worker at Coler. I can tell you that right now. And those workers are unionized. There is no way they can pay the rents demanded at, for example ST.


ST hospital buildings leased by off-island hospitals (MSK, Cornell, Animal Med Center) provide accommodations that are subsidized and offered as housing/perks to exclusively to professional staff only. The masses of MSK, Cornell, and Animal Med Center workers that enable a hospital to function - from the maintenance staff, to the carpentry and electrical shops, to the cafeteria workers, and on and on - never get the housing subsidies or opportunities to live in hospital subsidized housing. Without a subsidy, they can't afford market rate housing on RI - and so they commute from the outer boroughs into Manhattan/RI to work, just as thousands of other moderately paid, or those paid minimum wage, commute.


Yet - it might be nice if there was a new building of affordable housing constructed on RI, instead of non-stop luxury towers being constructed. Does anyone think it'll ever happen? Time will tell.

Salvatore Anthony Hoo said...

1st, let it be known that I only have one establishment on Roosevelt Island and that is Riverwalk Bar and Grill. I know its a common misconception on the island that I am partners in Nonno's however that is completely not true. Alfonso owns the pizzeria on his own and is our partner at the bar but I have no ownership of the pizzeria. 2nd, they could replace every bench in between 425 and 455 with the new benches and it wouldn't make a lick of difference to me. Seriously.

Salvatore Anthony Hoo said...

Always good to pop in every so often. It's amusing to see what the regular participants on the blog are griping about. Flavor of the week.... Bench design.

SherieL said...

Just to inform those who are uninformed: RIRA had, still has, I believe, a sub-committee of Island Services Committee that, long before the glass and planters came down and new ceilings went up on the Eastwood side (and now the Westview side) of the street, met with David Kramer and his associates on several different occasions to discuss some design ideas and what we thought would be desirable for the entire community. One of the questions was what would happen with the seating that many people on the Island use. Related's reps would not entertain an idea to keep up any of the glass, even though it was suggested that they put in full panes of non-shattering/non-glare glass to help keep out the elements when we have particularly windy, west to east, and wet weather. The RIRA rep's idea was that there would be better visibility from (across) the street but with protection from the elements. They didn't want to hear about lighting ideas, signage or much of anything else. We asked about benches and they gave us "an idea" of what they were thinking of (and Kramer may have mentioned it at the one Town Hall he held, I just don't remember for sure at this point). So, though RIRA tried to have some influence with keeping at least the design sense, (protection from the elements and protected seating) they mostly have gone ahead with their own concept. They have put in seating which most Islanders should be happy to see returned. The problem is that there is no protection from the elements and this seating will probably only be used only in fairly good weather. There is one covered area on the East wood side of the street, but I don't know if they're planning to make any changes there. The glass rises up and over the walkway area and it may be that Roosevelt Landings has not allowed and will not allow them to touch that, at least while the Senior Center is still in existence as this area gives complete cover. The bench in front of the dry cleaners is weird, but then, it is seating and more is better than not enough or none. So don't look a gift horse in the mouth.


Any resident who has had any concern over the Main Street design changes could have joined this RIRA sub-committee and attended these meetings helping to support it and get your concerns heard.


This is not being paid for by the City, State or RIOC (read: Roosevelt Islanders). This is in the developer's domain and their work. (Hudson-Related is the developer of SoTown, but Hudson leads the Main Street makeover.) They want to make this place look better to bring folks here to buy into their Sotown development. Octagon also benefits by a better looking Main Street. It is very clearly not being done for the benefit of current residents, it just happens to occasionally benefit us, or not.


Whatever "improvements" that come to RI, whether or not we have a voice in them, and mostly we do not and have not, you, the individual have to decide whether to enjoy them, or what's the alternative?

Mark Lyon said...

Another one today: http://therealdeal.com/blog/2013/11/24/new-tax-may-force-lot-owners-hands/


DeBlasio's vacant land tax is intended to force development of the little remaining privately-owned open land in the city. Hope Helen doesn't like community gardens, the additional taxes are going to ensure they go away.

RooseveltIslander said...

Here's a portion of the April 2012 meeting between Hudson Related rep and RIRA ISC subcommittee that you mentioned

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Gf2LaB5FQRY

and full video of meeting here.

http://rooseveltislander.blogspot.com/2012/04/update-on-roosevelt-island-main-street.html

CheshireKitty said...

I always pick poor people over trees.

Budulay Leopoldovich said...

and again we get a conversation about the real issue redirected to right use of logic argument... to much book knowledge usually hurts people ability to implement it in real situations... my own observation ;)

Budulay Leopoldovich said...

why dont we discuss spelling now... :)