From the Times Ledger:City Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. (D-Astoria) is calling on the MTA to inspect and repair the elevated train along the N line at Astoria’s Ditmars Boulevard after a piece of wood fell from the tracks onto the street last week.
The councilman said his office has also received numerous complaints from community residents whose parked cars have been damaged by creosote, a wood preserve made from distilled coal tar, dripping from the tracks.
A two-foot piece of wood with pointed edges fell from a station overhang at the Ditmars subway stop onto the sidewalk near 31st Street around 5 p.m. Aug. 19, but no passers-by were injured, Vallone said.
From the Daily News:
The long stretch of overhead tracks that runs through Jamaica, Richmond Hill and Woodhaven to the Brooklyn-Queens border is marred by peeling paint, rusted metal and cracked cement.
"This is what happens when you neglect steel for far too long," Crowley said.
State Sen. Joseph Addabbo (D-Howard Beach) said the MTA has done patchwork repairs on the tracks, but can't remember the last time it was painted.
"I'm pretty sure some of this is from when I was a kid," said Addabbo, who is 45. "We're long overdue for a major renovation."
18 comments:
Last Year I was involved a film production in Bangkok and stayed at my place there for some 9 weeks. I took the Thai "Skytrain" and their subway almost every day. Granted, their system is less than a decade old, but the maintenance puts our system to shame.
You also don't have third world savages pissing, spitting and throwing trash all over it.
Tonight I came back from Bergen Co NJ and took the A train down from the GW Bridge.
Where I got out on 86th St I had to play hop scotch to avoid the ever present pools of urine and filthy water from leaks. It has been this way for the 15 years I have been making this trip.
We are also hobbled by Union work rules that limit the height of cleaning efforts so that walls above 10 or-so Ft are caked in grime that never gets dealt with.
When it rains heavily I have seen patches of paint and plaster falling while I waited for a train.
I understand that our system is ancient compared to places such a Thailand...but really, this is New York..we should be able to do better.
We got nice bike lanes though! Notice that Transportation Alternatives, funded by Blumturd, doesn't go there.
Hell we should be discussing expanding the system as Tony suggested, with light rail lines. Certainly having the city take over the MTA should be on the table.
Did the media cover that? Naw, they were covering Blumturd and the S I Little League.
LIno you just have to stay in the right areas and not stray too far.
Besides, what will things look like when we have another million?
Press? Any media?
"A piece of wood" fell? Big deal. When I lived in Astoria (in the
eighties) there were always bolts and rivets dropping down when trains passed overhead.
It's astounding how NYC prides itself on being "the greatest city in the world" and yet its disgusting subway system is worthy of a third-world country. The first comment says it all: riding the subways in NYC is a demeaning experience, even if you don't stray from the "right areas". The subway system is 70 to more than 100 years old which is no excuse for its state of neglect.
They're waiting for the whole train to fall through. I too, lived in Astoria during the 80's and the 70's as well when all of New York looked like something out of an apocolyptic movie and never want to revisit those days.
"A piece of wood" fell? Big deal. When I lived in Astoria (in the
eighties) there were always bolts and rivets dropping down when trains passed overhead.
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And the Vallones were elected big time then as they are today.
The point is, like the airport and power plants, these are things (like our elected officials) that show up again and again with numbing regularity.
Nothing changes.
Well, Tony does suggest looking into having the city control the MTA, but hell, we will not go there and threaten to break the loop of headline after headline on this topic about every year and half or so.
That tunnels been leaking since the day it was built. There are fast running underground springs in that area.
Yep--A MINEFIELD of piss and garbage. You need to take a shower and wash all your clothes when you get home.
I go to Harlem & Washington Heights to buy cool sneakers twice a year. Black areas always have the best sneakers and Dominicans make some great food.
I have absolute sh-t choice in Manhasset N Shore area. The same item if you do find it cost 4X more.
If you ride any of those upper West side trains be sure to get done by 2PM. The combined stench of rotting piss, sweat, perfumes and stink oils (Muslems) on packed train can knock you out.
That subway has gotten drasticly worse in the past 4 years
Vallone Jr. Mike Bloomberg's Mr. Slushy no third term for sell outs!
Yes, the state of the subway system is horrible, but this is just an attempt for the local pols to distract the masses from the real problems of our city, the problems that they are all afraid to address, overdevelopment and ILLEGAL immigration.
Perhaps it's time to replace the nearly century-old Jamaica El with a sleek Airtrain-style concrete viaduct.
All this stems from the "deffered Maintenance" in the 70's.It's hard to catch up,rust never sleeps.AS far as the city taking over the mta,i think they mean New york City transit,i think the city would not do a better job.Why would the the city take control of the Lirr andMetro-North?
The el on Jamaica ave. looks like an old sunken ship, while the one in Rockaway is crumbling more every day.
Check out the N train stations in Brooklyn.
This is what happens when a community says nothing.
Bet they have nice bike lanes.
We can see where the money goes.
Why should anyone care about the subway when we have luxury condos in LIC, bike lanes, the high line, the RFK renaming, the chairs in times square: all of that makes NYC a great place to live in!
**Bet they have nice bike lanes.
We can see where the money goes.
???
Does that make even a lick of sense at all considering the elevated lines and the subway as a whole has been deteriorating for more than 30 years and the city never pays the tiny 15 or 17 percent share of what it should. Yes the MTA is poorly managed, but thats got squat to do with bike lanes.
Step out of your small world because there are bike lanes all over the country and most of the major cities in Europe for quite some time now. The trains in the UK, Europe, and especially Japan put to shame the MTA, and they still have the evil bike lane monster and pothole less roads.
Wonderful air NYC has also rated the worst in the country from your exhaust.
"Does that make even a lick of sense at all considering the elevated lines and the subway as a whole has been deteriorating for more than 30 years and the city never pays the tiny 15 or 17 percent share of what it should. Yes the MTA is poorly managed, but thats got squat to do with bike lanes."
Don't you think the bike lane money should have been put toward the MTA then? Especially since the bike lanes only encourage people to not pay into the public transportation system?
Don't you think the bike lane money should have been put toward the MTA then? Especially since the bike lanes only encourage people to not pay into the public transportation system?
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The above is somewhat asinine, as current New York State standards call for bike accomodations as part of the roadway when possible. You'd make just as much sense arguing that we should stop re-painting the "normal" yellow and white lines on the street when they wear out and put those $$ to fixing the MTA also....
"When possible" would seem to indicate when other debts have been paid, when the community asks for them and where they are safe. These are things the city seems to not care about when painting bike lanes. Making a one-lane road into a "mixed" lane is redundant and to use your word, asinine.
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