No Love for MTA on Jay
Someone’s really frustrated with how the MTA’s conducting itself in Downtown Brooklyn. So frustrated, in fact, that they’ve launched a blog called mtapleasefixjay. Only two posts old, the blog has already shed light on abusive parking practices by MTA workers, excessive bird poop build-up by the Jay Street-Borough Hall station and the scaffolding that’s been…
Someone’s really frustrated with how the MTA’s conducting itself in Downtown Brooklyn. So frustrated, in fact, that they’ve launched a blog called mtapleasefixjay. Only two posts old, the blog has already shed light on abusive parking practices by MTA workers, excessive bird poop build-up by the Jay Street-Borough Hall station and the scaffolding that’s been up outside 370 Jay Street for the past, oh, decade or so. And Marty agrees: “This section of Jay St. is an embarrassment – and our commuters, residents and local businesses deserve better,” he said earlier this month.
problems at the mta are endemic and start at the very top w/ political appointees who are in charge of running the business. The union is also out of control. Although there are some terrible dangerous jobs in the MTA, most workers are overpaid for their jobs once benefits and everything are included.
Furthermore, the mta’s maintenance and capitol improvements are among the best examples of mismanagement and wasteful spending anywhere. They’re happy to sign on to a $200 mil project, but they dont have anyone who can make very basic repairs like water leaks etc.
Examples:
1. Fulton St. Station. They started demolitions and station closure before they even knew what they were going to do.
2. Smith/9th Station. It’s in desparate shape because they’ve ignored it so they can justify rebuilding the whole thing. Meanwhile, it has holes in the roof, and theres as much rust as steel.
3. The V line. The V line cost several hundred million dollars, but it only provides a minimal upgrade over the F and R lines available previously. Meanwhile, even though theres desparate demand in brooklyn, the V stops at 2d Ave.
4. Every elevator in the system. 78% of the elevators arent maintained according to NY building code. http://www.nysun.com/new-york/brooklyns-clark-street-elevator-failed-400-times/53421/ There are lots of other articles about maintenance failures; google it and you’ll find more.
Sam, I gotta disagree with you on this. I know a number of honorable and hardworking people in the middle and upper management at the MTA. The problem with the MTA is that they are not allowed to utilize the best practices of the commercial marketplace and operate the system like a business. It isn’t the entirely the MTA’s fault. The political pressure they are under is huge. Their union system is out of control. The financial realities that they face are staggering. The mandate to keep the entire system up and running 24/7/365 is problematic. Without going into a complete defense of the MTA, I believe that they are trying. BUT this doesn’t excuse them from the fact that the Jay Street Station and the building above it are like an open sore.
duckwalk, the problem is this: the MTA doesn’t give a shit about the public, their needs, or the city’s future. They don’t give a shit. In fact they love to annoy the public, ignore their needs, and ruin any opportunity for the city’s quality of life to improve. In many ways, they are our underground evil empire.
I’ve worked across the street from this mess for 15+ years. There are a multitude of problems that need to be addressed here.
The station renovations, slow as they are, are a sign that maybe something will get better underground BUT that does nothing to address the dead streetscape above ground. It is criminal that the old Citibank has been vacant for at least a decade except for a Reduced Price Metrocard office. It seems to me that a bit of retail there would improve things. And, the scaffolding has been up almost long enough to get landmark status. It’s a shame that it’s what guests in one of the busiest hotels in all of NYC get to see on their way to the train.
Being so close to a major office of the MTA, this station should be a showcase for what the MTA wants the system to be. As the area becomes more residential and another hotel gets ready to open, I hope the MTA gets the message on this disaster area.
There’s nothing you can do about the Transit Authority. It’s like trying to change the tides. The only solution is to move and buy a car. I wonder how much credit the NYC Transit Authority should get for the westward flow of population in the US over the past eighty years?
This is an example of why Markowitz MUST be replaced as BP. He has spent the last 4 years cozying up to Ratner (undoubtedly to have a nice job with FCR when he is kicked out of Borough Hall) instead of championing things that have unqualified value to all of Brooklyn — like improving this station — one of the busiest in the entire system.
I’d like to know when they plan to open up the Myrtle Ave. “tunnel” by Sids, instead of leaving that bogus post-911 human gate. They tried closing off the local streets when they first developed Metrotech and were stopped. 911 gave them the excuse to close it all up.
Does anyone else remember that when they took down the Myrtle Ave. El, there was a promise to the neighborhood that there would always be a free bus transfer from the Myrtle Ave. Bus to the A train? Where did that go?
Up DeKalb Ave on the 38 is the answer. Nobody takes the Myrtle Ave. bus to get anywhere downtown these days and that (probably illegal) disconnect to Jay St. is probably part of the reason.
If the city is safe enough for schools to ban cellphones, then its safe enough to give back the drive thru to Myrtle and open up Bridge St.. The cops could give back their private parking lot on Park Row in Manhattan, while I am bitching.
I would rather walk miles in driving wind and rain than go anywhere near this station. Luckily, living in BH, you have lots of train options, but if I need the A or the F, I head down to Bergen or up to York or High Street. Or I pick a different train. It’s just horrible. The stench alone could knock you dead.
The Jay Street/Boro Hall Station is the most incredible disaster area I have ever seen. I think you can’t do something that bad without putting a lot of effort into it. It is as if the geniuses at the TA purposefully went out of their way to create the most hideous human environment possible. Why should Americans subject themselves to this sort of degradation? Honestly, at times I think that the TA is secretely financed by the auto industry in order to turn people off public transportation.