Comments on: HP South update: Affordable Housing coming soon to a fence near you

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:05:26 +0000

For the record I have rode the #7 at the vernon Jackson station durign rush hour for 13 years. I never never once had a problem getting on a train or into the station – except when there a systemwide issue, police investigation on the line, or a sick passenger. Outside of that 95% of the time I go down there wait less than 5 minutes for the next train and get on the first train that arrives in the station. I don’t know where this problem of overcrowding has come from. It seems much worse on the upper east side. Having said that we should take advantage of the water and expand ferry service.

The problems with the ferry is as follows:

1) schedules – not enoung boats scheduled to run
2) reliability – boats not where they should be when they should be
3) price, why should it cost double to cost the E river by boat than by subway
4) Stops/transfers – more stops and options for free transfers to ground transportation

If they could fix this they would develop a loyal group of customers

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:07:24 +0000

Ferry, bus-boat, vaporetto — I don’t care what you call it. Let’s just use the damn river for public transit. Something is seriously wrong when regular commuters in the boroughs can see the benefit of waterborne mass transit in the city, but transit planners can’t or won’t.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 08:10:06 +0000

#38 (I posted # 35) I’m not saying that we don’t need other sources of municipal travel, of course we do. My objection is to the attitude that even though we are one of the last stops Manhattan-bound, on the 7, some here think that LIC residents somehow have a pre-booked seat ticket on the train. Not you, I know. I’d welcome with great fanfare other travel options also. But these people haven’t batted an eyelid about yet another high priced apartment complex going up, but low and behold middle-class facilitation in the neighborhood gets their dander up. It just makes my blood boil.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 18:21:24 +0000

yeah #35 there are to kinds of people here, the #37 and the #10s

However i do like the bus-boat idea. It seems more efficient than having ferries.

ps #36 the DOT says no more than 36 trains per hour can be run on block signal systems. There are no regulations on CBTC systems.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 18:13:23 +0000

Ferries are a good idea, but they are impractical for commuting across the east river. The docking process takes WAY to much time. I was thinking of a commuter version of the “Duck Buses”. I can see a fleet of electric only Boatbuses running through LIC and it’s surrounding areas and then crossing the east river. Very efficient, although kind of far fetched.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 17:13:53 +0000

#34, according to the MTA timetables, during rush hour the 7-train runs every 2-4 minutes which would put the average trains at more like 20 per hour and that will be under the best circumstances. Yes the signal will be upgraded and more trains will be added, according to the DOT you can never run more than 36 trains per hours, under the best circumstances, which while a great improvement will do very little to ameliorate the overcrowding when 5000 more people move in. There is a serious issue with transportation in NYC, have you seen the Midtown Tunnel recently? There needs to be a better solution than adding the maximum number of trains to a subway system that is susceptible to all sorts of adverse conditions including human illness, rain and continued development. What is your suggestion for 2020 when the trains are really beyond crowded? Should we look at high speed ferry systems then? There is no reason why the MTA should not be asked to take over the ferry system and include it in their transportation network, it only makes sense to utilize the waterfront everyone is so excited to develop.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 12:40:04 +0000

While I welcome Lobster Rolls (who doesn’t?) we can’t override the fact that poor people will live with us. And they will all ride the 7 into the city with us every morning…no wait: won’t they be the one’s making the lobster rolls for us in LIC? Nice attitude, neighbors. Those not on the gravy train pay the same amount as you to ride the subway. What makes YOU special?
If a cop and a teacher can’t afford to buy in LIC what does that say about us as an area? High-rise people forcing up rents? Or old-timers making bank off others backs?
Frankly, I’m sickened. We need another yoga facility or dog gym like Linda McCartney needed a rat sandwich.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 05:56:11 +0000

#32, please do some reasearch before commenting. The 7 actually does run at 28 trains per hour. And CBTC Signals are not pie in the sky technology, in fact CBTC was implemented in a short anoint of time in 2006 on the L line and so far is working perfectly. If people actually learned about how the MTA works on a technological and operational level they wouldn’t be complaining, that simple.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 03:52:49 +0000

#19, you are absolutely right. Lobster rolls cannot be bad.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 17:09:37 +0000

28, and when was the last time there were 28 trains an hour on the No. 7? Why wait for some pie in the sky technology that will likely take forever to implement and shut down service for god know’s how many more weekends if we can just toss a few boats in the water and sail across the river? Nothing wrong with ferries. If only we had folks at MTA who could see beyond their pocket protectors, we’d have a network of them today.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 14:06:39 +0000

Anyway back to the original topic. 28 does have a point, CBTC will work wonders on the 7. But I think that the capacity of the nearby 7 stations will reach 100% soon, anyone got any ideas for a fix?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 02:40:31 +0000

#29 and #28 I totally agree, facts are important, also I didn’t know some of the stuff you posted there, pretty cool.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 02:36:23 +0000

Really #25? only NYC, Boston, and Chicago have halfway decent systems? What about San Fransiscos Bart and Muni? What about LAs various light rails and metro lines? Don’t forget that Atlanta has a sizeable Metro system, as well as Washington DC and Philidelphia.

Facts, all about the facts, you can’t come up with random bogus and say it’s true!

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 02:27:31 +0000

hey #22 are you sure you know what you are talking about? The new signal system will not help “by a very small amount”. It will help in a very large amount actually. The new system can show the exact location of trains while the old system can only show the location of trains within a few 100 feet. This means that instead of being able to run 1 train in between stations at any time, they can run 3 trains in between stations at any time. An increase from 28 trains per hour to 40 or more trains per hour can be expected after the new system is in place.

Seriously guys if we are gonna talk about serious transportation ideas we need some serious facts and not pure speculation.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 23:19:12 +0000

staten island ferry-if it works there, why not expand them

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 21:48:59 +0000

Wait #25, really poor countries like The Netherlands, the west coast of America, Italy, and France etc…These are the really poor countries with no mass transit systems other than outdated technology?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 21:31:02 +0000

Really poor countries use ferries b/c they’re a technology that’s centuries old. They used to run there in the early part of this century before the bridges, tunnels and use of mass transit. They’re completely outdated and if there’s ice in the water, ever see Titanic?

Poor countries can’t afford to have mass transit. Heck, even most cities in the US barely have any. NYC, Boston and Chicago are really the only places with a halfway decent transit system.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 20:45:10 +0000

HPS will have an array of free pedal-boats. Additionally in exchange for the right to have more frequent morning helicopter flyovers, FOX News will be permitted to pick up short hop passengers. Peace Island will be a halfway drop off point to and from Manhattan.

As for the shabby middle class occupants of HPS, the rest of us will have special ID cards that provide priority seating on the #7.

But the best is that all deli’s and food carts that prepare any form of breakfast will be allowed to serve alcohol before 11. The other good news is the pedestrian bridge will be built. Bad news is it will be a toll bridge.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 20:20:27 +0000

21, explain that. How is it that cities around the world, including really poor ones, use ferries, but in NYC, an advanced, wealthy city situated smack in the midst of waterways begging to be used, we view them as not feasible? I honestly don’t understand.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 20:16:57 +0000

#21 why shouldn’t the MTA takeover the ferries? Other cities all over the world have Government subsidized ferry service but NYC should ignore this mode of transportation for a mode that is almost full, and even with the new signals will only increase the amount of room by a very small amount. You must not have to commute between 8am and 10am.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 20:14:04 +0000

Ferries are too expensive for everyday riders when you can get an unlimited monthly pass from the MTA. Unless the MTA takes over a ferry line, which will never happen, we’re not going to see regular ferry service like the #7.

The new signals on the #7 line will help eventually. What really holds up the line is people holding the doors. There’s always another train people, act civilized!

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 20:04:31 +0000

Actually they will not be doing ferry service. Last I heard there was a proposal to have a bus run through the midtown tunnel. There is some weird anti-ferry belief within the city transportation people, so imagine how it will be when there are tons more people walking north on 5th street to Vernon every morning and by tons I mean 4000. I like the idea of the development and think it is a great use of the land, as well as a good counterbalance to all of the “luxury housing” already built but there are going to be real problems with the infrastructure that are not limited to the subway.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 19:55:51 +0000

LIC to be more like Montauk? I am not following this–though I would like a lobster roll place to open.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 19:47:48 +0000

I’m sure they’ll figure it out at least with running ferries. And if someone is so worried about sitting next to poor people then take a limo or car service.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 19:42:32 +0000

It’s just plain nuts to me that we can’t figure out another way to get people from one bank of a river to another. A couple of ferries, people, and the No. 7 train crowding problem is solved.