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Second Ave. Sagas Profile picture
Second Ave. Sagas
@2AvSagas
Subways, transit, NYC. The official account of what mayoral sources once called an obscure transportation blog. Tweets by @bkabak. DMs open. DM for Signal.
Jun 6 • 7 tweets • 3 min read
Politico reports that the Hail Mary proposal by Hochul to implement an NYC-only PMT to close the gaping capital budget hole she created is DOA. So how does Hochul ensure her MTA has a capital program and doesn't lose billions in federal money now?

politico.com/news/2024/06/0… To go from something temporarily unpopular but largely on track to nothing at all in the span of 36 hours because Hakeem Jeffries and Jay Jacobs got in your head is really screwing the pooch. Rank incompetence.

Aug 18, 2022 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
Two abandoned streateries in my neighborhood were dismantled this week, and it's a big improvement on a few fronts. But unfortunately they were just converted back into curbside parking. The city should think more creatively and reclaim this as public space for people. Good commitment to the program - which needs to be well run and well managed. It can't just be a rule-free free for all.

Jul 27, 2022 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
Janno Lieber on OPTO, a politically explosive issue: "OPTO has been successful in some places....but those are short constructs...in light of safety issues we are experiences, there is no doubt conductors are of real value."

No one wants to touch this issue. OPTO is both the most obvious lowest hanging fruit for solving part of the MTA operations cost problem and the one that is politically among the most difficult (and, realistically speaking, least likely at this point).
Jul 27, 2022 • 6 tweets • 1 min read
Go away, old man. Useless corrupt anti-progress. Mack used to sleep through board meetings. Since being denied an unearned parking placard, he’s made it his personal mission to throw constant tantrums in public.
Jul 26, 2022 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
On the one hand, the operating budget is in shambles and the MTA will be broke by the end of 2024. On the other hand, the agency is flush with capital money is simply cannot spend in any rational way. These issues are related. The MTA's capital budget has, since Pataki, been funded through large amounts of debt financing, and debt service shifts to the operating budget. Some debt financing is fine - new construction generates new revenue and you can bond against that.
Jul 25, 2022 • 22 tweets • 6 min read
It's time for Bad Financial News from the MTA Board Finance Committee meeting. Top line is that thanks to less-than-expected ridership and a longer ridership recovery, cumulative deficits increase by $2.7 billion.

We start with a revision to the McKinsey Ridership Projections. A lot of us have been clamoring for new ridership projections since late 2021 when it was clear WFH was continuing and early 2022 when Omicron ended the MTA ridership climb. McKinsey has finally reassessed ridership.

The larger the font, the more important the factor. Image
Jun 24, 2022 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
Feels a little trite to be posting rolling stock updates today, but here's the latest on the R211s from next week's MTA Board committee materials. Everything is late and the open gangway test trains will be arriving later this year. Some images of the open gangway test trains under construction. These are long long overdue in NYC.
Jun 23, 2022 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
In the immediate term, this is bad news for NYC and bad news for any effort to reduce shootings - which have been going down lately. It requires an immediate response from the city and state. Thomas' decision will make it very hard for limit on public carry to survive constitutional challenges. The 6-3 Court took this case as an opportunity to massively expand its interpretation of the 2nd Amendment.
Jun 22, 2022 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
The city that can’t. Give up. It’s over. This means basically a Utica Ave extension and … nothing else?

IBX goes through as a governor project but you can forget about Phases 3 and 4 of the Second Ave Subway or other needed rail expansions.
Jun 21, 2022 • 6 tweets • 3 min read
Truck driver witnesses a cab run over a CitiBiker and maim a number of people on the sidewalk, some of whom were sitting outside and eating. That seems to be the general consensus about what happened yesterday.

So what was some of the reaction? Well, The Post decided to quote the truck driver blaming outdoor dining. I'm sure that's some comfort to the victim who lost her legs yesterday, the penalty for the crime of just eating a bagel.

nypost.com/2022/06/20/tax…
Jun 20, 2022 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
I understand this was the result of a car crash in which multiple pedestrians on the sidewalk were severely injured. Details are coming in slowly. The first write by The Times doesn’t mention a driver at all. The cab wasn’t sentient.
Oct 28, 2021 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
I've been thinking about Streetsblog's 311 coverage about parking complaints, and Sarah's thread about how the 311 system seems broken in light of my own recent experiences.

This isn't even about parking. It's about a leaking fire hydrant. There's a fire hydrant around the corner for my apartment that's been running - slow feed though, not full blast - for about 2 weeks. I filed a 311 report last Thursday. The report was closed 4 minutes later by @NYCWater because it was a duplicate. They already knew about it.
Oct 27, 2021 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
Bill de Blasio's Vision Zero plan is going out like Stan Chera. Imagine being a lame duck, having no political future and still cowering in fear of four people on a CB or whoever the mayor's listening to now. This most be so discouraging for the many competent people still at DOT. The cowardice of Gutman and de Blasio are killing people.
Oct 20, 2021 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
It’s nice that the “official” thinks that, but there’s no way that’s even close to true. I’d make easy money betting on that. Fun (?) to try to guess which one.
Oct 19, 2021 • 7 tweets • 3 min read
The cops I've seen have been better about wearing masks in the subway lately, though the bar was on the floor. They really really don't like being told the rules apply to them too. Inexcusable. 🙃
Oct 19, 2021 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
I've been thinking more and more about my reluctance to support Ballot Proposal Number 2 this year. The League of Women Voters has a good breakdown: lwvbn.org/voterinformati… So far, I'm leaning this way

Proposal #1: Yes
Proposal #2: No
Proposal #3: Yes
Proposal #4: Yes
Proposal #5: Yes

I'm totally aligned with the philosophy of #2, but have seen too many vague environmental review laws weaponized for bad outcomes and NIMBY purposes.
Oct 18, 2021 • 7 tweets • 3 min read
I wrote a bit about Schwartz's spot on the board in my new Patreon post today. The short of it is that I'm not impressed he's sticking around until at least January, and anything he says or advocates for should be ignored.

patreon.com/posts/57530659 An excerpt:
Dec 10, 2020 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
I have been learning more and more lately that the vast majority of New Yorkers do not know that the subways are still running overnight but not letting passengers on. This is costing the MTA money, losing them revenue and making it much harder for people to get to work. Correct. That's what is happening every night between 1-5 a.m.
Dec 9, 2020 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
I finally published my piece on the proposal to eliminate unlimited ride Metrocards. I don't think the MTA is going to cut 7- or 30-day cards, but the discussion around it is alarming. I also try to make sense of Larry Schwartz's rants and fail (again).

Read on!

👇👇👇 The idea of an unlimited ride Metrocard feels foreign and pre-pandemic at this point. But a Schwartz-driven move, without any sort of rationale given, has serious ramifications regarding transit access. It should be taken seriously.

secondavenuesagas.com/2020/12/09/as-…
Dec 8, 2020 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
The only way to avoid economic catastrophe for everyone is state and local aid AND checks. Otherwise, what's the point? This truly should not be as hard as Mitch McConnell is making it. I don't know why Schumer would give up state + local aid in exchange for McConnell's dropping the liability protections. That's a mismatch in priorities and one that hangs us all out to dry.
Dec 8, 2020 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
🤦‍♂️ I'll have to look at the transcript here later, but that this wouldn't even be surprising is by itself an indictment of de Blasio. How do you serve as mayor and be this incurious and ignorant after 7 years on the job?