7 Line Work Continues This Weekend
About an hour or so ago, MTA NYC Transit issued a press release highlighting the major work on the 
this weekend that will see service suspended between Times Square & Queensboro Plaza:
This coming weekend marks the second of three planned service suspensions on the No. 7 Line between Queensboro Plaza and Times Square. Utilizing the period between late Friday night and early Monday morning will give us the opportunity to continue addressing problems that have caused service delays over the past several months.
There will be no No. 7 subway service between Times Square and Queensboro Plaza from 11:30 p.m. Friday, June 24 through 5 a.m., Monday, June 27. During this period, customers are encouraged to use N, R, E or F service for travel between Queens and Manhattan. Free shuttle buses will be available between the Queensboro Plaza (N, 7) and Vernon Boulevard-Jackson Avenue (7) stations, making stops at Queens Plaza (E, R), Court Square (7) and Hunters Point (7). In addition, the 42nd Street (S) shuttle will operate through the overnight hours. The next scheduled weekend suspension is July 29-August 1.
“The work that we are performing along the Flushing Line is vital to our goal of increasing the reliability and performance of one of the busiest and oldest lines in the entire system,” said NYC Transit President Thomas Prendergast. “Hand-in-hand with that effort, however, is the real need to keep our riders informed of what’s going on while these projects are underway.”
To help keep riders informed of these service changes and the work that is being performed, the MTA has launched a new communications effort under the heading, Building a Better 7 Line for You. The colorful brochure explains the project, gives helpful service alternatives and explains the long-range work to the Flushing Line.
Included in the material is a detailed map outlining the service changes, the availability of alternate services and the locations of the stops for the free shuttle buses. We have also created a poster spotlighting area shops and designed to let everyone know that Long Island City is open for business. The poster spotlights the best ways to get there when the 7 is suspended. But just as important to our customers is an explanation of the work. This information will also be available on posters in stations and onboard trains in four languages: English, Spanish, Chinese and Korean. Customers are also urged to listen to description of the work detailed on a podcast available at http://transittrax.mta.info/audio/transittrax.htm.
In order to correct signal issues that have affected the line’s reliability, workers will continue upgrading signal components and replacing wiring and signal circuits. New fasteners are being installed and a major clean-up of the roadbed is being performed to correct damage caused by water infiltration. The power system is being upgraded and a comprehensive tunnel wash is being completed. Service must be suspended during this work due to space restrictions within the Steinway under river tube.
This work will eliminate a key cause of the recent delays, providing some near-term relief. However, a longer-term project to install a state-of-the-art signaling system is also underway and this project will require further service suspensions this fall. Updated communications will be issued when those service diversions are scheduled.
xoxo Transit Blogger
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Manhattan Bound 238th St Platform Reopens
Almost a year ago, MTA NYC Transit announced that service on the northern end of the 
would be affected until 2012 due to a $47M multi-station renovation project. The work which is taking place at the Dyckman, 207th, 215th, 225th, 238th and 242nd St stations would call for service disruptions & station closures.
One of the most recent phases of the project was taking place at the 238th Street station which had its Manhattan-bound platform closed due to station component work. Earlier today, the agency announced via a press release that the platform would reopen tomorrow:
MTA New York City Transit announced that the Manhattan-bound platform at the 238th Street 1 station is scheduled to reopen on Friday, June 24, 2011. The platform has been closed since May 23 for station component work: replacing the platform edge, installing tactile strips, replacing the canopy and making repairs to the platform.
xoxo Transit Blogger
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Bartender Beaten Inside A PATH Train
One of the biggest fears of anyone who rides mass transit is to be attacked randomly during the trip. Unfortunately this nightmare scenario played out for a Christopher Street bartender who was not only attacked on a PATH train on his way home from work, but claims the Port Authority Police Department is not actively seeking the criminals responsible. Andrea Swalec of DNAinfo has more in this report:
A bartender and singer at the Greenwich Village piano bar Duplex was attacked inside a PATH train station on his commute home — and he says the Port Authority police department has done little to find those responsible.
Michael Dionne, 44, who works at the Duplex bar and cabaret on Christopher Street at Seventh Avenue South, said he suffered a broken nose, stitches under his left eye, bruises and cuts on his face and scratches on his arms during the attack by a group of men on June 10.
The incident began when Dionne — who said he has sung at piano bars in Greenwich Village since 1992 — boarded the PATH train at the 9th Street station around 4:30 a.m. June 10 to travel to his Jersey City home, he said.
He said a group of four or five men, one wearing a long black wig and sequined blouse, boarded at the Christopher Street PATH train stop and began to surround him on the train. He said they sprayed him with vanilla-scented body spray, but never addressed him directly.
“They were loud and obnoxious but they didn’t say anything to me,” he said, adding that he told them to stop spraying him, which they did. He thought the incident was over, and exited the train at the Journal Square station.
But nearly two weeks later, Dionne said he hasn’t received a call or a visit from police officers investigating the case, and said his repeated calls to the PAPD have not been returned.
Click here for the complete report.
Let me first thank Andrea for tipping me off to her report, I appreciate it.
I find this extremely disheartening for a number of reasons. For starters, I never want to hear of a fellow passenger being attacked for no legitimate reason. However as bad as that is, can the Port Authority Police Department explain how they are investigating the incident yet nearly 2 weeks after it occurred, they have yet to interview the victim?
This is the first person that should be accounted for in your investigation & yet he was not. What kind of ass backwards investigation are they running ? If I were him, I would seriously look into getting a lawyer & forcing the department to put some legitimate effort into bringing the criminals responsible for this cowardly act to justice. I will continue to follow this story as I am curious as to how it will end.
xoxo Transit Blogger
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Teen Attacks Bronx Bus Driver
MTA NYC Transit bus driver Marlene Bien-Aime showing a bruise resulting from an attack by 17 tear old Steangeli Medina. Photo courtesy of Richard Harbus for the NY Daily News.
It seems every couple of months, I am writing an entry about a MTA bus driver being attacked. Every time I do so, it always brings back memories of how my dad who was a 29.5 year veteran MTA bus driver, was attacked when hit by a bottle.
The latest attack happened in the Bronx where 48 year old Marlene Bien-Aime was attacked by 17 year old Steangeli Medina due to not allowing her Chihuahua to board without being in a travel crate. Barry Paddock & Pete Donohue of the New York Daily News has more in this report:
Carrying a Chihuahua, Medina boarded the Bx9 bus on Fordham Road at Cambreleng Ave. in Belmont just before 6 p.m., police said. She became enraged when Bien-Aime said the pet had to be in a crate to travel.
“She said, ‘I’m gonna hit you,'” Bien-Aime said.
The driver responded, “It’s not me, it’s MTA.”
Seconds later, the first punch was thrown, said Bien-Aime, who spent Wednesday night at St. Barnabas Hospital.
Marlene Bien-Aime, 48, had turned her attention away from the disgruntled teenager at the front of the bus and faced the windshield when the brutal attack began Tuesday night, she said outside Bronx Criminal Court.
“When I turned my head, that’s when she hit me,” Bien-Aime said. “She punched me in my eyes while I was sitting. She hit me several times in my eyes. She hit me all over my head and on my back.”
As the blows landed, Bien-Aime struggled to remove her seat belt, she said. Good Samaritans managed to restrain the teenager – identified by police as Steangeli Medina – but Medina soon broke free.
She punched Bien-Aime some more and dragged her down the steps and off the bus – by her hair, the driver said.
“I rolled over and fell,” Bien-Aime said. “She was on top of me and she kept hitting me in the head. She was hitting me, hitting me, pulling my hair.”
Bien-Aime spoke briefly before going into the courthouse, where prosecutors are considering felony assault charges against Medina.
Removing her sunglasses, Bien-Aime revealed a badly swollen black eye. She also showed a large bruise on her upper left arm. She said her nose was broken and that she suffered from head and neck pain.
Click here for the complete report.
Once again this incident shows that bus driver safety is a highly important issue that has yet to have a solution put in place system wide. Back in December 2008, 46 year old MTA NYC Transit bus driver Edwin Thomas was fatally stabbed by a fare evader on his Brooklyn bus. This led to the agency announcing a fe weeks after that they would be testing bus driver protection partitions. Unfortunately the partitions did not debut until January 2010 & has yet to move past the initial test stage.
How many more drivers need to be injured or die before their safety is addressed on each & every bus in the agency’s fleet? Why have we not seen much of an advance in the use of the partitions? While it is understandable that the cost will be high, it is an expense that has complete merit & needs to be taken care of regardless of the financial state. Anything less is completely unacceptable to the thousands of drivers who put their life on the line everyday to move the people of NYC.
xoxo Transit Blogger
You might enjoy reading these related entries:- MTA NYC Transit To Test Bus Driver Protection Partitions
- Irate Rider Attacks Brooklyn Bus Driver
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NYC Subway July 4th Service Plan Info
With the Independence Day (July 4th) holiday weekend right around the corner, the MTA has released service plan information for it. Here is the NYC Subway plan via its press release:
On Monday, July 4, the New York City Subway will operate on a Saturday schedule with increased service following the Macy’s fireworks celebration. The fireworks display will originate from six barges located on the Hudson River between 20th and 55th Streets from 9:20 to 9:50 p.m. After the fireworks, there will be increased subway service on the
,
,
,
,
,
and 42nd Street
Shuttle.
As a reminder, on Saturdays,
and
trains do not operate. The
train runs between Middle Village-Metropolitan Av. and Myrtle Av. The
terminates and 57th St. in Manhattan and the
terminates at Chambers St. in Manhattan
xoxo Transit Blogger
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