In that scenario ISP could be comparable to London Stansted and an LIRR limited express service akin to a Stansted Express.

not to mention the the redevelopment value of lga and rikers land.

i was upset when cuomo put forth rehabbing lga.

upgrading stewart instead would have been a much better and more future forward plan.

:shrug:

Closing LGA would have been very unpopular even if alternatives with more capacity might have made practical sense long term. I'm not unhappy with the rehab but the region is mostly stuck with the current limitations until better use of ISP or SWF is made.

where to eat at jfk as travel picks up:


https://ny.eater.com/2015/5/20/86281...-airport-guide

yay for busways! jay street is now the newest permanent busway:



City makes Jay Street busway in Downtown Brooklyn permanent after one-year pilot

By Kevin Duggan

Posted on November 21, 2021


The Jay Street busway will permanently remain on the busy Downtown Brooklyn thoroughfare after a year-long pilot, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Friday.

“Downtown Brooklyn deserves better bus service, and the Jay Street busway has already improved commutes for thousands of residents, workers, and students who rely on it every day,” de Blasio said in a Nov. 19 statement. “It’s time to make it permanent – and build on this progress to make public transit faster, safer, and more reliable for riders in every borough.”

The city’s Department of Transportation (DOT) launched the Jay Street busway in August 2020, banning private car through-traffic from on the 0.4-mile stretch from Tillary to Livingston Streets on weekdays from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.


more:
https://www.amny.com/transit/jay-str...rmanent-mayor/


https://www.amny.com/wp-content/uplo...o-1200x800.jpg
Many modes of transit cross Jay Street in Downtown Brooklyn, seen here at Tillary Street.
NYC DOT

more good news --




Service cuts, fare hikes ‘off the table for now’ due to COVID relief money

written by Benjamin Kabak on November 17, 2021


In a boon for riders, the MTA is ending 2021 much as it began the year: by delaying a planned fare hike for at least six months and putting off planned service cuts indefinitely. The news, first announced by Gov. Kathy Hochul and later clarified by MTA Acting Chair and CEO Janno Lieber, will come as welcome news as subway riders continue to return to the system and came about due to various federal COVID relief bills.

Hochul first announced the pause on Monday before flying to DC to joint President Joe Biden for the signing ceremony of the infrastructure bill.


more:
https://secondavenuesagas.com/2021/1...-relief-money/

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...6212cf9d_b.jpg
MTA transit fares will not increase for the the foreseeable future., the governor announced earlier this week. (Photo: MTA / Jessie Mislavsky)

Phase 2 of the 2nd Ave subway by the end of the decade?

• Video Link

^^^

I've been meaning to comment on the latest tunnel tour and press conference with Hochul the other day. The press conference was pretty boilerplate but it did contain a couple highly satisfying moments where on the record two NY congresspersons Maloney and Espaillat, while standing next to Janno Lieber, the Governor and other senior officials made a point of mentioning the SAS shoulld and will continue under 125th "to the Hudson River" and the line will be completed to Lower Manhattan "and on to Brooklyn". This made me smile because it reaffirms there will be political pressure on the MTA to complete the full Manhattan portion as well as a reminder that the MTA should be more ambitious than what it has a tendency being. I was especially thrilled with the mention of the crosstown extension as this has never formally been revealed to be an ambition for the MTA even though it makes enormous sense and was included in early 20th century subway expansion proposals and even a route for the NYW&B to get to the West Side. My biggest hope is once SAS Phase 2 is in full construction they seek funding and approval to keep tunnelling with the TBM as far as the Broadway viaduct even if it means just leaving rough mined station boxes at Lenox 2/3, St Nicholas A/B/C/D and between the Broadway 1 and the future Metro-North station at 125th until capital is available to complete to operation.

Crazy that they are boring under 125th instead of doing cut and cover. Yes, it's disruptive but the cost of mining a cavern under every other intersecting subway line will be astronomical even by NY standards. Instead we'll end up with missed transfers or long underground tunnel connections after a few of the station caverns are VE'd out.

^ The 125/Park station will be incredibly deep because it has to go under the double stacked Lexington 4/5/6 line. It is a given that it will be the most expensive subway station built in city history, even exceeding the super deep Hudson Yards 7 station. As for how a westward push is constructed we know as of now duel tunnels will be bored almost all the way to Lenox. I havent poured over rhe available engineering docs but I'd imagine the grade will rise as it goes west. But as to the question why cut and cover cant be used, I think it comes down to consyruction disruption and community opposition. Sure there are instances where many agencies would prefer a more shallow cut and cover alignment but its politically controversial (business) and with the advancements in tunneling, a deeper tunneled method even with the required mining for stations and station access might just be closer in cost/benefit than one would imagine. Since I love sharing how I would do things if i were in charge I woild bore tunnels to the intersection with the Eighth Ave line and transition to a cut and cover to the a shared Metro-North station/terminal complex between the Broadway viaduct and the West Side Line (Empire Connection) with escalators and the like. The stretch of 125th west of St. Nicholas is more hospitable to a cut and cover street closure with it bordering the public housing towers and having less commercial. Columbia U would need to be a strong partner in pushing for the extension and tolerating the construction period through their new Manhattanville campus.

Well that's good. I've always wondered why the extension plans stopped at the 4/5/6 & Metro North rather than continuing west to provide an east-west connection to the various lines on the north end of Manhattan (other than money reasons).

yes further crosstown work under one two five is the dream and it seems like a no-brainer since the boring machine is already down there doing its thing. if they can at the very least get it to st nicks that would really be something. i guess we’ll see.

Extension of the Second Ave. line toward the Hudson is a no-brainer, even if it's very expensive (it'll require a tail track) and they aren't able to create connections with all lines.

I think it's pretty important for the Second Ave. line to be completed all the way to lower Manhattan, if not across to Brooklyn, so that the Lexington Ave. line can be closed for major repairs when needed without causing a complete catastrophe.

If the line is extended all the way under 125th, there is no circumstance where it wouldnt have interchange stations at every line. I was just saying in theory they could just do the boring and mining while they have the TBM already headed west, even if it means they just mine rough caverns for stations and the extension isnt finished until another capital program.

I also hope they have the foresight to build provisions at Amsterdam ave for tunnel turnouts in case an Amsterdam subway ever happens decades down the road. Just in case anyone is scratching their heads the Amsterdam line is what was planned to cross the GWB into north Jersey.

Per the google earth measure tool, the total distance of this line to the 1, including a tail track, would be about 6,500 feet beyond the planned tail track west of Park Ave. Maybe the promised ridership of the line's third and fourth southward phases toward Hanover Sq. is much higher so they haven't made 125th any sort of priority. Also, the sentiment might be that subway service already exists in Harlem but not the areas to be served by Phases 3 and 4. A politician doesn't want to have to defend doubling down on an area that already has extensive subway service when they can cut a ribbon in a new part of town.

^ no way.

if i had to prioritize, a crosstown train along 125th st connecting many subway lines and metro-north would be way, way more useful. not to mention, the time to strike is now to do it because the iron is hot.

there is already plenty of subway service below the 63rd st lower end of the 2nd ave subway and a single extension line all the way downtown from there honestly isn't a big priority, although sure we all want 2nd ave fully built out someday. also, the express busses on the east side south of the 2nd ave subway are actually very good. i don't think phase three and four will happen for quite a long time, especially if they put a focus on building out 125th st crosstown service.

btw above 125th the bx badly needs crosstown service too -- like along 161st/163st or tremont, or like a light rail along gun hill.

^ Regarding Bx crosstown, my ultimate solution would be a Fordham Rd/Pelham Pkwy subway that ties into the IND Eighth Ave Line using the 207 St yard lead (or some other streamlined connection, possibly part of a massive yard topping housing development) and running to Co-Op City. Of course this is tied into other ambitious ideas like extending the (6) to Co-Op, the ["TriboroRX"] (X) line scheme either taking over the ex-NYW&B Dyer (5) line or following the M-N/Amtrak line all the way to Co-Op, as well as an upper NE Bronx (D) extension under Burke and others to Co-Op all sharing either one or two terminals on the south and north ends of Co-Op City. And who knows what may come of a Bronx line that feeds into SAS. That could see a line to the SE Bronx, a branch through the central South Bronx to Fordham Rd and a branch along the ex-NYW&B as well since it is built for four tracks which would allow a Dyer line (T) to run express to 180th.

There are busways in process on Tremont Ave as well as Gun Hill Rd. Source: work.

haha - i know and my source is work too. i guess that is the best we are going to get for crosstown services in the bronx for quite awhile. the gun hill express route will be great, but do not get you hopes up for crowdy, winding tremont. my comparison is the new 181st busway priority or whatever they supposedly did or are doing in wash hts to get you to the bx and back -- it does nothing. so far anyway.

speaking of the bronx, this is anecdotal, but i chatted with an mta guy in ye olde local pub after work yesterday and he said the four new bx mnrr stations that are part of the penn station access plan are definitely on and moving forward and they are all enthusiastic. that was great to hear. he is working on that project. i asked about second avenue phase two and he had no insight there, not his team. :tup:

lirr chief's positive end of year message:

https://www.amny.com/oped/op-ed-new-...ter-than-ever/



street plan quietly released -- more bike/bus lanes:

https://www.amny.com/transit/city-re...ts-masterplan/