By Molly Sugarman
Safety on the subway is getting better, Andrew Albert reported to the Community Board 7 Transportation Committee on Tuesday, March 8. While unpleasant incidents still occur, they are less frequent, he said. Albert is co-chair of the committee.
The police, he said, are going to enforce the code of conduct—no loud music, no selling, no feet on the seats, no living on the trains. The code of conduct will also be displayed on the electronic screens in stations so everyone knows what is expected of them.
Key to this enforcement are the 30 interagency collaborative teams that will meet trains at their last stop and talk to any homeless people still on board. The teams’ goal will be to get people to proper shelter and to the services they need. They will even physically escort them to shelters.
Unanswered as yet is the question asked by Committee Member Jay Adolf: What happens if people refuse to go into a shelter? As yet, Albert said, he doesn’t know.
Overall, subway ridership is up—3.1 million—beating the post-Covid projections, Albert said. But to entice riders, the MTA is looking at deals for high-volume riders. Some of the ideas being discussed are:
- After 12 rides in a week, ensuing rides are free until the next Sunday.
- A 20-trip commuter ticket for Metro North will save 10% over individual fares.
- Vending machines for OMNY cards will not be available until October so purchases must be made at a chain drugstore until then. That only applies if you want the actual card. If you use your phone, you can recharge it online.
- Eventually, OMNY will take over and the Metrocard will go the way of the token, but its life has been extended to 2024.
- Discussions are underway for cards that will be good on commuter trains, subways, and buses.
- Reduced fare cards are not yet available with OMNY but should be this year.
To fund accessibility at stations, developments near subway stations will be asked to provide the money needed. The 5th Avenue and 53rd Street station will become accessible, thanks to this program. It will be funded by the developer of a building on 57th.
Coming up
Protecting pedestrians by elevating crosswalks four inches will be discussed at the next Transportation Committee meeting, at the request of Committee Member Rich Robbins. The project would raise the white stripes, forcing cars to slow down and making pedestrians more visible.
Where elevated crosswalks are not possible, such as along bus routes, Robbins wants to put in reflectors, “cats eyes,” that will remind drivers to slow down.
Committee members want to hear from an expert about restrictions on locating these safety measures. Department of Transportation representative Colleen Chattergoon, suggested that the committee select five intersections for a feasibility study.
Can they do something about the delivery guys on ebikes going on sidewalks??!!! The Jokr black warehouse store at 89th Street and Broadway in the old Duane Reade delivery people actually go out the door on their bikes on the sidewalk.
The way to fix the e-bike problem is to stop getting deliveries. we’re all so lazy, and then we whine about how the bikes are used. Geez. Pick up the food or meal yourself, and persuade your friends and neighbors to do the same.
Why do you think people aren’t responsible for their own behavior?! I was hit by one of these delivery bikes ON THE SIDEWALK on 90th btwn Amsterdam and Columbus this past weekend. Is that the fault of the person who ordered the food? I can’t believe some of comments posted here. 🙁
Very glad to hear about the enforcement of the code of conduct: no loud music, etc. makes a big difference. Here’s a new one: the other day on the 1 train, a young man came by selling what where obviously shop-lifted goods, offering soap for 50 cents, shampoo for $1, etc. This should certainly be stopped. There is no excuse to tolerate fencing stolen goods anywhere, especially on the subway.
Would it be ok if the seller legitimately bought the merchandise to sell on the subway?
Raised sidewalks are problematic for those of us with impaired mobility or even creeky, elderly legs/feet.
Please be sure to leave cut-downs at each corner.
it’s raised crosswalks, not sidewalks. That will make it easier on you, not harder.
There aren’t going to be too many raised crosswalks any time soon. The MTA doesn’t want them on bus routes, you can’t put them where there are manhole covers and they interfere with the ADA compliance of the corner pedestrian ramps so those have to be rebuilt too wherever they put in a raised crosswalk. Plus some crosswalks are a lot wider than others so you need multiple ADA-compliant designs for different crosswalks.
You’ll see them built into future large capital projects but you’re not going to see a lot of retrofitted raised crosswalks except for a few one-offs as DOT tries to build them just to fulfill the mayor’s promise to build some.
I think it is also important to address the people who aren’t paying to use the subway/bus. Between Alvin Bragg not prosecuting them, and previous lack of enforcement, this is a growing problem.
Agree. However, let’s give credit where credit is due: it was Cyrus Vance who stopped arresting and prosecuting fare-beaters.
I have seen zero improvement on the subway. There hasn’t been one ride where there isn’t at least one person sleeping across a row of seats, many with all their possessions.
As we know very few accept help so not know what the answer is to the question about people refusing help is kind of a big gap.
It’s ridiculous.
And subway violenCe?
Give me one week where I don’t read about Asian-Americans being assaulted on the subway/in the stations, and I’ll be more inclined to agree. (There were *two* this week — man sliced with a razor to the face, another man hit with a hammer.)
We need an elevated crosswalk, cats eyes, the works at 66th and Riverside Boulevard, especially before the 12th Ave -> Riverside Boulevard connection is completed. Cars trying to get to Henry Hudson Parkway tear along and roll through stoplights right next to a park and cafe filled with kids and old folks.
Most cars don’t even slow down at the stop signs and if you stop at them, the cars behind you lay on their horn as if you had just stopped mid-block in the middle of Amsterdam Ave. I have always been under the impression that it is a lot of drivers that have never actually seen a stop sign before.
I had heard rumbles of stop lights being added but supposedly the streets are not fully controlled / owned by city…some deal from when the Trump buildings were built….but I have only heard that 2nd hand.
What is needed on Riverside Blvd is traffic enforcement. The amount of double parking is unbelievable. So cars have to drive in the center of the road to get around all the cars parked in from of building entrances in the travel lane.
It was incredibly naive to design the street that way. It’s too narrow to handle two-way traffic – would be better one-way southbound.
There are no stoplights on Riverside Blvd. Mayb you mean stop signs.
Elevating crosswalks is not the problem Scofflaw bicyclists need to be dealt with. Tickets, confiscation of bikes ……
“After 12 rides in a week, ensuring rides are free until the next Sunday.”
The current seven-day unlimited MetroCard costs $33. At $2.75 per swipe (provided that you swipe it just right the first time), that’s 12 rides in a week that are paid; the rest are free. This current unlimited card has an advantage, though: It’s not tied to a calendar week, but to a seven-day period of your choosing.
This new program is connected to the OMNY system which currently does not offer weekly passes. And the idea is that you don’t have to decide in advance if you want a weekly card. You just pay as you go but if you hit the magic number 13 rides, it’s free from then on until Sunday.
WSR: typo here?
“After 12 rides in a week, ‘ensuring’ rides are free”. Meaning “ensuing?”
Good catch! Fixed.
Shhhh…..
I don’t expect anyone to respect the so-called ‘code of conduct’. The police can’t even manage to remove non-passengers from squatting in subway stations as the mayor promised.
The MTA has had “Rules of Conduct” for quite some time with associated fines. Enforcement will always be the issue.
The link is below…
https://new.mta.info/document/36821
Do we know if Alvin Bragg is letting 1050.8(a) gun possession slide if you do not show the weapon still?
It’s a complete joke. This code of conduct largely already exists, for centuries. The people following it (vast majority) don’t need it. The people violating it couldn’t care less for a reminder. The police are supposed to “enforce” it – at a time when they’re asked NOT to enforce (or even record) actual crimes (thefts, menacing, etc.)?!
It takes a special breed of useless bureaucrat to believe that this actually achieves anything.
Not to mention that idea of banning certain convicted criminals from entering the system. Who thinks these things up? Good luck enforcing it.
Andrew Albert lives in fantasy land if he thinks that “unpleasant incidents” on the subway are less frequent.
There has been a very noticeable increase in the number of mentally unwell people in the subway system. They need help. Those do-gooders who are trying to protect their rights are just doing them a disservice and letting them rot away. Let’s create more psych beds (locate them outside NYC if necessary) and help these people, and help the rest of us by making the city safer. It is a win-win.
Re: “Andrew Albert lives in fantasy land if he thinks that “unpleasant incidents” on the subway are less frequent.”
DEFINITELY! And I guess:
1. being thrown in front of a fast-moving train (R.I.P. Ms. Go);
2.being struck in the head with a hammer; and
3. being struck in the face with a bag of human excrement are just “unpleasant incidents” !!
O.M.G…I hate to imagine what Mr. Albert would consider a real CRIME !
RE Mental health facilities — apparently the feds and state are (at least partly) to blame for the lack of facilities and beds for long term psychiatric care:
https://www.thecity.nyc/2022/3/10/22972011/medicaid-psychiatric-hospitals-new-york
Once again, the health and safety of locals is at the mercy of state and federal bureaucrats.
It is time to return to the 1960’s when a transit police officer was assigned to ride and patrol most stations and trains. This, along with installation of security cameras on trains and at stations might serve as a deterrent against crime, fare evasion and vandalism. Increase fines and penalties as a deterrent for those who don’t pay their fare, commit assaults or vandalism. District Attorney Bragg and other DA’s must follow up and prosecute those who commit these acts.
(Larry Penner — transportation advocate, historian and writer who previously worked for the Federal Transit Administration)