Media Links
December 20, 2011
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Source: WPIXA fiery blaze in a Brooklyn brownstone Monday morning has left two firefighters and two civilians seriously injured, fire officials said. The firefighters' union claims the injuries could have been prevented if the mayor did not make cutbacks to the FDNY.
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Source: Bloomberg NewsNew York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the largest U.S. transit agency, faces “credit strain” on its revenue bonds after state lawmakers lowered a payroll tax, Moody’s Investor’s Service said. The state adopted the levy, along with higher fares, in 2009 to close a $1.8 billion deficit in the MTA’s budget. Governor Andrew Cuomo’s overhaul of the tax code, which the Legislature passed Dec. 8, cut the portion of payroll taxes paid by employers in the 12 downstate counties served by the MTA’s commuter trains.
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Source: NY Daily NewsWith the deadline on the taxi bill ticking away, those on both sides of the issues are making their positions known to Gov. Cuomo through letters. The Municipal Labor Committee, which is made up of about 100 public sector labor groups in the city, urged Cuomo in a letter to sign the bill. The governor has until Wednesday to decide. "The bill helps to resolve mobility problems in the underserved areas of New York City and insufficient taxi supply in Manhattan's central business district," MLC Chairman Harry Nespoli wrote. "The enactment of this bill will improve the ability of city residents and visitors, including persons with disabilities, to more easily travel throughout the city. This will make living in New York City more affordable, sustainable,and enjoyable."
December 19, 2011
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Source: NY Daily NewsGov. Cuomo is drawing up what some consider a “take it or leave it” compromise on a plan to let livery cabs pick up street hails, sources told the Daily News.
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Source: NY1MTA Chairman Jay Walder resigned this year, leaving a $10 billion budget deficit to Joseph Lhota, the new acting head, but the transit authority managed to launch a number of innovative new projects despite the shakeup. NY1’s Tina Redwine filed the following report.
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Source: NY Daily NewsThe MTA is buying eight monster Snowthrowers — diesel-powered machines that clear train-stalling snow drifts from the tracks. They will arrive just in time for winter. Next winter. Maybe.
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Source: NY PostHere’s a nasty lump of coal for the MTA’s largest union. The transit agency’s “significant financial problems” mean it’s not obligated to fork over raises to its unionized employees, an arbitration panel found in a landmark ruling. That decision, involving part of a dispute between the MTA and a 700-member segment of Transport Workers Union Local 252 on Long Island, goes against previous rulings.
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Source: DNAInfo.comScores of embattled New York City tour guides are staging a rally on the steps of City Hall Monday morning in a desperate attempt to save their jobs.
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Source: Capital Confidentail - Albany Times UnionThe state Dept of Transportation has quietly approved a pair of consultants to help the state figure out how to finance the reconstruction, or sale/lease/ or semi-privatization, or other options for the massive Tappan Zee bridge which connects Rockland and Westchester counties.
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Source: DNAInfo.comThe bloodshed unfolded on a Brooklyn-bound 4 train at the Bowling Green station at 11:20 p.m., according to the FDNY and MTA.
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Source: Fox 5 NYPolice say a man was struck and killed by a subway train after he fell onto the tracks in the Bronx early Sunday morning.
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Source: ForbesIt has often been suggested that one of the reasons that American subway construction is so expensive is that our laws are too friendly to NIMBYs. That is to say, contractors will be paid to engineer expensive, long-term solutions to avoid short-term disruptions to neighbors during construction. The most prominent example is avoiding cut-and-cover subway construction in favor of digging deep holes with tunnel boring machines that don’t disrupt the surface as much.
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Source: Wall Street JournalThe two men attempting to forge a deal between the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and its largest union are separated by vast differences in both bargaining position and personal history.
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Source: Second Ave. SagasAs the Nostalgia Train continues to make its ride along the M line on Saturdays this month, the MTA unveiled its historic bus rides for the holidays this week as well. Every weekday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., the MTA will run its fleet of vintage buses along the M42 route. Everything, says Transit, is original except for the MetroCard farebox.
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Source: WABC 7Police say they've arrested 141 people in a New York City sting operation against small merchants who buy stolen iPhones and iPads. […] The popular items had driven up larcenies of the subway, although crime in mass transit is still the lowest in been in decades. During the first week of December, a subway initiative known as "Tool Box" resulted in over 1,600 arrests that included, 381 persons wanted, 12 knife arrests and 2 gun arrests, followed by a 13% decrease in subway crime the following week.
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Source: TimesLedgerA survey indicates that straphangers agree with the MTA’s plan to perform maintenance during weekday overnight periods.
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Source: NY TimesUNLESS something changes in Washington, American workers will, on New Year’s Day, effectively lose their right to be represented by a union. Two of the five seats on the National Labor Relations Board, which protects collective bargaining, are vacant, and on Dec. 31, the term of Craig Becker, a labor lawyer whom President Obama named to the board last year through a recess appointment, will expire. Without a quorum, the Supreme Court ruled last year, the board cannot decide cases. What would this mean?
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Source: NY PostSome in-car subway musicians say they’re raking in the dough this holiday season, making hundreds of dollars a day playing to a very captive audience.
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Source: Nyack News & ViewsOn Thursday, the non-profit Tri-State Transportation Campaign (TSTC) called for a revised plan to build a new Tappan Zee Bridge with mass transit, specifically Bus Rapid Transit (BRT). The press release included the names of politicians from both sides of the aisle and both sides of the river: two New York state senators (Carlucci, Stewart-Cousins) , three NYS assemblymen (Abinanti, Paulin , Zebrowski), the Westchester and Rockland county executives, three mayors (Tarrytown, Nyack , Elmsford) and the Greenburgh town supervisor. The diverse group was formed to protest Governor Cuomo’s decision on October 11 to throw out the results of a comprehensive nine year study of regional transportation needs which included both bus and rail transit as part of a new Tappan Zee Bridge.
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Source: WABC 7A bus was cut off by a taxi cab and then crashed into a pole in Gramercy Park Friday morning.
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