With the LIRR diverting some trains to Grand Central, Penn Station could see Metro-North trains if the MTA goes through with West Side Access.

East Side Access, which will give Long Island Rail Road commuters the choice of arriving at Grand Central Terminal in addition to the current terminus at Pennsylvania Station, may get all the buzz and billions in capital funding, but it's the Bronx and the West Side that may be getting new regional rail stations.

West Side Access, as the plan is being called, would involve building a number of new stations within New York City, on the West Side and the Bronx, which would see direct service to Penn Station operated by Metro-North Railroad. The plan has been under consideration for decades, but will finally be added to the MTA's next five-year capital construction program due out in 2014, according to Newsday. Compared to the $8.24 billion East Side Access project, West Side Access would be downright cheap: in the "hundreds of millions of dollars," according to MTA spokesman Aaron Donovan.

The first phase would see four new stations built in the Bronx—at Co-op City, Morris Park, Parkchester and Hunts Point—which would be served along Amtrak's existing Hell Gate Line, entering Manhattan via the Triborough Bridge and Queens on the Long Island Rail Road's tracks into Penn Station. Commuters using six stations in Westchester County—New Rochelle, Larchmont, Mamaroneck, Harrison, Rye and Port Chester—would be able to choose trains going directly to Penn Station, in addition to Metro-North's current Grand Central service. They would use time slots freed up by the diversion of some LIRR trains to Grand Central once East Side Access opens.

The second phase would reactivate the West Side Line, now used by Amtrak, for commuter rail. This line is currently only used for Northeast Corridor service north of the city, and runs beneath Riverside Park and the Henry Hudson Parkway. The tracks, once part of the same line that continued south along what is now the High Line, would see Metro-North trains from the Hudson Line enter Penn Station from the west. West Side commuters would also likely get two new stations: one at 125th Street by Columbia, and one somewhere around 57th or 59th Street.

The one at 125th Street is a sure thing, the MTA's press office told The Observer, whereas the station on the boundary between Hell's Kitchen and the Upper West Side is under consideration.

Co-op City, the nation's largest housing complex with a population in the tens of thousands, would be the biggest winner in West Side Access. According to the MTA, the ride from the new Co-op City station to Penn Station would take just 27 minutes—about half the time it currently takes by express bus or a shuttle to the 6 train.

The two new stations on the West Side would be less useful, though, due to American commuter railroads' antiquated operating practices, which make Metro-North much less attractive than alternative modes with cheaper and more frequent service—the 1 train at 125th Street, and crosstown bus service on 57th Street.

George Haikalis, a transit activist and all-around gadfly (the mere mention of his name has been known to elicit sighs and eye-rolls at the MTA), suggested two more stations for the reactivated regional rail line: one at 42nd Street, and another at 168th Street. The 42nd Street station could sit near the axed 7 train station in Hell's Kitchen at 41st Street and 10th Avenue, Mr. Haikalis told The Observer by telephone, and the 168th Street station could sit below the Columbia University Medical Center, two miles north of the planned 125th Street station.

Metro-North downplayed the possibility of stops at those locations, however, citing their proximity to Penn Station and 125th Street. "I'm not sure if it was ever looked at, but it's not being looked at now," said Metro-North spokesperson Marjorie Anders.

To maximize the utility of the new stations and service, Mr. Haikalis also recommended that the MTA look to Europe and Asia to reform its regional rail practices, running them more like the subway system, with fewer on-board staff, more frequent service and cheaper fares.

"Now that the MTA chair position is vacant," Mr. Haikalis said, "the governor ought to pick someone who's knowledgeable about the rest of the world with regards to regional rail. He's sitting on assets that would be far more valuable for riders, and even for developers"—but not if the new stations are only seeing a couple of trains per hour.

Just what New York needs!

New York may be home to some of the best boutiques, specialty shops and department stores in the world, but you know what it really needs? A huge outlet mall with brand names for less!

The New York Times claims that New Yorkers, secretly covetous of the bland, sprawling suburban malls that can be found in the city's hinterlands, are ecstatic to hear that an outlet mall may be opening near Co-op City in the Bronx. (The Lightstone Group, a company that develops and manages outlet malls, purchased a 19.2-acre site in the Ferry Point neighborhood this May, although the group has yet to announce any plans for the site.)

To investigate resident's reactions to the project, The Times talked to tourists on a bus bound for the Woodbury Common outlet mall in Orange County. And guess what? They were all incredibly enthusiastic about the prospect of opening more places in New York that feel exactly like the soulless suburban tracts they left behind. Never mind that most of them had never been to the Bronx and weren't really sure where it was.

“It’s the hassle of having to come down here and get on a bus versus a short cab journey,” said John McLaughlin, a tourist from Northern Ireland visiting with his family and a large duffel bag that they intended to fill with Calvin Klein and Timerberland merchandise.

Other tourists, the newspaper noted, reasoned that if the Bronx was good enough for the Yankees and Jennifer Lopez, it was surely good enough for Prada and Louis Vuitton.

“Love J-Lo, very fashionable,” Tammy Bevcar, an operations manager in her 40s from Toronto, told The Times. “I would definitely go.”

The site of the outlet mall is not exactly close, but it is accessible via public bus and is about a mile from the nearest subway station. (Shoppers will need to bring their wheeled suitcases, which The Times notes are already common carry-ons on the $42 bus to Woodbridge Common.)

Not that everyone is excited about the development. The local community board is worried about the additional congestion and traffic that an outlet mall would bring to the area, especially since a new mall, Mall at Bay Plaza, is already being planned nearby.

To be fair, The Times does talk to a few New York residents, including Marlene Cintron. Ms. Cintron, who also happens to be the president of the Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation, said that all her friends were thrilled to hear about the planned outlet mall.

“They were beside themselves,” she gushed, adding that a Connecticut friend was “on her way home to let the rest of the neighborhood know.”

kvelsey@observer.com

"Could you be as brave as the saints?" Sister would ask.

Of course we could.

"Well, what if someone walked into this classroom now, pointed a gun at your head and asked: 'Do you believe in God?' Would you deny him?"

We knew what she wanted to hear: "We would never deny him."

"Even to save your life?"

"No, never."

We never would-we thought-because it would never happen.

But, of course, it has.

Two months ago, Cassie Bernall lay on the floor of Columbine High School, a gun pointed directly at her. "Do you believe in God?" her tormenter asked. "Yes." It was the last word she ever said.

Today, Cassie Bernall is revered by many Christians across the nation. Young and old gather at rallies to spread the news of her faith. Some believe that it was God's plan to take Cassie, so that she, in death, could show others the way.

It's a difficult rationale-one not without its critics, who claim that some in the evangelical movement are exploiting Cassie's story to get conversions. But in these days of uncertainty about why such a thing could happen to our nation, "God's will" is the only answer some people can find.

The questions have swirled for two months. Was it the availability of guns that made them do it? Maybe. Was it the movies? Maybe. Disinterested parents? Maybe. Video games? Maybe. A lack of community, a lack of Christianity, a lack of prayer in schools? Maybe.

The search for a cause is desperate and exhausting. The symptom is finger pointing. We are

under pressure-we must find the answer so that we can find the solution. That's the American way. But so far, we have come up short.

Other countries watch us with nervous trepidation, hoping they won't be next. "We know we're right behind the United States," said Val Besag, a school psychologist in England, in an interview with Wise Guys. "We're just holding our breath. What will America do about all these killings?"

Good question. If only we knew.

The harder we try, the worse it becomes. After the shooting in Springfield, Ore., in May 26, 1998, that killed four people, we committed ourselves to end the madness. Before that, after a shooting in Fayetteville, Tenn., we committed ourselves as well. In Pennsylvania, Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi and Alabama-each time we slam down our fists and swear, "Never again."

Still, statistics tell us that nearly every day in America, a child kills another child. Staggering.

It's the school massacres, of course, that grab our attention. They stand out like blood on a wall, executed in our most hallowed place-the suburbs-by our most privileged race-young white males. But children in urban areas are even more at risk. Statistics tell us that a black teenage boy is seven times more likely to be murdered than his peer who is white.

"Everything's just gotten worse," a 16-year-old lamented after a shooting outside Harry S. Truman High School in Co-op City earlier this year. "The fights after school, the little gangs fighting over nothing, and now someone's got shot."

After Columbine, we all understand. And we all warrant a portion of the blame. It is a tough pill to swallow, but in scrambling after our American dream, we have somehow trampled on our children, and we have taught them to trample on others.

Here we stand at the last moment of what the world willingly agrees is the American Century, when our economic and technological progress cannot be matched. It is the century of social advancement, of accumulated wealth, of megamillionaires who still don't have enough money. It is the century of American games and gain.

A magazine advertisement sums it all up: "Isn't it time you started thinking about No. 1?"

Isn't it time we stopped?

Our children emulate us and imitate us. They, too, crave their toys: their designer clothes, tennis shoes, beepers, cell phones, even guns. The currency of their value system. A survey reveals that the average student spends 1,500 hours per year watching television, 600 hours in school and 33 hours talking to their parents. And we wonder why we and teenagers are so out of touch.

Imagine this. A gunman walks into your office, into your boardroom, into your dining room or den and asks: "Do you believe in America's children? Are you willing to spend time with them, to listen to them, to hear when they're lonely or scared?"

It's a life-or-death question. What's the answer?

Terry Golway is on a short leave. He will return next month.