By Matt Chaban 9/26/12 11:07am

Planes Trains & Automobiles

Show me the money. (MTA)

At Opening of Bleecker Street Subway Transfer, a Gentle Reminder the MTA Is Kinda Broke

After years of construction, and many more years before that of planning and debate, the uptown connection between the 6-Train and the Sixth Avenue line finally opened yesterday at Bleecker Street. “50 years ago, we have three different subway systems and there was very few connections between all of them,” MTA chairman and CEO Joe Lhota said. “Our goal is to make the system more connective. It takes time, and it takes money, but we’re getting there.”

Mr. Lhota, wearing a red tie printed with fanciful gray trees and elephants, stood beneath the bright, color-shifting tube lights that make up Leo Villareal’s Hive installation. The honeycomb-shaped light show serves as a dynamic signpost for the new stairs and escalator that are an integral part of this new connection. In addition to connectivity, the station transformation is all about accessibility.

But there would be no uptown connection, no wheelchair-friendly elevators, without money, and more than anything, that was what Joe Lhota and his cohort really wanted to talk about on this day. Read More

By Matt Chaban 4/12/12 10:00am

It Takes a Village

The dean of NYU.

Cutting Scott Stringer: Critics Claim Borough President’s NYU Compromise Falls Short, Some Prepare Legal Action

Facing pressure from all sides, Borough President Scott Stringer managed to extract a number of concessions from NYU over its planned expansion in Greenwich Village. However many opponents of the plan, including community groups and local politicians, feel the borough president did not go far, and they had harsh words for the borough president as a result.

“Although I am appreciative of the efforts of Borough President Stringer to negotiate with NYU, the end result is minimal change and do little to negate the devastating impact the NYU 2031 Plan will have on the surrounding community,” Assemblywoman Deborah Glick said in an acerbic statement. “There are no real concessions in this agreement.” She added that NYU’s plan “continues to be a travesty” and suggested that any concessions were factored into the plan from the start “to give the appearance that they are responding to community outrage.” Read More

By Eliot Brown 4/29/08 10:36pm

Somehow, Park Development Becomes Blood Sport

Expanding parks is not supposed to be this difficult.

“This is the worst situation I’ve ever encountered in terms of [dealings with] the community,” said Carol Greitzer, a former councilwoman from the West Village who helped start a group called 250+ Friends of New York Parks. It opposes many of the Bloomberg administration’s park Read More