(Getty)

A group of scientists at the University of Colorado School of Medicine recently released the first comprehensive study of the microbiological makeup of the New York City subway system. Their finding? The air underground contains pretty much the same amount of human skin microbes (and other stuff) as the air outside.

The study is based on samples taken from various subway stations, including the Union Square and Bowling Green stations, at three different points in 2007 and 2008. According to a summary of the experiment, the similarity between outdoor and underground air particle makeup “indicates good air mixing, a testimony to the efficiency of the train pumping system.”

Approximately fice percent of RNA sequences analyzed correspond to human skin bacterial sequences. Most of the particles were fungi and bacteria, and while there was complex diversity at lower taxonomic levels, the major groups were “remarkably simple”—of about 100 known bacterial phyla, only four were found.

The report “identified few associations” in the bacterial diversity between subway stations and at different testing times—basically, there’s relatively no correlation between particle makeup at different stations or at different times of year, so you’re breathing pretty much the same air everywhere.

It might be kind of gross, but at least we know we’re taking in the same particles on crowded subway platforms as we are outside, right? Plus, we can all breathe easy because the study didn’t find any organisms that could be harmful to the public.

While this study doesn’t reveal anything shocking about the air we’re breathing underground, it does provide a clear account of “pre-event conditions”—in the case of a bioterrorist attack, these findings could help us determine air quality impacts, and can help monitor the changes due to recent subway flooding after Superstorm Sandy.

And now it’s getting blamed for ruining riders’ relationships.

According to a piece by Meredith Hoffman of DNAinfo, the G train's unreliable service and limited route is negatively impacting Brooklynites’ dating lives.

"I had to make a rule that was, literally, if you live off the G you're not for me," said one Bed-Stuy resident, Mutale Nkonde, who lives near the A and C trains. “To get to the G is such a monumental hike, it's two buses plus a long walk."

The piece quotes a number of Brooklynites who have ended relationships due to the G train commute, or have even sworn off G Train dating altogether.

Add to this a bit of a sketchy aesthetic, and the G train hardly puts riders in the mood for consensual lovin’.

"When you get there [to the Myrtle-Willoughby station] it looks Law and Order-ish. It looks like a crime scene,” added Ms. Nkonde.

An MTA spokesperson allegedly declined to comment, presumably because the MTA has better things to do than speculate wildly on their riders’ dating lives. Like, oh, I don’t know, FIX THE GODDAMN G-TRAIN!?

Clinton Hill resident Alex Saba takes the G to visit her boyfriend who lives in Greenpoint, but told DNAinfo that the train has impeded the possibility of “casual get-togethers.”

"He lives 3 miles away and it takes 45 minutes, at a minimum, to get there," said Ms. Saba. “I'm glad it's there but it's still a huge pain."

If you were doubting that the testimonies of a couple of random Brooklynites points to a larger dating trend, then doubt no more: there are even viral videos (2,466 views!) to support the cause. Specifically, a YouTube video Called “The Brooklyn Date,” created by Tyler Fischer, depicts a couple’s magical date reaching a bitter end when the woman asks the man back to her G train apartment.

Poor, poor G train. Hopefully the MTA will make good on their vague chatter about fixing G service and, subsequently, enhance  romantic prospects for vast un-dateable swaths of the borough's population.

For now, Brooklynites, if you’re looking for your Sliding Doors romance, stick to the L train.

Bus Time: coming to a bus near you!

Philadelphia bus riders got real-time tracking in 2011. Chicago's had it since at least 2009, as has Washington, D.C.

Staten Island riders and those in the Bronx have had Bus Time, as the MTA calls its real-time bus tracking tools (and that's trademarked, so back off, other cities!), since 2012, as have a small handful of routes in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens.

But now, the MTA is announcing, we have dates for the rest of the network. "Bus Time is so helpful to our customers that we have scheduled an extremely aggressive timetable to introduce it to three other boroughs," wrote Fernando Ferrer, the MTA's acting (and reluctant) chairman in a press release issued today. Manhattan buses will be getting the technology by the end of the year, according to the release, followed by Brooklyn, and then finally Queens, where it will be completed by April 2014.

As it is now, most New York City bus riders can only rely on published schedules, which are often next to useless, due to the vagaries of traffic, lights, passenger boarding times and bus bunching. (From our perch on Ocean and Church Avenues, The Observer has noticed that the B35, for example, come not at all or all at once.)

While Bus Time won't fix any of this—we aren't aware of any plans the MTA has to extend Select Bus Service-like features, such as off-board payment or traffic signal priority, to the agency's formidable fleet of local, express and limited service buses—it will make it easier for New Yorkers to deal with the uncertainty.

And in an email to The Observer, Second Avenue Sagas blogger Ben Kabak pointed out another aspect of the plan: "It should both increase bus ridership, but also remind riders just how slow and unreliable local bus service is."

"Without a commitment to real innovation from [the Department of Transportation] and the MTA"—that is, faster fare payment systems, signal prioritization and physically separated lanes—"we'll take what we can get."

At least, that's what it looks like in a video posted late Sunday night to Subchat, an online forum popular with MTA employees and aficionados.

The video, shot out of the window of a moving subway car as it turns around at the old South Ferry loop, shows a clean-looking station with the old IRT station tiling, plus five MTA employees at work.

Photo of ongoing work at the old South Ferry station. (Photo via Subchat.)

And that's not the only evidence that the MTA is working to reopen the station. Last Tuesday someone posted a photo to Subchat of what appears to be a new entrance to the old station under construction, and claimed that the MTA has widened the old, narrow entrance.

If true, it would be very welcome news for ferry riders coming from Staten Island, who currently have to trudge half a mile to the 1 station at Rector Street in order to travel up Manhattan's west side. The new South Ferry station will cost up to $600 million to rebuild—a shocking figure, given that it cost only $530 million when it opened in 2009, including excavation work—and could remain shuttered for three years, according to the MTA. (As a comparison, the rebuilding of the 1 train after it was damaged on September 11 took just a year.)

The MTA could not comment on the video—the latest from them is that they are "still assessing" the situation, according to Second Avenue Sagas scribe Ben Kabak—but this looks like pretty definitive proof that the effort to reopen the old South Ferry has advanced beyond the "assessment" stage.

More conscientious passengers than ever before are turning in lost property they've found stuffed under the subways and between bus seats, according to the New York Post. The uptick means that more forgetful riders are being reunited with their belongings.

The New York City Transit’s Lost Property Unit recently reported that in 2012, 24,445 items, ranging from cell phones to wallets to yes, even engagement rings, were handed in to the MTA. This number has been increasing steadily—23,223 items were turned in 2011, compared with just 22,835 in 2009.

The MTA also reported returning 8,093 items to owners last year, compared to 7,438 in 2011.

The increase is all thanks to the MTA’s online lost and found claim system, which was implemented in 2009. When transit riders lose an item, they file a report with the LPU, a team of eight working in an office Penn Station—an underground lost item menagerie where drawers, filing cabinets and closets are teeming with unclaimed cameras, headphones and the like.

Of course, the LPU also sees some pretty weird stuff—everything from musical instruments to vacuum cleaners. In 2011 the Village Voice reported MTA workers have picked up teeth and prosthetic limbs. Most recently, the LPU has received several animal carriers sans pets. They also tend to get a pretty hefty sum of unclaimed cash.

Most lost items are pretty run-of-the-mill: iPhones, Kindles, wallets, etc.—items their owners never expect to see again. But, as LPU supervisor William Bonner told the Post, "There’s a lot of honest people.” Perhaps, or maybe thieves are just getting lazier?

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.

"Take me to your subway." (MTA)

It now looks almost certain that the Metrocard is going up to $2.50 next week, with monthlies costing $112, up from $104, at least that is what MTA chief Joe Lhota is recommending in a letter he sent to the board yesterday [PDF]. But at least we will be getting a little something for that extra coin—free audiobooks.

The MTA announced today that it is continuing its front-of-Metrocard ad campaign, which kicked off in October with Metrocards bearing Gap ads on them. Those doubled as 15 percent-off coupons heralding the arrival of the budget clothier's new Herald Square flagship. Now, Audible will be taking up some prime MTA real estate with Metrocard ads, including a code for a free audiobook.

“We’re very pleased by the continuing high level of interest that advertisers are showing toward the MetroCard as a medium for promotions,” Paul Fleuranges, the MTA’s Director of Corporate and Internal Communications, said in a release. “This confirms that our decision to re-launch the MetroCard advertising program this year was the right move.”

Of course it is easy to get a free audiobook from Audible already, either from your favorite podcast to ads in magazines, but it does feel nice that your Metrocard might actually have some added value beyond getting you to work on time if you're lucky. Granted, you could probably just punch in the proffered URL, audible.com/NYSubway, and get a free audiobook without actually having to buy one of these Metrocards. It does not appear to require any special proof of purchase at this time.

The MTA also announced a new back-of Metrocard ad for mobile phone service Simple Mobile. Now that we can use our phones in more and more train stations, being able to pay $40 a month for unlimited calling could come in handy.

Brad Lander says, "Where's the bus?" (Kit Dillon)

On every straphanger's gift list this winter. (Kit Dillon)

The bus stop is a lonely place, made lonelier without the reassurances of time. Like Estragon said, “Nothing happens, nobody comes, nobody goes, it’s awful.” Much better to wait underground for the subway where your time is allotted to you by little digital clocks hanging from the ceiling.  No more leaning out and staring into the endlessness of a dark tunnel looking for light. Your train is 4 minutes away, at least on those lines fortunate enough to have the timers.

New York City is not a place for waiting. We’re terrible at it, and the City Council knows it. Today, joined by transit advocates and riders, a group of council members introduced a resolution calling on city agencies to install “bus clocks” in all of the 3,300 shelters across the city. Clocks that would display real-time bus arrival information, not simply those flimsy timetables many bus poles now unreliably, even flagrantly, post. It’s a move that will finally see the city catching up with such other metropolitan innovators as Albany, Syracuse, and Champaign, Ill. They've even got an online version in Boston—Boston!

“Bus Time and subway countdown clocks have been tremendously helpful technologies for straphangers,” Bronx Councilman James Vacca, chair of the Transportation Committee, said. “Knowing when the next bus or train will arrive gives straphangers time to pick up coffee or the morning paper rather than standing around with no information.”

That’s the point, of course. A moment with no information, in a city like ours, in a time like this, is a matter of life and death! Or at least a blown meeting or missed first date. Of course, we know, waiting now, that a bus will come. It always does. But we don’t know when and that lets the mind wander into strange and uncharted territory. What if the bus never comes? What are we waiting here for? Is it all worth it? Why are we here? Tough questions for the 2.5 million average weekday bus riders. Tough questions for anybody.

The MTA has a new system, known as Bus Time, currently accessible from a smart phone app, that was first installed as pilot program on the B63 line in Brooklyn. It has since expanded to a few more lines in Staten Island and the Bronx, and by the end of 2013, it will be available for all bus routes in the city. But as the concerned City Council members point out, smart phones are not as ubiquitous among the city’s elderly and low income residents, which creates a very real accessibility issue.

“There are few things as frustrating as waiting for a bus without knowing when it will show up, especially if you’re already running late for work or the weather isn’t cooperating,” Councilman Steve Levin said. “Installing countdown clocks in bus shelters is an easy step that the MTA can and should take to ensure that all riders know when to expect the next bus.”

Currently the city bus shelters are built and maintained by CEMUSA, a world wide leader in, what it calls, "iconic street furniture," better known as bus-stop-meets-billboard.  According to the franchise agreement with the city, which includes a clause about installing and maintaining future systems as they are developed, CEMUSA is already in a position to install countdown clocks without serious contractual changes.  As for the costs of the initial installation, the council hopes that some of the financing can come from discretionary appropriations and toggling agreements with advertisers, in which time information is alternated regularly with advertisements.

"With Bus Time going citywide," declared Brad Lander, "it's time for the MTA, New York City, and CEMUSA to overcome bureaucratic and inter-agency hurdles and make bus clocks a reality in New York City."

The American Freedom Defense Initiative's new ad. (AFDI)

Pamela Geller is at it again.

The outspoken blogger and Executive Director of the American Freedom Defense Initiative has just purchased a slew of advertising space in several subway stations and on numerous Metro-North platforms in order to display her newest anti-Islam message.

Her latest ads, shared exclusively with The Observer, will feature a panorama of the sky the moment the World Trade Center burst into flames in 2001, accompanied by a quote from the Quran that reads “Soon shall We cast terror into the hearts of the Unbelievers.”

Ms. Geller’s various websites, AtlasShrugs.com, JihadWatch.org and TruthAboutQuran.com are listed on the top—making no details of the design particularly shocking (for her).

However, an MTA disclaimer taking up 25% of the ad space will be presented in conjunction with Ms. Geller’s message for the first time.

“This is a paid advertisement sponsored by American Freedom Defense Initiative. The display of this advertisement does not imply MTA’s endorsement of any views expressed,” it reads.

The MTA’s new disclaimer policy came in September of this year following an incident in which protestor Mona Eltahawy, 45, was filmed spray-painting another AFDI advertisement, which equated Muslims with savages.

The ad stated: “In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man.” It added, “Support Israel. Defeat Jihad,” in between two Stars of David.

Ms. Eltahawy was arrested, and every single advertisement in the series was defaced by the end of the day—a fact that did not go unnoticed. The MTA addressed the issue of salacious advertising at its monthly board meeting. The MTA had previously tried to amend its advertising guidelines so it could refuse “demeaning” ads, a rule that would prohibit “images or information that demean an individual or group of individuals on account of race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, gender, age, disability or sexual orientation,” but that modification was deemed unconstitutional. With its hands tied, it opted to include a disclaimer on ads that expressed a particular viewpoint on “political, religious or moral issues or related matters.”

“A cost of opening our ad space to a variety of viewpoints on matters of public concern is that we cannot readily close that space to certain advertisements on account of their expression of divisive or even venomous messages,” the MTA’s statement at the time read. “The answer to distasteful and uncivil speech is more, and more civilized, speech.”

Following the September incident, Ms. Geller has been busy crafting new advertisements for her campaign beginning December 17. The new ads will be plastered across at least 50 different locations, the MTA confirmed, the result of an ad buy worth more than $10,000.

“I refuse to abridge my free speech so as to appease savages,” Ms. Geller told The Observer. “Thousands of anti-Israel ads have run across the city and not one has been defaced. My ads, 10 went up in New York City, and they were destroyed in hours. You don’t agree with me, fine, run an ad. I have no problem with other people’s ideas.”

She is prepared, however, for the people who disagree with her to take out their frustration on her ads. This time around, she printed twice as many.

(AFDI)

Mr. Flood. (MTA/Flickr)

It's beginning to feel a bit like the letters section of the New York Review of Books around here.

Yesterday morning, The Observer published a post highlighting another outlet's revelation that developer and civic leader Bill Rudin was somewhat pleased that the Hugh Carey Brooklyn Battery Tunnel had flooded, thereby protecting some of his buildings downtown. (Some experts agree that the tunnels should actually be designed to do exactly that.)

Unexpectedly, Mr. Rudin's office sent a statement from him to The Observer in the afternoon, speaking generally about the need to plan for the future, but not directly addressing the issue of the tunnel or MTA Chief Joe Lhota, who had told Capital New York, "I wasn’t particularly pleased with the comment.” Now, unbidden, The Observer has received a statement from Mr. Lhota that praises Mr. Rudin.

Bill Rudin is one of New York City’s most ardent champions, and the Rudin Family has long been at the forefront advocating for the city’s future and for all New Yorkers.  Bill and I witnessed the horrific damage of Superstorm Sandy and we both concluded that we must have a comprehensive effort by the federal, state and local governments and the private sector to prevent such water surge damage to property in the future.  I have no doubt that Bill will be an exemplary leader of this effort.

The real lesson here seems to be: Be careful what you blog about.