By Kit Dillon 12/17/12 12:10pm

Tales of Retail

A city in chains. (CUF)

New Generic City: 172 New Chain Stores Opened in Five Boroughs Last Year

James Joyce once puzzled whether it would be possible to cross Dublin without passing a pub. As it turns out, despite having more than 22 pubs per square mile, with the help of a computer algorithm, it just barely is. Today, after The Center for an Urban Future released its fifth annual study ranking the national retailers popping up all over in New York City, it might have found a harder puzzle to solve. With a reported 24 locations per square mile, is it possible to cross New York without passing a chain store?

The report showed a 2.4 percent increase in the total number of chains over the past year, despite prominent retailers like Filene’s Basement and Betsey Johnson closing their doors. It is boom maintained by trusty stalwarts like Dunkin Donuts, which opened 18 stores in the last year for a total of 484 citywide, followed closely by Subways, with 454 locations, and despite seeming to be on every street corner, Starbucks, with a mere 272 locations. Read More

By Matt Chaban 11/05/12 9:09pm

Planes Trains & Automobiles

Train drain on the L-line. (MTA/Fickr)

G-Train Pumped Dry But Repairs Remain, L-Line Still All Wet, A-Train Returns to Inwood

Update, 11/6 11:42 a.m.: The MTA just announced that the L-train tube under 14th Street has been pumped out and “damage is currently being assessed.”

Original post: Since we have become your defacto North Brooklyn subway depot—just take a look at the Popular Stories box right now—here is the latest from those skinny-pants filled lines. According to the MTA’s evening service advisory, the Newtown Creek tunnel on the G-train has been pumped out while pumping work remains for the L.

As we previously reported, no tunnel saw more flooding than the L, which is among the reasons the MTA left it until the end of its recovery operations to pump out, because the more water, the longer it takes. Among the reasons the 4/5/6 and 2/3 were up and running so quickly is they needed minimal pumping. They also carry more people, making them, arguably a greater priority. Just don’t tell that to the people living in North Brooklyn. Read More

By Colin Campbell 10/31/12 11:03pm

sandy recovery

Click to view the subway map in full. (Photo: MTA)

Buses, Trains and Subways Will Be Free Thursday and Friday

At a press conference late in the night, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced New Yorkers in the metropolitan area will have their public transit fares waved for the rest of the week. Of course, traveling into Lower Manhattan won’t be easy for Thursday, at least, where no subways are currently scheduled to travel.

“As a further encouragement to have people take mass transit, which is coming online piece by piece,” Mr. Cuomo began, citing the intensive traffic congestion problems plaguing Manhattan earlier today. “I am declaring a transportation emergency and authorizing the MTA to waive fares…through the end of the week, Thursday and Friday. So commuter rails, subways and buses.” Read More

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 8/01/12 12:51pm

Planes Trains & Automobiles

Neither rain nor snow nor dark of night will keep the Q-train from its appointed rounds. (gmpicket/Flickr)

Q Is for Quality, C Is for Crummy: Best and Worst Subway Lines of 2012

Naturally, everyone thinks their local subway line is the worst, but that is why we have science and the Straphangers Campaign, to crunch the numbers and tell us who really is the worst.

Now in its 15th year, the State of the Subways report rates the values of each of the city’s 20 subway lines, assigning them a price out of a possible $2.25 (the cost of a MetroCard, natch). No line even came close, unfortunately, which begs the question of whether or not New Yorkers are getting their money’s worth, but the Q-train topped the list this year at a value of $1.60. It is the first time the Coney Island-to-Astoria line has been the best since 2001.

Meanwhile, the C-train continues to be the worst in the system, worth a measely 85 cents—the only line worth less than a buck. Read More

By Krista Carter 2/14/12 3:27pm

Subways

subway

The Subway Diet! No Eating, More Walking

When it comes to rats and eating on the subway, which side of the tracks are you on?

Senator Bill Perkins has introduced a bill in Albany that would ban eating on trains and platforms. One of its most surprising opponents is new MTA chairman Joe Lohota, or the “rat czar,” as Read More

By Michael Ewing 2/03/12 4:20pm

Planes Trains & Automobiles

The horrors that await would even make one Mister Kurtz whisper a fearful farewell. (Getty)

What Lies Beneath: NYPIRG Straphangers Campaign’s State of the Station Platforms

Just days ago, a poll from Transportation Alternatives found that 61 percent of mass transit riders believe their commutes have worsened since 2009. While some don’t see nothing wrong with a little bump ‘n grind, for many, the train ride home is a stirpot of awkward touching and uncomfortable emotions reminiscent of their high school days. But are these teenage flashbacks the worst that the subway system has in store for its passengers?

NYPIRG Straphangers Campaign says ‘yes and no’ with their first-ever “State of the Station Platforms” survey. Read More