F train tunnel next in line for Superstorm
Sandy rehabilitation, if board approves: MTA
BY MARK HALLUM
With work still pending
for the F train’s
Rutgers Tunnel, the
MTA plans to move the $90.5
million project ahead using
federal funds for Superstorm
Sandy-related repairs; the plan
was pending a Wednesday vote
by the MTA board, visit amNY.
com for results.
The project takes techniques
adopted to restore the Canarsie
Tunnel to a state of good repair,
but has not been the topic of as
much anxiety for commuters who
take the tube between downtown
Brooklyn and Manhattan. In fact,
the MTA hopes to take advantage
of the current state of low ridership
to complete the repairs with
little disruption.
“The L train project demonstrated
that the MTA can deliver
major projects much faster and at
less cost than anybody expected,”
said Janno Lieber, President of
MTA Construction & Development.
“Now, with the Rutgers (F
Train) tube, we’re on a mission
An F train at its terminus for overnight cleaning in Coney Island station back in early May.
to prove that we can make it
the norm, as we continue to
embrace advanced technologies
and private sector development
techniques.”
Though the repair work will
PHOTO BY TODD MAISEL
De Blasio launches Landlord-Tenant Mediation
Project to help New Yorkers facing eviction
BY ALEJANDRA O’CONNELLDOMENECH
With federal stimulus funds set
to expire at the end of July and
state’s eviction moratorium
ending in August, Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration
launched the Landlord-Tenant
Mediation Project on July 21 to help out of
work New Yorkers avoid eviction.
The city will partner with community
dispute resolution centers throughout the
fi ve boroughs to offer free case intake and
mediation sessions between landlords
and tenants struggling to pay rent after
losing all or some of their income as the
result of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
The project will be overseen by CDRCs
in coordination with the Department of
Housing Preservation and Development,
the Mayor’s Offi ce to Protect Tenants,
and the Mayor’s Public Engagement Unit,
with support from the Human Resource
Administration’s Offi ce of Civil Justice.
be covered by a grant from the
Federal Transit Administration, it
is not clear how well the proposal
to move the project forward will
be accepted by the MTA board
which last month revealed that the
Eligible tenants will be referred to CDRCs
in each borough, according to a city hall
press release.
“This recognizes that business as usual
is not enough,” said Commissioner for
Housing Preservation and Development
Louise Carroll. “We don’t want to put
agency faces a $10 billion defi cit.
The U.S. Senate has also failed
to push the Heroes Act through
which would provide $3.9 billion,
enough to get the MTA through
the remainder of 2020.
residents through the trauma of the eviction
process just to get help.” The effort
will focus on working with residents in 27
neighborhoods hardest hit by the coronavirus
pandemic.
De Blasio and Commissioner Carroll
called on Washington during a press
in early 2019, the MTA under
the direction of Governor Andrew
Cuomo slammed the brakes
on a 15-month plan to close the
L train entirely, which northern
Brooklyn had been bracing for
over the course of a few years.
Instead, the state opted for a plan
from Cornell University to coat
the bench-walls of the tunnels
with fi ber-reinforced polymers
during overnight and weekend
schedules.
From August 2020 to March
2021, the MTA plans to reroute
service on the F line overnight to
the C train between Jay Street-
MetroTech and W 4th Street and
along the E line from W 4th Street
to 36th Street in Queens.
How many passengers this is
predicted to displace has not been
released.
Ridership, however, is still
limping its way back from the
worst of the COVID-19 crisis
that continues to wane, but remains
a threat to the health of
New Yorkers. At its height, the
pandemic cut the MTA’s ridership
by 90%.
conference to pass a second stimulus
package in order to help the city feed
and house New Yorkers. On Monday,
Congress returned to Washington to try
to beat the clock in passing a bill that
would provide Americans with fi nancial
support before benefi ts expire at the end
of July but it doesn’t look like any new
coronavirus relief bill will pass before
August.
“We cannot do this alone,” Carroll said.
“We need the federal government to spur
our economy and to give tenants the rental
subsidies they need so that they came come
through this crisis intact.”
“We are about to go over a cliff here in
this city, in terms of people potentially losing
their housing,” de Blasio pleaded during
the press conference. “Here is a chance for
the Congress and President Trump to right
a lot of wrongs and provide New York City
and cities across the country with the help
we need to get back on our feet… let’s see
if we can get it right this time.”
Schneps Media July 23, 2020 3