LOCAL NEWS OP-ED
Looking ahead to big
MTA rail projects
BY JANNO LIEBER
The holidays are typically
a time for refl ection,
but this year I’m
more focused on what’s to
come in the next 12 months.
2022 is going to be a historic
year for the MTA, with many
important projects that will
help bring our system into
the 21st century slated to hit
major milestones.
Top of list is East Side Access,
which ran its fi rst passenger
test trains a few weeks
ago. ESA will allow LIRR
customers to travel directly
to Grand Central, signifi -
cantly reducing commuting
time for Queens and Long
Island commuters. Our new
facility below the existing
station will be the fi rst major
railroad terminal opened in
the U.S. since the early 1950s
– and by itself, LIRR Grand
Central service is expected to
constitute one of the biggest
commuter railroad operations
in the country.
Next year, LIRR riders
can also start reaping the
full benefi ts of our expansive
Third Track project. The
work that’s been completed
so far – like the eight grade
crossings we’ve eliminated
to date and the eight new
stations (including the justfi
nished Carle Place station)
– is already making a difference.
The fi nished project
will allow for an even greater
increase in peak service between
Manhattan and Long
Island, and, for the fi rst time,
meaningful reverse commuting
service to give Long
Island businesses access to
the incredible talent pool in
NYC.
Then there are the projects
we are starting in 2022.
The MTA is on the verge of
awarding contracts to build
Metro-North Penn Station
Access, the marquee megaproject
that will add four
new Metro-North stations in
the East Bronx (Co-op City,
Morris Park, Parkchester and
Hunts Point) and connect
that railroad to Penn Station
for the fi rst time. Once completed,
it’ll be a gamechanger
for residents in one of the
city’s driest transit deserts
and for Westchester commuters
headed to Manhattan’s
West Side.
Slightly further south in
East Harlem, we’re hoping
to get moving on Second
Avenue Subway Phase 2 using
federal funds from the
Biden Infrastructure Investment
and Jobs Act. The legislation
doubled the amount
of grants available for transit
expansion projects nationwide,
and the MTA intends
to compete for every last
dollar. We already submitted
a grant request for the
project, which will add three
new stations along Second
Avenue at 106th St, 116th
St and 125th St. This expansion,
like Metro-North Penn
Station Access, can unlock
our incredible potential to
give underserved communities
the transportation equity
they deserve.
Next year we also look
forward to locking up federal
approval for the MTA’s
fi rst-in-the-nation congestion
pricing program. Implementing
this plan is not only an
environmental imperative, it
will go a long way to improve
quality of life in our city by
reducing street congestion
and harmful pollution.
Everything we do goes
back to our core mission
post-COVID, which is to
bring riders back to mass
transit and lead New York’s
economic recovery. That
starts with service. Performance
metrics are up at every
MTA agency, especially
the subways, and we are
determined to make buses
move much faster. We continue
to work with the City
to add new busways and bus
lanes, install cameras that
keep private cars and trucks
from blocking the buses,
and also, implement transit
signal priority, so our buses
spend less time waiting at red
lights.
Public transportation has
been a lifeline for millions
throughout this challenging
past year, and we want our
system to be there for NYC
and thrive for 100 more.
Here’s to 2022.
Janno Lieber is acting
chair and CEO of the MTA.
PHOTO BY HAEVEN GIBBONS
Dawn Harris-Martine is the owner of Grandma’s Place, a toy and bookstore in Harlem.
Grandma knows
This Harlem book and toy store brings
vital resources to the neighborhood
BY HAEVEN GIBBONS
Dawn Harris-Martine,
82, grew up between
the bookshelves of the
children’s section at the Harry
Belafonte 115th Street Library.
Now, she runs her own toy and
bookstore to promote literacy
in her Harlem community.
A red and yellow banner plastered
to a brownstone on West
120th St. off Lenox Avenue
marks Grandma’s Place: “Harlem’s
Premier Toy & Children’s
Book Boutique,” read blue letters
stretching across the middle
of the sign. The woman-owned
and Black powered book and
toy store has served generations
of families in the neighborhood
for 22 years.
On the way to Marcus Garvey
Park, kids stop by Grandma’s
Place to read a book, pick up
a toy or say “Hi” to Grandma
Dawn.
“Sometimes it’s the second
or third generation of parents
that are bringing their kids in,
and they know me as Grandma
Dawn. I’m everybody’s grandma,”
Harris-Martine said.
Curriculum guides, individual
skills books, toys to build
certain skills, math books and
graphic novels stock the shelves.
During the pandemic when kids
were doing school at home, Harris
Martine’s curriculum guides
helped many families keep their
kids on track.
“It’s a little bit of everything
that kids try to explore,” said
Jah Turner who has worked in
the store for eight years. Turner,
37, met Harris-Martine when he
was 15 while at work with his
father who was Harris-Martine’s
contractor.
Harris-Martine curates all the
books on the shelves at Grandma’s
Place.
“I read them, and I make sure
that they’re with what I want,”
Harris-Martine.“Everybody can
fi nd themselves in this store.”
Harris-Martine is bringing a
vital resource to an area where
literacy rates are low compared
to the city as a whole. Only 16
percent of students in Harlem
schools were passing the statewide
English Language Arts
exam, compared to the 31 percent
of students throughout the
greater New York City system
who were getting profi cient results,
according to a 2015 analysis.
In Central Harlem, 39% of
adults have college degrees,
but one in fi ve adults has
not completed high school,
according to NYC Health.
Harris-Martine not only wants
to help promote literacy in her
neighborhood, but also wants the
books in her store to show kids
that they can be anything they
want to be no matter their race,
gender size or circumstance. She
picks books that will push kids
to think about their passions and
their potential.
“So kids can understand that
it’s not where you start, it’s how
you fi nish,” Harris-Martine said.
“Books opened up my world. And
I know that it would do that for
the children also.”
When Harris-Martine started
kindergarten at Public School 170
in Harlem, she already knew how
to read. She was the teacher’s assistant
and loved reading to other
kids.W
hen Harris-Martine started
teaching second grade, she noticed
that the parents of the children
who were not doing well in
school didn’t know how to read.
So, she opened Grandma’s Place
as an intergenerational literacy
center in the vacant shop next to
her brownstone.
Harris-Martine wanted to
call the literacy center “Kindred
Literacy Center.” But her
granddaughter disagreed.
“She said, ‘Oh no grandma
this is your space, it’s Grandma’s
Place,’” Harris-Martine said.
More at amny.com.
6 December 16, 2021 Schneps Media
/amny.com
