EDITORIAL
As he made his way out of MTA HQ hearing
chants of “Train Daddy” above the skreel
of the bagpipes, former transit chief Andy
Byford moved past hundreds of supporters,
many in the crowd had derisive things to say about
Governor Andrew Cuomo’s roll in Byford handing
in his resignation on Jan. 23.
Insiders say Byford felt sidelined by the governor’s
realignment of the agency the transit guru
had turned around since taking over at the end of
2017’s “summer of hell” as Cuomo described it.
Now Byford’s work is in jeopardy and Queens
straphangers have reason to be concerned.
It’s Cuomo’s blood feud with another so-called
“Queens boy” that is now endangering Byford’s $51
billion Fast Forward plan to modernize the subway
system depends on congestion pricing and the fees
motorists will have to pay to navigate below 60th
Street in Manhattan with tolling set to begin in
January 2021.
But the plan requires approval of the Federal
Highway Administration, part of the Trump Administration’s
Department of Transportation,
which claims that New York state has failed to
provide the necessary documentation until last
month.
Cuomo acknowledged the feds have not told
state authorities which type of environmental review
they need to submit to gain federal approval of
the ambitious project, which has never been tried
in the United States.
In recent weeks, the U.S. Department of Homeland
Security barred New Yorkers from the federal
Trusted Travelers program and this week the federal
government cut $8 billion to New York State’s
HOW TO REACH US
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.16 COM | FEB. 27-MARCH 5, 2020
Andy Byford left MTA headquarters and now his plan to modernize the subway system could be endangered by a
feud between Governor Cuomo and President Trump. Photo by Mark Hallum
The MTA is at it again!
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Medicaid programs.
“I’m not holding my breath for them to approve
congestion pricing,” Cuomo said during an unrelated
press conference. Cuomo added that he assumed
federal approval of the project would be “perfunctory,”
but how could that be when you’re a high profile
Democrat from the Empire State and you trade
insults with President Trump on Twitter.
The “Train Daddy” is no longer at the helm of
the city’s subway system and that’s a bad thing for
Queens commuters. The lack of congestion pricing
funding Byford’s Fast Forward plan would no
doubt bring back the “summer from hell,” but this
time it might play out over many more seasons of
systemwide meltdowns, poor signal systems and
rail infrastructure overhauls.
READERS WRITE
The MTA is at it again! They
have now proudly released their
Draft Plan: Route Profiles at new.
mta.info/system_modernization/
bus_network/queensbusredesign/
routes.
For some, especially those of us
on the 21st Street Corridor of Astoria/
Long Island City, it is an unmitigated
disaster, especially for
the already underserved ADA and
stroller community.
In their proposed revision of
the bus system in Queens, they are
completely removing bus access to
Queens Plaza and Queensborough
Plaza for everyone living along the
21st Street corridor.
The Q69 will no longer turn left
after the bridge. The MTA claims
access to the 7, but you will have to
walk up from 21st Street and Bridge
Plaza South.
The Q66 no longer comes from
Woodside to Queensborough Plaza
and Queens Plaza, and its replacement
goes to Roosevelt Island. This
will prove to be a hardship for everyone
who uses the Q66 to get to
either the Queensbridge F stop or
goes to QP or QBP. The Q100 just
plain disappears.
Not only do they have no ADA
and stroller access to the N/W
in Astoria, they are removing
our ADA access to the elevator at
Queens Plaza.
Residents along 21st Street will
not have a single bus going to QP
and QBP as this proposal stands.
This will adversely affect everyone
who lives along 21st Street and
commutes to Queensborough Plaza
and Queens Plaza.
The end result is that if anyone
requires ADA access and lives
along 21st Street, the only option
is the F at Queensbridge. Need the
N/Q/R/W or 7? Oops. Sorry. Take
a Lyft!
An additional loss is the ability
of anyone living along the 21st
Street corridor to connect to the
bus lines that go into Manhattan
from Queens Plaza North.
There is a provision to comment
on each line proposal on the web
page. We must do exactly that and
spread the word however we can.
Marc M.,
Astoria
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