Now that Chris Christie killed the ARC project, which would have built another rail tunnel between New Jersey and Manhattan, Transportation Nation is reporting that MTA boss Joe Lhota is asking the different New York area railroads to do what they were supposed to do half a century ago when they … [Read more...]
TRD: Bushwick is staying industrial – no residential rezoning for East Williamsburg!
The Real Deal says that Bushwick, a neighborhood on the L that's seeing a lot of housing demand spill over from Williamsburg, is not getting a residential rezoning.TRD describes how the "sought-after northwestern area [...] is zoned for manufacturing, so residential building is largely banned … [Read more...]
Photos and renderings of buildings going up across New York
In honor of my new home (as of this February), New York City, here are some new towers going up in Midtown Manhattan! All photos from (where else?) the SkyscraperCity forums...click for source.The first is the International Gem Tower in the Diamond District (which looks to me like textured steel … [Read more...]
Were NYU and Chelsea Market’s hotels just stalking horses?
An item from Crain's NY Business, behind a paywall (I think?): Sacrificial hotels Two hotel developments in Manhattan were effectively killed last week. The City Planning Commission cut a proposed 190-room property from New York University's expansion plan, and Community Board 4 rejected Chelsea … [Read more...]
Preservationists Accuse NYC Landmarks Commission of Favoritism
A scandal may be brewing at New York City’s Landmarks Preservation Commission. The LPC has never had a reputation for being very objective or easy to work with, but now its integrity is being called into question as preservationists are accusing both a current and former official of colluding … [Read more...]
Good Transit Is Ugly Transit
Shinjuku Station, Tokyo Train stations in Japan are a lot of things. They are busy – Tokyo’s Shinjuku Station sees two-thirds as many passengers as the entire NYC Subway. They are complex – the big ones are shared by multiple railway companies, from public to private and everything in between. … [Read more...]
Rent Control: Trying to Make a Bad Policy Worse in NYC
In New York, lawmakers are currently debating a compromise between New York City and upstate interests to change the policies that shape residents' housing costs. New York City lawmakers are fighting for an extension and expansion of current rent control laws, while Governor Cuomo wants to tie this … [Read more...]
Five union work rules that harm transit productivity
Since Alon's comment a few weeks ago that union work rules, not wages and benefits, are the real problem with labor unions at America's transit authorities, I've been looking into the matter, which seems to be something that a lot of transit boosters don't like to talk about. It's an uncomfortable … [Read more...]