You neglect to point out, Mr. Bruni, that you and your fellow New Yorkers have elected, decade after decade now for more the fifty years, people who do not have the best interests of the city at heart both at the city and state levels. And your representatives at the federal level seem to be far more interested in taking political shots at the current administration instead of rolling up their sleeves and pushing practical...AND ACCEPTABLE...solutions to the problems you catalog.
While money, and lots of it are going to be required to correct the ills that a half-century of neglect has allowed to come about, enlightened management and committed labor are going to be required...
Unfortunately for New Yorkers, all three of those are going to be in limited supply. It would be wise if New Yorkers and the city's management made a honest review of their plight and make the changes necessary to assure that THEY are not the problems that prevent the money from doing what it is intended to to.
Cut the graft; end the sweetheart contracts; insist on eight hours of work for eight hours of pay. Sign construction contracts that give actual value for the money spent. And prevent management from engaging the micro-analyses that have created a system unable to do the task that has been assigned.
Success or failure he is as political a task as it is a physical one.
You do want success, don't you?
While money, and lots of it are going to be required to correct the ills that a half-century of neglect has allowed to come about, enlightened management and committed labor are going to be required...
Unfortunately for New Yorkers, all three of those are going to be in limited supply. It would be wise if New Yorkers and the city's management made a honest review of their plight and make the changes necessary to assure that THEY are not the problems that prevent the money from doing what it is intended to to.
Cut the graft; end the sweetheart contracts; insist on eight hours of work for eight hours of pay. Sign construction contracts that give actual value for the money spent. And prevent management from engaging the micro-analyses that have created a system unable to do the task that has been assigned.
Success or failure he is as political a task as it is a physical one.
You do want success, don't you?
17
We've had it too good for too long around here. So we elect de Blasio (mentioned only once in this article, yet he is the mayor). It's some kind of a bottom I guess, like Mayor Dinkins.
The Brits elected gentlemen until they were faced with Hitler. Then they gave the reins (reluctantly) to the unmoored uncouth inebriated wildman (by English standards) named Churchill. Churchill then saved civilization, but that was too much for the genteel British elites, and they threw him out shortly thereafter.
The Brits elected gentlemen until they were faced with Hitler. Then they gave the reins (reluctantly) to the unmoored uncouth inebriated wildman (by English standards) named Churchill. Churchill then saved civilization, but that was too much for the genteel British elites, and they threw him out shortly thereafter.
15
Born in New Jersey in 64, but lived in many places afterwards with my Buddhist, hippie, gypsy father.
Philadelphia, PE
Portland, ME
Cass, WV
Breckenridge & Telluride, CO
Sun Valley, ID
Cle Elum, WA
Eugene, OR
Santa Rosa, CA
and last but not least, San Francisco.
I have seen it all in regards to traffic, congestion, public transportation, etc..
28 years now in Switzerland and believe me, everything runs well. Trains & Buses everywhere, roads, passes and tunnels, even the longest in the world. Gotthard tunnel for trains. I have not been to NYC since the late 60s or early 70s, no idea how bad things are, but being a bit social, pay taxes and seeing goods things come of it, like I do here, is really a good investment, feels good. Let`s not even talk about the salary, paid vacation, sick leave, benefits, child support etc etc.. Just a high school grad with a ballet scholarship, working in logistics at the airport, but I am not stupid or blind, for that matter. Hi Big Apple! I wish you all the best.
Philadelphia, PE
Portland, ME
Cass, WV
Breckenridge & Telluride, CO
Sun Valley, ID
Cle Elum, WA
Eugene, OR
Santa Rosa, CA
and last but not least, San Francisco.
I have seen it all in regards to traffic, congestion, public transportation, etc..
28 years now in Switzerland and believe me, everything runs well. Trains & Buses everywhere, roads, passes and tunnels, even the longest in the world. Gotthard tunnel for trains. I have not been to NYC since the late 60s or early 70s, no idea how bad things are, but being a bit social, pay taxes and seeing goods things come of it, like I do here, is really a good investment, feels good. Let`s not even talk about the salary, paid vacation, sick leave, benefits, child support etc etc.. Just a high school grad with a ballet scholarship, working in logistics at the airport, but I am not stupid or blind, for that matter. Hi Big Apple! I wish you all the best.
25
I've met a few people in New York government. 90% are patronage types. They are at the trough.
Keep electing people like that, and the result will be the same.
Of course, Mr. Bruni, you appear to be a leading proponent of this system, a supporter, as is the NYT.
So please stop crying, and look in the mirror. It's your fault. And you fool no one.
Keep electing people like that, and the result will be the same.
Of course, Mr. Bruni, you appear to be a leading proponent of this system, a supporter, as is the NYT.
So please stop crying, and look in the mirror. It's your fault. And you fool no one.
23
"the number of black Escalades with tinted windows seems to multiply."
Shades of a 3rd world country, in a city run by the same oligarchs who have been liquidating the entire country for a generation. It all fits together.
Shades of a 3rd world country, in a city run by the same oligarchs who have been liquidating the entire country for a generation. It all fits together.
23
This column is overblown hyberbole most of the commenters are people who don't use the subways. I do - everyday - and really have no complaints. I use Penn Station - twice a day - and no complaints - there have been upgrades to the stores and amenities near the Long Island railroad tracks. The trains run in my experience mostly on time.
My commute to work in the Financial District involves both the Long Island Railroad and the subways and takes 50 minutes door to desk, 1 hour tops if there is a delay. I can take a 6:38am, 7:14am, 7:41am, or 8:05am LIRR train from Kew Gardens for a 20 min whoosh to Penn Station.
Many times the 2/3 express subway comes within a few minutes. I take this 2 stops to Chambers Street then the 1 train for 2 stops to South Ferry, which is completely new and stunning and unveiled last week (not mentioned in your column)
Total subway time is usually less than 20 min and I get from Penn to tip of Manhattan. I can leave my desk 20 min at rush hour and reliably catch a LIRR train schedule for evening commute.
I have UBER, Via, Citibike membership which I use in varying situations but the subway has a/c, free wifi in all stations and some tunnels, and IMHO the subway works great.
You didn't mention extension of 7 train to Hudson Yards, which is excellent too. When MTA makes massive repairs that require shutdown (like the Sandy damaged L train) that comes in for scorn as well.
My commute to work in the Financial District involves both the Long Island Railroad and the subways and takes 50 minutes door to desk, 1 hour tops if there is a delay. I can take a 6:38am, 7:14am, 7:41am, or 8:05am LIRR train from Kew Gardens for a 20 min whoosh to Penn Station.
Many times the 2/3 express subway comes within a few minutes. I take this 2 stops to Chambers Street then the 1 train for 2 stops to South Ferry, which is completely new and stunning and unveiled last week (not mentioned in your column)
Total subway time is usually less than 20 min and I get from Penn to tip of Manhattan. I can leave my desk 20 min at rush hour and reliably catch a LIRR train schedule for evening commute.
I have UBER, Via, Citibike membership which I use in varying situations but the subway has a/c, free wifi in all stations and some tunnels, and IMHO the subway works great.
You didn't mention extension of 7 train to Hudson Yards, which is excellent too. When MTA makes massive repairs that require shutdown (like the Sandy damaged L train) that comes in for scorn as well.
14
The subway is a disaster. I live in astoria and my commute on the R/M is so unpredictable I literally do not know what time I will get to the office. Glad you have great subway luck.
12
Stop the endless, useless wars and fund infrastructure.
31
Oh Frank, don't be such a Debbie-Downer. At least your mayor and governor are in complete agreement on the need to keep NYC a sanctuary city. And, by golly, they're going to live by the Paris climate accord no matter what. And, just yesterday, Cuomo refused, no, I should say, adamantly refused to hand over any voter information to the Trump administration. So tough luck if your subway breaks down or the budget is late. At least your politicians have their priorities straight.
17
"More affluent New Yorkers find ourselves hemorrhaging money on goods and services with laughably inflated prices."
Ah! As with anything, there is not a problem until the rich suffer.
Ah! As with anything, there is not a problem until the rich suffer.
7
Same thing that’s caused what Bruni now complains about has long been causing increased economic inequality and neglect in public services. it's the politics of wealth and power transfer to the 1 Percent. And in London, revealed by the lower income bldg fire in a n. hood of the rich.
Now that the underfunding of transport affects Bruni, he chooses to vent. Where was he all these years? At least he included a mention of Rikers Island jail, which has belonged in a dictatorship for years.
Gov Cuomo says the subways are in a state of emergency. The whole country is veering toward emergency step by step--- health care, infrastructure, public safety, living standards. Public services are low priority and the public be damned.
The NY system that brings millions to their daily jobs so the city can operate is both unreliable and unsafe. Where was the money all along to ensure reliable safe transport. Instead what's very reliable and safe is our big money political system for the megadonor investors.
Soon, NY will hold a so-called "genius" conference to pool subway solutions of transit experts from around the world. A one million reward for best plan included. What about city/stae budgets?
How are subways in Germany, France, and EU nations funded? What is their tax structure and spending priorities? Compare also their health care and drug problems. In the US these problems are veering to emergency. Isn’t that annoying too, Mr. Bruni?
Now that the underfunding of transport affects Bruni, he chooses to vent. Where was he all these years? At least he included a mention of Rikers Island jail, which has belonged in a dictatorship for years.
Gov Cuomo says the subways are in a state of emergency. The whole country is veering toward emergency step by step--- health care, infrastructure, public safety, living standards. Public services are low priority and the public be damned.
The NY system that brings millions to their daily jobs so the city can operate is both unreliable and unsafe. Where was the money all along to ensure reliable safe transport. Instead what's very reliable and safe is our big money political system for the megadonor investors.
Soon, NY will hold a so-called "genius" conference to pool subway solutions of transit experts from around the world. A one million reward for best plan included. What about city/stae budgets?
How are subways in Germany, France, and EU nations funded? What is their tax structure and spending priorities? Compare also their health care and drug problems. In the US these problems are veering to emergency. Isn’t that annoying too, Mr. Bruni?
11
Rome... I mean NY...I mean America ...has been burning for years, Frank.
12
Excellent piece. It too sums up my feelings about the state of the city and the country.
Left unsaid is the growing national ineptitude that exacerbates these challenges. The fourth-rate amateurs working at the White House are a perfect example of the mediocrity and ineptitude that we've allowed to permeate the highest levels of our civil institutions, but it's happening at the local and state level too.
Witness Cuomo and Lhota's recent promises to fix the MTA. They act as though the subways' challenges are unique and almost insurmountable. I understand that our subways are larger than most (and operate 24/7), but dozens of metropolises around the world operate similar systems much, much better than we do. The way forward exists already. But management paralysis, and an apathetic - and frankly dumbed-down - workforce stand in the way.
There are still many brilliant people in this country doing amazing things. But I wonder if as a people we're still able to take on large scale civic projects? And I wonder if we're finally yielding the results of living in - and tolerating - a dumbed-down, superficial culture?
Left unsaid is the growing national ineptitude that exacerbates these challenges. The fourth-rate amateurs working at the White House are a perfect example of the mediocrity and ineptitude that we've allowed to permeate the highest levels of our civil institutions, but it's happening at the local and state level too.
Witness Cuomo and Lhota's recent promises to fix the MTA. They act as though the subways' challenges are unique and almost insurmountable. I understand that our subways are larger than most (and operate 24/7), but dozens of metropolises around the world operate similar systems much, much better than we do. The way forward exists already. But management paralysis, and an apathetic - and frankly dumbed-down - workforce stand in the way.
There are still many brilliant people in this country doing amazing things. But I wonder if as a people we're still able to take on large scale civic projects? And I wonder if we're finally yielding the results of living in - and tolerating - a dumbed-down, superficial culture?
14
While China is busy pouring concrete for new infrastructure projects, we're yapping like dogs chasing cars over here about healthcare (needed), then the tax cuts, then what-ever but no infrastructure plan in sight. We will pay the price later.
6
That is nothing compared to San Francisco. On their way uphill, the buses may routinely disgorge passengers making them walk uphill for 3-4 blocks before picking them up again. Buses need to be virtually empty before heading up.
2
"Pointlessly and obnoxiously, a driver in one car honked and honked at the cars ahead. This prompted a passing pedestrian to screech at him to stop. Then someone else began to scream at her for adding to the din."
Here's a novel thought: perhaps City Hall should consider reviving its no- honking law? I know, I know: the Transportation Department removed all of the city's "Don't Honk" signs back in 2013. In its article about the subject, The Times quoted a spokesman of some sort who claimed, "Blowing the horn is a fact of life, part of the fabric and culture of the city," as the rationale behind their elimination.
Guess what else used to be facts of NYC life and parts of its fabric? Graffiti-laden subway cars. Frequent muggings in Central Park, particularly at night. A Times Square with "adult entertainment" in theaters where Disney musicals now play. Destruction of historical buildings in the name of "progress," e.g. the original Penn Station. (Yes, I understand the irony in this remark.) Prostitutes and drug dealers plying their wares on the West Side Highway. Abandoned buildings throughout the city - yes, including Manhattan - housing homeless people and junkies.
Point being: as always, the times they are a-changin'. And one change that could demonstrably improve the quality of New York life is the elimination of honking - or at least the pointless, incessant variety. Noise pollution may not be as physically deleterious as air pollution, but mentally it may be worse.
Here's a novel thought: perhaps City Hall should consider reviving its no- honking law? I know, I know: the Transportation Department removed all of the city's "Don't Honk" signs back in 2013. In its article about the subject, The Times quoted a spokesman of some sort who claimed, "Blowing the horn is a fact of life, part of the fabric and culture of the city," as the rationale behind their elimination.
Guess what else used to be facts of NYC life and parts of its fabric? Graffiti-laden subway cars. Frequent muggings in Central Park, particularly at night. A Times Square with "adult entertainment" in theaters where Disney musicals now play. Destruction of historical buildings in the name of "progress," e.g. the original Penn Station. (Yes, I understand the irony in this remark.) Prostitutes and drug dealers plying their wares on the West Side Highway. Abandoned buildings throughout the city - yes, including Manhattan - housing homeless people and junkies.
Point being: as always, the times they are a-changin'. And one change that could demonstrably improve the quality of New York life is the elimination of honking - or at least the pointless, incessant variety. Noise pollution may not be as physically deleterious as air pollution, but mentally it may be worse.
9
Bosch's monsters weren't "mutants" because the concept didn't exist in his time.
"Commute" comes from railroads offering cheaper fares ("commute", as in commuting a prison sentence) for regular riders.
"Commute" comes from railroads offering cheaper fares ("commute", as in commuting a prison sentence) for regular riders.
2
America, you get what you pay for.
15
It's an infrastructure issue that a candidate for the presidency promised to jump right on. mr. Brooks,you should call him
10
The refusal to wonder about is the refusal to acknowledge that Manhattan is FULL. It can accommodate no more people. All the tiny towers going up are adding to the overfill. It is an island. It is full. That is why the crowds are unbearable. Yes, you can make infrastructure improvements, but another tunnel under the Hudson will just pump more people into the overflow.
And I just read that the Hartford Insurance company is moving from Hartford to ... Manhattan. Why? Why make everyone more miserable? New York is wonderful, but it reached its limit some years ago, and it is time to make noises about encouraging employers to move out and give their employees a break.
And I just read that the Hartford Insurance company is moving from Hartford to ... Manhattan. Why? Why make everyone more miserable? New York is wonderful, but it reached its limit some years ago, and it is time to make noises about encouraging employers to move out and give their employees a break.
22
Certainly such travail is a small price to pay for all the great work we're doing in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, &c., not to mention the great weapons we're giving to Israel, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, and more places than I can remember.
28
But, but, we have invested in infrastructure, bigly, for decade upon decade. A dozen nuclear aircraft carriers (to counter the rest of the world's none), an insanely bloated F-35 program to replace the planet's most formidable fleet of airborne firepower, hundreds of costly military bases in hundreds of places made even more dangerous by our presence, and on and on. A new president, demonstrably a clueless moron, who wants even more of the above.
All brought to you by those ostensible human beings behind those dark windows in those black Escalades.
Sorry, but we the people lost this struggle long ago.
All brought to you by those ostensible human beings behind those dark windows in those black Escalades.
Sorry, but we the people lost this struggle long ago.
30
The problem is, Frank, the MTA, since Rockefeller instituted it, has been one of the worst stewards of public money anywhere.
"East Side Access" was supposed to be completed 8 years ago. According to the MTA, it is now still seven years away. The original budget of $2.5 billion has ballooned to $10 billion, not counting future cost overruns, highly likely as the MTA has yet to tunnel a mile under some of the most expensive real estate in the world, Park Avenue from 63 St to 42 St., and they haven't gotten from the East River to Park Avenue yet, either.
Until this crisis fell upon the subways, Andy Cuomo was laser focused on adding a third track on the main line of the LIRR from Floral Park to Hicksville, "to increase capacity." That is capacity that Penn Station is uniquely unable to handle, and capacity that Grand Central won't be needed to handle for another seven years, at least.
"East Side Access" was supposed to be completed 8 years ago. According to the MTA, it is now still seven years away. The original budget of $2.5 billion has ballooned to $10 billion, not counting future cost overruns, highly likely as the MTA has yet to tunnel a mile under some of the most expensive real estate in the world, Park Avenue from 63 St to 42 St., and they haven't gotten from the East River to Park Avenue yet, either.
Until this crisis fell upon the subways, Andy Cuomo was laser focused on adding a third track on the main line of the LIRR from Floral Park to Hicksville, "to increase capacity." That is capacity that Penn Station is uniquely unable to handle, and capacity that Grand Central won't be needed to handle for another seven years, at least.
5
Things must be really bad, when the described shortcomings of NYC's (O.K., Manhattan) transportation come from an optimist. Ancient infrastructure and overcrowding can always be counted to 'assist' in the mayhem...and our employers having run out of patience for our being late is just an added bonus. Ought we consider moving the city elsewhere, at least temporarily, so intensive therapy and 'rehab' may go from moribund to respirator-dependent repair? We are living (surviving, a better term) with inflationary cost of living on a fixed income, contributing to unrelieved chronic stress...and our escape to Lalaland ( high-sugar food and illicit drugs). This, at least, will speed up our suffering and shorten our lives, for a more permanent relief (pushing daisies). Is that too bad? Not if you become a pessimist.
3
A few of ideas for consideration as we aspire to quality-of-life improvements...
Take away all the low-tax incentives for billionaires to purchase mansions in the sky. Tax them at 50% because they can afford it, and if they leave town they will not be missed because they add nothing to social fabric or the economy because they are economic parasites. And prevent corporate-subsidized apartment rentals for employees because it jacks up rental rates for everyone else.
Too many buildings in NYC are astonishingly ugly by any standard, and the design approval system must be junked and entirely revised. Local neighborhoods must be given great power to veto the construction of hideously ugly buildings, especially skyscrapers designed for foreign potentates who do not live here (they also raise property taxes for everyone else while evading it themselves!)
Take away all the low-tax incentives for billionaires to purchase mansions in the sky. Tax them at 50% because they can afford it, and if they leave town they will not be missed because they add nothing to social fabric or the economy because they are economic parasites. And prevent corporate-subsidized apartment rentals for employees because it jacks up rental rates for everyone else.
Too many buildings in NYC are astonishingly ugly by any standard, and the design approval system must be junked and entirely revised. Local neighborhoods must be given great power to veto the construction of hideously ugly buildings, especially skyscrapers designed for foreign potentates who do not live here (they also raise property taxes for everyone else while evading it themselves!)
13
Nice place to visit. Wouldn't want to live there.
1
5th in a series. 32 days in New England and Albany, wonderful life up on Mount Philo and with family all over.
As for the rest as we read in the column, a 2d or marginal 3d world country. So happy to be an 85 y old relying on my bus to Göteborg offering a level of service unthinkable in NY NE.
And roads? Falling apart or poorly resurfaced the normal! Visit me here in Linköping county and you will see the unimaginable, every road surface perfect.
Trains? I challenge a reader to take these train trips: Boston - Saco ME, Boston - Albany. Then report back.
Enough. If you could sit across the aisle from me on Bus4you 400 to Gbg and observe outside and inside you would learn what you, stuck on the Mass Turnpike, are missing.
Only-Never in Sweden.blogspot.com
Dual citizen SE USA
As for the rest as we read in the column, a 2d or marginal 3d world country. So happy to be an 85 y old relying on my bus to Göteborg offering a level of service unthinkable in NY NE.
And roads? Falling apart or poorly resurfaced the normal! Visit me here in Linköping county and you will see the unimaginable, every road surface perfect.
Trains? I challenge a reader to take these train trips: Boston - Saco ME, Boston - Albany. Then report back.
Enough. If you could sit across the aisle from me on Bus4you 400 to Gbg and observe outside and inside you would learn what you, stuck on the Mass Turnpike, are missing.
Only-Never in Sweden.blogspot.com
Dual citizen SE USA
7
Road Congestion Pricing, if priced high enough, wouldn't just "help" with congestion, it would eliminate it. It would also create overnight millions of new affordable housing units within 45 minutes of midtown (which are now 90 minutes from midtown). Then every time you'd see the black Escalade, you wouldn't curse. You'd cheer!! Thanks to your $30 fee, we can subsidize 10 lower income riders to take an express bus to far Rockaway! If priced at $30, traffic would flow freely all day and buses would be an attractive option. There is no shortage of infrastructure in New York. It just isn't priced right.
8
I guess Philly isn't a joke anymore.
2
Agree. Band-aids aren't enough anymore and because of neglect stretching way back through republican and democratic administrations we have hit the brick wall. Regardless of the salary I wouldn't commute to NYC under any circumstances. I get an email about a job I first look at the location. If it says NYC I hit the delete key.
1
So your vaunted city is falling apart. Welcome to America. The New York subway system is duplicated in DC, Chicago, San Francisco . . . Then we can start with water and sewer systems, roads, bridges, schools and health care.
The one trillion dollar solution suggested or promised by Trump has disappeared from our future as has logic and common sense. Throwing so many of these extremely expensive repairs back to the states is a sham.
Establishing some priorities that involve the tax payers and citizens of this country need to start now.
So keep yelping, Mr. Bruni. You have a lot of company.
The one trillion dollar solution suggested or promised by Trump has disappeared from our future as has logic and common sense. Throwing so many of these extremely expensive repairs back to the states is a sham.
Establishing some priorities that involve the tax payers and citizens of this country need to start now.
So keep yelping, Mr. Bruni. You have a lot of company.
12
i recently visited NYC staying on the Lower East Side. The streets and sidewalks there are a fright like trying travel endless landmines. I use a manual wheelchair and trying to get around alone or with help is terrifying. At one point on East Broadway I hit a pothole and fell out of my chair. I didn't break anything but my dignity was bruised.
9
Frank, your column puts me in mind of a joke concerning an Iowa farmer and a Texas rancher seated beside each other on an airplane.
The gregarious Texan volunteers to the Iowan the glories of his state and the particular beauties of his spread: the cattle, the creeks, the oil wells. He then asks the man from Iowa what he does for a living. "I'm a farmer," is the reply.
"How much land you got, son?"
"I've got 80 acres."
"What can you do with 80 acres?" asks the Texan.
"Oh, I raise hogs, some cows, grow corn and soybeans," says the farmer.
"Son," says the rancher, "I can get in my pickup truck at dawn, start at the front fence of my property and it'll be dark before I reach the back of my place."
"Yes," replies the Iowan, "I know exactly what you're saying. I used to own a truck just like that, too, but I sold it."
We all have our joys and our miseries. We just see them in different ways.
The gregarious Texan volunteers to the Iowan the glories of his state and the particular beauties of his spread: the cattle, the creeks, the oil wells. He then asks the man from Iowa what he does for a living. "I'm a farmer," is the reply.
"How much land you got, son?"
"I've got 80 acres."
"What can you do with 80 acres?" asks the Texan.
"Oh, I raise hogs, some cows, grow corn and soybeans," says the farmer.
"Son," says the rancher, "I can get in my pickup truck at dawn, start at the front fence of my property and it'll be dark before I reach the back of my place."
"Yes," replies the Iowan, "I know exactly what you're saying. I used to own a truck just like that, too, but I sold it."
We all have our joys and our miseries. We just see them in different ways.
5
There is a solution here. Move out of New York City. Despite what you have heard, there are other great cities out there, some of which actually work. At my little town, the beach and gorgeous sunsets are 10 minutes from work. Of course New Yorkers probably hate the idea of sand in their toes, dinner on the beach, while watching the sunset, hoping to see the Green Flash.
Sorry I brought it up.
Sorry I brought it up.
14
I blame Reagan. Before his vicious tax cuts, government had enough money to maintain the property, pay the help and venture into some pretty big projects: space, interstate highways, airports, power grids and higher education.
After Reagan, government is the problem. And no one is a bigger problem than the easily-swayed incompetent we have in office now.
After Reagan, government is the problem. And no one is a bigger problem than the easily-swayed incompetent we have in office now.
18
American don't want to pay for mass transit or infrastructure repair or a national health plan, then yell in apparent puzzlement at the horrible mess of of our mass transit and roads and health care.
11
As a native New Yorker, I have one suggestion that pretty much always works: walk.
6
You should feel lucky, New Yorkers. You could have the People Mover, a la Detroit!
1
The United States is the most benighted and primitive nation in the developed world, and New Yorkers, you get what you deserve.
6
No matter how bad you think New York is, don't even think about moving to Seattle. We're already overcrowded enough and our public services and infrastructure badly underfunded. So do yourself a favor and stay where you are.
5
Congestion pricing and a tax on all new developments towards transit improvements! We keep building apartment buildings but do not keep up with the necessary transportation and school needs.
5
Thank goodness for representative government. It's the modern cancer that's killing us all. Congress + state legislatures: organized temples of chaos that can't choose between the doing the very wrong things and doing nothing at all.
The human body knows what humans don't: the heart pumps the blood. Other organs of the body support its efforts but they don't get a vote on how it functions. If human society were as enlightened, who knows how far into the future we'd now be commuting.
The human body knows what humans don't: the heart pumps the blood. Other organs of the body support its efforts but they don't get a vote on how it functions. If human society were as enlightened, who knows how far into the future we'd now be commuting.
3
in the UK four letter words are often what you use when commuting on public transport, especially if your train is delayed a couple of hours because of leaves on the track.
1
I just returned from Tokyo. The contrast to ANY American city is shocking. A city of 38 million people manages to be efficient in moving its people around, clean, and safe. The streets are not clogged with exhaust spewing cars at all hours of the day and night (since the vast majority of people take their public transit), and they are immaculately paved to boot. Buildings are new and in good repair. I think I heard one horn honked in anger in one week of walking and biking the entire city. People are courteous; they help each other and lost tourists like myself.
And yet Japan has been mired in a 20 year recession. Its population is rapidly aging with an inverted pyramid demographic. It faces mortal threats mere hundreds of miles away. And it STILL manages to create a functional and beautiful city (and, frankly, the other cities are just as nice). The question isn't so much what are they doing right-- it's what are we doing wrong?
And yet Japan has been mired in a 20 year recession. Its population is rapidly aging with an inverted pyramid demographic. It faces mortal threats mere hundreds of miles away. And it STILL manages to create a functional and beautiful city (and, frankly, the other cities are just as nice). The question isn't so much what are they doing right-- it's what are we doing wrong?
19
John: We have crappy governments that promise to do it all, but do nothing. The private system is mired in regulation and viewed with envy: heaven forbid somebody might make a profit from controlling air traffic.
We don't fix potholes, our cell phone services are a third-world embarrassment, our airports are 30 years behind what's required, and, generally speaking, nothing works.
But, hey, education is important, so we pour money down a sinkhole of a system where janitors get paid more than teachers. And of course, we spend time obsessing about gender, the 14 varieties of it, and making sure transgender people are not offended by which bathroom they are allowed to use. Same with LGBT folks. Combined, all of 5% of the population. Those things are important to us. The rest we don't care about.
We are run by statist elites.
Does that answer your question?
We don't fix potholes, our cell phone services are a third-world embarrassment, our airports are 30 years behind what's required, and, generally speaking, nothing works.
But, hey, education is important, so we pour money down a sinkhole of a system where janitors get paid more than teachers. And of course, we spend time obsessing about gender, the 14 varieties of it, and making sure transgender people are not offended by which bathroom they are allowed to use. Same with LGBT folks. Combined, all of 5% of the population. Those things are important to us. The rest we don't care about.
We are run by statist elites.
Does that answer your question?
9
John Xavier III: While I agree that private industry has a role to play in improving infrastructure, it is not a panacea. Our "third-world" cellular infrastructure is, the last time I checked, provided by an oligopoly of private corporations (all of which try desperately to squeeze as little service for as much revenue as they can).
7
Spend more on infrastructure? Why, when the City will be going underwater in the next 100 years?
3
Frank,
Provocative topic. I enjoyed the commentary.
I don't really think that people understand the high costs of our congested highways.
The economic costs of highway accidents are staggering. Economic losses due to medical expenses, property damage, insurance, lost wages, and productivity are $836 Billion dollars per year, according to a 2010 study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. This does not include the costs of health damage from vehicle pollution.
Mass Transit is a good investment. It clearly reduces the highway injury and fatality rate. The stats show that urban areas with mass transit have far fewer fatalities and injuries in rural states in terms of numbers per vehicle miles traveled.
Besides building efficient, convenient and affordable fare mass transit to coax people out of their cars, I support converting our mass transit to Maglev as suggested by the Cuomo commission study and the study performed for Senator Patrick Moynihan's Committee. We know how to build a 2nd generation Maglev that is even cheaper, safer, and more capable (it carries trucks in roll-on, roll-off vehicles) than we did in 1987 when Senator Moynihan and Mario Cuomo tried to launch a Maglev R&D program. Everyone should think about this system. Dr. Powell the inventor of Maglev sent a letter to the Administration recommending this technology as a means of mobilizing the economy to make a difference in economic growth, downward pressure on healthcare costs.
Provocative topic. I enjoyed the commentary.
I don't really think that people understand the high costs of our congested highways.
The economic costs of highway accidents are staggering. Economic losses due to medical expenses, property damage, insurance, lost wages, and productivity are $836 Billion dollars per year, according to a 2010 study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. This does not include the costs of health damage from vehicle pollution.
Mass Transit is a good investment. It clearly reduces the highway injury and fatality rate. The stats show that urban areas with mass transit have far fewer fatalities and injuries in rural states in terms of numbers per vehicle miles traveled.
Besides building efficient, convenient and affordable fare mass transit to coax people out of their cars, I support converting our mass transit to Maglev as suggested by the Cuomo commission study and the study performed for Senator Patrick Moynihan's Committee. We know how to build a 2nd generation Maglev that is even cheaper, safer, and more capable (it carries trucks in roll-on, roll-off vehicles) than we did in 1987 when Senator Moynihan and Mario Cuomo tried to launch a Maglev R&D program. Everyone should think about this system. Dr. Powell the inventor of Maglev sent a letter to the Administration recommending this technology as a means of mobilizing the economy to make a difference in economic growth, downward pressure on healthcare costs.
3
Accidents? What about all the gas and time burnt? Trillions.
3
New York City has long represented a paradox of civilization. On the one hand, it is a center of world commerce, a center for the arts and education, a city that offers the best, and often most expensive, of everything. On the other hand, it is noisy, dirty, and over-crowded with many of the rudest people anywhere, a city where on any given day people scream at complete strangers, walk through or around garbage, waste hours in traffic going in, out, or around the city. As a former NYer with many friends and relatives who still live in NYC, it is apparent that to many residents, denial is their perpetual defense mechanism.
4
The MTA spends 17% of its $15.5 billion operating budget on debt services and also spends 8% funds on pensions for past employees plus another 12% to support the past and current employees and 5% more for overtime. Non-labor expenses for all of MetroNorth, Long Island RR, NYC Subways accounts for just 24%.
We're underfunding MTA operations, borrowing money from private banks to pay for underfunded pensions and health care liabilities and wondering why the trains and stations look worse for wear.
Direct fares now cover just 40% of the spending; the rest comes from other sources. Direct fares barely account for the debt service costs, overtime, retirement and health insurance. Actual operating expenses and salaries make up the rest of the 60% not paid directly by users of the system.
This conversation is much less about infrastructure costs and much more about the actual cost of public employment.
We know that the MTA has unfunded liabilities and massive debt services. It will cost billions to fix the aging infrastructure, and we already have billions in debt and pensions to pay first.
What would a NY politician propose to improve the situation?
We're underfunding MTA operations, borrowing money from private banks to pay for underfunded pensions and health care liabilities and wondering why the trains and stations look worse for wear.
Direct fares now cover just 40% of the spending; the rest comes from other sources. Direct fares barely account for the debt service costs, overtime, retirement and health insurance. Actual operating expenses and salaries make up the rest of the 60% not paid directly by users of the system.
This conversation is much less about infrastructure costs and much more about the actual cost of public employment.
We know that the MTA has unfunded liabilities and massive debt services. It will cost billions to fix the aging infrastructure, and we already have billions in debt and pensions to pay first.
What would a NY politician propose to improve the situation?
6
This excellent column illustrates what happens when infrastructure-- mass transit, bridges, roads, schools-- isn't funded, but development continues apace.
The same thing is happening in the Washington, DC area: the Metro system is underfunded, with safety problems, significant delays and ridership declines. Yet transit-oriented development is adding more and more density adjacent to this ailing system. Even worse: some jurisdictions have approved dense development in areas not proximate to Metro on the dubious theory that transit will be supplied in the future.
Word to the urban planners: transit-oriented development is great, but you can't have it without the transit. Land use decisions need to conform to the conditions and availability of supporting infrastructure.
One final note: I've sadly concluded that investment real estate can often be the enemy of great ethnic food. The need to deliver yields of 17%-20%+ means that 1)rents rise inexorably and 2)building owners rent almost exclusively to credit-rated retail tenants: chains or restaurants helmed by well-established star chefs. T
The same thing is happening in the Washington, DC area: the Metro system is underfunded, with safety problems, significant delays and ridership declines. Yet transit-oriented development is adding more and more density adjacent to this ailing system. Even worse: some jurisdictions have approved dense development in areas not proximate to Metro on the dubious theory that transit will be supplied in the future.
Word to the urban planners: transit-oriented development is great, but you can't have it without the transit. Land use decisions need to conform to the conditions and availability of supporting infrastructure.
One final note: I've sadly concluded that investment real estate can often be the enemy of great ethnic food. The need to deliver yields of 17%-20%+ means that 1)rents rise inexorably and 2)building owners rent almost exclusively to credit-rated retail tenants: chains or restaurants helmed by well-established star chefs. T
3
As I enjoy my morning coffee and daily-deliverd NYT, ...listening to our chirping birds while overlooking our shared, wild-life thriving, 3-4 acre pond and huge sky (-scrapper-less!) view... And, at age 78, having spent graduate years in NYC and a recent, June weekend enjoying 14th floor, hotel views of Central Park, I am fascinated by the evolution of NYC.
Frank Bruni's article here captures the inevitable issues facing that wonderful city. Increasingly I have wondered how long the city can humanely scale and balance its evolution in terms of density, population, environmental sustainability, aging infrastructure, civil society, social and cultural needs. Who knows, but Bruni eloquently addresses the city's challenges, leading one to wonder if there Is a "tipping point" coming sooner than later for NYC.
Our personal NYC trip got an enthusiastic 10 rating, as does the peace and beauty of our midwestern home, and I am relieved that we were seemingly ahead of the projected 60!! million!! tourists before the NYC summer season gains full speed. Hopefully we will again visit The Big Apple, but increasingly cautiously.
Best Wishes and Great Good Luck to NYC (from sub-urban Mpls/StP MN
Frank Bruni's article here captures the inevitable issues facing that wonderful city. Increasingly I have wondered how long the city can humanely scale and balance its evolution in terms of density, population, environmental sustainability, aging infrastructure, civil society, social and cultural needs. Who knows, but Bruni eloquently addresses the city's challenges, leading one to wonder if there Is a "tipping point" coming sooner than later for NYC.
Our personal NYC trip got an enthusiastic 10 rating, as does the peace and beauty of our midwestern home, and I am relieved that we were seemingly ahead of the projected 60!! million!! tourists before the NYC summer season gains full speed. Hopefully we will again visit The Big Apple, but increasingly cautiously.
Best Wishes and Great Good Luck to NYC (from sub-urban Mpls/StP MN
4
The development of fiber optic packet-switched networks based on a purposely-decentralized architecture should have led to a massive change in the nation's demographics. We should be witnessing a tsunami of flight from the megalopolis to the mid-sized (75,000 to 150,000) cities and then to small towns. But it appears that to this point the gravitational pull of the largest cities in a service-based economy is exceeding rationality.
When a sufficient number of young people in pursuit of a wide range of vocations come to the awareness that their best futures lie far away from the Death Stars of current America, they may decide that they have it within their power to create the next and best version of America. If so, we will see a flowering that will have historians reflecting in wonderment.
The irony in all of this is that those who have flocked to New York (as I did almost 40 years ago) in order to be among the best and the brightest will have failed to apply the communal wealth to creating the necessary amenities to support the very environment that attracted them. The next version of Lewis Mumford will have to write a very different "The City in History."
When a sufficient number of young people in pursuit of a wide range of vocations come to the awareness that their best futures lie far away from the Death Stars of current America, they may decide that they have it within their power to create the next and best version of America. If so, we will see a flowering that will have historians reflecting in wonderment.
The irony in all of this is that those who have flocked to New York (as I did almost 40 years ago) in order to be among the best and the brightest will have failed to apply the communal wealth to creating the necessary amenities to support the very environment that attracted them. The next version of Lewis Mumford will have to write a very different "The City in History."
5
Tad, an excellent comment. I've been saying the exact same thing for years, and I've continued to be wrong for years.
People love to live on a pile. Second, they don't bear the true cost of living on or commuting to that pile. If they did, things would change very fast. But as in other things, government distorts natural economic forces.
If it cost $100 to cross a bridge or a tunnel, you would see change. Guaranteed.
People love to live on a pile. Second, they don't bear the true cost of living on or commuting to that pile. If they did, things would change very fast. But as in other things, government distorts natural economic forces.
If it cost $100 to cross a bridge or a tunnel, you would see change. Guaranteed.
4
It only took the US capital city 200 years to install a subway system which now, only after 40 years, is falling apart faster than the 100 year old NYC subway. For nearly all the 21st century, I took both, commuting between the two cities. But I always avoided going into Penn Station; I preferred Newark(!) and the PATH train to dealing with Penn and the possible delays in the subway. Unfortunately, I am still stuck with the Metro to DC's Union Station.
3
I left the city 38 years ago for ever. My first time was 53 years ago but I'd gone back for a job at 19. With nothing but cousins who have never left the city and who never communicated despite my attempts to maintain relationship I doubt I won't get back until it's time to fill a space in the family plot at Greenwood.
About 5 years ago I flew up and drove a U-Haul with my sister and her worldly goods back to Wisconsin. The only comfort to the 3.5 hours it took to drive from Jamaica Queens to the GW Bridge is that I would never have to do it again. My other comfort is that I no longer ride the L(L) train to work anymore.
About 5 years ago I flew up and drove a U-Haul with my sister and her worldly goods back to Wisconsin. The only comfort to the 3.5 hours it took to drive from Jamaica Queens to the GW Bridge is that I would never have to do it again. My other comfort is that I no longer ride the L(L) train to work anymore.
4
NYHUGUENOT, I don't have words to express how grateful those of us who stayed in New York are that you're not coming back till you're dead.
4
I not sure if New York matters anymore until you see Trump wrestling a CNN logo or espousing God at a rally. How to get around might need a plan in New York or LA but at least things make sense. Notwithstanding high rents and moody chefs, NYC is still the center of the Universe however not configured for the poor, middleclass or quasi-wealthy. You need real money to live and eat there because nothing can stop Wall Street or restaurant rents. This is evidenced by the demise of The Four Seasons Restrurant because they were not paying enough rent.
1
This is really well written. I could feel it.
8
I used to have this theory that we'd all live in Brooklyn someday, but now I'm pretty sure it will be Wyoming… Westward Ho!
1
I fell in love with NYC when I had to travel there monthly on government business. I was dying to live there. As time went by, I started to hate the commute, not just from DC, but also within the city to get from meeting to meeting.
The safety in hotels also became a major concern for me, since I would have been assaulted in one mid-town hotel if I hadn't refused to open the door to the fake waiter bringing me dinner courtesy of the hotel (who didn't offer any) or the fake security officer in another well-known hotel who needed to check some safety issue in my room. Haven't wanted to go to NYC in years.
The safety in hotels also became a major concern for me, since I would have been assaulted in one mid-town hotel if I hadn't refused to open the door to the fake waiter bringing me dinner courtesy of the hotel (who didn't offer any) or the fake security officer in another well-known hotel who needed to check some safety issue in my room. Haven't wanted to go to NYC in years.
4
From a New Yorker who did just that, here's a big Western Howdy! There's life beyond NYC, like my Home on the Range in Wyoming.
1
We have no one to blame but ourselves because we refuse to pay higher taxes which are necessary to fund the infrastructure improvements that we all complain are lacking. Don't blame the politicians. Blame the voters who will remove them from office if they raise taxes. Blame the unfair tax system too. I'm willing to pay higher taxes, but only if those who have far more than I do pay their fair share, which under our current system, is not the case. Blame voters for that too.
19
Taxes are plenty high - its the ridiculous pensions and other benefits that Politicians have given to Unions for their votes thats the real burden on finances for MTA.
5
Hieronymous Bosch and not "Donald Trump" are the first two words of a NYT op-ed! It may not be a cheerful piece, but, no matter: thank you, thank you, thank you, Mr Bruni!
10
Deport from New York City everybody named Kevin and Emily. Problem solved.
7
Wow. This column sent chills down my spine. You nailed it. I still love going to NY (I live in NJ) but I forfeited a French class because my commute had gone from 45 minutes on a good day, to almost two hours. And even that time wasn't reliable. I was so stressed, and so beaten down by the time I arrived at class, that I realized something that should have been highly enjoyable had turned into a virtual hell.
I keep hoping that the CalExit movement will turn into something larger and the disunited states will find a better way to govern themselves by becoming smaller. Take our money back from Washington and invest it in ourselves. Demand more accountability from our governors and mayors and rethink how much power these people actually should have. We in NJ have had to endure a 4th of July weekend without state beaches and parks because Chris Christie had to, once again, take out his political revenge on the public by shutting them down. Of course, parks and beaches were open to members of the governor's family, just not the rest of us. Why should he be allowed to have such power? Why should Cuomo's and deBlasio's feud over NYC infrastructure have been allowed to go on for years? It's not only the antiquated infrastructure that's killing us, it's the antiquated laws. While I'm at it, why should selection of a Supreme Court justice be up to the Congress? Why not a separate bipartisan panel? Everything favors the rich, everything.
I keep hoping that the CalExit movement will turn into something larger and the disunited states will find a better way to govern themselves by becoming smaller. Take our money back from Washington and invest it in ourselves. Demand more accountability from our governors and mayors and rethink how much power these people actually should have. We in NJ have had to endure a 4th of July weekend without state beaches and parks because Chris Christie had to, once again, take out his political revenge on the public by shutting them down. Of course, parks and beaches were open to members of the governor's family, just not the rest of us. Why should he be allowed to have such power? Why should Cuomo's and deBlasio's feud over NYC infrastructure have been allowed to go on for years? It's not only the antiquated infrastructure that's killing us, it's the antiquated laws. While I'm at it, why should selection of a Supreme Court justice be up to the Congress? Why not a separate bipartisan panel? Everything favors the rich, everything.
13
As a recent Austin TX retiree who has relocated to the NC coast, I can assure you NYC is NOT a proxy for our country. Thank goodness for friendly neighbors, "traffic jams" that consist of 10 cars ahead of you at the traffic light that last for 30 minutes or less each morning and afternoon. the sights and sounds of nature out our windows, etc. No one is forcing you live in that hell-hole.
7
There are many, many things NYC needed to do years, decades ago...but most of the effort went to short-sighted projects. And any good projects, were mostly privately funded and organized. But they don't, can't (no so sure they shouldn't) build roads and bridges,etc.
I don't blame Cuomo so much as I do the mayors and various City officials, etc. NYC and its boroughs need to find a unification of purpose, whereby fixing the whole, and not just disparate parts is the overriding theme and goal. If people cant get in from the boroughs, NYC suffers, and vice versa. If people in Brooklyn would rather visit a circle of hell, then go anyplace near NYC on a weekend, that's not good. And if leaving NYC for a little Brooklyn, LI seaside respite, is akin to having ones teeth pulled, thru the ears...well, you get the picture.
But like the slowly boiling frog, NYer's and their borough and LI/NJ/CT suburban kin - have let things slide, have not demanded more from their elected employees for decades now. All parties in the Metro Zone, and those that most feed into it, need to organize and form coalitions to get the hard work of infrastructure rebuilding done. (forget maintenance at this point, its a nearly complete re-build)
This not just a NY State, NYC+ problem - its also a NJ, CT, Long Island set of problems.
And if Cuomo wants to show leadership, of the federal sort, he'd be wise to get those parties focused.
I don't blame Cuomo so much as I do the mayors and various City officials, etc. NYC and its boroughs need to find a unification of purpose, whereby fixing the whole, and not just disparate parts is the overriding theme and goal. If people cant get in from the boroughs, NYC suffers, and vice versa. If people in Brooklyn would rather visit a circle of hell, then go anyplace near NYC on a weekend, that's not good. And if leaving NYC for a little Brooklyn, LI seaside respite, is akin to having ones teeth pulled, thru the ears...well, you get the picture.
But like the slowly boiling frog, NYer's and their borough and LI/NJ/CT suburban kin - have let things slide, have not demanded more from their elected employees for decades now. All parties in the Metro Zone, and those that most feed into it, need to organize and form coalitions to get the hard work of infrastructure rebuilding done. (forget maintenance at this point, its a nearly complete re-build)
This not just a NY State, NYC+ problem - its also a NJ, CT, Long Island set of problems.
And if Cuomo wants to show leadership, of the federal sort, he'd be wise to get those parties focused.
6
The only thing worse than a masochist who complains is one who gets paid for doing so.
10
When i moved to New York in 1984, the place was a cesspool. Koch was mayor,
to be followed by Dinkins. Then Giuliani came and things got better. Then much better. Then Bloomberg came and things stayed good ... or not much worse. The de Blasio comes, and things are going down hill.
I notice a certain pattern. Not that we'd ever want to mention that.
to be followed by Dinkins. Then Giuliani came and things got better. Then much better. Then Bloomberg came and things stayed good ... or not much worse. The de Blasio comes, and things are going down hill.
I notice a certain pattern. Not that we'd ever want to mention that.
4
I was living in Brooklyn when Dinkins became mayor. There was almost an overnight shift in safety in my neighborhood after he took office. Suddenly, neighborhood policemen appeared on random corners throughout my neighborhood. We started feeling comfortable walking around at night, shopping and dining and running errands, and there was a noticeable decline in crime throughout his four years in office. Giuliani, wisely, continued the majority of Dinkins' practices and things continued to improve. Unsurprisingly, he took credit for them.
It was Dinkins' efforts that, ironically, paved the way for gentrification in Brooklyn. Landlords and developers owe him a big thank you.
It was Dinkins' efforts that, ironically, paved the way for gentrification in Brooklyn. Landlords and developers owe him a big thank you.
5
12 years of Bloomberg strategic planning and data-driven management did not get us anywhere.....there are 8 million degrees of freedom....it is futile....
1
Are you surprised? Who that has power cares?
Americans only care about military and jesus. Everything else is stolen form them to give to freeloaders.
And it is only just getting started. The smart money has plan B at the ready.
Americans only care about military and jesus. Everything else is stolen form them to give to freeloaders.
And it is only just getting started. The smart money has plan B at the ready.
Your "kings" don't care how the peons live. If they did, they would move their businesses here to Cleveland. Just send us about a million people though. We don't want them to ruin it for the rest of us.
1
Here's a thought, Mr. Bruni! I live in Idaho, a very nice state (except for its politics!) in many ways, lots of space, beautiful scenery, outdoor sports, several great resorts, and not much traffic. Here's the deal: You could urge about a million New Yorkers to move to Idaho and escape the "spring, summer and autumn hell" you describe, the only caveat would be these people would need to be liberal politically and promise to vote! What a deal! Idaho could cease to be about the "most conservative" red state, and New Yorkers could enjoy space, fresh air, less traffic, and low cost of living! What's not to like!
13
get yourself a beach vacation. not fire island or the hamptons, dear
2
Andrew Cuomo for *president*? Of the U S of A?
LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
That's so beyond stick-a-fork-in-it.
He represents the least popular aspects of the Democratic Party.
LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
That's so beyond stick-a-fork-in-it.
He represents the least popular aspects of the Democratic Party.
4
Actually he is more a neo-liberal, center right. The Republicans and Fox have pushed the right so far to the right, people such as yourself think Andrew Cuomo a lefty. (Btw, the same is true for Hillary and Obama...also corporatist, center right.) Bernie qualifies as a lefty on good days.
3
No presidential candidate can win having forfeited 5 million voters. Cuomo is a loser from the start.
1
Frank, I love your column. But you, the hedge-fund Millennials and the people in tinted-window-black-Escalades should leave NYC, and it will be easier for everyone. I did it in 1988, after living in seasons of hell for 16 years. The subways I rode were no better than the ones you describe. Nightly I endured the garbage trucks and the sirens (I lived across the street from New York Hospital). And I was poor - living on a graduate student stipend of 6k during the latter years. When the movers who picked up my stuff unpacked it in Rockland County, they said, Wow, you must think you died and went to heaven. I did, and I did. For some of us, the vibe is exhausting. We are worried about infrastructure, but not the NYC subway. Just sayin'.
I am in LA but kind of understand your point. Sometimes while sitting in the endless traffic, the place feels like a powder keg about to blow...can't put my finger on it though.
1
Congestion pricing? That was a good idea? That was a bandaid.
All those black Escalades idling outside the Prada store are Bloomberg and his laissez-faire real estate policies.
I used to have a "Mom n Pop" place in SOHO. Then Bloomberg and the Limo-libs built a luxury condo and raped the neighborhood into submission. All the storefronts got hit with a 300% rent increase because the landlords envisioned a row of new high-end motorcycle shops, Burberry boutiques, and Apple stores to service the Saudi princes and "holding companies" who buy the luxury condos ...but rarely live in them.
Look at the occupancy rate in SOHO. Maybe the 70s are coming back?
Our leaders abandoned us long ago, as did our Op-Ed writers. They all swim in the same pool of privilege and can afford $4 coffee and $4000 one-bedrooms.
What's happening to NYC is the result of income inequality. This is what it looks like. And it is only getting worse. We need leaders who are at least as progressive as Eisenhower and LBJ, not these center-right Clintons and Bloombergs.
All those black Escalades idling outside the Prada store are Bloomberg and his laissez-faire real estate policies.
I used to have a "Mom n Pop" place in SOHO. Then Bloomberg and the Limo-libs built a luxury condo and raped the neighborhood into submission. All the storefronts got hit with a 300% rent increase because the landlords envisioned a row of new high-end motorcycle shops, Burberry boutiques, and Apple stores to service the Saudi princes and "holding companies" who buy the luxury condos ...but rarely live in them.
Look at the occupancy rate in SOHO. Maybe the 70s are coming back?
Our leaders abandoned us long ago, as did our Op-Ed writers. They all swim in the same pool of privilege and can afford $4 coffee and $4000 one-bedrooms.
What's happening to NYC is the result of income inequality. This is what it looks like. And it is only getting worse. We need leaders who are at least as progressive as Eisenhower and LBJ, not these center-right Clintons and Bloombergs.
7
You could move to Omaha. There's little traffic and prices are low. We really need a greater number of liberal minded people here; perhaps a few elections would go my way for a change. Liberals of the world, move to Omaha!
Note: There may be a few disadvantages I have not mentioned.
Note: There may be a few disadvantages I have not mentioned.
8
I would imagine that the writer understands the complexity of the political and financial situation as it relates to funding on massive urban infrastructure projects, especially here in the city. The governor needs to get support from upstate conservatives often hostile to the needs of the city and he needs to build critical mass to get anything from Washington, especially now. The governor actually needs this public outrage in order to move things forward and to do things like the emergency order which he enacted as an end run around a good deal of red tape and vested interests. The governor probably excepts that he has to be the bad guy to some extent but it can not be denied that he is moving things forward. I could offer a long list of critical infrastructure projects currently under way, but the writer knows of them and they would not fit into the narrative of his piece. Applying pressure on politicians is a noble and necessary endeavor, but their comes a point when the necessary anger that it elicits starts to be counterproductive and becomes primarily about character assassination. The governor does not rule our state by fiat and the writer does his readers no service by avoiding complexity and balance.
3
Two comments from small town America: a) No one made you live in NYC. In most of the country, away from the coasts, an acre or two of property and a decent house will run you less than $250K, and a traffic jam is waiting 15 seconds to make a left turn; b) If you want to see high prices, go to Iceland, where I just visited. $36 will not buy you a cod fillet dinner entree. It will buy you a breakfast sandwich and a cup of coffee.
1
Our anti-tax mindset and corporate subsidies lead to an incredible lack of ambition in areas like transit and education. We could have AWESOME public transit and fantastic schools if only the political will existed. Instead of saying, "How can we build the best system possible?" we say, oh, that might lead to a tax increase. But in the long run, good infrastructure benefits everyone. Imagine the possibilities. What would a great transit system look like? Other cities in other countries have managed to do this. Why not us?
4
How about we stop spending on endless war?
4
Things cost money. Plain and simple.
4
Right, Right and Right Again! Many Moons ago, my Bride and I would travel to New York, yearly, for Dining, Shopping and the Theater, until it became abundantly clear, New York City is purely for Masochists only; that was twenty years ago!
It's simple, Frank. Too many people for too small an area. But please, ask yourself if you would trade for the opposite: Kansas.
Go on vacation. Come back when it's cooler. Cheers.
Go on vacation. Come back when it's cooler. Cheers.
1
Subways are almost never late or too crowded in 4 of Americas' 11 largest cities: Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, and Austin, Texas.
I do not doubt one word of what Mr. Bruni or any of the commenters stated is untrue. I think it's healthy and productive to complain, vent and/or let out all of the frustrations listed. But please, you might scare off the tourists and the money they bring. I just think this article should have a warning "for New Yorkers Only" because it does not bode well for tourists or anyone contemplating relocating to your wonderful city. Just another opinion from the peanut gallery. I still think New York is the greatest city in the world. Sorry, but I love you guys and your town.
3
NYC is one of the most liberal cities in the US and in one of the most liberal states. If it mirrors our national dysfunction we are doomed.
3
Time to use for man's greatest invention: the bicycle.
Frank, think how bad the situation would be if New York weren't a Blue State and New York City weren't a Sanctuary City? Can you imagine the City if Republicans had been in charge since way back when?
But take heart, Frank. What a great way to embrace the diversity of the Big Apple shoulder to shoulder to shoulder.
But take heart, Frank. What a great way to embrace the diversity of the Big Apple shoulder to shoulder to shoulder.
2
Real estate intere$t$ win.
The rest of us lose.
The rest of us lose.
1
Two words MUST be included in EVERY column like this: GROVER NORQUIST. Pass it along.
3
A friend asked on Facebook if he knew anyone in NYC as he was planning a visit. Having lived there myself, I told him to go to Chicago.
2
Not just Albany, the U. S. Congress needs to stop keeping track of "Loves me, Loves me nots", and get the big picture. It's not just the NYC Subway, its the PATH Tubes and its AMTRAK. Those tunnels under the Hudson, getting people into and out of The City, as well as the whole railway system--parts over 100 years old--from D. C, TO Boston could quality as One of the Wonders of the Ancient World.
The Congress, the President--if we had one--should be accelerating getting money into updating this vital component of What Makes America Run? Stop playing the Fool's Game--"Red State, Blue State!" Where would Arizona, Mississippi, Wyoming be if there wasn't a Northeast Corridor?
You can play all of the political games that you want; but, how much of this Nation's Economy--its GDP--take...and I'll ask it again: Where would Arizona, Mississippi, Wyoming be if there wasn't a Northeast Corridor?
Sure, Iowa wheat needs to get to martlets, and on to America's dinner tables! Building materials need to be produced, processed, and transported for shipment to retail establishments! And, oil, gas, ethanol, wind turbines, solar panels all need to have their energy added to the Electric Grid, and be made available to American industry, Academia, Research, and We the People!
The whole American Economy is inter-linked, from North to South, and East to West. Face it: We need each other! Not Red or Blue, Red AND Blue!
https://thetruthoncommonsense.com
The Congress, the President--if we had one--should be accelerating getting money into updating this vital component of What Makes America Run? Stop playing the Fool's Game--"Red State, Blue State!" Where would Arizona, Mississippi, Wyoming be if there wasn't a Northeast Corridor?
You can play all of the political games that you want; but, how much of this Nation's Economy--its GDP--take...and I'll ask it again: Where would Arizona, Mississippi, Wyoming be if there wasn't a Northeast Corridor?
Sure, Iowa wheat needs to get to martlets, and on to America's dinner tables! Building materials need to be produced, processed, and transported for shipment to retail establishments! And, oil, gas, ethanol, wind turbines, solar panels all need to have their energy added to the Electric Grid, and be made available to American industry, Academia, Research, and We the People!
The whole American Economy is inter-linked, from North to South, and East to West. Face it: We need each other! Not Red or Blue, Red AND Blue!
https://thetruthoncommonsense.com
5
The robots and drones are coming!
In 10 years Manhattan will not only be a beehive of activity, it will sound like one. Drone will be buzzing through the airspace.
Robot kitchen and maintenance workers will "reside" where they work. Hi-rise dormitories will be built for AEHW's (Absolutely Essential Human Workers) which will soon become over-crowded and experience riots like our prisons do today.
Brave new world!
In 10 years Manhattan will not only be a beehive of activity, it will sound like one. Drone will be buzzing through the airspace.
Robot kitchen and maintenance workers will "reside" where they work. Hi-rise dormitories will be built for AEHW's (Absolutely Essential Human Workers) which will soon become over-crowded and experience riots like our prisons do today.
Brave new world!
3
I lived in NYC in the early 80's. While there were many things to recommend it, like gorgeous neighborhoods that thrived like small towns where everyone knew each other and you could still get credit at the corner store, there was also Hell's Kitchen which wasn't just a quaint name, Alphabet City, and 42nd Street where the cops walked in pairs...
It's been worse. Even in my lifetime.
And it's even been much worse not in my lifetime.
You can thank Rudi Guliani for the state NYC resides in now. Without addressing any real problems, he put lipstick on the pig and it's starting to wear off.
It's been worse. Even in my lifetime.
And it's even been much worse not in my lifetime.
You can thank Rudi Guliani for the state NYC resides in now. Without addressing any real problems, he put lipstick on the pig and it's starting to wear off.
1
NYC has an idiotic, habitual fascination with any form of transportation which takes place under it's streets and, occasionally, using prewar, ancient and heavily designed travel paths apparently for large battle tanks- many of them elevated structures. It is possible that labor and property prices in the early 20th century made this seem like a bright idea, but today, advances in structural materials and electric motors that are infinitely more efficient and far more compact than in Nikola Teslas day, the way to go, especially in Manhattan but also in all any borough where a slice of street 10 feet wide can be used at city expense, is to run "light rails" along what were once bicycle paths. Such paths are rarely used on main avenues and, if combined with light rail, might not make much difference to bike riders. Light rail vehicles can be run either as a one way operation, on different sides of newly wider avenues(as with first avenue and Second avenue) or, avenues could run trains one way, so that the return trip would be a few hundred foot walk away. Addition of such extra rail systems, operating 24 hours as with all other city transit, would cut the load on the already overworked systems by as much as 50%.-they might even be used to move freight at night.
Increbibly cheap to install and maintain and it's cars far thinner, lighter and easier to maintain than current trains and double length buses. Unlike subways-lightrail can even be installed in sections.
Increbibly cheap to install and maintain and it's cars far thinner, lighter and easier to maintain than current trains and double length buses. Unlike subways-lightrail can even be installed in sections.
2
I do not find the problem so difficult that cannot be solved in on one or two bold strokes. This is the city ran by a progressive mayor in a blue state ran by a progressive governor. This is also the city where (or near) the much maligned by the left top 1% tend to prefer to settle. So, just follow Bernie Sanders advice, establish 50% surtax on them - that may pay for fixing the subways. If that is not enough - establish the taxes on wealth and just confiscate half of what that top 1% owns. That will also pay for Medicare for all and make college free for all and also pay for a transgender restroom on every corner. If more $$ is still needed, go for the top 5%. Tax them!
Ooops...that would be NY Times readership....they should be left alone because they are the conscience of our society and must be protected. Tax only the republicans...if you can find them in NY.
Ooops...that would be NY Times readership....they should be left alone because they are the conscience of our society and must be protected. Tax only the republicans...if you can find them in NY.
1
Cuomo and De Blasio are truly awful leaders who refuse to do the hard work to build out an efficient, balanced transportation network—both upgrading and expanding transit, and getting people out of their cars. How much longer must we suffer under these baby boomer car nuts who are running this city into the ground? I too am losing faith in New York.
2
Left 28 years ago after living my entire life until then in the Bronx (I don't tell people I'm from New York City; I tell them I'm from The Bronx because The Bronx is the problems on New York City squared.)
NEVER regretted it!
NEVER regretted it!
2
As a native New Yorker who lived through the 70s when Times Square was a place known for porn theaters and prostitutes; and the 80s when the city had exploding racial tensions and suffered through the AIDS epidemic, I can still recall the stifling hot subways in the summers and the dirty snow-filled streets in the winters. Living in an urban area of 8 million residents where manners (and patience) were in short supply, I moved to the West Coast. And while this part of the country also has its own issues, including a severe lack of affordable housing, the threat of earthquakes, and a high cost of living, it also offers something Manhattan and its surrounding boroughs lack---wide open spaces and a more laid back lifestyle. Even if you insist on continuing to live in the Big Apple, Frank, take a break and "Go West" to relax. A nice long drive along the Pacific Coast Highway can do wonders for your battered psyche.
5
Never fear, help is on the way! Kushner is in action! He alone can solve the ills that affect America! He alone can bring peace to the Middle East! Frank you haven't been paying attention, in between getting Chinese financing for his New York condos for the rich, his buying up lower rent apartments in Gotham(with Israeli not Russian money)he's gotten us a deal with the Saudis to finance( and own) our infrastructure, (I'm sure with Mnunchin and Cohens boys at Goldman Sachs getting their cut)So it is possible to give tax breaks to your billionaire clan and rebuild, actually make that " SELL" America to your other rich global buddies. Forget "Make America Great" its make the global elite rich as you sell off and Privatize America. In one generation the American Dream and Democracy have been lost to all but the rich, the very clever or the well connected.
2
You complain about the state of transit, but in the same essay you gripe about two projects to improve and update the system (Penn Station & the L subway). This kind of superficial whining is why it's so hard for politicians to prioritize maintenance work.
1
My favorite was always the dreaded Kosciuszko bridge on the even more dreaded, (worst designed road in the world), BQE. They replaced it with a modern bridge, just six months ago, with the same six lanes as the old one! Like Brooklyn might not grow in the next forty years?
Beyond stupid.
Beyond stupid.
3
Frank, New York has always been noisy, dirty, smelly, rude, with out-of-date infrastructure and pretending not to notice just how old and decrepit it is. I felt your pain 25 years ago when I lived in Weehawken and Jersey City and worked in Manhattan.
The PABT was grotesque. The subway platform underneath, even worse. Smelly and dirty doesn't begin to describe it. I always walked to work on Park Avenue no matter how hot or cold unless it was pouring down rain or there was 2 feet of snow. I always enjoyed the walk; New York is a great place to walk!
1x1, New Yorkers and New Jerseyans are great people: helpful, straightforward, thoughtful, smart. Anonymously crushed together at rush hour, not so much. And who would be?
Maybe it's time for Dutchess County? Will the Times let you telecommute?
The PABT was grotesque. The subway platform underneath, even worse. Smelly and dirty doesn't begin to describe it. I always walked to work on Park Avenue no matter how hot or cold unless it was pouring down rain or there was 2 feet of snow. I always enjoyed the walk; New York is a great place to walk!
1x1, New Yorkers and New Jerseyans are great people: helpful, straightforward, thoughtful, smart. Anonymously crushed together at rush hour, not so much. And who would be?
Maybe it's time for Dutchess County? Will the Times let you telecommute?
1
Try the puget sound corridor. miserable most days, 3 1/2 +hours to go 45 miles during commute times.
Alright, I moved away, but it's me not you, New York. I lived in Brooklyn and took the B and Q trains. But, I only truly hated it on weekends: "Show time, show time, show time..." (pole spinners, sometimes not missing me by inches as we lurched toward DeKalb), and the dreaded weekend closure of the Q and some even more sadistic version of the Stanford prison guard test called the Q shuttle bus.
Other than that, I didn't mind it. I tended to leave earlier for work and appointments and figured out which cars yielded the most empty seats.
And as for the big picture: There will be the BQX waterfront streetcar between Brooklyn and Queens; the 2nd Avenue subway eases pressure on the Lexington line; the 8th Avenue Farley Post Office conversion will make the LIRR commute not only bearable but as dignified as Grand Central; the brand new Tappan Zee Bridge just opened ($4 billion dollars). In many ways, the City is moving in the right direction.
Quite frankly, this column sounds a bit like the old Money Python scene from "The Life of Bryan": "Besides the La Guardia renovation; the opening of the 2nd avenue subway; the new Kosciuszko Bridge; and the 300 new subway cars on the old cruddy J, Z and C lines...what's the city and state government done for us?"
As for 16 Handles being the only store that can afford Chelsea and East Side rents, well, not much to be done about that. Ick.
Other than that, I didn't mind it. I tended to leave earlier for work and appointments and figured out which cars yielded the most empty seats.
And as for the big picture: There will be the BQX waterfront streetcar between Brooklyn and Queens; the 2nd Avenue subway eases pressure on the Lexington line; the 8th Avenue Farley Post Office conversion will make the LIRR commute not only bearable but as dignified as Grand Central; the brand new Tappan Zee Bridge just opened ($4 billion dollars). In many ways, the City is moving in the right direction.
Quite frankly, this column sounds a bit like the old Money Python scene from "The Life of Bryan": "Besides the La Guardia renovation; the opening of the 2nd avenue subway; the new Kosciuszko Bridge; and the 300 new subway cars on the old cruddy J, Z and C lines...what's the city and state government done for us?"
As for 16 Handles being the only store that can afford Chelsea and East Side rents, well, not much to be done about that. Ick.
9
Having worked in San Fran for 10 years now, and lived in the "suburbs" a "mere" 30 miles (and 2 hours) to the east, you could replace "San Francisco" for "New York" in this article and it would still read pretty well.
We've been too busy fighting wars and nation building since 2003. Imagine if - instead of invading Iraq in 2003 we put all of the money we've ultimately spent into infrastructure? This article would not have been written.
So why do City Planners and Civil Engineers green light skyscrapers for residential use (in San Francisco, that means a 1,000 Sq Ft. loft for $3 mil) without thinking about how everyone, not just the tenants will get around?
Because money has always been more powerful than practicality, more powerful than concern for humanity, and human life.
We've been too busy fighting wars and nation building since 2003. Imagine if - instead of invading Iraq in 2003 we put all of the money we've ultimately spent into infrastructure? This article would not have been written.
So why do City Planners and Civil Engineers green light skyscrapers for residential use (in San Francisco, that means a 1,000 Sq Ft. loft for $3 mil) without thinking about how everyone, not just the tenants will get around?
Because money has always been more powerful than practicality, more powerful than concern for humanity, and human life.
3
Recently, an out of towner asked me why the trains are so crowded nowadays a few days ago. I told them that it's not our trains that make it that way, but the busy schedule we thrive by. If you're lucky to take the train in the morning depending on the time and location, you'd be happy to grab a seat, some music, and enjoy the trip from point A to B. The afternoon rush hour, however, is an entirely different experience: from the lack of air condition, body odor, the uprise of panhandling, squatters/homeless, etc. has made the experience more eye-opening than ever. It also tells me that regardless of the changes/improvements in the MTA infrastructure, no matter how many wifi kiosks, AC cars with longer installments of trains a la monorails, we'll still have these problems we once had. Repairs? Wait until 2050 to have them fully completed once we're through with traffic lights, rail improvements, and even manpower to complete a bigger expansion than ever. Not to say that everything is through a fault, though. But, bear in mind, Cuomo hasn't blinked an eye on this situation for a moment, while diBlasio had his complaints about it since his beginning of his term as city mayor. Think about it: the more we analyze this, the more it gets avoided by the masses all around. I guess the people outside New York shall have their say about it, but will never realize the true living, thriving, hustle and bustle, Frank Sinatra motivational words that keep us living day by day with our trains
I chose the subways, Amtrak and PATH, while my father preferred to battle rush-hour traffic on I-80 and would not set foot on a train (his father had been a streetcar conductor in Chicago during the Depression). On one occasion, my dad's car was broadsided by a speeding police cruiser after the officer went through a red traffic signal. That might possibly have been the cause of a brain injury that later led to his death. Or maybe not. There's no way to know.
Having spent half my life in the New York - New England area, I miss the wonderful people and I miss Cape Cod. I don't miss the subways, where I used to watch rats scurry around the tracks while we stood waiting for the next train.
My parents lived in Jersey for a number of years and enjoyed it greatly. But they didn't enjoy it enough to stay. Maybe that's one reason there are so many New Yorkers in Tampa.
Having spent half my life in the New York - New England area, I miss the wonderful people and I miss Cape Cod. I don't miss the subways, where I used to watch rats scurry around the tracks while we stood waiting for the next train.
My parents lived in Jersey for a number of years and enjoyed it greatly. But they didn't enjoy it enough to stay. Maybe that's one reason there are so many New Yorkers in Tampa.
1
I was recently in Warsaw, Poland, and observed the traffic there. People were moving from place to place by every means: walking, bicycle, auto, tram and subway. Yet it was clear that the situation was on the brink of being impossibly congested. This observation was confirmed by residents to whom I spoke. It seems that the problem is too many people. Even if we spend on improvements of whatever kind, we seem to end up like the Red Queen running as fast as we can just to stay in one place. The only real error is to pretend that we can ignore the situation.
4
I know there are many problems with the subway but it is still the best way to get around the city. I would also like to point out the calm and graciousness with which the people on the A train that derailed handled the situation. That is the real New York spirit.
9
My brother-in-law has lived in the East Village since 1979. Over the many years we have gone to visit him I have been enthralled, mystified, and disgusted in turns by New York. From my narrow perspective as a non-New Yorker it seems to me that what is happening in New York is the same that is happening in a number of cities around the globe. There is a plutocratic class that flits from privilege to privilege and makes playgrounds of once great cities. They will always enjoy the perks of New York, London, Paris, San Francisco, with no concern for real estate prices, infrastructure, or the astronomical cost of entertainment. The rest of us will either put up with it or leave. I once dreamed of living in New York. Hard to even remember that now.
24
Everyone I know like to treat New York City as fly-over country, avoiding it at all costs. Subway was horrible in the 70's (except when we could travel free on Sundays, remember that?) and has gotten worse due to politics and money. Same old, same old.
7
A nice place to visit, but you wouldn't want to live there.
Maybe not even a nice place to visit, anymore. Maybe a place where no one should be living- if this article is what a resident writer says about it.
Maybe not even a nice place to visit, anymore. Maybe a place where no one should be living- if this article is what a resident writer says about it.
11
New York's infrastructure does feel old. I lived there in the 80s and visited last year, and though the city is different--still wonderful--the transit is early 20th Century. It needs investment, which means taxes. Which means the third rail for some politician. It will take bravery.
But to hear Bruni kvetching is galling. Rich/poor divide? Transportation problems? To most of the US, public infrastructure means roads, which is almost a car mandate. And what about my friend in thriving, progressive Austin? She has glaucoma and Parkinson's and is basically housebound because there is no bus service in the suburb where she lives. Infrastructure investment is a national problem.
But to hear Bruni kvetching is galling. Rich/poor divide? Transportation problems? To most of the US, public infrastructure means roads, which is almost a car mandate. And what about my friend in thriving, progressive Austin? She has glaucoma and Parkinson's and is basically housebound because there is no bus service in the suburb where she lives. Infrastructure investment is a national problem.
14
I submitted a comment this morning on exactly your point and was going to add this as footnote. But the comment has not been accepted.
30 days in the USA to see no bus service, train service so what are older people who cannot drive supposed to do.
Back in Sweden where I am on a ferry, the last link in a seamless public transportation system.
Never in America
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
Dual citizen USA SE
30 days in the USA to see no bus service, train service so what are older people who cannot drive supposed to do.
Back in Sweden where I am on a ferry, the last link in a seamless public transportation system.
Never in America
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
Dual citizen USA SE
2
Spoken like one who doesn't live in New York. I suppose the residents of Grenfell Tower in London who organized and spoke truth to power of the many dangers inherent in that "residence" might also be see as "kvetches". Now many of them are dead! Our subway system is one accident short of disaster-neglected and underfunded for decades. Those of us who travel it daily with little choice, as we have no chauffeured SUV limousine waiting outside our door ready to whisk us from place to place-are very aware of the risks inherent. Infrastructure is a national problem. In a city of over 8 million people that problem is exacerbated many times over. It puts the lives of citizens and everyone else at considerable risk. Thank you Frank Bruni! Enough!!
1
Maybe check in with Jerry Brown. See how he's managing the high speed rail project. I think the political/economic situation is contributing to everyone's grumpiness toward each other. I wonder if the increased temperatures and more extreme weather isn't also, since it's changing even the soil. There must be subtle ways it's affecting us. Maybe we the people need to gather again, only this time not at the senators' offices, or our reps' offices, but at the mayors' and governors' offices and demand they work together on viable, long range plans. Here in CO, I-25 is unendingly under construction, which is good, except it doesn't seem all that improved once done. And I've been waiting 40 years to see if we could have high speed rail up and down the front range. The tracks are there. There were trains in the 1940s and 1950s. It might be helpful if we all took a deep breath and stopped giving in to our frustration. Remember? We can do that.
13
Commuting around Gotham was always difficult however it has become a nightmare. Maybe we should build a solar wall;)
5
from you: " I have just one question. What took him so long? Actually, I have another. How much of his sudden zest reflects a possible presidential bid and the need to pretty up an ugly blot on his record?"
nailed!
nailed!
11
We live in NJ in a town that has thrived because of the Midrown Direct.
...., for the next two months we have no train service into NYC only Hoboken. Imagine that. We don't even have bus service into NYC. Dozens of groups have sprung up on FB long before this announcement; the commute has been a nightmare for some time. This feeels like the last straw.
...., for the next two months we have no train service into NYC only Hoboken. Imagine that. We don't even have bus service into NYC. Dozens of groups have sprung up on FB long before this announcement; the commute has been a nightmare for some time. This feeels like the last straw.
5
New York is quickly becoming a kind of giant Potemkin Village - what the postcards show is a gleaming city of luxury towers while beneath seethes an aging nightmare of disintegrating infrastructure. Only when this situation begins to affect the rich will anything be done, of course. This is 21st century America, after all.
18
NYC was great when no one wanted to live there in the early 1980s.
Unfortunately every rich kid in America then decided they had to be a Greenwich Village bohemian, turning that wonderful working class / artist district into the trendiest, most expensive place to live on Earth. Now these rows of endless mass produced hipsters are swarming and crowding each other out of subways.
Maybe it's time to decide that some other city is the hippest absolutely coolest place to be.
- NYC refugee.
Unfortunately every rich kid in America then decided they had to be a Greenwich Village bohemian, turning that wonderful working class / artist district into the trendiest, most expensive place to live on Earth. Now these rows of endless mass produced hipsters are swarming and crowding each other out of subways.
Maybe it's time to decide that some other city is the hippest absolutely coolest place to be.
- NYC refugee.
18
No, I think they're all just fine right where they are. On what other city would you wish this plague?
Frank:You, me and most Americans have missed the bigger picture. Those of us who live or who have lived in major cities that have gone through the same changes as New York or San Francisco have complained about the same things you are for decades, the big picture though is globalization. I remember complaining twenty ago when living in San Francisco that it was becoming unlivable, too crowded, expensive, dirty, full of homeless; I said to myself it has to improve, who's going to want to live(or can afford to) in this dump? Well guess what, if you're from Asia, India, Mexico or dozens of other places New York and San Francisco look clean, safe and not the least bit crowded and to the guy in The Times photo in Hong Kong living in his "coffin box" ( a closet literally) it looks fabulous, especially if you can get government assistance or affordable housing which in San Francisco seems to be most available to folks of Asian decent. There is a reason for this of course, politics, they do hold their representatives feet to the fire to get what they want and they do vote in mass so you want to get elected you better get Charlie's grandparents from Beijing affordable housing or you're out. This probably won't see print but as someone who has spent sixty plus years in San Francisco I assure you it's true and could supply you with a list of buildings with a majority of newly arrived Chinese receiving government assisted housing, including some fancy ones that have a B.M.R. Program.
16
yup - boston, same. aging, decrepit public transit; clogged highways and streets; no parking - but condos "rise and rise" and at $1,400/sf. insane.
2
Sorry, but after living in rural New Hampshire for 29 years, I'd love the
well said about the number of big residencial buildings going up in LIC! i pass through a crowded queensboro plaza station on a crowded 7 train every day and can only imagine what those stops will be like in the near future when those soon to be completed buidings open up! many thanks to the guiliani and bloomberg administrations for making this all possible! well they did get the squeegee guys off the streets! now if they could only the boombox break dancer guys off the trains! talk about noise assault!
4
Like a typical politician, Cuomo doesn't act. He reacts to events.
I hesitate to say that Cuomo has no chance of becoming president. After all, the country just elected a clueless man who lacks basic decency as its president. So nothing is impossible.
I hesitate to say that Cuomo has no chance of becoming president. After all, the country just elected a clueless man who lacks basic decency as its president. So nothing is impossible.
7
Obvioulsy, few members of the NYTimes staff or editorial board can recall what riding on the NYC subways we days before air conditioning. In those day I rcall having to travel to Brooklyn from manhattan on the 6 then the 4 or 5 and to get to parts of Brooklyn in the early syummer morning when there were NO cars with AC. There was no choice and there appared never to be a time in the future when things might be different. In the early 60's, the MTA or then , the TA, considered that if people had lived with un airconditioned trains before, they could conitinue to do so now and possibly forever. What today's riders really do not understand is that yesteryears riders took the non cooled cars with total fatalism and that such travel system was probably one of the things which made NYC such an objectionable and awfully daunting place to live. What we have now may no be perfect but it is 100 times moere comfortable and easier and faster than the rides we suffered in the mid and even late 60's. to early 70's. We got through all that and still had a superior and huge and successful transit system. Our busss wre not even aoir conditioned then. Un less you wanted cold air in winter and lots of heat in summer. In that case, it m ight be said that we had excellent A/C according to the seasons.
Let us not confuse our current temporary problems with the permanent torture NYC residents put up with as a matter of routine, once.
Let us not confuse our current temporary problems with the permanent torture NYC residents put up with as a matter of routine, once.
6
Wow, does that bring back memories. I recall travelling from 110th to Wall St. on the IRT in summer (before AC) and literally looking as I exited as though someone had sprayed me from neck to ankle with a garden hose.
I agree, Mr. Bruni. You should also add to your list the lack of planning for parklands, especially in downtown Brooklyn. Which is, of course, why the residents of the area are begging this administration to stop more private housing from going up inside Brooklyn Bridge Park! The last three acres of park will be consumed by 30 and 15 story towers at Pier 6 - something I note you have endorsed, but only if the funds from these buildings are needed to support the park. They are not - this park is totally and completely funded for the next century (something the Mayor obviously agrees with as he has already designated one of these new towers unneeded for park funding yet still wants to build it, and the other, also not according to recent DOF numbers....). We need parks too and no new ones planned with 20,000 new apt units in the works downtown. Shameful.
2
Don't forget that they want to stop the donation for everyone at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I will drive my kids from MA just to take them there because it is so accessible and affordable. This is the place that hosts that magical fashion night with all the stars. They mismanaged funds and can't figure out how to raise more money? What is going on in NYC? What a mess.
5
The entire country is fixated on self-driving cars when they should be focused on improving rail service. That NYC is overcrowded, expensive, and gross is not news. Get a bicycle.
7
Your advice to "get a bicycle" from your judgmental perch in MD is off the mark. Many hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers in the boroughs live too far away from their jobs in Manhattan to ride a bike to work every day. And unless you have the luxury of having a fairly short commute, and don't have to worry about showing up to work wearing sweaty, drenched clothing, or riding in rain or snow - many people find riding in NYC to be dangerous and not worth the freedom you would normally have when riding a bike in a less congested place. As an avid cyclist who used to ride my bike to work in MHTN 16+ years ago, I felt much safer riding when the city was far less crowded, in 2001, when there weren't bike lanes and Citibikes. With the bike lanes, you now have commercial vehicles double parked in bike lanes, many new cyclists who have no idea - and don't care - what the rules of the road are, and much more car and truck traffic on the narrow streets than a decade ago. During the week after Hurricane Sandy, when our subways were out of service for a few days, I rode my bike to work from Brooklyn to my job in midtown. It took and hour and 15 minutes each way. Having to navigate thousands of clueless people on foot wandering into traffic, arrogant cyclists making stupid moves, hundreds of buses, garbage trucks, and military vehicles rolling down the avenues - was stressful & dangerous. I've been hit by car doors, people, and other cyclists. I would never commute to work by bike again.
3
New York officials should save the billion dollars, and buy an airline ticket here. They could learn a lot about how to make a train system work where conductors stew over a delays measured in seconds.
6
Or buy a ticket to Buenos Aires where former Mayor, now President Maurico Macri initiated a system called MetroBus where there are no "Bus Lanes" but rather a separate highway in the middle of some of the grandest avenues.
And the "paradas" or bus stops have platforms at entry level to serve the handicapped without the delays of mechanical help that add even more time to the commute.
We went through hell during construction but once each project was completed commuting or just plain travel time has been cut by 30 to 40 percent. Cars cannot "drift" into the bus highway and the buses cannot drift into the auto lanes. Not perfect yet but a whole lot better than what goes on in New York by a long shot.
And the system serves about 13 million people in an area half the size of NYC.
I love my city and was and will be a New Yorker for the rest of my life but I'll take Buenos Aires any day of the week if I have to get around town.
And the "paradas" or bus stops have platforms at entry level to serve the handicapped without the delays of mechanical help that add even more time to the commute.
We went through hell during construction but once each project was completed commuting or just plain travel time has been cut by 30 to 40 percent. Cars cannot "drift" into the bus highway and the buses cannot drift into the auto lanes. Not perfect yet but a whole lot better than what goes on in New York by a long shot.
And the system serves about 13 million people in an area half the size of NYC.
I love my city and was and will be a New Yorker for the rest of my life but I'll take Buenos Aires any day of the week if I have to get around town.
1
All side effects of having an incompetent mayor and a grandstanding governor.
4
You said it! Remember ten years ago when the infrastructure was perfect!?
2
As a New Yorker, I caution my fellow urbanites to not venture to other great metropolises with a complex transit network that is high-functioning. It is as humiliating as it is jealousy inducing...then the rage kicks in. Why? Why? Why?
34
Yes-just came back from London. Their Underground and our Transit System don't operate in the same Universe. No comparison. It's very disturbing. Cuomo's looking for geniuses to solve this problem? Look to your British neighbor and hire the Underground "geniuses" as consultants to fix this broken system NOW!
2
Subtitle: "Will conductors line us up behind the cabooses and have us push our trains?"
Yes. Finally. One the new jobs that Mr. Trump promised has arrived.
Yes. Finally. One the new jobs that Mr. Trump promised has arrived.
9
In his inaugural address Trump described a dystopian American in rapid, violent decline due either to the misdeeds or inactions of Obama and his predecessors, who just happened to be sitting in front row seats. As best I can tell Trump has done nothing but accelerate that dystopian decline and just as he promised, the majority of Americans are sick and tired of his brand of "winning." Wake up America....hobble him in 2018 and fire him in 2020!
7
Only Frank Bruni could suggest that the ills of NYC are somehow a microcosm for the ills of our country.
And he did it. Thank you.
And he did it. Thank you.
3
I left the hideous northeast corridor for western Montana where I spent 6 crowd free years. Underpopulation, I said then, solved everything. No need for subways. No traffic jams, ever. Bikes in summer, cross country skis the other three seasons (yup, it's cold, Canadaesque really). Everyone but I seemed to have a gun and nobody got shot. Washington existed. It was the state directly to our west; the other one was a distant place of irrelevancy.
This was the other America. Not perfect. Just not pressure packed. I'm back in the northeast, where the crowds are pressing and multicolored, the traffic multiawful, the crowded coalescence the mark of great cities from Ancient Rome to NYC 2017.
And I finally got to see Hamilton. One life to live. I'm living it here.
This was the other America. Not perfect. Just not pressure packed. I'm back in the northeast, where the crowds are pressing and multicolored, the traffic multiawful, the crowded coalescence the mark of great cities from Ancient Rome to NYC 2017.
And I finally got to see Hamilton. One life to live. I'm living it here.
8
A stop sign is never erected at a dangerous intersection until there is at least one fatality. Such is the government mindset.
3
Frank, your columns are always amazing, but I can't believe you are bemoaning that restaurant food is prohibitively expensive. That ship sailed 25 years ago, and it's like blaming a cow for mooing. Also, we know poor people can't afford to live here. That's not going to change.
5
Don't worry Frank, infrastructure is high on Trump's to do list, just as soon as he finishes tweeting he'll put together a one page proposal to great fanfare and everything will be fixed! You're gonna be sick of winning.
9
We were happy in Cortlandt Manor. My husband commuted to NYC and I worked at home. He parked at croton Harmon and took the train. It works, it is always there, Lots of trains. 50 mins to midtown. Very civilized.
Then my job said, you need to move, work in the office, you are 90 miles away we will pay to move you, so we moved to NJ. Now it takes my husband 90 -120 mins each way. We are the same 44 miles from midtown.
Mogadishu has better transportation than NJ. Chris Christie has done real damage to NJ by not committing to transportation and the ARC tunnel. It is very hard to live here if you have to work in NY.
Then my job said, you need to move, work in the office, you are 90 miles away we will pay to move you, so we moved to NJ. Now it takes my husband 90 -120 mins each way. We are the same 44 miles from midtown.
Mogadishu has better transportation than NJ. Chris Christie has done real damage to NJ by not committing to transportation and the ARC tunnel. It is very hard to live here if you have to work in NY.
53
But, tax cuts.
2
Frank -- You forgot to mention the massive snaking lines at the Port Authority Bus terminal conceived in 1950 and without any material upgrades since 1990. Already way over-crowded, it is failing to absorb the train ridership overflow.
Eight years of Chris Christie and all you get is a bridge-gate, a gutted transportation fund and potted holed roads resembling pizza pies.
Some 30-years ago Bryant Park was a dangerous drug-infested place infused with prostitution and crime. We'll need the spirit of the privately-funded Bryant Park Restoration Corporation on a larger scale to re-invent the NY metro infrastructure.
To restore Bryant Park to its grandeur, the Corporation sent folks to the greatest cities in Europe to learn a few things. An easy stroll through the Park now is evidence of just how much we can learn from our European allies about parks, public transportation, health care, the environment and life.
But no, they are "expletive" foreigners and socialists, the French and their neighbors, according to Fox News, Trump's base, and the GOP establishment.
And so in eight years when you'll being writing a similar piece, you can just pull this one out, change the dates and alter a few details.
Eight years of Chris Christie and all you get is a bridge-gate, a gutted transportation fund and potted holed roads resembling pizza pies.
Some 30-years ago Bryant Park was a dangerous drug-infested place infused with prostitution and crime. We'll need the spirit of the privately-funded Bryant Park Restoration Corporation on a larger scale to re-invent the NY metro infrastructure.
To restore Bryant Park to its grandeur, the Corporation sent folks to the greatest cities in Europe to learn a few things. An easy stroll through the Park now is evidence of just how much we can learn from our European allies about parks, public transportation, health care, the environment and life.
But no, they are "expletive" foreigners and socialists, the French and their neighbors, according to Fox News, Trump's base, and the GOP establishment.
And so in eight years when you'll being writing a similar piece, you can just pull this one out, change the dates and alter a few details.
7
Infrastructure? We don't need no stinking infrastructure?
The rich don't commute so what do we need a rail system or a safe highway system? Bridges? There are private jets to get them around so they don't have to put their lives in danger on crumbling bridges.
Our country has become grotesque, with Mitch McConnell as its poster boy.
The rich don't commute so what do we need a rail system or a safe highway system? Bridges? There are private jets to get them around so they don't have to put their lives in danger on crumbling bridges.
Our country has become grotesque, with Mitch McConnell as its poster boy.
15
"Charlie on the MTA"
-Song about Boston's Subway
Late 1980's was our time to complain about our Boston subway. It's the oldest. First line built 1897.
Typical winter day 20F outside. Red Line from Braintree station pulls out with full cars, goes a few stops to Wollaston station. Stops, conducted asks all to exit. This train is "out of service". All off, we now wait for next train. Wollaston is just an outdoor platform. 500 commuters now waiting in bitter cold. Next train doesn't stop, it's full! A good 45 minutes or more go by before the platform clears.
Then there's those times we've experienced where the train goes below into the tunnel and just stops. Can't see your hand in front of your face, and you wait. No announcement. You wait, and wait, and wait... Then when the panic buttons are about to be hit by the claustrophobic group, it starts again.
I hate the Red Line!!!!!
-Song about Boston's Subway
Late 1980's was our time to complain about our Boston subway. It's the oldest. First line built 1897.
Typical winter day 20F outside. Red Line from Braintree station pulls out with full cars, goes a few stops to Wollaston station. Stops, conducted asks all to exit. This train is "out of service". All off, we now wait for next train. Wollaston is just an outdoor platform. 500 commuters now waiting in bitter cold. Next train doesn't stop, it's full! A good 45 minutes or more go by before the platform clears.
Then there's those times we've experienced where the train goes below into the tunnel and just stops. Can't see your hand in front of your face, and you wait. No announcement. You wait, and wait, and wait... Then when the panic buttons are about to be hit by the claustrophobic group, it starts again.
I hate the Red Line!!!!!
There once was an essay on the mark
About a situation so stark
It threatens all of us
Like a runaway bus
Unless someone leads us from the dark
About a situation so stark
It threatens all of us
Like a runaway bus
Unless someone leads us from the dark
4
this column sounds just like a book i read called The Sheep Look Up. new york in that story was every bit as full of people with substandard living conditions they all thought were gone long ago. well sounds to me like the history of the human race plays out the same in fiction fact reality and fantasy. yippee life is what we have. let's enjoy it.
this whole country needs repairing. i do not have children of my own. so i say instead of an "off" year maybe service to america for a year or two. would help with infrastructure and also give a generation of americans a shared experience. kinda like a draft was. but for all not just the boys.
this whole country needs repairing. i do not have children of my own. so i say instead of an "off" year maybe service to america for a year or two. would help with infrastructure and also give a generation of americans a shared experience. kinda like a draft was. but for all not just the boys.
This article made me very glad I live in Portland, OR although our traffic has become nightmarish but nothing like what you describe in NY.
You could try doing what many of us do...visit New York as a tourist, take a taxi or Uber or Lyft, enjoy the shows and restaurants, and then get out after a week. A nice place to visit but wouldn't want to live there.
5
No politician was ever re-elected for maintaining the public infrastructure.
3
Only thing left to do is to say our prayers...
"Our Governor, who art in Albany
We can't take more of the same.
Thy A-train will come,
Or my employment is done
Under the earth as it is in on the Seven
Give us this day our daily commute,
And forgive us our expired Metro passes
As we forgive those who thus pass before us
and lead us not into Penn Station, but deliver us from its evil. Amen."
"Our Governor, who art in Albany
We can't take more of the same.
Thy A-train will come,
Or my employment is done
Under the earth as it is in on the Seven
Give us this day our daily commute,
And forgive us our expired Metro passes
As we forgive those who thus pass before us
and lead us not into Penn Station, but deliver us from its evil. Amen."
4
Don't worry Frank, the mayor has a plan: reintroduce crime into the subways which can reduce ridership back down to 1985 levels. Its virtually foolproof and based on the best available social science.
1
It is Canada and back 50 years ago a three day weekend always meant a weekend in NYC. There was more to do and see in Manhattan in a weekend than in a month in Montreal and Montreal was a wonderful city to be young in 50 years ago.
Thank you Frank Bruni. Today you are asking the question many have been asking for the last twenty years. Why must we grow the economy? Are we making the world, our country our city our neighbourhood any better?
This afternoon I watched the Chief of Police of little Rock Arkansas state with relief that this morning's shooting was not terrorist related but he couldn't confirm or deny it was part of a citizen war between Little Rock and Memphis.
At that moment I thought terrorists are the least of our worries.
Maybe it is time to stop worrying about the Dow and the S+P 500 and try to find some balance in our lives. Isn't President Trump enough of a stop sign?
Pogo was right, "We have met the enemy and he is us."
Thank you Frank Bruni. Today you are asking the question many have been asking for the last twenty years. Why must we grow the economy? Are we making the world, our country our city our neighbourhood any better?
This afternoon I watched the Chief of Police of little Rock Arkansas state with relief that this morning's shooting was not terrorist related but he couldn't confirm or deny it was part of a citizen war between Little Rock and Memphis.
At that moment I thought terrorists are the least of our worries.
Maybe it is time to stop worrying about the Dow and the S+P 500 and try to find some balance in our lives. Isn't President Trump enough of a stop sign?
Pogo was right, "We have met the enemy and he is us."
3
Just wait until the sea water starts rushing in. They may have to divert money from the subways into building caissons that will protect the infiltration as global temperatures and ocean levels rise. Why put money into a subway, when in 30 years it may be impossible to keep them from flooding?
The subway, in time, will resemble the Disney 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea Attraction. I'd say, invest in raising electrical infrastructure over the water line. Buy a nice place in the Catskills. Choose something with an elevation over 1,000 feet. That is, if you're thinking long term.
If, like NYC, you're not preparing for the future, enjoy the present. A $40 bowl of pasta sounds wonderful. This generation of affluence will gorge themselves and take the Escalade home. The gondola pilots still have to form their union.
The subway, in time, will resemble the Disney 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea Attraction. I'd say, invest in raising electrical infrastructure over the water line. Buy a nice place in the Catskills. Choose something with an elevation over 1,000 feet. That is, if you're thinking long term.
If, like NYC, you're not preparing for the future, enjoy the present. A $40 bowl of pasta sounds wonderful. This generation of affluence will gorge themselves and take the Escalade home. The gondola pilots still have to form their union.
2
How many of us remember NYC in the 1970's and 80's? Air conditioned subways and buses didn't exist. They were graffiti filled and disgusting. They had their own branch of the police dept. The Bowery? The meat packing district? The eye sore high line? You couldn't venture into any of those areas after dark without taking your life into your hands. It took over 100 years of NYC political corruption to create the mess that the city became by the 70's.. Remember the headline, "Ford to city... Drop Dead..?" The city has grown tremendously over the last 25 years because of progress.. Everyone wants to live here because its one of the safest BIG cities in the world. There's so much to do, see, and learn.. Yes, its expensive.. But all big cities are expensive..It's the reality of the world we live in.. It may be "romantic" to imagine living in NYC in the 70's and 80's, but it was a mess.. Of course there are downsides to progress. Yes the transportation system needs an overhaul... But we never could have imagined a second ave subway 40 years ago.. Even an abbreviated one.. As someone who grew up here, its still an honor and a privilege to live in New York..
6
Traffic is nothing new. If you look at statistics of traffic, when each subsequent bridge has been built, when each highway was hurriedly barreled through neighborhoods in the Bronx and Brooklyn, not one commuter was relieved of the crushing commuting pressure. The "grand plan" of a motorist's city that Robert Moses deployed over his 40 years of rule over city and state, without any regard to public transit development, appropriate housing development or anything near the appropriate planning required for a city of this population, has devolved the city into a disorganized mess. Nothing short of blowing the entire system up and replanning will help the situation for the masses. Cashless tolling to relieve traffic is a joke.
I am 63 and seem to have read this exact same piece (names changed of course) at various intervals over the course of my lifetime. New York City has always grown in population faster than its public services. New York City residents are subjected to 7/24/365 repair and renewal projects every year.
It is how we live, we complain and move along. The subways, buses and rails will always be under 'refurbishment'.
And in a perverted way, I will always love it.
It is how we live, we complain and move along. The subways, buses and rails will always be under 'refurbishment'.
And in a perverted way, I will always love it.
3
C'mon man. Coping with NY Subway system in general and Penn Station in particular is a LUXURY when compared to being stuck in freeway traffic in all major American cities without NY's subway and commuter rail system. Frank Bruni can commute on the Santa Monica Freeway from West LA to Downtown LA for a month and report back on which he prefers. As an Angeleno, I'd rather stand in a crowded subway train and space out for a while than paying full attention to the maddening irritation that is driving during rush hour. On the Santa Monica Freeway, I routinely spend an hour covering 8 measly miles. If you spent that same hour in the NY subway, you'd end up in Rockaway Park some 30 miles away. It's sad that so many commenters are so willing to define New York as overcrowding. All that overcrowding has made New York the economic and cultural capital of the world. Does it inconvenience you to visit MOMA and Broadway? Wall Street and the Lincoln Center? Columbia University and the Empire State Building? Korean BBQ place in Flushing and soul food at Sylvia's? Do you hear that? It's the world's smallest violin. For those of us who recall New York in the 1970s, right now is the Golden Age of New York. If you are lucky enough to live and work in it. Thank your lucky stars and soak it in every single day. And, when you get tired of it, LA, Phoenix, Cleveland, and whatever will still be there as well as countless ambitious people all over the world who are eagerly waiting for your spot.
80
Just back from L.A. You made some very good points. Maybe the grass always looks greener.
Or maybe city planners never did their job.
Or maybe city planners never did their job.
2
As someone desperate to escape NY for LA, I'll take that traffic jam any day. In my car I'm cocooned in climate controlled, leather ensconced bliss where I can choose my own soundtrack (or silence), look at the sky, let my mind wander and relax. Waze keeps me off the freeways altogether between 8am and 8pm.
Who am I kidding...I can't deal with the people of LA. nor can I deal with living on the far edge of the empire. Sigh.
Who am I kidding...I can't deal with the people of LA. nor can I deal with living on the far edge of the empire. Sigh.
Thank you, TFD for getting a random dig in on Los Angeles in your commen on a NY city articlet! Keep it up! Far too many people have been moving here because we've been getting a disturbing amount of positive press lately. And, sadly, they don't really want to be here -- they're just sojourning on to the next hotspot. They're killing this city. Pricing all the natives out of their neighborhoods, destroying the mom-and-pop shops and replacing them with overpriced junk boutiques.
The people who happened to be awful in Los Angeles are the same people who are unpleasant in New York: those who move to the city only in order to use it, not to be a part of it. Mostly, there are three types of people in both cities: 1) those who are born there (the Natives), 2) those who move there because they long to be part of the city and community (the Joiners), and 3) those who move there only to make money or further their own interests (the Users). It's the Users that make life miserable both for themselves and everyone around them. This is the mantra that I used to recite to my relatives in the Northwest about why I continued to live in New York throughout my 20s and to encourage them to visit despite everything they had heard that was negative about New Yorkers. I find that it's just as true in Los Angeles -- possibly more so.
So keep it up. Just like New York, nobody should move to Los Angeles who isn't ready to embrace both the wonderful and the challenging aspects of the city.
The people who happened to be awful in Los Angeles are the same people who are unpleasant in New York: those who move to the city only in order to use it, not to be a part of it. Mostly, there are three types of people in both cities: 1) those who are born there (the Natives), 2) those who move there because they long to be part of the city and community (the Joiners), and 3) those who move there only to make money or further their own interests (the Users). It's the Users that make life miserable both for themselves and everyone around them. This is the mantra that I used to recite to my relatives in the Northwest about why I continued to live in New York throughout my 20s and to encourage them to visit despite everything they had heard that was negative about New Yorkers. I find that it's just as true in Los Angeles -- possibly more so.
So keep it up. Just like New York, nobody should move to Los Angeles who isn't ready to embrace both the wonderful and the challenging aspects of the city.
With interest rates still at historical lows, it would be so simple to issue federal bonds to totally redo the infrastructure of country and city. Imagine the jobs created for every skill level.
I can't understand why they just don't use adaptive technology (adaptive cruise control) instead of antiquated signal system in the subway. It seems to me so simple, if my car can do it going 65 why can't a train on a track do it going 30.
Please help me understand. Oh wait the answer lies in a tweet.
I can't understand why they just don't use adaptive technology (adaptive cruise control) instead of antiquated signal system in the subway. It seems to me so simple, if my car can do it going 65 why can't a train on a track do it going 30.
Please help me understand. Oh wait the answer lies in a tweet.
2
Bike, Bike, Bike. Live within 10 miles of your work place and bike to work.. I did for 3 years it till I moved from Queens to SC. Positive mental and physical health benefits...
New Yorkers, if Frank is to be thought as representative, aren't as tough as they used to be.
At age 11, after my mother crossed swords with the Principal of my sister's Junior HS, I was told that I wouldn't be going there. Instead, I would be packed off on a city bus for 30 min. each way to my "zone variance" school. 3 years of that prepared me for commuting from Staten Island to high school in Manhattan. Bus, ferry, two subways, between an hour and a half and two hours, each way. And the subway cars were covered with paint. The murder rate was high, the city was bankrupt. "Ford to City: Drop Dead."
My school, near Union Square, came with instructions not to enter the park, certainly never after dark. A year after HS graduation came the blackout of 77, and both the South Bronx and Bushwick were looted and burned. It took until the 21st Century for those neighborhoods to be fully rebuilt and "trendy."
The truth from the time Rockefeller brought it into being, is that the MTA is an appallingly poor steward of public funding. From the mobbed up HQ at 2 Broadway, to LIRR "East Side Access," already 8 years late, 400% over budget so far, and still seven years in the future, and the Second Avenue Subway, the plans for which are older than my 59 years, pick your poison.
As for congestion pricing, chalk that up to the arcane state government, requiring two legislative bodies and a governor's assent to adjust the speed limit in NYC alone. New Yorkers rise above chaos, Frank.
At age 11, after my mother crossed swords with the Principal of my sister's Junior HS, I was told that I wouldn't be going there. Instead, I would be packed off on a city bus for 30 min. each way to my "zone variance" school. 3 years of that prepared me for commuting from Staten Island to high school in Manhattan. Bus, ferry, two subways, between an hour and a half and two hours, each way. And the subway cars were covered with paint. The murder rate was high, the city was bankrupt. "Ford to City: Drop Dead."
My school, near Union Square, came with instructions not to enter the park, certainly never after dark. A year after HS graduation came the blackout of 77, and both the South Bronx and Bushwick were looted and burned. It took until the 21st Century for those neighborhoods to be fully rebuilt and "trendy."
The truth from the time Rockefeller brought it into being, is that the MTA is an appallingly poor steward of public funding. From the mobbed up HQ at 2 Broadway, to LIRR "East Side Access," already 8 years late, 400% over budget so far, and still seven years in the future, and the Second Avenue Subway, the plans for which are older than my 59 years, pick your poison.
As for congestion pricing, chalk that up to the arcane state government, requiring two legislative bodies and a governor's assent to adjust the speed limit in NYC alone. New Yorkers rise above chaos, Frank.
7
The other major problem our large cities have is the choking air pollution which as surely as the sun rises, is creating a rapid increase in lung cancer and other lung problems among people who have never smoked a day in their lives. Add the environment to the infrastructure on your list of what is wrong with our cities and our country.
1
My quintessential story about Penn Station: I was once waiting in a long line for a bus headed to Connecticut. Beautiful music was playing in the background - a Brandenburg Concerto by Bach. I said to a transit official, "Thanks for the wonderful music." His reply: "It's the only thing that keeps the bums out."
3
I've lived in NYC for 30 years and counting but I spent the 30 years before that in my hometown, Cleveland. I get what you're saying and I don't totally disagree but every time I go back to CLE I see a lot worse. NYC's problems are caused in part by too much growth. CLE's are caused in part by the opposite.
1
Having worked in government for many a decade, often in low profile, high responsibility appointed positions, be assured of the depth of incompetence, corruption, and outright hypocrisy among the very large majority of the elected class. Being elected to State or NYC office is VERY lucrative; of course this ensures ridiculous, and unnecessary, levels of taxation. And more importantly, pads an already enormous, annual and far-into-the-future legacy bill for world-class, income tax free (in NYS) pensions and the cheapest platinum healthcare found anywhere West of the Azores. Aside from this, there is the utter lack of any semblance of competence, management skills or vision. It has only gotten worse since we took our fat pensions to smarter, warmer climes. Many have done so, and many more will follow. We are the fortunate, the rats able to abandon the sinking ship; we did not seek to leave our birthplace - we have been driven out. Our sincere apologies to those stuck with this morass. But frankly, if you all would lay your rhetoric aside and really pay attention...ah well.
3
To add insult to injury, I believe we have to include our president, whose infrastructure policy so far has been a big speech somewhere in the hinterlands, which assured an easier time for getting permits to build. That's probably all we're going to get nationally. It's an insult to the intelligence of the country.
3
I just returned from a visit to the city, and I miss it already. I stayed one block away from the derailment in Harlem - if my sister and I had not been delayed by an aged Parent in a walker, we would have been in that derailment. The weather balming, the flowers blooming, the crowds polite and considerate, the exhibits on the two Henrys (James and Thoreau) at the Morgan Library delightful, the lunch at same delectable and affordable for this thrifty ex-native. We walked the extra blocks to the next subway stop, and people were chatting, reading, listening to phones. The new Bridge rising next to the Triboro/RFK looks stupendous. Agreed, it was annoying seeing how my tax money is being wasted on security at Trump Tower, and driving with my brother to a niece's softball game in Queens was adventurous. Stop kvetching- you are one lucky man! Walk, uber, or take a taxi. I will always love New York!
4
I was born in Manhattan, so the street smells of cigar and diesel (and in winter burning chestnuts) will always say "home" to me. But the last few times I've visited, the increasing lack of diversity (both economic and racial) in old haunts like the Village, and the swarming insanity of the tourist hordes who've taken over Times Square and the High Line, are helping me fall out of love with the city of my dreams. Failing infrastructure isn't the only problem that NYC is facing.
8
NY has become Disneyland. Long lines. Tourists. Visitors. Outrageous prices. Pretentious. Contrived. Character actors (beyond the Elmo, Spider-Man and Statue of Liberty of Times Square) have invaded the neighborhoods and displaced those families who are priced out of their dwellings. Re gentrification? It's catering to the rich ticket holders and disregarding those who truly call the City and its Boros their home.
3
Mr. Bruni,
Here's another tidbit to chew on. A lot of us who live outside of New York City no longer want to visit, for any reason. Not only is it the smell, and the crowding, but the sheer expense of a day/night in the Big Apple takes a huge bite out my budget. Here in Allentown, Pennsylvania you hear a lot of people talk about going into NYC but for $200 just for 2 people to see a movie. Then if your talking about theater and dinner you have to cough up 5 big ones, what with the cost of tolls, parking, etc. etc.
I grew up in Brooklyn and as an adult commuted into Manhattan for twenty years and so experienced the city from Wagner through Bloomberg, so maybe the lure of city lights and city glitz has just faded for me to the point where I couldn't be bothered. That said, I suspect that if you are so down on the city, beside my wife and myself, a lot of potential visitors are choosing alternate enterainment. Something the city leaders ought to think about.
Here's another tidbit to chew on. A lot of us who live outside of New York City no longer want to visit, for any reason. Not only is it the smell, and the crowding, but the sheer expense of a day/night in the Big Apple takes a huge bite out my budget. Here in Allentown, Pennsylvania you hear a lot of people talk about going into NYC but for $200 just for 2 people to see a movie. Then if your talking about theater and dinner you have to cough up 5 big ones, what with the cost of tolls, parking, etc. etc.
I grew up in Brooklyn and as an adult commuted into Manhattan for twenty years and so experienced the city from Wagner through Bloomberg, so maybe the lure of city lights and city glitz has just faded for me to the point where I couldn't be bothered. That said, I suspect that if you are so down on the city, beside my wife and myself, a lot of potential visitors are choosing alternate enterainment. Something the city leaders ought to think about.
5
I understand your frustrations over the subway but you should have to live in Washington, DC home to the miserable metro system which doesn't start until 7 on Saturdays and 8 on Sundays and weeknights ends at 11:30. It has a zone fare so if poorer people have to travel further they pay more than they can afford. Oh and the piece de resistance, the escalators often break down, the trains single track which mean even longer trips - appreciate the NYC Subway you could be riding the DC Metro.
1
Oh, it's not just New York. The drive north from Logan Airport in Boston is the same ugly, dangerous stretch of endless strips and curb cuts that it was in 1976 (I'd just arrived from Europe), when I first travelled it and thought to myself: oh, they'll fix this soon, surely. If anything, four decades later, it's worse than it was then. Boston's subway system, by the world's standards, is awful. Its Green Line looks and feels like you're on some 1950s child's toy train set, with lot of fumes added. I gave up on American infrastructure a long time ago. So much of it is beyond repair now and so expensive to modernize that we don't stand a prayer. Only government can address the problem and so many conservatives still want to drown it in a bath tub. How is THAT ever going to change. Americans are fine as long as they have enough money to remodel their kitchens and take care of their own property. The stuff we share together? Forget it.
3
Bruni's deft laceration of the status of Penn Station is most appreciated. I live near Penn Station and it does a fine job of extinguishing morale and upping Prozac sales.
Before the present Penn Station, something of unsurpasseed grandeur resided there. It was the old Penn Station, modelled on ancient Itallian architectural marvels, and it was built around 1912 (when tunnels for trains were built under the Hudson.) It was knocked down, in around 1963, to build the current monstrosity. The old and gorgeous Penn Station was in perfect shape. But there was money to build a new Penn Station and some people got very rich building something that should have never been built.
I read that an architecture critic said that when we departed from the old penn station, we felt like gods. He further said that when we leave the new penn station, we feel like rats.
Bruni notes that badly needed repairs have not been made to the subways. Nevertheless, the City's mover and shakers have seen fit to burden us with so much destructive construction, e.g., today's penn station.
RFK told us that much of our wealth consists of destruction. He reminded us that the dollar value of everything is added to the GDP and so the producction of all things, including miserable things, makes us appear to be richer. The GNP, he wistfully and angrily said, includes bullets and prisons and ambulences and cigarettes. Likewise, NYC is awash in a vulgar, febrile wealth we could do without.
Before the present Penn Station, something of unsurpasseed grandeur resided there. It was the old Penn Station, modelled on ancient Itallian architectural marvels, and it was built around 1912 (when tunnels for trains were built under the Hudson.) It was knocked down, in around 1963, to build the current monstrosity. The old and gorgeous Penn Station was in perfect shape. But there was money to build a new Penn Station and some people got very rich building something that should have never been built.
I read that an architecture critic said that when we departed from the old penn station, we felt like gods. He further said that when we leave the new penn station, we feel like rats.
Bruni notes that badly needed repairs have not been made to the subways. Nevertheless, the City's mover and shakers have seen fit to burden us with so much destructive construction, e.g., today's penn station.
RFK told us that much of our wealth consists of destruction. He reminded us that the dollar value of everything is added to the GDP and so the producction of all things, including miserable things, makes us appear to be richer. The GNP, he wistfully and angrily said, includes bullets and prisons and ambulences and cigarettes. Likewise, NYC is awash in a vulgar, febrile wealth we could do without.
7
Frank, you forgot to mention the reason for this sorry state of affairs: None of us want to pay taxes. Republicans can't be elected dog catcher without promising to cut every tax known to man. Democrats, when they occasionally get elected, have to raise taxes to fix the Republican mess and they promptly get thrown out of office for, you guessed it...taxing and spending on infrastructure. We have tax cut our way to oblivion and we're pretty much beyond repair at this sad juncture. We don't need a wall. We need a country!
4
I moved here from Delaware about ten years ago after scouting out the city for about seven years prior to the big move. I love so much about NYC- the Theater, Central Park and all the events especially in the summer months, the Mets and the Yankees live and on the tube every day in the season, the wonderful array of Churches and Houses of Worship. Geez, I really think the world of this place. So many nice people and so much to do.
That being said, the all-encompassing greed of this city makes me want to move. It is so very sad. A very hardworking friend of mine who started a very successful restaurant business in Brooklyn just picked up three months ago and went back to Texas. The rents he paid on his apartment and his business were so onerous and certainly due to rise precipitously as each calendar page is turned, just made him just throw up his hands and depart. There's a million stories about the same thing in this city but this one made me think once more. What am I doing here?
I'm going to hang in here for a while longer and look on the bright side as much as I can. But that dark side, with all the animus bred by the unbridled love of the Yankee Dollar by the uncaring landlords to the detriment of others, is making me want to go home to enjoy a sunny afternoon sitting on Rehoboth Beach and later enjoying a dinner that doesn't cost me an arm and a leg to ante up to the greedy landlord.
Ah life.
That being said, the all-encompassing greed of this city makes me want to move. It is so very sad. A very hardworking friend of mine who started a very successful restaurant business in Brooklyn just picked up three months ago and went back to Texas. The rents he paid on his apartment and his business were so onerous and certainly due to rise precipitously as each calendar page is turned, just made him just throw up his hands and depart. There's a million stories about the same thing in this city but this one made me think once more. What am I doing here?
I'm going to hang in here for a while longer and look on the bright side as much as I can. But that dark side, with all the animus bred by the unbridled love of the Yankee Dollar by the uncaring landlords to the detriment of others, is making me want to go home to enjoy a sunny afternoon sitting on Rehoboth Beach and later enjoying a dinner that doesn't cost me an arm and a leg to ante up to the greedy landlord.
Ah life.
7
Frank Bruno should take a walk in Central Park, or Riverside Park, or Prospect Park. He should go see the Rauschenberg exhibit at MOMA, or Calder at the Whitney, Irving Penn at the Met, or one of the small galleries on the west side. Instead of paying $36 for an entree in midtown, he should spend that same amount for a full meal at one of the great ethnic restaurants on the LES or in Astoria. He should sit with a good book in the grove at Lincoln Center, where he can look up at a Henry Moore sculpture in the reflecting pool. He could take a ferry all the way from 34th street out to the Rockaways for the cost of a subway ride.
Any or all of the above might make him feel better about living in this place.
Any or all of the above might make him feel better about living in this place.
38
To all those who wonder why our infrastructure is broken, why millions are still uninsured, and why we refuse to invest in educating our children I want to point out where our money goes--to militarism, to overpriced medical care and to support an unfair tax system that benefits the wealthy. Add up what we spend on all aspects of militarism and the national security state--over $1 trillion a year. Add up the impact of spending 50% more on medical care than the rest of the developed world. What do you get? Most of what we spend annually. Add up the impact of our mishmash of a tax code. Mix in the fact that everything is frozen into place in our "pay to play" political system which blocks any real effort at reform--and what do you get--our current dysfunctional mess.
It's easy to be distracted by small issues but the the major issue we face revolve around where we do and do not spend our money.
Where's the movement against militarism?
Where's the movement to truly reform health care?
Why can't we see through this faux Russia scandal and recognize it for what it is--another ruse to force us to continue to support excessive military spending?
Why can't American unite behind a real reform agenda that addresses these issues?
It's easy to be distracted by small issues but the the major issue we face revolve around where we do and do not spend our money.
Where's the movement against militarism?
Where's the movement to truly reform health care?
Why can't we see through this faux Russia scandal and recognize it for what it is--another ruse to force us to continue to support excessive military spending?
Why can't American unite behind a real reform agenda that addresses these issues?
5
Thank you Frank for this timely and scathing column. How refreshing that the NYT's can still find space, on occasion, to run opinion pieces about the city it's based in!
Rightly does Bruni call out Governor Cuomo and the NYS Legislature for their appalling dereliction of duty in serving the citizens of NYC. A moderate to liberal progressive government has been failing NYS for decades and now we're seeing the consequences of showy actions over substantive governance. This is what happens when elected leaders and their appointed officials become too entrenched.
That Cuomo has sunk billions in to two new bridges, needed as they may be, while totally neglecting subways, buses and rails is the worst form of voter pandering and absolutely shameful. Our only hope is that his incompetence is not rewarded with re-election next year. That also goes for every member of the NYS Legislature.
Rightly does Bruni call out Governor Cuomo and the NYS Legislature for their appalling dereliction of duty in serving the citizens of NYC. A moderate to liberal progressive government has been failing NYS for decades and now we're seeing the consequences of showy actions over substantive governance. This is what happens when elected leaders and their appointed officials become too entrenched.
That Cuomo has sunk billions in to two new bridges, needed as they may be, while totally neglecting subways, buses and rails is the worst form of voter pandering and absolutely shameful. Our only hope is that his incompetence is not rewarded with re-election next year. That also goes for every member of the NYS Legislature.
As residents of New York state (born, bred, and educated), we are visitors to Manhattan between 4 and 6 times a year, a week at a time, (we have never considered ourselves tourists), I am offficially nominating Frank Bruni for mayor of NYC in the next election. Writers have run for mayor in the past. Bruni's pleasing presence and his superb opinions will force other candidates to react to him and answer tough questions.
2
I stayed in my uncle's apt. on Manhattan after he passed away, and remembered his sad comments on the mega-condos and hotels being built in his SOHO neighborhood. Especially the Trump SOHO and the high-rises on Ave. of the Americas around Spring Street. New York is afflicted with a real estate cancer that consists of wealthy foreigners bringing in ill-gotten gains which drive up prices to unsustainable levels. Your firemen, teachers, trash removers and nurses can't afford to live there, while Russian oligarchs and Chinese party bosses are snapping up choice real estate at 7-digit prices. Jared Kushner's sister is the tip of the iceberg. I suspect that Real estate taxes don't begin to pay the cost of infrastructure maintenance, and many of the buyers, who hide behind cryptically named corporations, don't pay income taxes ANYWHERE. You need to find a way to tax these foreigners' world-wide wealth. They can afford it.
3
I threw in the towel on New York years ago. Don't get me wrong. The city is great but the writing was on the wall even back then. Williamsburg alone was a harbinger of disaster. The impending L-train shutdown is one more misery Brooklynites will suffer to endure. The extreme Upper West Side isn't much better. I kid you not: There were times I could listen to an entire Yankees game, start to finish, trying to cross the George Washington Bridge.
I moved to my current city early enough to beat out the worst elements of the urban rush. Fortunately, the city's infrastructure is relatively new. Our time is coming though. There are certain areas where we're already woefully inadequate. If you've ever experienced the "Cottonwood crawl", you'll know what I mean. The problems are going to get worse before they get better.
I hesitate to put too much emphasis on generational preferences though. Let's face it: Millennials like cities because there really isn't any other choice. If you want a job, you have to live in a city. Pick your poison. I imagine retiring boomers face a similar Hobson's choice. There aren't a lot of specialized health care facilities in rural America. Learn to love the city because that's where you have to live.
In any event, New York is still New York. I can't foresee a responsible and organized effort to address population density in NYC. What are we? Tokyo? In the mean time, I'll go hit the sushi truck. That's our solution to overpriced restaurant costs.
I moved to my current city early enough to beat out the worst elements of the urban rush. Fortunately, the city's infrastructure is relatively new. Our time is coming though. There are certain areas where we're already woefully inadequate. If you've ever experienced the "Cottonwood crawl", you'll know what I mean. The problems are going to get worse before they get better.
I hesitate to put too much emphasis on generational preferences though. Let's face it: Millennials like cities because there really isn't any other choice. If you want a job, you have to live in a city. Pick your poison. I imagine retiring boomers face a similar Hobson's choice. There aren't a lot of specialized health care facilities in rural America. Learn to love the city because that's where you have to live.
In any event, New York is still New York. I can't foresee a responsible and organized effort to address population density in NYC. What are we? Tokyo? In the mean time, I'll go hit the sushi truck. That's our solution to overpriced restaurant costs.
1
Failing infrastructure is our fault because we don't want to pay for it and we elect politicians who don't consider it a priority.
2
I loved living in the city in the early 80s. Yes grittier, more crime (definitely bad) but no Disneyland Times Sqare and the dirty subways ran at least. For now I'lll take NJ
1
How can Mr. Bruni describe NY as a "one-off" when the entire nation's infrastructure is crumbling and lags far behind the rest of the world? In fact, this is one of the few criticisms made by Trump, both pre- and post-election, that were indisputably accurate.
Rather than disparage the NY subway sytem Mr. Bruni would have served his readers better by explaining
1. Why the nation's infrastructure has fallen to these depths.
2. His proposals to fix the problem.
Rather than disparage the NY subway sytem Mr. Bruni would have served his readers better by explaining
1. Why the nation's infrastructure has fallen to these depths.
2. His proposals to fix the problem.
34
Agree with every word! And, so glad I am leaving NY behind for better pastures where the infrastructure actually works. NYers say, "but we don't need cars and can go anywhere (as long as it is Manhattan or the toney parts of LIC & hiplyn)." No thanks to LGA, the #1-2-3-4-5-6-7, A-E...). New Q is nice but it is 5 stops which cost billions and took 100 years to build.
1
I've lived in New York City since birth, both in and out of Manhattan proper.
I'm frankly tired of the whole experience here. It's not even remotely worth it. Public transport is a nightmare, the road traffic is horrendous, the cost of living is insane and unjustified, the general population level is wildly overcrowded, parts of the city are filthy, and the weather stinks -- maybe 40 genuinely nice days in any year. I'm baffled as to why anyone would want to live in this area. Restaurants? Museums? Culture? Pfft, any decent city on Earth has them.
I'm strongly considering packing up and moving somewhere upstate or further Northeast (CT, VT, etc). I could buy a nice house in many areas from the proceeds selling my co-op here. A bigger home, a nicer area, fewer people, less traffic, and all this at a *lower cost*!! I suspect there's going to be a mass exodus by both older and younger people soon enough. NYC just isn't worth it.
I'm frankly tired of the whole experience here. It's not even remotely worth it. Public transport is a nightmare, the road traffic is horrendous, the cost of living is insane and unjustified, the general population level is wildly overcrowded, parts of the city are filthy, and the weather stinks -- maybe 40 genuinely nice days in any year. I'm baffled as to why anyone would want to live in this area. Restaurants? Museums? Culture? Pfft, any decent city on Earth has them.
I'm strongly considering packing up and moving somewhere upstate or further Northeast (CT, VT, etc). I could buy a nice house in many areas from the proceeds selling my co-op here. A bigger home, a nicer area, fewer people, less traffic, and all this at a *lower cost*!! I suspect there's going to be a mass exodus by both older and younger people soon enough. NYC just isn't worth it.
I have a four letter word that solves a lot of these problems. B-I-K-E!
As a former Long Island kid who (somehow) landed in Bergen County, NJ, where, without a train, commute has been a four letter word for decades.
However, about four years ago, I rediscovered bicycling and began to weave it into my life. When I figured out that I could take my bike over the GWB into midtown where the building owners HAVE to let me in with it my commuting troubles faded away. What I get now are blissful mornings riding as the sun comes up over the Hudson, the breeze blowing over the West Side Highway as I pass cars stuck in traffic. I now laugh at the thought of waiting in the bus lane outside the Lincoln Tunnel as the (other four letter acronym) PABT experiences endless delays while I pedal with pleasure to my work. A vacation to start the day. Sure beats P-E-N-N. Grab your BIKE and turn your delay into delight!
As a former Long Island kid who (somehow) landed in Bergen County, NJ, where, without a train, commute has been a four letter word for decades.
However, about four years ago, I rediscovered bicycling and began to weave it into my life. When I figured out that I could take my bike over the GWB into midtown where the building owners HAVE to let me in with it my commuting troubles faded away. What I get now are blissful mornings riding as the sun comes up over the Hudson, the breeze blowing over the West Side Highway as I pass cars stuck in traffic. I now laugh at the thought of waiting in the bus lane outside the Lincoln Tunnel as the (other four letter acronym) PABT experiences endless delays while I pedal with pleasure to my work. A vacation to start the day. Sure beats P-E-N-N. Grab your BIKE and turn your delay into delight!
28
I lived in NYC 25 years ago. I've travelled quite a bit outside this country. I come back to NYC twice a year to visit family and friends. This year I told friends I wouldn't be coming because navigating my way with luggage through the fetid, hot, bowels of NYC and Penn Station was so inhuman for visitors or people with disabilities. Penn Station as a metaphor for a dying culture is so perfect. But it's also so sad because NYC will always be "THE city" to me".
2
Ultimately, the blame really lies with the people. Essentially, they do not want to pay the cost for improvements; or for anything for that matter. All politicians know that they'll not get elected or re-elected if they present 'the people' with the bill for 'the stuff' that 'the people' want.
1
I agree, many people don't want to pay more taxes for infrastructure. Or for education or health care. Many of us might be willing to pay more to cover these costs if we believed that a) everyone was paying their share, proportionate to their income and b) that spending on infrastructure, healthcare and education was distributed fairly, based on need, rather than privilege.
I just returned from a month long trip to London and Paris. I marveled at the sheer magnificence of the subway systems in these cities. And the high speed trains were sheer luxury. America sure missed the boat on the public transportation score. And the daily surcharge to own and drive a car in Paris? According to my friends who live there (& keep their car several metro stops away at a garage to use for weekends in Normandy)...around 15 euro per day. Ouch.
39
The mistake was made years ago when cities and towns decided that it was best to pull up the trolley track and pave over the streets for he almighty automobile.
Dumb move. A stunningly and extremely costly dumb move.
Dumb move. A stunningly and extremely costly dumb move.
Whatever DiBlasio is doing in NYC, in the midst of this development and economic boom generally, is not working. The subways and streets are filthy, and that points to a degradation in both services and citizens' pride in their city.
Any New Yorker should travel to Chicago, legitimately NY's rival on so many levels. Setting aside Emanuel's crime problem, and given its isolation on the South Side it is hard to call it the whole city's problem, you see a city where the services keep up and the residents and commuters take pride in their city.
It is ironic, because all you hear about NY is the fabulous amount of development all around Manhattan and the adjacent neighborhoods like Williamsburg. But at street level, it is filthy and unkempt. Why?
Any New Yorker should travel to Chicago, legitimately NY's rival on so many levels. Setting aside Emanuel's crime problem, and given its isolation on the South Side it is hard to call it the whole city's problem, you see a city where the services keep up and the residents and commuters take pride in their city.
It is ironic, because all you hear about NY is the fabulous amount of development all around Manhattan and the adjacent neighborhoods like Williamsburg. But at street level, it is filthy and unkempt. Why?
New York was once a city you came to to become somebody, now you have to already be somebody just to afford to survive here. E. B. Whites quote about there being three New Yorks no longer seems to apply. The passion is only available for the idle rich.
I spent my life dreaming of living in New York City and finally arrived in my 40s. Now ten years later, I am ready to leave. Rather than being the city of my dreams, it has in fact become a place where dreams wither on the vine.
I spent my life dreaming of living in New York City and finally arrived in my 40s. Now ten years later, I am ready to leave. Rather than being the city of my dreams, it has in fact become a place where dreams wither on the vine.
3
Remember all those trolley lines the car companies bought up and then put out of business years ago so they could sell more automobiles? Guess, the capitalist "market" doesn't always produce solutions even if they do manufacture huge profits.
1
Here in LA County we suffer long commutes alone in our cars; meanwhile local governments issue more and more building permits, bringing more and more people to our insanely crowded streets and parched suburban neighborhoods. I'm sick of it and rarely drive anywhere except to work and the nearest businesses. We need a no-growth political movement to stop this insanity.
1
We loved our 22 years in our diverse Hell's Kitchen neighborhood. We left NYC for a small 1860's brick home overlooking the Hudson River, in 1998. When Guiliani "Disneyfied" Times Square, the writing was on the wall. Case in point, our low rise, colorful and flavorful West Side Neighborhood is not to be recognized, today. Trump then built his mega city in the WS Railyards, in the West 60's. Under Bloomberg, the building continued. Yes, the Owners of the $50MM condos do not rely on public transportation. Where was transportation planning for the the residents of all the other new units. No matter what, just keep building. We long for the NYC of the 1970's, the one in which nobody desired; it was truly wonderful, in the day.
1
I am a native-born New Yorker and am old enough to remember when you could get a seat on the subway, could walk on the sidewalk without being jostled, and could see the wide wide sky from my neighborhood in downtown Brooklyn. When you could cross a street without imperiling your life, and parking spots were actually available.
Now, I observe buildings rising without the necessary infrastructure being improved to support the increased population. I observe people putting up with awful physical and mental stress just to get through their daily routines. I observe people shutting out their surroundings by using various devices, thus shutting themselves off from live human intercourse. It's not the world I grew up in.
I live in a suburb now and visit the city maybe once every six months. I cannot deal with the transportation horrors, the incivility, the congestion, the dirt, the noise. Maybe it is a part of getting older, but I think my impression that New York City is fast becoming uninhabitable (except by the rich) is not a false one. I prefer to stick with my memories of a better New York City.
Now, I observe buildings rising without the necessary infrastructure being improved to support the increased population. I observe people putting up with awful physical and mental stress just to get through their daily routines. I observe people shutting out their surroundings by using various devices, thus shutting themselves off from live human intercourse. It's not the world I grew up in.
I live in a suburb now and visit the city maybe once every six months. I cannot deal with the transportation horrors, the incivility, the congestion, the dirt, the noise. Maybe it is a part of getting older, but I think my impression that New York City is fast becoming uninhabitable (except by the rich) is not a false one. I prefer to stick with my memories of a better New York City.
3
Take a time out, Frank, curl up in an air-conditioned room and read Oliver Twist about the less-than-idyllic life in the cities of Dickens' era.
I spent my childhood in Chelsea 50 years ago, rode the 8th Avenue subway to school for 8 years, experiencing the good (freedom to travel alone) the bad (finding myself at 125th street in Harlem instead of Broadway) and the ugly (drunken sailors and longshoremen from the waterfront sleeping in our front entry). Read Evicted to learn how realtors--more than politicians, voters and taxpayers-- exploit urban properties. We are all to blame.
I spent my childhood in Chelsea 50 years ago, rode the 8th Avenue subway to school for 8 years, experiencing the good (freedom to travel alone) the bad (finding myself at 125th street in Harlem instead of Broadway) and the ugly (drunken sailors and longshoremen from the waterfront sleeping in our front entry). Read Evicted to learn how realtors--more than politicians, voters and taxpayers-- exploit urban properties. We are all to blame.
MTA needs an independent audit to see exactly the myriad ways they are wasting money. Everything should be on the table if this is truly a state of emergency. Lest we embody the definition of ignorance.
2
NYC is not overcrowded by Hong Kong standards, far from it. Hong Kong built a new and excellent underground with British contractors before 1997, it is expanding it with Chinese (surprise!) contractors. Trains are fast, clean, and full. Escalators are high speed, so you'd better trot away from them or you'll become the centre of an increasing mass of people as the escalator keeps delivering more. Once you reach the surface you can continue one floor up, and find yourself on a third floor retail and pedestrian space. Bridges cross the streets between buildings, and the AC is continuous. It needs to be!
London is building a new high speed railway to connect the major railway terminals, the Eurostar, and Heathrow. So far it appears to be on time and on budget. The French ought to be contracted to run Amtrak. They can build highspeed lines for less than Amtrak seems to pend on repairs, and run them at highspeed: a TGV would be quicker, cheaper, and more comfortable than a plane between Boston, NY, and DC. Never mind the NIMBYs in CT. They successfully blocked stations in their areas in SE England. Now their property prices are falling compared to those with stations. Too bad, so sad- slow trains for you for ever more.
A congestion charge is an excellent idea. It works in London, A much older idea, from a Roman Emperor, would be to ban deliveries, garbage pickups, etc during daytime hours. Yes you will have to have someone there in your premises, but two lanes carry a price.
London is building a new high speed railway to connect the major railway terminals, the Eurostar, and Heathrow. So far it appears to be on time and on budget. The French ought to be contracted to run Amtrak. They can build highspeed lines for less than Amtrak seems to pend on repairs, and run them at highspeed: a TGV would be quicker, cheaper, and more comfortable than a plane between Boston, NY, and DC. Never mind the NIMBYs in CT. They successfully blocked stations in their areas in SE England. Now their property prices are falling compared to those with stations. Too bad, so sad- slow trains for you for ever more.
A congestion charge is an excellent idea. It works in London, A much older idea, from a Roman Emperor, would be to ban deliveries, garbage pickups, etc during daytime hours. Yes you will have to have someone there in your premises, but two lanes carry a price.
Thank you, Mr. Bruni, for putting into words the increasing misery of life in the city. As a native New Yorker who has ridden the subway for almost 50 years, I can't recall a time when getting around town was remotely this frustrating. Even during the crime-ridden, graffiti infested days of the 1970s and '80s, you could count on the subway to get you where you needed to go more or less on time. Now it is anyone's guess whether a 20 minute commute will take 2 hours, turn an A train into an F train, a local into an express, and/or require listening to instructions from the conductor that are inaudible due to a defective PA system. Automated station announcements sounded like a great idea...until you realized they were frequently wrong. On top of all this, a large number of stations are filthy enough to qualify as a health hazard. I'm one of the lucky ones, owning a nice apartment in a relatively quiet Manhattan neighborhood -- but I'm starting to think it's time to move away.
50
I know it is hard for a New Yorker to believe, but New York City is not the entire world. There are many areas to live in within the state of New York, for example, which do not have these problems.
Western NY, for example (and i admit to a local bias), has a transit system that allows one to get almost anywhere in the two county area for a cost of under $80.00 per month, a highway system that means almost anywhere is less than 30 minutes from anywhere else during rush hour, and housing and eating options that do not cast an arm and a leg.
Rather than complain, either fix the problems (probably impossible, since there are too many people in too small an area) or move on.
Western NY, for example (and i admit to a local bias), has a transit system that allows one to get almost anywhere in the two county area for a cost of under $80.00 per month, a highway system that means almost anywhere is less than 30 minutes from anywhere else during rush hour, and housing and eating options that do not cast an arm and a leg.
Rather than complain, either fix the problems (probably impossible, since there are too many people in too small an area) or move on.
1
As an over-90 who still gets around using the 2nd ave Subway and MTA buses, I am grateful for the convenience of the city for living in without private transportation. I was born in NYC but lived much of my adult life in the 'burbs. I had to use my car to get anything - from a quart of milk to food to live on.Now it's across the street. And almost everything is here, from movies,museums,shops for anything (light bulbs recently)and private transportation when I need it.
The building -now a condo-where I did most of my growing up is still there and will last as I hope to do as a retired New Yorker in my New York
The building -now a condo-where I did most of my growing up is still there and will last as I hope to do as a retired New Yorker in my New York
4
What is needed are fees that are generated based on the derived use of the new real estate being added. You condition the development on completing it. For example with schools, a bldg. will bring in x people, you assume a fee for the students that will be increased in the local district and pay a fee to the district and/or Build a school if so required. Same for traffic. You know how many daily trips in cars, subways the development will generate and you either assess a fee and/or make the developer do the transportation related improvements before occupancy. Same for sewer, water, electrical improvements. This is how you keep up with infrastructure. Because the developer wants the bldg quickly they are incentivized to do the required infrastructure work. Many states force this on developers in the western U.S. I don't get why it doesn't appear to happen here.
4
Thanks to a great USPS postal service, a set of self designed, unique products, that I can manufacture myself economically in low volume, and my own website, I can live in an out of the way part of rural California and make a moderate, but sufficient, stress free living.
What ever happened to the Science Fiction concept of a country full of nothing but self-sufficient inter connected villages?
What ever happened to the Science Fiction concept of a country full of nothing but self-sufficient inter connected villages?
1
Dream Big or Keep Complaining
Instead of being “immobile and enraged” it may be time to dream big. By the time liberals spend billions fixing our 100 year old mass transit systems and vehicles, driverless vehicles will have made the effort futile. At some point those nasty subways will be replaced with individual personal or rental vehicles that come to your home and speed along the street until they enter the underground tunnels (formerly used primarily by subway trains) and transport people and packages at 60 MPH non-stop. With high-density use of the underground and no interference from pedestrian or cross traffic on the City’s streets and sidewalks few buses and trucks would be needed.
The MTA must patch the antiquated system for now, but the real value in the underground tubes (and above ground rails) will come when the lines are shared, the tracks modified, and the clunky trains are gradually replaced with vehicles fully automated for both street and modified rail function. If just half the people and goods glided, or perhaps levitated, along new inner tracks on shared vehicles, the costs associated with all other forms of transportation would radically diminish. Vehicles capable of reaching secluded areas of the city quickly would also equalize real estate values that currently segregate city life. Mr. Trump’s properties may actually loose some value – (perhaps a motivating factor for some).
Instead of being “immobile and enraged” it may be time to dream big. By the time liberals spend billions fixing our 100 year old mass transit systems and vehicles, driverless vehicles will have made the effort futile. At some point those nasty subways will be replaced with individual personal or rental vehicles that come to your home and speed along the street until they enter the underground tunnels (formerly used primarily by subway trains) and transport people and packages at 60 MPH non-stop. With high-density use of the underground and no interference from pedestrian or cross traffic on the City’s streets and sidewalks few buses and trucks would be needed.
The MTA must patch the antiquated system for now, but the real value in the underground tubes (and above ground rails) will come when the lines are shared, the tracks modified, and the clunky trains are gradually replaced with vehicles fully automated for both street and modified rail function. If just half the people and goods glided, or perhaps levitated, along new inner tracks on shared vehicles, the costs associated with all other forms of transportation would radically diminish. Vehicles capable of reaching secluded areas of the city quickly would also equalize real estate values that currently segregate city life. Mr. Trump’s properties may actually loose some value – (perhaps a motivating factor for some).
1
That's the same layman pipe dream that building more freeways would solve LA's transport problem. You need to do the math.
Congestion occurs when traffic volume through a limited number of intersections (or old train tunnels) exceeds a tipping point and causes some vehicles to slow or stop to wait for others to clear first. And so forth.
There is a maximum number of personal vehicles that any system can cope with, including eventually Escalades through a tax restricted city center. You either (self) limit the number of the rich, or limit the size of the cities.
Congestion occurs when traffic volume through a limited number of intersections (or old train tunnels) exceeds a tipping point and causes some vehicles to slow or stop to wait for others to clear first. And so forth.
There is a maximum number of personal vehicles that any system can cope with, including eventually Escalades through a tax restricted city center. You either (self) limit the number of the rich, or limit the size of the cities.
4
Tony, think a little bigger. The capacity of a trian right of way can increase a hundred fold if the vehicles (modified train cars, self-driving autos, etc.) enter and leave the track at high speed. There would be no need to stop on the main track and slow traffic behind.
1
Have you ever tried to walk down Broadway? It is so crowded with pedestrians that it's almost impossible. You think there's gridlock now? If everyone had a driverless car, the city would come to a complete halt!
No one wants to live in NYC anymore. It's too crowded.
3
And the portions are too small!
3
all our problems can and will be traced back to the one thing we will never confront - human over-population. There are too many humans and we live in the cult of the baby - polar opposites - and the source of our doom THIS CENTURY
3
Define "doom." I don't think I'd live through the transition, but human civilization will either collapse this century from climate change or it will adapt and become a higher-tech world with things like space colonization and AI. If it's the latter, the need for large families will wane globally.
The transition to that future would be painful. The transition in collapse, however, would be catastrophic.
The transition to that future would be painful. The transition in collapse, however, would be catastrophic.
1
Climate change and over-population are the same thing.
Can Manhattan keep expanding upward indefinitely, expecting the surface and underground transportation to draw in the people and move them around? There is only so much space beneath the skyscrapers.
4
There is such a thing, I assert, as a maximum amount of people any given metropolitan area can comfortably accomodate and house. I know this talk of finitude and limits is blasphemous to the disciples of globalization and unfettered growth, those who believe the answer to all urban problems is more affordable housing or more subsidies for the non-superbly-wealthy. Yet it needs to be stated -- housing costs reveal it, subway crowding reveals it, urban noise reveals it-- time for people to seek other places to send down roots.
7
Just what is that maximum number of people? I live in DC and the population here is just over 600k and I see the same problems Bruni is talking about for NYC.
1
Well, yeah... the maximum differs depending on the place.
I spent 24 hours in Manhattan last week and I can tell you that it is no place for the permanently or temporarily disabled. Using a cane temporarily from a recent surgery, I felt in the way and unwelcomed as the hordes of people, residents and tourists alike, rushed and squeezed their way through congestion, mostly staring down at their phones oblivious to the river of life they were swimming in. I lived in Chelsea for a year about ten years ago and enjoyed the neighborhood feel to the environs, today much of that neighborly feel has evaporated, even long time residents comment on this change today. Yes, nothing can stay the same, and the Chelsea of 50 years ago was different from 10 years ago, as is different today. Those high rises in Brooklyn and Long Island City are being built because all of Manhattan is becoming unattainable for the middle class, and that paradigm is being repeated in most major cities. The quaint, quirky, and neighborly features that made places like Chelsea attractive and desirable are being forced out by skyrocketing rents so only the national and international franchises can afford to do business there, and, as you point out, even the high-end doesn't have an impressive survival rate.
14
Infrastructure in NY is shamefully awful but CT commuting is just as awful, and just as NY centered. The population of Fairfield County jumped by 6,000 people in one year alone-2015, I believe. This mass immigration was aided by an endless development of condos and apartment buildings, with each tenancy bringing at least one car. Most people who move here work in NY or very lower Fairfield County. Once they are here they find that the waiting lists for commuter lots at the train stations are years long. So, they must then drive to NY, clogging up I-95. The trains and roads cannot even sustain the current number of riders or drivers, so why isn't there a moratorium on residential construction to prevent more of it? It is not responsible to build these apartments but. as always, developers have too much clout, and too much money, so they get their way. Aside from moratoriums, one possible way around this mess is for the best engineers from Europe to come here and make nation-wide recommendations regarding our roads, trains, and airports. In order to avoid corruption, construction should be funded through federal tax dollars and contracts awarded through carefully controlled blind bidding. I know I'm dreaming but unless you uncouple graft and politics nothing that is done will be for the greater good.
9
More people squeezing into less space=inadequate, overpriced supply and overwhelming demand, ie the basic theory of economics as I studied it.
This has situation been building for at least the 50 years or so that I have lived in Manhattan and is the principal reason I no longer want to live there. I feel "choked" and get elbowed everywhere I go, and driving over the patched-up roads is like riding on a washboard.
As to Escalades and every other SUV that is clogging roads--parking is much harder to find because they need so much more space--making driving so much more difficult especially on side streets because while SUV's got larger and wider, the roads remained the same width, leaving so much less room for error.
Something similar is happening in London, and presumably elsewhere: The rich elite have purchased their homes at astronomical prices in the center, but the service personnel--nurses, sanitation, teachers, etc.--can't afford to live there so they must take an expensive hour or more each way of commuting, further underscoring the "other distance" between the haves and have nots.
With the burgeoning population I see no good solution, although encouraging better birth control might help. This is because those with the large incomes are evading the taxes needed to pay for vital service, such as rebuilding infrastructure, while those on the other end of the spectrum need more services that the States and cities cannot afford to provide.
This has situation been building for at least the 50 years or so that I have lived in Manhattan and is the principal reason I no longer want to live there. I feel "choked" and get elbowed everywhere I go, and driving over the patched-up roads is like riding on a washboard.
As to Escalades and every other SUV that is clogging roads--parking is much harder to find because they need so much more space--making driving so much more difficult especially on side streets because while SUV's got larger and wider, the roads remained the same width, leaving so much less room for error.
Something similar is happening in London, and presumably elsewhere: The rich elite have purchased their homes at astronomical prices in the center, but the service personnel--nurses, sanitation, teachers, etc.--can't afford to live there so they must take an expensive hour or more each way of commuting, further underscoring the "other distance" between the haves and have nots.
With the burgeoning population I see no good solution, although encouraging better birth control might help. This is because those with the large incomes are evading the taxes needed to pay for vital service, such as rebuilding infrastructure, while those on the other end of the spectrum need more services that the States and cities cannot afford to provide.
20
NO PAY MTA.
It will only get worse. Christine McM's Boston-area transit is in a financial death spiral. State and Federal funding is vital, but its only plausible source is a carbon tax, which is a political non-starter.
When the president and his minions mention infrastructure, they almost always list four examples: typically "roads, bridges, highways, and airports." The redundancy of roads and highways protects them from including "railroads." While railroads are never mentioned, "transit" is on rare occasions, but likely only as an opportunity for privatization.
When the president and his minions mention infrastructure, they almost always list four examples: typically "roads, bridges, highways, and airports." The redundancy of roads and highways protects them from including "railroads." While railroads are never mentioned, "transit" is on rare occasions, but likely only as an opportunity for privatization.
7
A congestion charge on motor vehicles would be the best source of commuter subsidy. It would raise the cost of not using transit while paying for more capacity.
Another option would be a Tokyo copycat. You cannot own a motor vehicle unless you own an off-street parking place.
Another option would be a Tokyo copycat. You cannot own a motor vehicle unless you own an off-street parking place.
My daughter recently visited NYU and fell in love with the school. My fear is that even if she obtains enough in scholarship and financial aid to attend, she will be relegated to living in the library with no money to have a night out or to grab a bite with friends. The cost of NYC will making college in a city more like college in a dorm room.
6
The meal plans are pretty good.
1
"What took him so long?"
Have you written about lack of investment in infrastructure before?
Have you written about lack of investment in infrastructure before?
7
Great point Lynn. Great point.
1
You are right about "end of days."
When even healthcare becomes, as Warren Buffett calls it, "The Relief of the Rich Act", the only investments on the horizon are in lethal weaponry and lower taxes for those riding in the Black Escalades. The Escalade riders will be the only people able to afford a personal army to protect them from a populace whose only guaranteed right is that they can openly carry a gun.
When even healthcare becomes, as Warren Buffett calls it, "The Relief of the Rich Act", the only investments on the horizon are in lethal weaponry and lower taxes for those riding in the Black Escalades. The Escalade riders will be the only people able to afford a personal army to protect them from a populace whose only guaranteed right is that they can openly carry a gun.
24
If only voters were capable of assessing candidates based on issues and long-term priorities rather than on images and tribalism. But as we've seen with the current presidency, very, very few people have that ability. It's perhaps the greatest failure of 21st century democracy.
17
Everyone has the ability.
The MSM, off mission, makes it very hard to be an informed voter.
Think about it.
The MSM, off mission, makes it very hard to be an informed voter.
Think about it.
With approximately one million immigrating legally to the US each year, this problem is only going to get worse. The population of the US has doubled since 1970. You cannot increase the population at that rate without having an effect on the infrastructure.
13
As someone who has spent most of my life in New York, I’ve watched various neighborhoods evolve over the years. Since I live on the Upper West Side and usually worked quit a bit south of my home, commuting meant I took the subway, and like anyone else, I took for granted that it mostly worked but got frustrated when it was especially slow or there was a vague announcement of a cancellation in service.
While I’m fully aware of how bad the subway delays have become, the most obvious obstacle facing us mere mortals are the breathtaking number of construction projects that force traffic to squeeze by on roads reduced to rubble and force pedestrians to cross on a single side of the street.
The number of skyscrapers taller than 700 feet will double when all of the projects currently in progress are completed. With each one, there will be more people working (and in some cases, living) in them, with more stress on our all-too-obviously fragile and aging infrastructure.
Yet somehow, little money is being spent to keep the city running. The New York Times Reported this week that as the number of subway riders increased from 4 million a day to nearly 6 million a day, there has been virtually no expansion of service. How is it that all of these construction projects got approvals without someone considering the effects all of projects will bring when they are in progress and when they are finished, when even more people will need to use that infrastructure?
While I’m fully aware of how bad the subway delays have become, the most obvious obstacle facing us mere mortals are the breathtaking number of construction projects that force traffic to squeeze by on roads reduced to rubble and force pedestrians to cross on a single side of the street.
The number of skyscrapers taller than 700 feet will double when all of the projects currently in progress are completed. With each one, there will be more people working (and in some cases, living) in them, with more stress on our all-too-obviously fragile and aging infrastructure.
Yet somehow, little money is being spent to keep the city running. The New York Times Reported this week that as the number of subway riders increased from 4 million a day to nearly 6 million a day, there has been virtually no expansion of service. How is it that all of these construction projects got approvals without someone considering the effects all of projects will bring when they are in progress and when they are finished, when even more people will need to use that infrastructure?
40
In Gov. Cuomo's 2015 State of the State speech he said that when he thinks about infrastructure these days he doesn't think in terms of roads and bridges, he thinks about broadband. I'll certainly grant him the need for vastly improved internet access, especially out here in Ithaca. His lack of thinking about roads, bridges, subways and the needs of New Yorkers without a driver or a pilot has been plainly and dangerously evident for years - the evidence has been plain for decades in the case of upstate communities and towns.
8
Your lament has not fallen of deaf ears Frank. Many cities are going through the exact same thing. ( perhaps no where near on the same scale )
So who is at fault ?
1. The politicians ( and voters that do not hold them accountable )
~ You cannot build up and up without the proper tax structure, social services participation and most importantly infrastructure ( like transportation )
2. The builders
~ You can make money, other than just erecting a tall building tailored for the rich. You can easily put pressure on politicians ( like we all can ) to change building codes to properly reflect sustainable plans for all
3. All of Us
~ We continue to flow into the city with hopes, dreams and our dollars ( even if it is meager in comparison ) to support the local economy.
Change either comes from financial norms that go against profit margins, or by politicians with a backbone that are going to what is required in infrastructure and not kick the can down the road.
Just a thought .
So who is at fault ?
1. The politicians ( and voters that do not hold them accountable )
~ You cannot build up and up without the proper tax structure, social services participation and most importantly infrastructure ( like transportation )
2. The builders
~ You can make money, other than just erecting a tall building tailored for the rich. You can easily put pressure on politicians ( like we all can ) to change building codes to properly reflect sustainable plans for all
3. All of Us
~ We continue to flow into the city with hopes, dreams and our dollars ( even if it is meager in comparison ) to support the local economy.
Change either comes from financial norms that go against profit margins, or by politicians with a backbone that are going to what is required in infrastructure and not kick the can down the road.
Just a thought .
13
Having lost track of how many countries I have traveled in, NYC rocks. The Park, the food, this is one of my favorite places. It's also amazing how in shape most of the commuters are - it's a walking city - a gorgeous incredible monument to human civilization - chaos and all. If you think your commutes bad in NYC, try Rio, Lima, Bangkok.
7
Seriously?
Have you been to Helsinki, Berlin, Vienna, Prague and other European cities. US public transportation is medieval, by comparison.
Have you been to Helsinki, Berlin, Vienna, Prague and other European cities. US public transportation is medieval, by comparison.
You're right that commuting sucks in other big cities (and doesn't in many others), but it's no solace to a commuters waiting for delayed subways on hot platforms or standing on stalled commuter trains. New York deserves better.
The direct cause of the problems described by Mr. Bruni is rampant short-termism.
Our governmental leaders have ceased investing in their cities for the long term. Many investments require tax increases, or at least not cutting taxes (anathema!) or bond issuances, which would make sense given the historically low interest rates of the past several years. But political leaders lack the political fortitude to make these long term investments. Think of where NYC would be today if leaders of the past had not invested in rail systems, water systems (including land purchases upstate), schools, libraries and the like. Chronic underinvestment is the legacy these leaders are leaving for our children.
And this problem is not limited to our government. Many companies now fail to invest for the long term, either. Activist investors and hedge funds, enabled by "democratic" reforms in corporate governance, now demand stock price-moving events that will quickly juice their investments--stock buybacks, spin-offs, job-reducing mergers and cost cutting in long term R&D in order to improve this quarters financial performance. Like government, corporate America is failing to invest for the long term.
We need to address and reverse rampant short termism. Failure to invest in the future will result in crumbling infrastructure and lack of innovation.
Our governmental leaders have ceased investing in their cities for the long term. Many investments require tax increases, or at least not cutting taxes (anathema!) or bond issuances, which would make sense given the historically low interest rates of the past several years. But political leaders lack the political fortitude to make these long term investments. Think of where NYC would be today if leaders of the past had not invested in rail systems, water systems (including land purchases upstate), schools, libraries and the like. Chronic underinvestment is the legacy these leaders are leaving for our children.
And this problem is not limited to our government. Many companies now fail to invest for the long term, either. Activist investors and hedge funds, enabled by "democratic" reforms in corporate governance, now demand stock price-moving events that will quickly juice their investments--stock buybacks, spin-offs, job-reducing mergers and cost cutting in long term R&D in order to improve this quarters financial performance. Like government, corporate America is failing to invest for the long term.
We need to address and reverse rampant short termism. Failure to invest in the future will result in crumbling infrastructure and lack of innovation.
18
London is in final stages of yet another addition to the Underground. Trains travers Western Europe and lightning speed. Here in the US, in my state of FL, the people voted for high speed rail to connect our cities. This will of the people was overturned by one Gov. Jeb Bush.
A few years ago I was taking a train from Florence to Milan. I was looking forward to seeing the mountains during the ride. Very shortly after leaving Florence, the train went into a tunnel, and was in that tunnel for perhaps an hour. I knew then that the infrastructure in the USA is very poor. Americans don't seem to recognize how far behind we have slipped in this area. No one wants to pay taxes and even when the people say they want improvements and modernization, our government officials negate the will of the people. I am personally convinced the the US auto and airline industries lobby against any form of alternatives, (trains).
A few years ago I was taking a train from Florence to Milan. I was looking forward to seeing the mountains during the ride. Very shortly after leaving Florence, the train went into a tunnel, and was in that tunnel for perhaps an hour. I knew then that the infrastructure in the USA is very poor. Americans don't seem to recognize how far behind we have slipped in this area. No one wants to pay taxes and even when the people say they want improvements and modernization, our government officials negate the will of the people. I am personally convinced the the US auto and airline industries lobby against any form of alternatives, (trains).
39
I've enjoyed riding trains in Europe while on vacation but the key word here is vacation. This was part of the journey. However I don't want to do this in the USA. Want to get where I am going. Give me a ticket for an airplane!
i am sorry, but congestion pricing will do absolutley zip to alleviate congestion, it will however increase the disparity between the wealthy and everyone else. i've lived my entire life in nyc, but don't reside in manhattan, and now you want to charge me for driving there??
but i digress. congestion pricing is one of those "sounds great on paper" ideas. why do you think there are so many cars in the first place? b/c people still need to get there for their jobs. why do they take their cars? i'm sure there are a few who do it to stay away from everyone else and be in their own little bubble, but i'm willing to bet the vast majority do b/c public transportation isn't convenient or avaialable (see multiple stories on how crowded they are already), which brings me to my last point, they still have to get to work. if not by car, then how? the already overcrowded public transport system? the very one you criticize for not being up to the task of absorbing the tenants of the new high rises? i'm all for reducing unnecessary vehicular traffic... once you have abundant capacity in an alternative...
also, my observations lead me to conclude that most of the traffic is created by double parked delivery vehicles and the ever insane driving habits of taxi cabs. fine them often for these offenses, i'll bet traffic improves overnight.
but i digress. congestion pricing is one of those "sounds great on paper" ideas. why do you think there are so many cars in the first place? b/c people still need to get there for their jobs. why do they take their cars? i'm sure there are a few who do it to stay away from everyone else and be in their own little bubble, but i'm willing to bet the vast majority do b/c public transportation isn't convenient or avaialable (see multiple stories on how crowded they are already), which brings me to my last point, they still have to get to work. if not by car, then how? the already overcrowded public transport system? the very one you criticize for not being up to the task of absorbing the tenants of the new high rises? i'm all for reducing unnecessary vehicular traffic... once you have abundant capacity in an alternative...
also, my observations lead me to conclude that most of the traffic is created by double parked delivery vehicles and the ever insane driving habits of taxi cabs. fine them often for these offenses, i'll bet traffic improves overnight.
9
In this piece Frank Bruni enumerates many different parts of the city's infrastructure as failing. However most of these "failures" have been around for decades, in addition to the fact that there is not much the city can do about many of them.
This is true in regard to the "true story" he cites about a man honking pointlessly in traffic, which resulted in a pedestrian screaming at him to stop, which then resulted in someone else began to scream at her for adding to the din. I recall a similar story back in 1991. The point being that traffic and the aggravation that go along with it is nothing new, and not much those in charge can do anything about.
The same is true for the long time it takes to get from JFK to Manahattan, as there are but 3 lanes of traffic on the Van Wyck, and so congestion has there has always been an issue.
The only thing that some are complaining has gotten worse is the signal system on the subways, even though here too it is not clear that trains ran better in the 70's. However even if this is true the reason for this is that the NY subway runs 24 hours a day, and so most repairs are ordered because they are an emergency, such as replacing particular pieces of equipment that are faulty and can have catastrophic results if they fail.
However to replace the complete signal system even on one line is a massive job that requires that the line be shut down for an extended period, and this is the type of thing that was never viewed as an option.
This is true in regard to the "true story" he cites about a man honking pointlessly in traffic, which resulted in a pedestrian screaming at him to stop, which then resulted in someone else began to scream at her for adding to the din. I recall a similar story back in 1991. The point being that traffic and the aggravation that go along with it is nothing new, and not much those in charge can do anything about.
The same is true for the long time it takes to get from JFK to Manahattan, as there are but 3 lanes of traffic on the Van Wyck, and so congestion has there has always been an issue.
The only thing that some are complaining has gotten worse is the signal system on the subways, even though here too it is not clear that trains ran better in the 70's. However even if this is true the reason for this is that the NY subway runs 24 hours a day, and so most repairs are ordered because they are an emergency, such as replacing particular pieces of equipment that are faulty and can have catastrophic results if they fail.
However to replace the complete signal system even on one line is a massive job that requires that the line be shut down for an extended period, and this is the type of thing that was never viewed as an option.
5
This is 3rd world reading. I hope that Americans are better than this.
No country can survive for long on a diet of tax cuts and bloated military. It's guns or transit, folks. And the military is winning.
Efficient rapid transit is built into the DNA of great cities - investments must be ongoing. Think London, Paris, Moscow, Hong Kong, Beijing, even Vancouver. This article describes the alternative.
No country can survive for long on a diet of tax cuts and bloated military. It's guns or transit, folks. And the military is winning.
Efficient rapid transit is built into the DNA of great cities - investments must be ongoing. Think London, Paris, Moscow, Hong Kong, Beijing, even Vancouver. This article describes the alternative.
54
I agree that the traffic in Manhattan is horrific. However, I don't think that congestion pricing is the answer. First it is inherently unfair. It charges anyone who doesn't live below 96th street for the privilege of driving on those streets during certain hours. Yet many people can't afford to live in that area anymore. So it is essentially making people with lower incomes pay the price. The argument that they can take mass transit instead is laughable considering how abysmal mass transit has become.
Something has to be done to make mass transit better, starting with immediately fixing the signals, ordering more train cars, ventilating the stations, traffic light priority for buses . Then some people who now drive, would be tempted to take he subway and bus. As for the congestion, why not do something about double parked vehicles, and the vehicless that stop in the bus lanes or at bus stops? Also couldn't some deliveries be on more limited schedule, including evening deliveries. The proliferation of bike lanes on major streets like First and Second Avenues don't help the situation either. Finally the never ending construction of luxury high rises and office building must be put on hiatus until the traffic and infrastructure problem has been remedied.
To continue the way things are going is not over unacceptable it's detrimental to the city and to the people who live and work here.
Something has to be done to make mass transit better, starting with immediately fixing the signals, ordering more train cars, ventilating the stations, traffic light priority for buses . Then some people who now drive, would be tempted to take he subway and bus. As for the congestion, why not do something about double parked vehicles, and the vehicless that stop in the bus lanes or at bus stops? Also couldn't some deliveries be on more limited schedule, including evening deliveries. The proliferation of bike lanes on major streets like First and Second Avenues don't help the situation either. Finally the never ending construction of luxury high rises and office building must be put on hiatus until the traffic and infrastructure problem has been remedied.
To continue the way things are going is not over unacceptable it's detrimental to the city and to the people who live and work here.
9
There is no reason that people below 96th st should be exempt. They should pay for a sticker or whatever, and own an off-street parking space.
1
While I sympathize with my northern brethren and their daily trials, it is not unique. On a smaller scale, the City of Charleston, SC has found it's roads clogged and that there is little to no affordable housing in the booming city.
Hence the restaurants, retail stores and hotels find it increasingly hard to find employees willing to commute in for minimum wage or slightly better wages. Like NYC, central planning to create affordable housing for the worker bees is being considered. And like NYC, it is doomed to fail.
Hence the restaurants, retail stores and hotels find it increasingly hard to find employees willing to commute in for minimum wage or slightly better wages. Like NYC, central planning to create affordable housing for the worker bees is being considered. And like NYC, it is doomed to fail.
9
Chris, I totally agree with your comments. I live in downtown Charleston, and
traffic has become so bad, my friends don't want to visit me because of the traffic downtown and the parking problem. Development is rampant here, because the city is gorgeous and visitors come and want to stay. The bus system, the only mass transit in the city, is an antiquated and inefficient system for traveling. This, at a time when the system could work to bring in those drivers that would change habits, were the system better.
There's also a stigma to using the buses here. Traditionally, it's the poor Blacks, or those with DUIs, using the system. The system is so bad, it's all understandable for the disdain. There are so many flaws in the system, it's hard to enumerate, however, little change will happen, and the problem will worsen, unfortunately. Americans are wedded to their cars, the mayor is not invested in changing the system, and people accept the status quo.
traffic has become so bad, my friends don't want to visit me because of the traffic downtown and the parking problem. Development is rampant here, because the city is gorgeous and visitors come and want to stay. The bus system, the only mass transit in the city, is an antiquated and inefficient system for traveling. This, at a time when the system could work to bring in those drivers that would change habits, were the system better.
There's also a stigma to using the buses here. Traditionally, it's the poor Blacks, or those with DUIs, using the system. The system is so bad, it's all understandable for the disdain. There are so many flaws in the system, it's hard to enumerate, however, little change will happen, and the problem will worsen, unfortunately. Americans are wedded to their cars, the mayor is not invested in changing the system, and people accept the status quo.
5
Southern FL has a different announced strategy. They are consciously increasing congestion by closing traffic lanes. It remains to be seen how this will work, but it is cheaper than dong anything else.
NJ is already the most highly taxed state in the country and I am sure NY is not far behind. Where have the billions already collected gone? Not into paving the roads or improving transit infrastructure, that's for sure. Let's repair the sinkholes of corruption in Albany and Trenton before we "spend" another nickel.
13
Add Illinois to your list. Our esteemed legislature is sitting in session this weekend, not talking to each other while our state teeters on "junk" status--no budget for 3 years running. What money they do collect goes into the public workers' pension sinkholes while our roads lay in disrepair and once started projects are left abandoned (with lanes closed almost permanently) because contractors aren't getting paid. And yet, we pay more and more and more taxes. As a senior on a fixed income, it's onerous to live here but this is where family is...
7
So true! Railroad ticket prices match or exceed the equivalent monthly payments on a car. NY has an MTA payroll tax. Bridge and tunnel tolls are diverted directly into the transit dollar pipelines. And then there is direct state aid. We spend more on transit than many European cities and have little o show for it. Time to replace the MTA and their protective political patrons.
1
"...most highly taxed..." That term is relative. What need does Montana have of public transport? Why would Nevada need a fleet of snow-plows? You get what you pay for, and when you pay a pittance, you don't get top-of the line service as they do in Europe.
1
The problem lies in planning or should I say the lack thereof. No one project that is approved by the planning and zoning authorities creates the mess, but the sum total of these short-sighted decisions is the nightmare we now face in NYC and many communities. You will have the gradual improvement and maturation of civil infrastructure just as soon as it is a required precondition for all other development. Would that cause the development to go elsewhere? Perhaps, but that alone would stiffen local politicians' collective spines on the need for proper infrastructure.
3
They have kept kicking this infrastructure can down the road until the can itself has disintegrated. Everyone wants services and no one wants to pay for them.
Every state government--even the ones with Democratic governors--runs on the idea that state taxes must never, ever be raised. You raise taxes or propose a tax raise, you don't get elected.
And the unwillingness to raise the wages of municipal workers to a competitive level has lead to negotiated pension increases that are unsustainable. To now suggest, as many commenters do here, that we punish teachers, transit workers, sanitation workers, cops and firefighters by depriving them of the benefits they were promised years ago, by reneging on them is ridiculous and just plain wrong.
The best investment cities and states can make is in infrastructure--the longer the delay, the greater the pain until the cities and country grind to a halt for all but the wealthy.
Every state government--even the ones with Democratic governors--runs on the idea that state taxes must never, ever be raised. You raise taxes or propose a tax raise, you don't get elected.
And the unwillingness to raise the wages of municipal workers to a competitive level has lead to negotiated pension increases that are unsustainable. To now suggest, as many commenters do here, that we punish teachers, transit workers, sanitation workers, cops and firefighters by depriving them of the benefits they were promised years ago, by reneging on them is ridiculous and just plain wrong.
The best investment cities and states can make is in infrastructure--the longer the delay, the greater the pain until the cities and country grind to a halt for all but the wealthy.
15
But beware the infrastructure projects (Trump-style) that sell America to Arab, Chinese, and Russian billionaires!
Affluent suburbs in the tri-state area with a large proportion of commuters into NYC will increasingly face declining property values. Just ask any real estate agent in these areas. Coupled with high property taxes in most of these suburbs, you can understand why buyers increasingly question if it's worth it.
5
Impose a graduated or progressive property tax rate for all NYC residences with an assessed value over, say, $5 million. Surely those $50 million/year (with $150 million exit package when they are ousted for poor performance) CEOs, or the Russian or Chinese oligarchs, or the Middle East princes can afford it. Use the money for infrastructure improvement.
32
Having not lived in any city or town for more than 3 decades, it is during traveling that we see the cities. After about 4 days, we long for home. I have nothing but profound respect and admiration for those who have to live, work and commute in those conditions. We have city dwellers visiting often to our rural setting. Their most interesting observations are the lack of any traffic, no light other than moonlight and starlight and it is too dam& quiet.
21
A couple of years ago Governor Brandstad agreed to raised the gas tax 10 cents in Iowa. Now our roads and bridges are being repaired. We hVe the temporary inconvenience of detours but we will have the luxury of smooth roads and safe bridges. There are also a lot of highly paid, skilled tradesmen (and women) earning money that they will spend in my town and the rest of the state. I don't mind paying that extra dime.
43
Will wonders never cease when even Republicans understand that taxes actually pay for something.
7
It seems we are running a natural experiment. New York City is doing its level best to torment its citizens and residents alike as Mr. Bruni points out. High taxes, rarely directed at anything other than patches to a broken system, couple with infernal breakdowns in transportation, infrastructure and civility in general. The best illustration for me was the incident when a truck carrying asphalt to repair the West Side Highway fell through the West Side Highway.
Contrast this with California with its problems as well. I would never choose to drive the 405 in rush hour. But California has put its bets on the future with raising taxes, increasing use of renewable power sources and a spirit of innovation igniting a phenomenal growth rate, now surpassing that of many nations.
New York City is a microcosm of our income inequality run amok. Tinted Escalades Trump people. California puts people first and privilege second. California may be the land of merlot and arugula but New York City is the land of Donald Trump.
Contrast this with California with its problems as well. I would never choose to drive the 405 in rush hour. But California has put its bets on the future with raising taxes, increasing use of renewable power sources and a spirit of innovation igniting a phenomenal growth rate, now surpassing that of many nations.
New York City is a microcosm of our income inequality run amok. Tinted Escalades Trump people. California puts people first and privilege second. California may be the land of merlot and arugula but New York City is the land of Donald Trump.
23
Sorry but Washington DC, not NYC, has been the winner for worst commuting city for many years and the public transportation system looks like a skeleton compared to NY. This is a problem of lack of vision of the part of city planners and lack of willingness of people to pay taxes to maintain and grow a public transportation system that keeps up with population growth.
11
I consider myself a compassionate person but I just can't find sympathy in my heart for a NYT columnist who has to pay $36 for dinner in Manhattan or has to suffer an inconvenient ride to JFK, talk about first world problems. Mr. Bruni, grab a cold pressed, free trade, organic mocha latte, sit down, read Mr. Kristof column in today's paper about his travels in Africa and be grateful for all you have.
11
And your point is...? If someone else is worse off, we should be trying to do something about that, but it doesn't mean we have to accept less drastic dysfunction. First-world problems are problems too.
We think of sustainability in environmental terms, but a city that increasingly offers a choice between $36 entrees and homeless shelters is not sustainable in a different way.
Come the Big Crash in Finance, that hall of mirrors and smoke, what will NYC's elite do? What will we all do?
Come the Big Crash in Finance, that hall of mirrors and smoke, what will NYC's elite do? What will we all do?
11
We'll come to your neighborhood in Richmond.
Wanna buy an artisan pickle?
Full sour or half?
That'll be twenty dollars.
Wanna buy an artisan pickle?
Full sour or half?
That'll be twenty dollars.
1
I'm not making excuses for DeBlasio, but he runs a city where policies like education, public transportation, and taxes are decided in Albany. The Republicans, who have an NYC animus, have controlled the state Senate for over 40 yrs (now with help of breakaway Democrats and apparently with Cuomo's tacit approval). The Governor, whether either Cuomo, Spitzer, or Patterson, are more interested in their image in the rest of the state than the city that provides the electoral victory.
With the exception of the retired Fred Dicker, none of city's papers ever covered Albany or the state agencies (one day in January, 2 in April, and 3 in June don't suffice), and still doesn't. Only corruption stories get any ink. Of course corruption is rampant when there's no sunshine on the process. Put a reporter on Cuomo, actually cover the budget negotiations, and go to the MTA's public meetings.
With the exception of the retired Fred Dicker, none of city's papers ever covered Albany or the state agencies (one day in January, 2 in April, and 3 in June don't suffice), and still doesn't. Only corruption stories get any ink. Of course corruption is rampant when there's no sunshine on the process. Put a reporter on Cuomo, actually cover the budget negotiations, and go to the MTA's public meetings.
43
We have one political party that has made taxes a dirty word. I guess my father was an oddity for teaching us that we should pay our taxes and support our church.
When what is now the controlling party, has made cutting taxes its main goal , there is little hope that our infrastructure will get its needed renovations.
How do we get out of this mess? The answer is easy, The media, the powers in business, the religious leaders and finally ,honest politicians must step up to the plate and say there is no free lunch. And by the way, vote out those that claim there is.
When what is now the controlling party, has made cutting taxes its main goal , there is little hope that our infrastructure will get its needed renovations.
How do we get out of this mess? The answer is easy, The media, the powers in business, the religious leaders and finally ,honest politicians must step up to the plate and say there is no free lunch. And by the way, vote out those that claim there is.
46
Imagine a world, a world of bridges, tunnels, airports, and seaports
Now imagine the lords, an aristocracy of David Wildsteins, Directors of Interstate Capital Projects
No-nothing political appointees, pulling down $150K per year to ensure the "strict adherence to the Christie agenda".
You see, if you ever were a career engineer, in a government service organization, such as the Port Authority,
you would know that the organization lost its resolve to ensure the best plan and the most efficient execution long, long ago.
Decades and decades ago, politicians began giving the engineers the plan, and now the well-neutered head of engineering waits to be handed his plan.
Penn Station is not under Port Authority, but has the same general affliction, a revolving door of mayors, governors, and legislators, each with their new plan. It's a miracle anything is maintained, let alone expanded.
Now imagine the lords, an aristocracy of David Wildsteins, Directors of Interstate Capital Projects
No-nothing political appointees, pulling down $150K per year to ensure the "strict adherence to the Christie agenda".
You see, if you ever were a career engineer, in a government service organization, such as the Port Authority,
you would know that the organization lost its resolve to ensure the best plan and the most efficient execution long, long ago.
Decades and decades ago, politicians began giving the engineers the plan, and now the well-neutered head of engineering waits to be handed his plan.
Penn Station is not under Port Authority, but has the same general affliction, a revolving door of mayors, governors, and legislators, each with their new plan. It's a miracle anything is maintained, let alone expanded.
17
It is a matter of priorities. Much like the current Health Care bill, where the savings is meant to lower taxes for the very wealthy, so too is the 421-a program in NY, whereby billionaire real estate developers are exempt from taxes in exchange for providing a smattering of affordable housing in luxury buildings. This program currently costs the city $1.5 billion per year and is estimated to cost the city over $7 billion in the next 10 years.
De Blasio & the courts refuse to enforce the rent stabilization laws that accompany the 421-a program so affordable living apartments are illegally and rapidly disappearing but developers are still collecting the tax exemptions.
Until we take money out of politics our mayor, governor, A.G., and judges will continue to feed at the developers' trough of campaign dollars.
There is something dystopian about NYC where the frenzy to build more and more while the infrastructure deteriorates exponentially. You know there is a paucity of vision when the governor offers $1million for the best idea of how to fix the MTA problem.
De Blasio, the "progressive" has only accelerated the problem. Another 4 years of De Blasio is a lot like 4 years of Trump: "Nothing can come from nothing,"
De Blasio & the courts refuse to enforce the rent stabilization laws that accompany the 421-a program so affordable living apartments are illegally and rapidly disappearing but developers are still collecting the tax exemptions.
Until we take money out of politics our mayor, governor, A.G., and judges will continue to feed at the developers' trough of campaign dollars.
There is something dystopian about NYC where the frenzy to build more and more while the infrastructure deteriorates exponentially. You know there is a paucity of vision when the governor offers $1million for the best idea of how to fix the MTA problem.
De Blasio, the "progressive" has only accelerated the problem. Another 4 years of De Blasio is a lot like 4 years of Trump: "Nothing can come from nothing,"
21
My husband, born and raised here, by parents born and raised here, is ready to leave. My daughter, born and raised here, is ready to leave. And I, who fell in love with New York as a kid on visits, and moved here decades ago, am ready to leave.
The City does not feel the same. It does not look the same. It is overpriced, overcrowded, and falling apart.
The City does not feel the same. It does not look the same. It is overpriced, overcrowded, and falling apart.
101
I was born there. I won't even think about going there. Even to pass through on the way to someplace else costs too much in tolls.
7
Many of us are planning to do the same. My girlfriends young son is contemplating moving to Chicago. A trend is starting. The quality of life just isn't worth the headaches.
"Mayor Bill de Blasio and Cuomo feud nastily about who’s responsible for the transportation nightmare."
And yet it actually IS the governor who controls the most critical parts of New York City's transportation infrastructure.
It would be nice if, instead of throwing up their hands and saying "who knows," if journalists could actually pin the blame for the lion's share of the problems where it belongs.
And it clearly belongs in Albany.
And yet it actually IS the governor who controls the most critical parts of New York City's transportation infrastructure.
It would be nice if, instead of throwing up their hands and saying "who knows," if journalists could actually pin the blame for the lion's share of the problems where it belongs.
And it clearly belongs in Albany.
25
The factors cited here as reasons to lose faith in NYC are not new and most of them have been the way the city's has been for decades. For example the "true story' that we are told about a driver honking "pointlessly and obnoxiously" which prompted yelling by a pedestrian at that driver could have taken place in any decade since the 70's. And the same is true as far as the very long time it can take to get from JFK to Manhattan, as the traffic congestion on the Van Wyck has been the terrible for decades and is not a recent development.
As for the fact that housing in Manhattan is beyond the budget of many New Yorkers, who as a result of this must seek their housing accommodations in the outer boroughs, is the way its been for a very long time. In fact for most people, not living in Manhattan among the relatively wealthy and instead living in the outer boroughs among those of their own class was never seen as a choice forced upon people, in that those living in Brooklyn wished they could have lived in Manhattan.
And that the city is "dirtier than it should be. Smellier, too, especially in July and August" has been the case for probably hundreds of years. So is the fact that there are restaurants in Manhattan that charge obscene prices for their food.
So it is not at all clear what has recently changed about NYC in that it was once a city to have faith in and due to recent changes this can no longer be said. It is certainly not something a native New Yorker would feel.
As for the fact that housing in Manhattan is beyond the budget of many New Yorkers, who as a result of this must seek their housing accommodations in the outer boroughs, is the way its been for a very long time. In fact for most people, not living in Manhattan among the relatively wealthy and instead living in the outer boroughs among those of their own class was never seen as a choice forced upon people, in that those living in Brooklyn wished they could have lived in Manhattan.
And that the city is "dirtier than it should be. Smellier, too, especially in July and August" has been the case for probably hundreds of years. So is the fact that there are restaurants in Manhattan that charge obscene prices for their food.
So it is not at all clear what has recently changed about NYC in that it was once a city to have faith in and due to recent changes this can no longer be said. It is certainly not something a native New Yorker would feel.
17
You live in Ditmas Park, one of the most expensive and exclusive neighbourhoods in Brooklyn besides Park Slope - you can afford to deny the reality that Mr. Bruni and other New Yorkers live daily. What, do you take a private helicopter into the City?
1
Seattle, where I used to live, has many of the problems you describe. Some time back residents voted down a project to build a mass-transit system that would have been 75% paid for by the federal government. They chose instead to build the King Dome for football, which was demolished a few years ago. Now traffic is impossible, rent and food prices are very high and rising all of the time. I feel so lucky to now be living in the French countryside, where zoning prevents hideous buildings going up all over the place not to mention signs and billboards. And it's quiet, I can see the stars at night, the air is fresh and clean...
63
I still live in Seattle, and we have a light rail system, now. It's expanding, despite state legislators trying to take away its voter-approved funding. Perhaps you've heard of Google? Congratulations on being wealthy enough to be an "expatriate," because being an "immigrant" would make you non-White, and therefore vilified in French society - actually, kind of what it's like to live in Seattle.
2
One of the attributes (enforced by laws) that the French have, is a sense of the importance of aesthetics. And I don't mean that in an effete way. Look at NY - huge skyscrapers crowding out smaller buildings and blotting the sun, nail salons piled on top of historic buildings, "human plazas" built by corporations because they were mandated to do so, are now abandoned and dirty because the coporations wanted to make them as uncomfortable as possible for the people they were supposed to serve. We're not becoming a banana republic, we are a banana republic. In France, beauty is factored in as a necessity of life. Skyscrapers are all put in one area of Paris, La Defense, so that the rest of the city can be seen and explored by people walking around, appreciating the weather, picnicking in the sun. No, it's not a perfect world, but in the area of day to day value of food, beauty, culture, and the value of people over profit, they are light years ahead of us.
17
lucky you...
As someone who has never lived in New York, but has visited often, I will say that I love the city, despite its flaws. But there are so many other great cities in this country that need exactly the kind of people that most often flock to cities like New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle and Portland. Chicago is a vibrant teaming metropolis with an abundance of opportunity (and, despite the media attention, a lower murder rate than Hartford, St. Louis, Birmingham, and even Dayton, Ohio). Columbus is a rapidly growing city--if the only one--in the Midwest, yet almost immediately on the other side of the Appalachians. Even the old rust belt cities, housing a mere fraction of the populations for which they were built (and often struggling financially to provide city services to a thinly distributed population)--offer many opportunities and low costs of living...and these cities all need you. Miami or Boston may seem more exciting and enticing, but Minneapolis or Pittsburgh will give you a chance and the time to actually live. Speaking personally, as a family of three living in Columbus on only my husband's (five--not six--figure) income, we still manage at least three, sometimes five, trips out of state each year to the places we pretend we'd prefer to be or to visit the family or friends in those places. These "second-tier" cities are the places you really want to be and that need you.
38
Interesting that you mentioned no other city on the East Coast -- not Boston (with all its cities), not Philadelphia, Baltimore (?) and DC (!). Why?
(And why didn't I mention further south?)
(And why didn't I mention further south?)
At the root of all the problems in NYC the last two decades is that *our* elected officials have prioritized pandering to and further enriching the .01% and making this city their high-rise resort and money-laundering center.
Meantime, this city is becoming more and more unlivable for the rest of us, even the merely affluent.
As Cuomo has just "discovered," public transportation has deteriorated to emergency levels. Traffic is horrendous and made even worse by the largely empty bike lanes, "pedestrian plazas," and street closings.
And neighborhood after neighborhood is blighted by hundreds of empty storefronts - a phenomenon made possible by corrupt real estate tax laws that allow greedy landlords to benefit by this.
A city of some 8.5.-9 million can't be run solely for the benefit of a handful of people, many of whom don't live here full-time or at all, no matter how wealthy they are - especially when they don't pay their fair share of taxes.
Nothing will change for the better in this city until priorities are re-set to benefit all of us, not just the mega-wealthy - and when policies and laws, including tax laws, are aligned in that direction.
Meantime, this city is becoming more and more unlivable for the rest of us, even the merely affluent.
As Cuomo has just "discovered," public transportation has deteriorated to emergency levels. Traffic is horrendous and made even worse by the largely empty bike lanes, "pedestrian plazas," and street closings.
And neighborhood after neighborhood is blighted by hundreds of empty storefronts - a phenomenon made possible by corrupt real estate tax laws that allow greedy landlords to benefit by this.
A city of some 8.5.-9 million can't be run solely for the benefit of a handful of people, many of whom don't live here full-time or at all, no matter how wealthy they are - especially when they don't pay their fair share of taxes.
Nothing will change for the better in this city until priorities are re-set to benefit all of us, not just the mega-wealthy - and when policies and laws, including tax laws, are aligned in that direction.
30
I have never lived in New York, but for over forty years I traveled there regularly on business and pleasure, making a couple trips each month. We still have friends who live in Manhattan, but I now get there only two or three times a year.
Flying to and from New York is not more difficult than it is for most large metropolitan areas, but getting from New York’s three airports into Manhattan has become very time-consuming. The facilities at La Guardia and Kennedy are certainly not what they should be for America’s business capital.
The difficulty in getting around in the City has ebbed and flowed over the years, and there seemed to be an improvement in the subways in both safety and efficiency about twenty years ago. I gather that things have deteriorated, but I did not notice it in my few uses in the past couple years.
I confess that without Broadway, I probably would no longer be drawn to the City. There are fine restaurants in most American cities, including where I reside most of the year and in South Florida, where we also have a home. In Cleveland, the cultural amenities are plentiful.
New York City remains affordable to people like me, but I find it distressing that there is very little affordable housing for many working people. The long commutes must weigh on them.
Decent public infrastructure is like health care in America, no matter where you live. It is a right, not a privilege.
Flying to and from New York is not more difficult than it is for most large metropolitan areas, but getting from New York’s three airports into Manhattan has become very time-consuming. The facilities at La Guardia and Kennedy are certainly not what they should be for America’s business capital.
The difficulty in getting around in the City has ebbed and flowed over the years, and there seemed to be an improvement in the subways in both safety and efficiency about twenty years ago. I gather that things have deteriorated, but I did not notice it in my few uses in the past couple years.
I confess that without Broadway, I probably would no longer be drawn to the City. There are fine restaurants in most American cities, including where I reside most of the year and in South Florida, where we also have a home. In Cleveland, the cultural amenities are plentiful.
New York City remains affordable to people like me, but I find it distressing that there is very little affordable housing for many working people. The long commutes must weigh on them.
Decent public infrastructure is like health care in America, no matter where you live. It is a right, not a privilege.
28
I lived in NYC for pretty much all my life until I moved to SF nine years ago. They both have the same problem: too many people want to live there, because there's nowhere else to go!
In a country of 320 million people, there should be more than a handful of real, vibrant cities to choose from. Some restaurants, businesses and people are moving from SF to places like Portland, Seattle, or even Sacramento, and maybe eventually this will take some pressure off.
In a country of 320 million people, there should be more than a handful of real, vibrant cities to choose from. Some restaurants, businesses and people are moving from SF to places like Portland, Seattle, or even Sacramento, and maybe eventually this will take some pressure off.
12
Hold it. I thought everything had to be the Republican's fault. It sounds like Democrats are unable to deliver good services to their voters despite higher tax rates than the rest of the country. Shouldn't we be trying harder to find a Republican to blame?
The Republicans have been arguing for a generation that less government will solve all of our problems. In response, Democrats have been arguing that more government is in fact the solution. This is a losing argument for Democrats. The answer has to be better government. Sadly, that means that the Democratic party has to get out of bed with the public sector unions and get serious about public sector reform. Every time we read about the poor infrastructure, untenable finances, exorbitant public pensions and poor public services in Democratic-led cities and states, the country collectively decides that on balance the Republicans are correct: less government is better. The Democratic party had better start focusing on better government if it ever hopes to govern outside urban and high-minority areas.
The Republicans have been arguing for a generation that less government will solve all of our problems. In response, Democrats have been arguing that more government is in fact the solution. This is a losing argument for Democrats. The answer has to be better government. Sadly, that means that the Democratic party has to get out of bed with the public sector unions and get serious about public sector reform. Every time we read about the poor infrastructure, untenable finances, exorbitant public pensions and poor public services in Democratic-led cities and states, the country collectively decides that on balance the Republicans are correct: less government is better. The Democratic party had better start focusing on better government if it ever hopes to govern outside urban and high-minority areas.
12
Wholeheartedly agree. The cost in time and money of bloated government services and overregulation here in NYC and NYS drive up the costs of everything, significantly housing and business services. It has become a viscous downward spiral that is making it harder and harder to work and live in the NYC metro region.
4
Less government, less regulation - like the airline industry? Like privatized prisons? Like Wall St.? I seem to remember a small problem there with deregulation. And at least Democrats are willing to step forward and say, "yes, we have a problem and we need to fix it." All I hear from Republicans these days is how awful the Democrats are - still - even though Republicans control every level of the federal government. That's worked out really well. I have never, ever seen a single Republican come forward and say "Yes, we made a mistake and we need to fix it." It's all about brawling, blaming and screaming - not good governance. Oh, but you don't believe in government, so get out of it!
Tom, if you want to be partisan about it (and goodness knows America needs more mindless and inane "my team, your team" partisanship) do keep in mind that both New York City and New York State have been governed by by Republicans for an awful lot of the last 30 years.
As for how horrible New York City might be... well more people are moving in than moving out. So, for all the complaints, it's doing better than Ohio.
As for how horrible New York City might be... well more people are moving in than moving out. So, for all the complaints, it's doing better than Ohio.
As some have said in these comments, this problem as well as pretty much every major problem (climate change, mass migrations, increasing economic disparity . . . ) in the world today is related to over-population. Yet it's almost always taken as a given that population will grow by 2 billion in the near future. No one seems willing to talk about this, especially not Pope Francis.
37
Mr. Bruni is careful not to mention the population explosion in the United States, due to excessive legal and illegal immigration, that's adding millions
of residents to major cities like New York or Chicago, more than the urban
infrastructure can handle. Of course, nationally the chambers of commerce,
dominated as they are by real estate and car dealership interests, are ecstatic
about this. Greed is good!
of residents to major cities like New York or Chicago, more than the urban
infrastructure can handle. Of course, nationally the chambers of commerce,
dominated as they are by real estate and car dealership interests, are ecstatic
about this. Greed is good!
17
Greed is good? Just look at how greed worked out for the French Monarchy in the 1790's. As wealth disparity continues to divide this nation, it is only a matter of a few more decades before we have a revolution on our hands. Hungry people living atop one another can get mighty angry.
14
RipVanWinkle says "look how greed worked out for the French Monarchy". True...the people rose up to put an end to the privilege and profligacy of the monarchy, the aristocrats, and the church. The country today still puts it's people first and keeps the church out of government. Just look at the extent of their social contract. On the other hand, with the American revolution, the landowners rose up against the crown because they did not want to pay taxes...sound familiar?
1
actually Chicago lost population last year
1
I lived in NYC in the 70s, and then used to go there occasionally over the years for work-related purposes. At the same time I have watched so many other cities in the US, Europe, and Asia clearly surpass New York in terms of public transport and general infrastructure and all-around livability. Kennedy and LaGuardia are embarrassments in particular when speaking with almost any foreigner. And yet so many New Yorkers seem so anxious to proclaim that they live in the "greatest city on earth" or such other hyperbole.
55
I grew up on Long Island. I could ride my bike outside of the tiny community of Point Lookout, and look east across the inlet, and see the twin towers. Despite what Manhattan people might say, I could feel the city, and I knew were the center of things was.
As I grew up and chose my career, I ended up In Cleveland Ohio, and I thanked my lucky stars. With a cost of living a fraction of the coastal major cities, but still plenty of world-class culture, and rush hours that were only a minor crunch, and century-houses minutes from downtown, I felt very smart and happy.
If I made 5x what I do, I would probably try to move back to the NYC area. But I don't, and that has made all the difference, to quote Robert Frost.
Flee. There is no shame in living on Lake Erie and being able to get center seats at Severence Hall every season to see the remarkable Cleveland Orchestra. Or to watch LeBron do things very few atheletes could dream of doing. Or watching a really gritty baseball team that reminds me of my boyhood heroes, the Mets. Or th Browns... wait a second. Forget the Browns. Forget I mentioned the Browns.
Rest is pretty awesome though. And I say that as someone who knows what a vibrant city is. Given the benefits and ease, Cleveland delivers. It seems to me, the big coastal cities increasingly just take -- more money, more time, more stress.
As I grew up and chose my career, I ended up In Cleveland Ohio, and I thanked my lucky stars. With a cost of living a fraction of the coastal major cities, but still plenty of world-class culture, and rush hours that were only a minor crunch, and century-houses minutes from downtown, I felt very smart and happy.
If I made 5x what I do, I would probably try to move back to the NYC area. But I don't, and that has made all the difference, to quote Robert Frost.
Flee. There is no shame in living on Lake Erie and being able to get center seats at Severence Hall every season to see the remarkable Cleveland Orchestra. Or to watch LeBron do things very few atheletes could dream of doing. Or watching a really gritty baseball team that reminds me of my boyhood heroes, the Mets. Or th Browns... wait a second. Forget the Browns. Forget I mentioned the Browns.
Rest is pretty awesome though. And I say that as someone who knows what a vibrant city is. Given the benefits and ease, Cleveland delivers. It seems to me, the big coastal cities increasingly just take -- more money, more time, more stress.
155
I'm with you - I recently left NJ for NV. I had to occasionally commute from NJ to Manhattan - it was bad and getting worse as noted by the almost daily articles about the issues with NJ Transit. Infrastructure/ commuting was the main reason I left - NV has its share of problems, but the infrastructure is great with newer highways and a great airport. I recently had a three hour delay into JFK due to runway construction - the weather was fine in NYC that day and such delays are becoming the norm in the three main NY-metro airports.
The one big downside to leaving the NY-metro area is fewer job opportunities but the trade-off to not deal with the commuting nightmare in the area has been worth it so far.
The one big downside to leaving the NY-metro area is fewer job opportunities but the trade-off to not deal with the commuting nightmare in the area has been worth it so far.
5
I agree with you, pjc, although I have a different story. Born and raised in the Cleveland area, I went to school on the east coast, and lived in Boston after marriage there. A good job offer in Cleveland brought me back. Those were dark days for the Rust Belt, and my wife took years before forgiving me. Now, we enjoy the many benefits of Cleveland, but we also visit New York City with some regularity. There is much to be said for not spending two hours a day getting from point A to point B and back.
9
Save a place on the lake for me...I'm on my way.
I was born and grew up in Havana. After coming to the United States I lived, went to school and worked in Minnepolis, Los Angeles, New York, Shreveport, Miami and now Cincinnati. I've taken with me many good memories from each and every one of those cities, as I have from dozens of other cities my wife and I have visited as tourists in all corners of the world. I loved living and working in NYC in the 1970's and I love making an annual pilgrimage there to recharge my culture vulture batteries. Each time we stay for a week or so, we overload on Broadway, concerts, museums and restaurants, visit a few long term friends who resolutely refuse to leave the City - some nearing retirement, some at the start of their careers in the arts. And, after a week of NYC we return home, where we have lived and worked for the past eight years and where we recently retired after a lifetime in our respective fields. My point in making this long comment is that each one of us has to decide where it is we want to live our life. The moment that choice becomes imperative, as it seems to have become with the writer of this editorial piece, I would suggest to get out and find a place where life can again become worth living.
22
Frank isn't that young. NYC subways during rush hours have been hell for decades -- they certainly were in the 1970s, when I first became a sardine taking two trains (after a bus) to get from my College Point, Queens studio to Wall Street, where I worked as an IT clerk in a savings bank that hasn't existed for MANY years. Penn Station always was a mess, the streets always were impassable, and the city largely always was unmanageable.
NYC always has been America's greatest challenge to navigate and survive. It's always also been the favorite subject of its denizens' kvetches when the frustration boils over beyond anyone's sense of humor to contain.
Somehow, though ... we always manage to bugger on.
NYC always has been America's greatest challenge to navigate and survive. It's always also been the favorite subject of its denizens' kvetches when the frustration boils over beyond anyone's sense of humor to contain.
Somehow, though ... we always manage to bugger on.
31
I feel your pain NYC. Many months of safe track work in DC was our Dante's inferno. May your employers be as understanding as ours; allowing us to telework or adjust our work hours. We'll be thinking of you.
16
My giddy aunt, everyone wants something for nothing, don't they. Given our ridiculously low tax rates in this country, of course nothing works. Increase taxes on all of us (except the poor), and invest the money in education, healthcare, and transportation.
I always find that the ones who moan the loudest about poor public services are also the ones who moan the loudest about having to pay taxes. It never seems to occur to them that the two things are linked.
I always find that the ones who moan the loudest about poor public services are also the ones who moan the loudest about having to pay taxes. It never seems to occur to them that the two things are linked.
278
Or how about look at where our current tax dollars are going. A good chunk of my earnings go toward taxes already. I'd pay more if I knew it would be put to good use - and if I knew that those earning many multiples of what I earn are paying at least the same percentage of their incoming dollars in taxes. However, I'm seeing increased military spending, a president who vacations every weekend at my expense, a presidential family that increases his expenditures exponentially so that literally millions of dollars every day are going to maintaining one elite family, and other gross misuses of tax dollars. Where, for example, does toll money go? So please don't cavalierly suggest that higher taxes are the cure - as if they'd spend those wisely. Psh.
2
It's not that taxes are too low but that spending is too loose. Just read the NY Daily News articles about City employee parking cards then look at the cars they're spotted on. Combine that with the $100 an hour wages for union construction workers and you have the sources of our infrastructure AND taxation problems.
True, but unlike Europe, our tax system is local or regional for the most part. New York, Manhattan, as America's #1 world destination, is a monster of a city to manage and the local, even state, taxes cannot do the job without increases that the average citizen cannot afford. The questions is: does the rest of the our country have an investment interest in New York as our showpiece?
16 years in NYC was plenty for me. Now I live on the beach in NC. Unfortunately Summertime means tolerating the road rage city drivers and many who's brain is on vacation blindly driving as though everyone will get out of their way - accidents go way up. Even boating becomes less safe, unless your way way out in the ocean.
I tolerated the miserable commute through the WTC devastated area after 9/11 for many years and left a couple years before the new station and new WTC tower were complete to enjoy. I'll be back - but only as a tourist - bringing my new laid back ways.
I tolerated the miserable commute through the WTC devastated area after 9/11 for many years and left a couple years before the new station and new WTC tower were complete to enjoy. I'll be back - but only as a tourist - bringing my new laid back ways.
5
Whatever 'solution' is arrived at will be many years, decades actually, in its implementation. Thus are the wages of decades and decades of neglect, in New York and the country at large, of transit infrastructure, particularly rail infrastructure. We have the Grover Norquists and Ronald Wilson Reagans of the world to thank for this.
91
richard,
I concur. I largely concur, Ronald Wilson Reagan the greatest disaster as President and Grover Mr. Neoliberal Norquist share much of the blame but you are forgetting RMN. On August 16 1973 Richard Milhous Nixon put an end to Bretton Woods which was the shot heard round the world.
Even in 1973 there were those that understood the short term hegemony of American military and financial strength could not excuse the long term disaster that now interrupts our sleep and imperils our future.
The great early 19th century Nova Scotia humourist Thomas Chandler Haliburton said, When a man is wrong and won't admit it, he always gets angry."
Forty four years of being wrong has made America very very angry.
I am sore afraid.
I concur. I largely concur, Ronald Wilson Reagan the greatest disaster as President and Grover Mr. Neoliberal Norquist share much of the blame but you are forgetting RMN. On August 16 1973 Richard Milhous Nixon put an end to Bretton Woods which was the shot heard round the world.
Even in 1973 there were those that understood the short term hegemony of American military and financial strength could not excuse the long term disaster that now interrupts our sleep and imperils our future.
The great early 19th century Nova Scotia humourist Thomas Chandler Haliburton said, When a man is wrong and won't admit it, he always gets angry."
Forty four years of being wrong has made America very very angry.
I am sore afraid.
19
Norquist and Reagan had nothing to do with it. This is a failure of a long line of Dem "leadership" which basically consists of giveaways to the transit unions. Their pattern of extortion goes back decades. Even Giuliani, who could have jailed their leadership as USA then silenced them by ending the dues checkoff as mayor, failed to act, likely out of fear. Amtrak, also heavily unionized, is also a wreck. Yet, non-union BNSF is one of the country's most profitable companies and a darling of Warren Buffet.
9
How is a mismanaged local transportation system the result of Reagan policy? It is much more likely that the local transportation infrastructure is in bad shape for the same reason the NYC water and sewer systems are inadequate long term state and city governance by Democrats.
Seventy percent of road and bridge maintenance is paid for by state and local funds. The federal fuel excise tax would cover 25% of the balance by for the fact that 5% is diverted to mass transit and other "alternative" transportation.
Seventy percent of road and bridge maintenance is paid for by state and local funds. The federal fuel excise tax would cover 25% of the balance by for the fact that 5% is diverted to mass transit and other "alternative" transportation.
2
it's taxes plain and simple. No tax increases? No infrastructure improvements, and only minimal maintenance.
90
The transit union pension funds would pay for gold plated facilities if only the politicians had the courage to dissolve them.
10
It's not a single issue crisis. Perhaps union pensions are high (I don't know). But to choose that as the only cause of this highly complex situation is naive.
5
LCA- a contract is a contract. You can't have capitalism without contracts. You can't dissolve pensions- it's in the state constitution- that people have, in good faith, worked decades for.
Raise taxes.
Raise taxes.
1
This sounds like something that can be easily cured with more investment. Perhaps a tax increase can provide the capital needed to modernize the system.
15
Double fares so that they pay for more than 50% of the operating costs. It seems unlikely that NYS and NYC are going to be interested in increasing their taxes because they already are highly taxed.
There is no federal interest in local transportation, so there is no point in increasing federal taxes.
There is no federal interest in local transportation, so there is no point in increasing federal taxes.
1
ebmen- Ah, but isn't the fare box recovery ratio for the NYCTA about 60%. Coupled with the TBTA, the property of the City of New York part of the MTA is doing alright vis a vis operating costs. It's the other parts of the MTA; LIRR, MNRR and Capital Construction that will never pay for themselves.
Actually, they haven't been hemming and hawing at all. Their negotiations with deep-pocketed real estate developers proceed quickly. They are quick to make "improvements" that will benefit deep-pocketed residents and tourists, such as building bike lanes, approving thousands of black cars and allowing Fresh Direct trucks to idle endlessly. No, they can move like the wind when they want to ingratiate wealthy, powerful donors and partners.
48
thebigmancat, you nailed it.
It all comes down to laws and policies - and our lawmakers' priorities. Those priorities have become so skewed to the .01% the last two decades, with far fewer of the crumbs that made living and working here doable and even enjoyable for the rest of us, that it's now obscene and unworkable.
It all comes down to laws and policies - and our lawmakers' priorities. Those priorities have become so skewed to the .01% the last two decades, with far fewer of the crumbs that made living and working here doable and even enjoyable for the rest of us, that it's now obscene and unworkable.
1
Excuse me? Cyclists represent "wealthy, powerful donors and partners"?
If you think it is the case bike lanes are of little value, that is because drivers mindlessly (or, in some psychotic cases, deliberately drive into cyclists who are in bike lanes—killing them quite dead.
If you think it is the case bike lanes are of little value, that is because drivers mindlessly (or, in some psychotic cases, deliberately drive into cyclists who are in bike lanes—killing them quite dead.
2
Frank,
I grieve for Manhattan, a place I love which has become unmanageable,
I grieve for Manhattan, a place I love which has become unmanageable,
21
There has been steady degradation of the system for at least 15 years.
I've lived in W'burg 30 years - took the L to work every day - no big deal. I stopped taking the L for the morning rush about 8 years ago due to overcrowding. The straw that broke this camel's back happened one morning rush. Doors opened, it was too full, as a polite human being, to enter, but riders urged me to step on, so I moved in as far as I could without pushing into anyone else, when suddenly I felt the hand of stranger placed flat in the middle of my back and give me a hard prolonged shove..right into a pregnant woman who was also sheltering a small child by her leg that the pusher couldn't see. That's every day here.
I switched to the JMZ which os closer to my house, but a longer commute. That helped a lot. After Sandy, when the L was still out, but the JMZ were running, police had to be stationed by the turnstiles to limit how many folks could enter because of dangerous crowding on the elevated platform. Lest someone fall to the street.
We can expect to see more of this when the L goes out. Still, mega condos are being built. On the water. Where it has already flooded. In a neighborhood where the major subway line is about to be unusable for 18 months, if we are lucky.
It didn't need to get this bad before making the call that it is an emergency. If this isn't fixed, and soon, transit dysfunction will kill the economic engine (NYC) that produces the taxes that run this state.
I've lived in W'burg 30 years - took the L to work every day - no big deal. I stopped taking the L for the morning rush about 8 years ago due to overcrowding. The straw that broke this camel's back happened one morning rush. Doors opened, it was too full, as a polite human being, to enter, but riders urged me to step on, so I moved in as far as I could without pushing into anyone else, when suddenly I felt the hand of stranger placed flat in the middle of my back and give me a hard prolonged shove..right into a pregnant woman who was also sheltering a small child by her leg that the pusher couldn't see. That's every day here.
I switched to the JMZ which os closer to my house, but a longer commute. That helped a lot. After Sandy, when the L was still out, but the JMZ were running, police had to be stationed by the turnstiles to limit how many folks could enter because of dangerous crowding on the elevated platform. Lest someone fall to the street.
We can expect to see more of this when the L goes out. Still, mega condos are being built. On the water. Where it has already flooded. In a neighborhood where the major subway line is about to be unusable for 18 months, if we are lucky.
It didn't need to get this bad before making the call that it is an emergency. If this isn't fixed, and soon, transit dysfunction will kill the economic engine (NYC) that produces the taxes that run this state.
110
Why are people moving to a flood prone area. Wouldn't it make more sense to migrate away? For the city to bam new construction until they bring transportation, water and sewer infrastructure into the 20th century?
2
The economic engine that runs the country-- NYC.
2
We need a graduated infrastructure tax nationally.
27
Why is NYC infrastructure a national issue?
4
Infrastructure problems are endemic all over the country and cities are our country''s economic engines even if you are in Tennessee. As for the NYC subways, which I ride daily, management and training also at fault. Two supervisors were suspended after the A crash last week. There were waves of retirements in recent years meaning a loss of competence. Ridership has skyrocketed because I guess dems turn cities into places people want to be.
3
Ebmem, NYC infrastructure is a national issue because it produces about 10 percent of US GDP.
More importantly to someone who lives in Tennessee is that your state is subsidized by taxes from NY and other more productive states. We already pay a de facto national poverty tax to cover the costs of the mostly red states that can't productively govern themselves.
More importantly to someone who lives in Tennessee is that your state is subsidized by taxes from NY and other more productive states. We already pay a de facto national poverty tax to cover the costs of the mostly red states that can't productively govern themselves.
10
Enjoy the city that never sleeps. Meanwhile, on the coast of Maine, we express our concern about whether Mario can get his act together before 2020. Odds are not in his favor. A pleasant and bucolic 78 here today.
5
I too live on the coast of Maine and wonder, "who is Mario?"
2
This is what happens when a city depends on increasing income from real estate taxes and builds new huge office buildings and new huge condo buildings and new huge rental buildings without any thought on where to put those new people when they flood out onto the streets and might even want to travel from point A to point B in the city. The island of Manhattan, its roads, sidewalks and subways, can only credibly handle a certain number of people, both residents and workers. We have long since passed that number, and yet nobody asks a politician to stop building or to wait until total population has decreased to a sustainable level.
Without some relief and common sense, traffic and transportation in Manhattan will grind to a halt. Imagine what that will do to NYC's economy.
Without some relief and common sense, traffic and transportation in Manhattan will grind to a halt. Imagine what that will do to NYC's economy.
68
Exactly, and rather than have an infrastructure surcharge for each new building or company lured into NYC, tax breaks are given instead. NYC just lured Aetna from Hartford with tax breaks. Apparently there won't be a huge number of new employees as it is likely just a vanity move for executives, but why are tax breaks even being offered when Manhattan is bursting at the seams? If they want the vanity address then Aetna shouldn't be offered a discount too since there will now be that many more workers straining the trains and sidewalks.
11
The new construction does not increase tax revenue. The city gives tax abatements of $1.5 million per unit of "affordable" housing that is built in conjunction with the new construction.
1
Have you been to San Francisco lately? It is equally bad or worse. And more people keep wanting to move there. The highways are a nightmare.
1
The subway is crowded at rush hours and almost empty otherwise. With advances in teleconferencing a lot of employees don't have to show up to work b/w 8 and 10 in the morning. Perhaps some businesses can start the work day at 12 for example. Many employees can even work from home one day or more every week.
If investments are not available to scale up the subway system for 2 hours in the morning and 2 hours in the evening, then some innovative solutions on the demand (rather than the supply) side should be pursued. They are much cheeper and much faster to put in place.
If investments are not available to scale up the subway system for 2 hours in the morning and 2 hours in the evening, then some innovative solutions on the demand (rather than the supply) side should be pursued. They are much cheeper and much faster to put in place.
13
Elsewhere, the world seems to deal with these issues. And who starts work in NYC before 9:30?
4
To JPE in Maine...The people who clean your toilets and cook your hamburgers start work before 9:30.
1
Oh come on Mr. Bruni, let's be honest. If the commuter and infrastructure issues were that bad, if the over priced menus were over the top, and if the city was "dirtier than it should be. Smellier, too, especially in July and August" when you would move. But you don't. You continue to live and work and complain and appreciate the greatest city in the world. New York has it tough, no doubt, but if you want to know what REAL trouble is, read or re-read the column the Times wrote on Friday about Illinois. Now THAT's a four-letter word which cannot be repeated in print. There is not one major city in the US that is operating without some kind of hiccup or problem or issue. If I'm going to be "stuck" anywhere, New York is where I would want to be. Besides, the toughest, smartest and most resilient folks I know live in New York. Hang in there, it will only get worse before it gets better. I know. I'm writing from Chicago.
66
NYC is not the greatest city in the world. Get out more. See the world.
2
Funny how people who live in NYC, and obviously can afford to live in NYC, complain about living there - a place, and a situation, that the many of us can only dream about. (and for readers truly out of town, NYC means Manhattan). If you grew up in Queens, like I did, you commuted (happily) on the said aforementioned "horrible" subway to your twice a year special occasion to NYC ~ to Radio City, or a Broadway show, and wondered how special it would be to spend every day of your life in this wonderland of restaurants, and theaters, and art galleries, and museums. I was fortunate enough to have that broken down subway to take me from Queens to Brooklyn Tech for four years every day on the A train. At the time I didn't appreciate how special it was, or how lucky I was to have that accommodation. I realize that Mr. Bruni has his points, but perhaps he should step back and realize that he is complaining about the color of the sunset.
25
Urban renewal on a vast scale is in order in america's largest cities. It should be a national commitment similar to Eisenhower's interstate highway system or Kennedy's space program. It should involve some creative innovations in urban planning and real estate development that serves the long term public interest but rewards private sector efficiency. It would create hundreds of thousands of good jobs that can't be exported, and the benefits of improved cities could last generations. Too bad half of the political class hates cities and is too cheap and shortsighted to invest in our future.
23
Cosimo de' Bloomberg rezoned vast tracts of real estate and doled them out to to his vassals like party favors. So hordes of vapid millennials could pay top-dollar for river views, entire swaths of riverfront that were once warehouses and factories and were just waiting for the resurgence of small manufacturing in this city were lost. Who are the ferries and De Blasio's proposed Brooklyn streetcar service meant to serve? Precisely the developers, who sunk a fortune into inaccessible properties and now are getting a handout from their latest City Hall stooge.
As for restaurants Mr. Bruni, if you consult the pages of this paper on a daily basis you see that half the staff is now devoted to food in its various incarnations. For each new gallery opening, musical performance or theatrical debut, there are five articles on the latest eateries in Manhattan - you know - the ones you were just complaining about. Rapacious economics has determined that the only entertainment that can survive here is stuffing your face and calling it "culture". The irony is, with all the evident money sloshing about in those sterile glass towers, there should be plenty to tax in order to pay for the necessary infrastructure but since everyone in Albany is also on the clandestine payroll of the real estate barons, it will never happen.
As for restaurants Mr. Bruni, if you consult the pages of this paper on a daily basis you see that half the staff is now devoted to food in its various incarnations. For each new gallery opening, musical performance or theatrical debut, there are five articles on the latest eateries in Manhattan - you know - the ones you were just complaining about. Rapacious economics has determined that the only entertainment that can survive here is stuffing your face and calling it "culture". The irony is, with all the evident money sloshing about in those sterile glass towers, there should be plenty to tax in order to pay for the necessary infrastructure but since everyone in Albany is also on the clandestine payroll of the real estate barons, it will never happen.
87
I was exiled at 35 for love so despite the Mpls address, I will always consider myself a New Yorker- and I say where is our Washington Roebling? Where is our Theodore Roosevelt (the elder who helped build the Museum of Natural History)the people who built Grand Central Terminal, the old Penn Station? We are still relying on water mains and an infrastructure built by the Victorians and Edwardians. Where is our will to great public good?
63
It was killed off by a small-minded, petty, short-sighted cabal of politicians and their handlers who work tirelessly to convince everyone that any tax, or even worse, any tax increase is tantamount to tyranny. They believe that their inalienable rights consist of a right to taxes as close to zero as possible, a right to avoid contributing to public services they themselves don't use (at least right now), and a right to ignore the needs of their community as a whole and focus solely on what they want right now. Stuff life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, freedom of the press, freedom of speech...They want freedom from civic responsibility.
Most of what Mr. Bruni agonizes over is absolutely accurate (I've been on subways all over the world and, whereas the one here in NYC is the oldest and most ambitious, it's also the worst-maintained and worst-organized). Even so, the casual reader of this op/ed piece might be led to believe that this city is a truly horrible place in which to live, a god-awful blot on the map populated by the corrupt, the stupid and the vile. Actually, we've sent exhibit A of that sort of NY resident on to D.C., having overwhelmingly declined to vote him into the White House. In any case, New York- even with all of its intractable problems- remains the capital of planet Earth, the center of culture and finance, the most exciting. most diverse, most good-natured and good-humored city imaginable. Mr. Bruni complains as we all do: complaining feels good and helps us work out our aggressions. Some of those problems will go away and will undoubtedly be replaced by others, and even then New Yorkers will be the envy of the world, having made the city the place that it is and survived to tell the tale.
158
Ever been to London? Truly the world's capital.
3
Not for long. Brexit looks ruinous. At least the Jubilee Underground line is as good as Tokyo's Namboku, Crossrail looks promising, and the express rail from Heathrow to Paddington is nice, if expensive.
2
stu freeman, I always agree with your comments, and love NYC, but "capital of the planet" is a stretch. Paris can speak for itself... but it's 100+ year old Metro is not even in the same category as New York (unspeakable condition) or London (which is cramped, expensive, and dirty). The Paris Metro is clean, safe, inexpensive, and on time. Stations are closed on a regular schedule for maintenance and modernisation. This is the result of a social contract that includes infrastructure maintenance; and it's true of the infrastructure across the country. You get what you pay for...
14
Well, I never thought I'd say this, but give Houston a try. Great restaurant town. Cheaper than Brooklyn, and just as diverse.
Rush hour is bad, but it is only 2 hours in the morning and 2 hours in the evening. And if you live close to work, you never have to worry about it.
If about 1 million of you moved here, we could get Texas politics back to where it was in the days of LBJ and Ann Richards.
I would take a pass on Dallas though...way more Southern. Texas is like Florida: the North is Southern and the South is Northern.
Austin is a second decent choice, but quickly getting more expensive and more crowded than Houston.
Our city politics are surprisingly effective and progressive. You can go to the city council meeting and complain to the mayor personally. He is an incredible politician, who just accomplished pension reforms that will help our budget and credit rating for decades.
Rush hour is bad, but it is only 2 hours in the morning and 2 hours in the evening. And if you live close to work, you never have to worry about it.
If about 1 million of you moved here, we could get Texas politics back to where it was in the days of LBJ and Ann Richards.
I would take a pass on Dallas though...way more Southern. Texas is like Florida: the North is Southern and the South is Northern.
Austin is a second decent choice, but quickly getting more expensive and more crowded than Houston.
Our city politics are surprisingly effective and progressive. You can go to the city council meeting and complain to the mayor personally. He is an incredible politician, who just accomplished pension reforms that will help our budget and credit rating for decades.
34
Isn't Houston the country's second-biggest market for theater?
How is Houston being affected by climate change? I don't want to live in a place where I can't survive without air conditioning, which uses a great deal of electricity and thereby adds even more CO2 to the atmosphere. Talk about a vicious circle.
1
But, my God, the traffic and the weather. I love Houston's food and its fighting liberals, bravely swimming against the Texas tide, but the last time I was in your gallant, fascinating, diverse city, it rained so hard that I had to change clothes after walking from my parking spot into the (terrific) restaurant where I was having lunch.
Did anyone notice the staggering increase in population? This could have been foretold a generation ago and public transportation integrated in all new developments. Catch up is enormously expensive if it will ever work. I, too, am a west coaster and we have similar problems in California. Many of us want high speed rail between San Francisco and Los Angeles and its future hangs on a thread because people will simply not step into the 21st century. Even then, having ridden the Bullet Train in Japan in 1970, I can see how far behind we are with just this simple aspect of transportation.
119
The staggering increases in population are concentrated in a half dozen big blue cities. The problem is too many people -- you can't address that by ENABLING it and making it easier to cram more and more people into the same space.
3
Your high-speed rail hangs in limbo not because people won't step into the future but because the ding a lings in Sacramento insist it goes from them to LA. The investment in that is questionable at the very least. So this project has been much anticipated and never begun for decades.
And if there was a sorely needed system this one is it. As a one time weekly commuter between SF and LA, I would have given anything to avoid my trek back and forth on the 5.
And if there was a sorely needed system this one is it. As a one time weekly commuter between SF and LA, I would have given anything to avoid my trek back and forth on the 5.
No it is not true that the staggering increases in population are concentrated in a half a dozen big cities. For instance, the population of NYC was above 7.9 Million in 1970, is under 8.2 Million now. See this link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_cities_in_the_United_State...
"Gov. Andrew Cuomo subsequently declared a state of emergency for the subway system, pledged $1 billion for improvements and demanded a detailed action plan. I have just one question. What took him so long? "
New York spends $54 billion EVERY year on Medicaid.
New York spends $54 billion EVERY year on Medicaid.
11
How about some "congestion pricing" for the subways? If the city did that, it might then have the money it needs to upgrade and expand the system. OF course, a leftist government couldn't do that. And couldn't do it for the health care system either, which why a single payer health care system would be as big a disaster for the country as the MTA is for NYC.
4
@Bob Richards - You want us to have EIGHT hours of congestion pricing a day? Plus weekends?
15
You have absolutely no idea what you are talking about.
27
I'm reading this article and comments from Singapore. While East coast born , raised and educated, I have spent my professional life in New Orleans and San Diego, two cities with minimal transit systems. Singapore clearly is the most modern city that I have ever experience. It's transit system of busses and rail is extensive, functional, clean and convenient. My accommodations are near an intersection where twenty different bus lines traverse on an average of seven minutes apart. The new subway line being built up the street seems so to be coming along so efficiently as the third world migrant workers leave the job site and cross the street to their un air conditioned dormitory. It is possible to construct a first class system. Here they do it efficiently and at a lower cost due to their labor system. We could have the same but much more expensive to build but then again, the workers go home to their families every night, not every two or three years depending on the labor contract
11
Singapore sharply discourages the private ownership of cars. They have decided to invest in public transport.
43
which brings us back to Bloomberg ...
Fact is the article nails it - no results before election = no action for long range projects. Robert Moses was most effective because he wasn't looking at tracking polls. We live in Trump World. deBlasio is worried about the carriage horses. Cuomo wants a bridge named after his dad while the rest of us dodo's are doomed. To extinction or misery if one isn't familiar with the bird.
3
Right. Republicans will invest in infrastructure.
17
The previous two mayors, whose terms spanned 16 years, were neither of them Democrats. The problem, as many here have noted, is the simple lack of will to bite the bullet and pay for the needed improvements.
1
Please. Don't embarrass all of us from Columbus Ohio promoting stereotypes of midwestern conservatives.
A lot of us here are strong Democrats .
A lot of us here are strong Democrats .
2
This article would be amusing if it weren't so true or, perhaps, understated. I have lived in New York for most of my life, but the only way I have found commuting tolerable is to live close enough to my office to use a car service on those days that I don't walk to work.
Subway service is getting worse, but it has been miserable for a least the last 40 years. And no multi-billion dollar rebuilding of Penn Station will make it a good place through which to commute until we recognize that public transit facilities should not have to also serve as homeless centers.
Frankly, I'm not sure that there is a solution to New York's commuting woes. The investment that would be required to replace the current system with an efficient and pleasant modern system is staggering and I am confident will not be made. Perhaps the only long-term solution is to let things get even more miserable until enough people leave and the population drops to a level at which people can get around.
Subway service is getting worse, but it has been miserable for a least the last 40 years. And no multi-billion dollar rebuilding of Penn Station will make it a good place through which to commute until we recognize that public transit facilities should not have to also serve as homeless centers.
Frankly, I'm not sure that there is a solution to New York's commuting woes. The investment that would be required to replace the current system with an efficient and pleasant modern system is staggering and I am confident will not be made. Perhaps the only long-term solution is to let things get even more miserable until enough people leave and the population drops to a level at which people can get around.
10
Years ago I had the misfortune of explaining to a NY customer that his nearest service center was 45 minutes away. I was informed that I needed to find something closer because that was just too far. My customer didn't appreciate my humor at his situation. I explained to him that 45 minutes is considered local where I live in the west coast. After reading this, I have new appreciation for why he reacted the way he did. Thankfully New Yorkers have a sense of humor, he teased me about our covered wagons that we use out West.
Sadly we're a nation that has for too long chosen not to invest in ourselves. Now we're paying the price for our neglect. No one wants to pay or take responsibility for what needs to happen. If we don't invest in our infrastructure soon we won't be able to compete with the rest of the world.
Sadly we're a nation that has for too long chosen not to invest in ourselves. Now we're paying the price for our neglect. No one wants to pay or take responsibility for what needs to happen. If we don't invest in our infrastructure soon we won't be able to compete with the rest of the world.
181
"chosen not to invest in ourselves"
Actually we are spending $553 billion a year on Medicaid.
The cost of Medicare is $593 billion.
So we ARE investing in ourselves. Whether that is the smart way is something to think about. But Republicans trying to curb Medicaid costs have received plenty of abuse from the New York Times.
Republicans need to accept that a reasonable level of taxation is needed for society to work properly. And Democrats need to accept that you simply cannot afford to spend unlimited amounts on health care.
The public could demand this. But Democrats are too busy abusing Republican politicians. And Republicans are too busy abusing Democratic politicians. So we cannot come together and demand better performance from BOTH.
Actually we are spending $553 billion a year on Medicaid.
The cost of Medicare is $593 billion.
So we ARE investing in ourselves. Whether that is the smart way is something to think about. But Republicans trying to curb Medicaid costs have received plenty of abuse from the New York Times.
Republicans need to accept that a reasonable level of taxation is needed for society to work properly. And Democrats need to accept that you simply cannot afford to spend unlimited amounts on health care.
The public could demand this. But Democrats are too busy abusing Republican politicians. And Republicans are too busy abusing Democratic politicians. So we cannot come together and demand better performance from BOTH.
12
That's been the primary infrastructure story ("compet(ing) with the rest of the world") for years...except that's too much of an intellectual process for the congressional dummies, whose only concern is to get reelected, and infrastructure projects take time and money. They're not willing to explain to their constituents that we all suffer when the infrastructure deteriorates.
Guess we'll have to wait for a few more disasters before we start blaming them, and wondering why nothing was done.
'We have met the enemy, and it is us.' Thanks Walt.
Guess we'll have to wait for a few more disasters before we start blaming them, and wondering why nothing was done.
'We have met the enemy, and it is us.' Thanks Walt.
Thirty-five years ago, then living in New Orleans, I so wished I had the opportunity to live in New York, Manhattan specifically. It would have then been very exhilarating (still is), and slightly affordable. But I might have ended up dead long ago, what with NY being an epicenter of the AIDS crisis, about which little was known. I never did make it to living in the city. I am now satisfied to come in several times a year (40-minute drive to New Haven, 110 minutes on Metro North to Grand Central, which is half-price for seniors) and enjoy the city. And there is much to enjoy. I don't even have to do anything in particular, just be there. But I'm usually ready to head out after 3-4 days, knowing I can return for a long day trip whenever I want. Enjoying the city this way may become a very desirable option for many.
16
Allowing public transportation to rot is exactly the wrong approach. Our roads are congested with traffic and the infrastructure itself is overwhelmed with vehicles. Moreover, many local leaders nationwide are pushing back against Trump's dismissal of environmental protections; promoting mass transit, and reducing car use, is also a constructive step towards improving the atmosphere.
90
It makes you wonder why so many people crowd into this little corner of Hell. Personally, there is no job, no salary, no cosmopolitan mecca so alluring that I could put up with these daily indignations. When does the appreciation of all this big-city excellence start to fade when every day is a congested, miserable experience?
It seems as though telecommuting could relieve some of the stress, both on the people and the antiquated public transportation systems. But I'm no judge. I've got this rich inner life that doesn't require rubbing elbows (and God knows what else) with the elite, and simple tastes that don't require a $36 slice of fish. A can of Hormel's chicken tamales will do me just fine, or, if chef's away, some sausage du Vienna avec les crackers Ritz.
Appreciating simple tastes in uncrowded surroundings is important in keeping one's blood pressure down, which is more important than anything else. But I know the movers and shakers have to keep moving and shaking, even if they're stuck in traffic for hours, or crammed onto a train, and don't have room to shake anything without sending the wrong signal.
I'd prefer not to meet people in a crowded train where a sudden stop qualifies as a date. I'm sure my significant other feels the same way.
It seems as though telecommuting could relieve some of the stress, both on the people and the antiquated public transportation systems. But I'm no judge. I've got this rich inner life that doesn't require rubbing elbows (and God knows what else) with the elite, and simple tastes that don't require a $36 slice of fish. A can of Hormel's chicken tamales will do me just fine, or, if chef's away, some sausage du Vienna avec les crackers Ritz.
Appreciating simple tastes in uncrowded surroundings is important in keeping one's blood pressure down, which is more important than anything else. But I know the movers and shakers have to keep moving and shaking, even if they're stuck in traffic for hours, or crammed onto a train, and don't have room to shake anything without sending the wrong signal.
I'd prefer not to meet people in a crowded train where a sudden stop qualifies as a date. I'm sure my significant other feels the same way.
110
precisely why the LIRR (Penn Station) is as congested as it is - we earn NYC wages and live outside the city.
The subway signal system is such an easy solution to some of the problems. Frank is 100% accurate asking what took Cuomo so long.
As far as I'm concerned, he lives off his family name, but does not approach his father's charisma, perspective or empathy for the 'little guy'
The subway signal system is such an easy solution to some of the problems. Frank is 100% accurate asking what took Cuomo so long.
As far as I'm concerned, he lives off his family name, but does not approach his father's charisma, perspective or empathy for the 'little guy'
11
" A can of Hormel's chicken tamales will do me just fine, or, if chef's away, some sausage du Vienna avec les crackers Ritz."
This diet might actually raise your blood pressure as much as a crowded subway, maybe more.
This diet might actually raise your blood pressure as much as a crowded subway, maybe more.
18
FYI The majority of New Yorkers are not 'elites'. We walk by those restaurants and find our bodegas for milk, bread and detergent. And we love being with our fellow New Yorkers deep down even if we sometimes get a little too close on the subway.
All the people, all the possibilities, all the choices, There is an energy that can not be denied and it invigorates.
All the people, all the possibilities, all the choices, There is an energy that can not be denied and it invigorates.
2
Before everyone moans and groans too much, any public transit in the New York area is still vastly better than it was in the 1970s and most of the 1980s. Really. Penn Station, for example, not long ago was about 90-100 degrees all summer with large fans the only sources of air circulation. Grand Central Station on the 4,5,6 trains was often more than 100 degrees in the summer. Graffiti, filth, rats, constant track fires - I could go on and on.
70
Yeah, baby. I'm delighted with A.C. on subways. In the late 70s lived in bombed out Fort Greene; had to shop in the WV and transport groceries on filthy sweating subway. Which is why I bailed in 1980. But today I enjoy it, mainly because I'm bridge and tunnel, not work related. But Penn Station is a nightmare. Take me back to the days when the Erie Lackawanna went to Hoboken!
The futurist Monorail built for the 1962 Seattle World's Fair for the "staggering" sum of $3.5 million, was sadly never expanded beyond the original one mile, thanks in part to opposition by a suburban shopping mall owner, who thought the the automobile was the secret to his fortune.
Now we are going to pay $53 billion for a 62 mile extension of Link Light Rail to the suburbs, over $1 billion a mile, assuming modest cost over-runs, over 300 times the original Monorail cost per mile.
And it will take 25 years to complete, promising
monumental transportation nightmares over that period.
One lesson is not to let unscrupulous real estate developers like a certain orange haired guy, dominate the government.
The other is delaying infrastructure makes it many, many times more expensive when you finally do it for the benefit of future generations.
Now we are going to pay $53 billion for a 62 mile extension of Link Light Rail to the suburbs, over $1 billion a mile, assuming modest cost over-runs, over 300 times the original Monorail cost per mile.
And it will take 25 years to complete, promising
monumental transportation nightmares over that period.
One lesson is not to let unscrupulous real estate developers like a certain orange haired guy, dominate the government.
The other is delaying infrastructure makes it many, many times more expensive when you finally do it for the benefit of future generations.
149
We Americans are so 'immediate satisfaction' oriented, that we'll allow the future to destroy us. It's a classic case study.
Look at the insfrastructure in so many other less wealthy countries...and yes, i understand they're virtually all smaller countries than the US. Nevertheless, the fast rail systems throughout Europe, cost a great deal of money and took many years to complete...and they did it anyway. (The battle goes on to delay, defund or stop the fast rail system that's been started between SF and LA...something we should have started and completed decades ago.)
Those countries pay taxes for that...which is anathema to a certain political party here. Oliver W. Holmes said "I like paying taxes. With it I buy civilization."
So what is it?...no taxes and no infrastructure?...or bite the bullet and get it done.
I've lived in Napa Valley on and off for many years. Route 29, the main road up The Valley, through the world famous wine towns is a disaster of cracks and potholes and constant patching and delays. Drive any major wine road through (e.g.) Burgundy or Bordeaux, and you'll find perfect blacktops, well marked with excellent signage.
How long before all this comes back to bite us...and it may just be like the frog in the heating pot. By the time we realize we're 'dying', it might just be too late.
Oh well, guess I'll have another glass. ;-)
Look at the insfrastructure in so many other less wealthy countries...and yes, i understand they're virtually all smaller countries than the US. Nevertheless, the fast rail systems throughout Europe, cost a great deal of money and took many years to complete...and they did it anyway. (The battle goes on to delay, defund or stop the fast rail system that's been started between SF and LA...something we should have started and completed decades ago.)
Those countries pay taxes for that...which is anathema to a certain political party here. Oliver W. Holmes said "I like paying taxes. With it I buy civilization."
So what is it?...no taxes and no infrastructure?...or bite the bullet and get it done.
I've lived in Napa Valley on and off for many years. Route 29, the main road up The Valley, through the world famous wine towns is a disaster of cracks and potholes and constant patching and delays. Drive any major wine road through (e.g.) Burgundy or Bordeaux, and you'll find perfect blacktops, well marked with excellent signage.
How long before all this comes back to bite us...and it may just be like the frog in the heating pot. By the time we realize we're 'dying', it might just be too late.
Oh well, guess I'll have another glass. ;-)
2
We delightedly rode the DC subway when Jimmy Carter was President (sigh). Yes, it was heavily taxpayer-subsidized. Yes, it too now is in need of substantial repair and upgrade.
But what if, instead of mocking President Carter's cardigan sweater - an icon for energy conservation - we had built a comparable system in every large city? What would the savings have been by now, to say nothing of the improvement in urban life?
And why not? I'm afraid the answer is a collective sneer at "public" transportation.
You! Sitting in your vehicle with the cooled seat cushions and the engine running when it's 88 outside, staring at a 52-minute trip of nine miles! You ARE the public.
But what if, instead of mocking President Carter's cardigan sweater - an icon for energy conservation - we had built a comparable system in every large city? What would the savings have been by now, to say nothing of the improvement in urban life?
And why not? I'm afraid the answer is a collective sneer at "public" transportation.
You! Sitting in your vehicle with the cooled seat cushions and the engine running when it's 88 outside, staring at a 52-minute trip of nine miles! You ARE the public.
2
I LOVE the monorail. Going from Seattle Center to Westlake station is a mini tour in itself. And the light rail is fantastic. We don't even rent a car when we visit, just take LR from SeaTac to Westlake. The walk to our choice of Downtown hotels, restaurants, shopping, Everything.
One of the VERY best things about Seattle. See you again, soon.
One of the VERY best things about Seattle. See you again, soon.
Adding to safety concerns: potential loss of federal funds. In an FTA item pasted below, it mentions states requiring legislation to remain eligible for funds. I'm in Illinois, which has had no state budget for two years, starting on a third. I have no idea how the state gets its act together in time with all the political bickering and upcoming election for governor.
NY is one of the states that needs legislation too. Millions of dollars on the line here.
Posted by Federal Transit Administration June 19;
States that operate rail transit systems have less than two years to certify their state safety oversight (SSO) Program or risk the withholding of millions of dollars in Federal funding. Federal public transportation law requires that each state obtain SSO Program certification from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) by April 15, 2019. If a state fails to obtain certification for its SSO Program by the deadline, FTA is prohibited by transportation law from obligating any funds to all public transportation agencies throughout that state until certification is achieved.
With the certification deadline now less than two years away, the FTA urges states to act quickly to enact any necessary legislation, statutes and regulations, particularly those states whose legislatures meet only part-time or biennially. The 30 states affected by this requirement need to act now. By law, the deadline cannot be waived or extended.
NY is one of the states that needs legislation too. Millions of dollars on the line here.
Posted by Federal Transit Administration June 19;
States that operate rail transit systems have less than two years to certify their state safety oversight (SSO) Program or risk the withholding of millions of dollars in Federal funding. Federal public transportation law requires that each state obtain SSO Program certification from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) by April 15, 2019. If a state fails to obtain certification for its SSO Program by the deadline, FTA is prohibited by transportation law from obligating any funds to all public transportation agencies throughout that state until certification is achieved.
With the certification deadline now less than two years away, the FTA urges states to act quickly to enact any necessary legislation, statutes and regulations, particularly those states whose legislatures meet only part-time or biennially. The 30 states affected by this requirement need to act now. By law, the deadline cannot be waived or extended.
4
Frank, I believe you could almost substitute San Francisco for NYC and muni/bart for subway and this article would speak to us left coasters perfectly well. Look up here, as well, and there is the spectacle of the Salesforce building climbing to create a skyline reminiscent of Singapore. I totally agree that our beautiful cities are in need of new vision to address these ills...not just the stale hopes of recycled politicians.
As well, as a southerner originally, i've often jested that if my own home state would reel back seriously the racism, sexism, homophobia and second amendment fetishes, I too would return to live out a civilized life closer to family and childhood haunts.
So there, much to hope for as we set expectations and look for solutions and new leaders to offer them. For my part, I'm trying to be a little more flexible as those younger than I offer to step into the morass.
Patriotism
As well, as a southerner originally, i've often jested that if my own home state would reel back seriously the racism, sexism, homophobia and second amendment fetishes, I too would return to live out a civilized life closer to family and childhood haunts.
So there, much to hope for as we set expectations and look for solutions and new leaders to offer them. For my part, I'm trying to be a little more flexible as those younger than I offer to step into the morass.
Patriotism
26
I was ready to jump in with "ditto for San Francisco" but you beat me to it. The mass transit is not keeping up with the high-density housing.
While we're at it, where is the water going to come from for all of the people moving into this new housing?
While we're at it, where is the water going to come from for all of the people moving into this new housing?
14
I used to work in Battery Park City, where I arrived each morning after a pleasant ferry ride. On occasion I would take the PATH, or go through Penn and take the E Train down to World Trade. Every year it seemed to get more crowded. More broken. The ferry was the price of sanity. What NJ Transit took away, the brief (though expensive) harbor cruise could partially restore.
Those of us who live in Jersey but work in New York are compelled to pay New York State income tax, yet we have no say at all in how the money will be spent.
I can only speak for myself, but in my view NYC public transit users should be getting a lot more from Albany than we currently receive. And I suspect that my colleagues who lived in other parts of the metro area thought exactly the same thing.
Those of us who live in Jersey but work in New York are compelled to pay New York State income tax, yet we have no say at all in how the money will be spent.
I can only speak for myself, but in my view NYC public transit users should be getting a lot more from Albany than we currently receive. And I suspect that my colleagues who lived in other parts of the metro area thought exactly the same thing.
51
I discovered New York as a teenager in the mid and late 1970s. It was at the nadir in so many ways and yet I (and my students) are now nostalgic for a time when young people starting out could afford to explore it, and to live there on a shoestring making or looking at or listening to experimental art and music. The poor weren't any poorer, and parts of the city were certainly more dangerous, but one did not need to already have made it or to work on Wall Street to be part of the scene.
35
There are a lot more PEOPLE in NYC today than every before -- and with a mad scramble like musical chairs to occupy all the living space -- and that affects transportation. The city drove out the middle class 20+ years ago, so now anyone who isn't very rich or very poor has to commute INTO or out of the city for jobs and to live anywhere remotely affordable.
The problem -- just like global warming -- is TOO MANY PEOPLE. Until that problem is addressed, nothing will change and everything will continually get worse.
The problem -- just like global warming -- is TOO MANY PEOPLE. Until that problem is addressed, nothing will change and everything will continually get worse.
15
"The problem -- just like global warming -- is TOO MANY PEOPLE. Until that problem is addressed, nothing will change and everything will continually get worse."
I agree with your statement in quotes above. And yet, you support or supported a person who is enacting policies to defund Planned Parenthood and who does not believe there is global warming. Seems incongruous.
I agree with your statement in quotes above. And yet, you support or supported a person who is enacting policies to defund Planned Parenthood and who does not believe there is global warming. Seems incongruous.
26
"As the subways lurch, belch, teeter and break down, the number of black Escalades with tinted windows seems to multiply. They’re symbols of just how refined the microclimates of privilege have become in a country with gross inequalities of wealth."
I haven't lived in NJ since 2006 where I spent most of my life, but I can tell you that the Boston area (anything west of Worcester is another story) is experiencing the same problems you describe here.
A broken T system. Always broken. Traffic congestion worse than LA, drivers meaner than hippos (they're supposed to be very mean) caught in nonstop congestion, an encircling highway 128 that is stopped in perpetual rush hour any time of day. And the potholes!
This country has ignored infrastructure needs for far too long. It was something Trump was supposed to address, if he wasn't so busy tweeting, banning Muslims, and kicking people off healthcare. Sooner or later, like the inevitable episodes of gun violence and a growing opioid crisis, there's going to be a huge disaster from a falling bridge, another AMTRAK derailment, or a tunnel collapse.
The inevitable doesn't have to be if politicians would only get out of their own way and do something for all citizens, not just the privileged ones.
I haven't lived in NJ since 2006 where I spent most of my life, but I can tell you that the Boston area (anything west of Worcester is another story) is experiencing the same problems you describe here.
A broken T system. Always broken. Traffic congestion worse than LA, drivers meaner than hippos (they're supposed to be very mean) caught in nonstop congestion, an encircling highway 128 that is stopped in perpetual rush hour any time of day. And the potholes!
This country has ignored infrastructure needs for far too long. It was something Trump was supposed to address, if he wasn't so busy tweeting, banning Muslims, and kicking people off healthcare. Sooner or later, like the inevitable episodes of gun violence and a growing opioid crisis, there's going to be a huge disaster from a falling bridge, another AMTRAK derailment, or a tunnel collapse.
The inevitable doesn't have to be if politicians would only get out of their own way and do something for all citizens, not just the privileged ones.
269
Just one thing, traffic not worse than LA. Rush hours are now about 18 hours long.
1
Infrastructure is a local issue.
If Trump is smart (which he obviously is since he beat Hillary and she's a genius!) he would repeal the federal gas tax, dismantle all the pork barrel elements of Federal DOT and thus let each state set their tax and spending priorities for road and transit infrastructure. NYS and NYC would have billions more to spend on the projects important to their citizens with no Federal middlemen.
If Trump is smart (which he obviously is since he beat Hillary and she's a genius!) he would repeal the federal gas tax, dismantle all the pork barrel elements of Federal DOT and thus let each state set their tax and spending priorities for road and transit infrastructure. NYS and NYC would have billions more to spend on the projects important to their citizens with no Federal middlemen.
politicians will, as soon as their pockets are not being affected.
Take a seat. It might be a looooong wait.
Take a seat. It might be a looooong wait.
Its not just NYC Frank, our country is falling behind in infrastructure, transportation and maintenance. Its almost as though city planners designed all these complicated routes and transits but did not figure out who and how it will all be maintained, periodically upgraded and modernized. When people travel abroad to Europe and smaller city states like Singapore, Hong Kong they remark at how outdated infrastructure and transport seem in the US.
My son is a public school teacher in NYC, one of the poorest districts in the state. On a teacher's salary he barely makes the rent and food. He commutes via subway and bus, occasionally will treat himself to an uber or can ride to the airport when he is flying home to MA. He has student loans, from undergrad and grad schools which eats into his paycheck, not to mention health and dental insurance deductions from his paycheck. He can barely buy new clothes, we gift him underwear, socks, sweaters and pajamas and essentials for Christmas and birthdays. As a single guy he will date sometimes, but that too is an expensive hobby. He knows there's no way he can raise a family in the city. Couple more years in public service and he would be eligible for student loan forgiveness, but we just learned that Betsy deVos wants to suspend loan forgiveness. Seriously?
My son is a public school teacher in NYC, one of the poorest districts in the state. On a teacher's salary he barely makes the rent and food. He commutes via subway and bus, occasionally will treat himself to an uber or can ride to the airport when he is flying home to MA. He has student loans, from undergrad and grad schools which eats into his paycheck, not to mention health and dental insurance deductions from his paycheck. He can barely buy new clothes, we gift him underwear, socks, sweaters and pajamas and essentials for Christmas and birthdays. As a single guy he will date sometimes, but that too is an expensive hobby. He knows there's no way he can raise a family in the city. Couple more years in public service and he would be eligible for student loan forgiveness, but we just learned that Betsy deVos wants to suspend loan forgiveness. Seriously?
387
We need teachers in Las Vegas.
Blue skies, good traffic patterns, and interstates and an easily accessible airport that allow for a quick escape.
If a few days in a big city is needed, LA is only 5 hrs away.
Real Estate prices are low, and property taxes are not at the obscene levels that are encountered in the Northeast.
It's not NYC, but living here is easier and less congested.
Blue skies, good traffic patterns, and interstates and an easily accessible airport that allow for a quick escape.
If a few days in a big city is needed, LA is only 5 hrs away.
Real Estate prices are low, and property taxes are not at the obscene levels that are encountered in the Northeast.
It's not NYC, but living here is easier and less congested.
10
How about railing against:
1) the poor choice your son must have made in overpaying for an education relative to his job prospects?
2) the fact the education-industrial complex controlled by out of touch bureaucrats and the closed shop teachers' union require a masters for teaching when an undergrad degree use to suffice?
NYC and many other cities are suffering from the inability of our elected leaders to get priorities right, but many of us are enabling them with our own short sighted goals.
1) the poor choice your son must have made in overpaying for an education relative to his job prospects?
2) the fact the education-industrial complex controlled by out of touch bureaucrats and the closed shop teachers' union require a masters for teaching when an undergrad degree use to suffice?
NYC and many other cities are suffering from the inability of our elected leaders to get priorities right, but many of us are enabling them with our own short sighted goals.
Actually none of this is new. My wife and I, both Columbia Univ. grads, loved many of the features of NY living early in our married life. The cost of appropriate housing, within manageable commuting distance, drove us away as children came along. We discovered, as did just about all of our contemporary friends from back then, that the same salaries could be earned elsewhere, with the necessary housing available for much less and with an easier commute.
Now that is how things appeared almost 60 years ago. They seem not to have changed.
Now that is how things appeared almost 60 years ago. They seem not to have changed.
2
30 billion dollars.
The US needs another carrier like NYC needs a new 80 story apartment
building
Stop the arms buildup up and fix the mass transit system