Riders on the A train who took Bloomberg's advice didn't fare so well:
Some 500 weary and frustrated straphangers were stuck on a disabled A train in Queens for seven hours after the blizzard sapped power to the third rail.
"This train is completely dead," the conductor announced at one point.
The Manhattan-bound subway, filled with passengers from Kennedy Airport who already had waited hours for flights that were ultimately canceled, came to an abrupt halt between the Aqueduct and Rockaway Blvd. stations at about 1 a.m. The train later moved to Aqueduct station, but the passengers have not been let out despite the desperate need for bathrooms, water and food.
"It wasn't like the storm just snuck up on us," said David Kelley, 25, who tried unsuccessfully to get to his security job at Kennedy before being forced to turn around. "They were aware ... They need to have a backup plan. This isn't a Third World country. This is New York City."
The passengers received some hope with an announcement that a rescue train was on the way -- only to hear a second announcement a short time later: "The rescue train is stuck."
At about 8 a.m., seven hours after their ordeal began, the passengers were finally released.
A conductor estimated that 500 passengers were on the train -- including a Daily News reporter.
This city IS third world.
Really rich and wealthy people who never get near the subway unless they take it to work for political reasons (like Bloomberg.)
And then the poor suckers who get stuck on an A train for 7 hours after being stuck at the airport for hours and aren't even allowed to get off the train to go to the bathroom.
I hope all of those folks got off at Bloomberg's stop and peed outside his door.
No kidding! Mayor Mike should have told everyone not to travel unless it was absolutely necessary!
ReplyDeleteOh, wait, he did do that.
Listen, I can't stand him either, but you have to pick your battles more wisely than this. You're going to leap down his throat on the basis of the actions of a single train crew? And without knowing all the facts?
There is a pretty big gray area between a "Third World" system and "one that has some snags when a powerful blizzard dumps 20+ inches of snow in less than 24 hours".
Me, personally? I think it would be an awful use of taxpayer money to spend trillions (moving elevated lines underground, etc.) just to keep the trains running smoothly during these very rare and brief weather events.
People were stuck on a train for seven hours. They were not allowed to go the bathroom. They were not given food or water.
ReplyDeleteThe treatment of those people is OUTRAGEOUS.
It is THIRD WORLD.
As for knowing all the facts on the story, there was a DAILY NEWS reporter on the train.
Should I wait to hear Bloomberg's side?
Will Howard Wolfson or Stu Loesser illuminate me in some way that the DAILY NEWS reporter WHO WAS ON THE TRAIN won't?
Is the reporter on the train fully knowledgeable about MTA rules and regulations and policies with respect to safety and liability issues? Was he or she privy to all conversations that may have been going on between the train crew and their dispatchers?
ReplyDeleteIt probably would have been best for the News to get a comment from the MTA before publishing the article. And for you to wait before drawing a short and direct line from this train crew right to Mayor Bloomberg.
And a yes or no answer, if you don't mind: are you saying that it would be a wise move to spend trillions of dollars and displace/massively inconvenience millions of people to move all above-ground subway lines underground to make them blizzard-proof?
Sorry, but at times it is a third world system.
ReplyDeleteDon't come to my blog and tell me to give you a "yes" or "no" answer, Tim.
ReplyDeleteHere is what I think the MTA should have done. Shut down the system (and many lines were actually shut down) if they had to, then TELL people the system was being shut down. Don't tell people to take mass transit if i'ts not running.
That's the first thing.
Then, if people are stuck on the trains, they need to get them off the train and to someplace safe and warm with a bathroom.
To keep people locked on a train for seven hours without access to a bathroom and without giving food or water is unconscionable.
Had you been on that train, I bet you would be less likely to shill for the establishment that cares so little for the little guy that they will treat them like this and not blink twice.
"Don't come to my blog and . . . " How Bloombergian of you in the face of dissent!
ReplyDeleteYou are talking out of both sides of your face, because you know full well that if Alcalde Mike and the MTA had preemptively shut down the system, you'd have been howling about civil liberties and denying people their livelihoods. I mean, please.
I am very sympathetic to the people who were on that train. But what the DN report deemphasizes (because it wouldn't have been as interesting a story) is that for the lion's share of the delay, the train was stranded between stations. So yeah, if I were on the train, I would have wanted to know why I couldn't have been let out immediately when the train platformed. Only a stupid person would complain about not being let out onto electrified tracks in between stations in the middle of a blizzard.
The point of all this is that while I enjoy your links, your commentary, and most of your thought processes, there is the occasional post which makes me wonder whether you're truly serious about solving any of the city's, state's, or nation's problems. This is one of those posts.
Nothing Blombergian about it. I don't take orders from people to give a yes or no answer only - not in "real life," and certainly not on my blog.
ReplyDeleteI wonder what Tim thinks about the CityTime scandal? Does he think it is a massive inconvenience to investigate because it's not trillions of $$? Had your arse been on that train, you would be pissin' and moanin' like the rest of them. Instead of ranking on RBE, get your butt out and shovel out your car. Do it right and do it fast, 'cause out tax-paying third world sanitation department will plow it right back!
ReplyDeleteIt's not a challenge to your manhood or your authority, RBE. The only thing that would keep our "Third World" system running flawlessly throughout rare and severe storms that carry snowfall to cover the third rail would be to put all lines entirely underground. I simply want to know if this is what you are proposing.
ReplyDeleteTiny Timesque, I entirely support a full investigation and resolution of scandals like CityTime. Waste, fraud, corruption, inefficiency? None of it is good as far as I'm concerned.
Channel 2 Marsha Kramer reported that the FDNY wanted the city to call an emergency and prohibit cars from entering the city. The request was denied by the OEM. What was that all about?
ReplyDeleteTim,
ReplyDeleteBloomberg told people to take mass transit. He said mass transit was running when it wasn't. Many lines were shut down, some should have been shut down but weren't and then shut down of their own accord when the third rail froze.
Why didn't Bloomberg tell people this instead of telling them to take mass transit?
As for the 500 people stuck on the A train, rather than do everything they could to take care of the people stuck on one of those trains, the MTA waited until the storm stopped to get a diesel locomotive to take them into a station.
That is an AWFUL job by the MTA and an awful job by Bloomberg for hawking mass transit when it wasn't working.
That's the point.