Saturday, January 9, 2016

Cuomo Subway Station Shutdown Plan Savaged

Gothamist readers react to the news that Governor Cuomo will shut down 30 subway stations for as long as a year to "re-invision" them for WiFi, USB charging ports, and countdown clocks as well as his plan to replace the MTA metrocard with a smartphone app:

A YEAR? What the fuck could you possibly do in a station that could take a year? I could hand-replace every single tile in a subway station, working alone, in less than a year.
They built the fucking Empire State Building in a year!
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What the flying fuck?!?! Who gives a shit about wi-fi? Shouldn't that effort (and money) go towards reducing delays on the trains and overcrowding? (I know these are rhetorical questions..humour me.)

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The train by my house is being completely shutdown for 14 months! As is the second closest stop. How do they expect me to get to work? Time to move I guess 😒.

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Serious question: Does anyone know what the alternative will be to using a cellphone to get into the station? I only carry a cellphone at certain times for personal reasons, and even when I do it is not one with all the gadgets. Are they really going to not let people use the subway if they won't own and carry (powered on) a complex cellphone?
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By 2022, or whenever this new system is ready, the cell phone as we know it today will probably be a thing of the past.. as will RFID... so it'll be interesting.

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Everyone who runs the MTA, including the governor, should be in jail.

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This is so far out of touch as to Enter the Theater of The Absurd. Clearly this half baked idea is one developed by people who don't live in The City or use the MTA. FINISH the work on The Second Avenue Subway before beginning another major renovation. People who use public transportation do not need WIFI, they Need to get to Work and Home. Closing down stations on an already overcrowded system is beyond dangerous. When the last time any of these nincompoops used the MTA during rushhour?
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Hey, nobody in Astoria really needs to get to work, right? And none of the businesses on those main drags are going to notice the lack of customers, right? COUNCIL MEMBER! I NEED YOU! (Seriously...that is every station on the N/Q line between Queensboro Plaza and Astoria Boulevard!)
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How can cuomo be building the subway of the next century when the 2nd avenue extension is now behind under his watch?

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QR codes would be an utter fucking disaster.
As if airport boarding passes haven't already proven that they're unsuitable for fast-track processing?
Even under optimal conditions they're sub-optimal at processing people at speed. People are going to spend even longer blocking the turnstiles while they dick around with their iPhones to pull up the QR app than they already do pulling out a simple ticket.
Plus anything based on visual recognition is going to have a lens that gets scratched and/or vandalized to fuck.
Can we not just get a sensible contactless/NFC system?

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QR CODES? SERIOUSLY?!
No, we couldn't take one of the dozen or so existing contactless payment systems already in use and deployed around the world (Oyster, for example), we're going to build a brand new thing based on the most embarrassing technology fad of 2014, which will require you to have your smartphone unlocked with the app on display as you approach the turnstile and will require a working camera behind a not-scratched-to-shit glass plate.
Bet your last dollar on this: this disaster will not be deployed any time before 2022, and when it does you will hate it with the fury of a supernova.
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Astoria has just been sodomized without lube by the MTA.

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How about making the cars not smell like urine. that's a little more important than wifi and charging stations. please.

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So the Subway "for the next 100 years" is going to use barcode scanning technology we've had in supermarkets for 20 years instead of something like NFC that could be used without taking the device out of pocket? Fail.

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I assumed the smartphone scan would just be an option, with a regular paper ticket still available for purchase, like NJ Transit does now. Smartphone-only turnstiles sound like a nightmare.
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It's kind of messed up that only people who can afford a smartphone (and accompanying plan) can take a freaking subway ride. That's absurd.
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"Ladies and gentlemen, protect your personal property...keep your
belongings in sight at all times. Do not display cell phones or other
electronic devices. Remain alert and have a safe day. But please disregard all of this, because you'll have to have your most valuable items in full view to enter the subway turnstile."
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Request: Please make the N/Q run without as many delays and overcrowding
Response: FUCK YOU WE ARE GOING TO PAINT FOREVER


Dunno how representative these commenters are to New Yorkers as a whole, but Cuomo's "big" MTA "re-invision" plan is not going over well at Gothamist.

Cuomo's desperate these days to put his mark on the state, with all these capital projects, but as always with Sheriff Andy, the plans are big on headlines, short on practical details and where the money is coming from to pay for them.
 
God help us all if Cuomo gets this plan going.

5 comments:

  1. I am not a subway rider, but I know a lot of people that do not have smart phones.

    Abigail Shure

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  2. This is the "conveyor belt" governor...playing SimCity version 10.12 with the people of New York.

    Nothing to see with the shutdown of the Moreland Commission...the Buffalo project not to be looked at...The relationship with Litwin, well, just the usual business "du jour", the APPR guilotine systematically designed with precision accuracy to cull one of the best public educational systems in the nation, the rise of the unaccountable charter school, with chains run by the likes of Moscowitz, whose ass Cuomo runs to kiss when she runs to Albany for a political rally with children that are the "Queen's pawns", as the billionaires watch, and throw money to Cuomo. The book deal for $700,000 with golden strings attached. Buy the book and support a crook...but please, no assessers to the mansion to see the subtle improvements. Please don't look into official e-mails, nothing to see there...

    But our next project will be a major enhancement for New Yorkers...flying camels as our next generation taxis, ice cream treats made from the mist of clouds...please disregard the shutting down of Broadway and Fifth Avenue, but Mr Cuomo has some very lofty goals...

    Anything to turn the eyes of New York's citizenry from the corruption coming from the governor's office.

    And please, bring your smartphones...

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  3. Justice delayed is justice denied. Thus is the intended consequence of a tone deaf prosecutor, Preet Bharara, who lives according to the dictates of our failed, dysfunctional political and legal system.

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  4. You nailed it. The real villain here is Preet Bharara.

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  5. Preet is andy's pal. Cuomigula will never be indicted.

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