Results tagged “service”

Forget about the subway this weekend, just forget it; it's a perfect storm of aggravation: Of the 20 lines that operate on the weekends, 18 will suffer some type of "serious" delays between tomorrow and Sunday. Riders on the 5, A, F, G, L and E have to do the dreaded shuttle-bus transfer at various points along their routes; the 1, 2, 7, B, N, J and R will skip a section of stops; and the 4, 6 and Q lines will run express at times, bypassing more stops. Oh, and the D will run on the N during midday hours tomorrow, skipping 12 Brooklyn stops. Only the M line will be spared. Yeah, the M.

The argument over where New York's worst post office is could go on forever, since they are all pretty much the worst, but one tipster is tossing the 9th Street Post Office of Park Slope into the hat. So angered by the slowness of the establishment, this morning one local (we have our suspicions) turned to the chalk to take out their aggressions. Now, now, let's all take a deep breath and recall when residents rallied for the now-closed Prince Street Post Office, declaring: "The Worst Post Office is Better Than No Post Office!"

Today, President Obama signed the Edward Kennedy Serve America Act, to urge Americans to get involved and volunteer in their communities, but yesterday, Mayor Bloomberg announced the city's own volunteering effort—NYC Service—and promised, "New York City will be the first city to strategically connect the power of its volunteers to solving its biggest problems."

At a press conference this morning, MTA executive Elliot Sander announced a "major initiative" that will enable the authority to let riders know how hard their commutes are going to suck with text messaging and email alerts in real time. The MTA has been working toward a real-time update system for several years now, starting out with weekly email updates and sporadic advisories on their website. In a statement, Sander said, "This is a revolutionary step that has the potential to transform the experience our customers have with us."

Verizon has entered the cable TV game today, providing an alternative to Time Warner and Cablevision in select neighborhoods. For $94.99, the current promotional deal for FiOS includes unlimited local and long-distance phone service, an Internet connection of 20 megabits per second and a television package that includes 100 high-definition channels. But according to the Times, the company’s expansion could be hindered by some 65,000 Verizon workers who are threatening to strike for higher wages, caps on health care payments and limits on outsourcing jobs.

The MTA's favorite tune is unfortunately recorded on a broken record that keeps repeating itself: commuters need to pay more, but don't expect to see much in the way of improvements for it. The agency is saying that given the huge budget shortfall projected for next year, it's already contemplating another fare hike just three months after the last one went into effect. It would be nice if the next fare hike didn't leave odd amounts of unusable change stranded on Metrocards.

If you were planning on taking the F train anywhere this weekend, better put on your reading glasses -- Gowanus Lounge spotted commuters stalled in front of the following sign. The 9-year-old should attempt this for his next subway challenge:

New York's called the city that never sleeps, but to many it’s also the city that never leaves its apartment. For the Netflix-and-sweatpants set, there are an increasing number of ways to get all the essentials with just a phone call or a few clicks of the mouse, provided you have a desirable zip code. The best known late night delivery service is Anytime, which provides East Village and Williamsburg shut-ins with the beer and cigarettes they need to make it through that Friday night Wii bowling marathon. But Anytime may be gone in no time, and their East Village phone number has been disconnected.

The Regional Planning Association released a map of what service and capital improvements tri-state riders can expect, even in the absence of approval for a congestion pricing plan. NYC Transit riders have a lot to be unhappy about following a fare hike, followed by the announcement that promised service improvements were off the table, followed by the prospect of yet another fare hike and even more service cuts. If Mayor Bloomberg's congestion pricing plan doesn't pass, it's uncertain how the MTA will be able to afford major capital improvements to the system, although a $1.5 billion windfall from the sale of the Hudson Yards should help.