Regional Plan Association

The Regional Plan Association released a comprehensive report today, calling for the long-term creation of a host of transit projects--including new subway extensions, light rail and rapid bus service--designed to expand capacity and service as the area's population grows.

Among the recommendations were calls for a light rail loop in midtown that connects to the emerging far West Side; rapid bus service on First and Second avenues; an eastward extension of the planned Second Avenue Subway to include stops in the Lower East Side; an extension of the planned subway to reach westward across 125th Street; new ferry service across the East River; and a set of new subway extensions outside of Manhattan.  read more »

Last night at the New York Blood Center auditorium on the Upper West Side, Assemblyman Micah Kellner moderated a panel on post-congestion-pricing solutions for city transportation that reached a general consensus but no real solution: Congestion pricing is not a bad idea, the proposal was just executed poorly, and right now the M.T.A. is, as one panelist said, in “deep doo-doo.”

“The congestion pricing plan proposed by Mayor Bloomberg failed to gain approval in the State Legislature in the spring,” said Kellner, who was a vocal proponent of congestion pricing. "Neither the plan’s supporters nor its critics seem to have a firm idea of what to do next.  read more »

Leading up to tonight’s scoping meeting of the Coney Island revamp, various advocacy groups and others are staking out positions on the city’s plan, a few of which have ended up in our inbox. The comments are on the latest iteration of the plan, which was altered after it met opposition from Councilman Domenic Recchia, who sided with landowners including major property owner Joseph Sitt.

The hearing, which starts at six in Coney Island, has attracted a large bit of attention given that it's ostensibly intended for comments on what should or should not be included in a draft environmental impact statement.  read more »

New Yorkers have some of the smallest carbon footprints in the nation, according to a new report from the Brookings Institution and the Regional Plan Association.

The report seeks to quantify the amount of carbon emitted fom transportation and from residential energy use in the nation's 100 largest metro regions in 2000 and in 2005.

The New York City metro area, including Long Island and Northern Jersey, fared pretty darn well when compared to Americans elsewhere:  read more »

The Regional Plan Association, which staunchly opposed the West Side Stadium last year, is taking a milder position on the Atlantic Yards proposal in Brooklyn. In a statement issued today (in preparation for tomorrow's public hearing), the planning group ominously predicts that "without sufficient investments from the public sector, the accumulated development in downtown Brooklyn will lead to unbearable congestion."

The R.P.A. focuses, though, on the open space planned for the eastern part of the footprint, saying it should be redesigned to feel more public and that it should be taken over by the city Parks Department or an independent nonprofit funded by the developer, Forest City Ratner.

Full press release after the jump. A more extensive (and critical) version is on the group's website.  read more »

-Matthew Schuerman

Over on The Real Estate, Matthew Schuerman posts about Eliot Spitzer's transportation agenda, unveiled this morning at a Regional Plan Association conference.

Eliot Spitzer, speaking this morning at a Regional Plan Association conference, suggested the present Governor's political patronage had led to labor-management strife at the M.T.A., if not the actual strike in December:

For much of their history, organizations such as the M.T.A., the Port Authority, New York state's own transportation department and the Thruway Authority, were world class leaders in their field. Sadly, this is no longer the case. We must restore these organizations to their previous standards of professional excellence. We'll appoint individuals to executive and board positions based on professional excellence and experience and not based on political patronage. ... The transit strike illustrated the depth of labor-management conflict at the Transit Authority. The fact that 23 percent of all TWU employees faced disciplinary charges in 2005, a truly astonishing figure, indicated the problems go much deeper than just the single contract dispute.

Also noteworthy, his tepid support for the $6 billion rail link from Wall Street to J.F.K. Airport, another favorite of the current Governor. While saying that ensuring the vitality of Lower Manhattan should be the top economic development priority in the region, he said:

We should complete the draft environmental impact statement for the J.F.K. Rail Link so we can better evaluate the cost of the project as well as the expected economic benefits.

Calling for completion of a D.E.I.S. that is already in progress (and which will be finished right about when the new Governor's term begins) is like saying that a jury should be allowed to reach a verdict.

-Matthew Schuerman