> What is the intended group for a… checks notes… busy train station?

Every big intercity train station I've ever used in Europe has some sit down dining.

Tbh Old Penn is a much easier experience for boarding Amtrak. I'll take the junky basement thanks.

Big, up-to-date screens everywhere, quick access to the tracks, no gigantic queue, shops all around you...

> extending Metro North to Wall Street

How could this be done?

To be fair I didn't provide a citation either

Real estate became a middle class wealth creation vehicle

I could see it adding to dwell times but I don't think that's the reason the MTA gave for rejecting the idea.

> Most cities won’t allow bikes inside subways because they can be annoying when the trains are full

Subway rules are that you can't have bicycles on trains at peak. Every other time is fine.

It's really a judgment call, though, you're right.

Edit: I was wrong! Bikes always allowed

Yes absolutely should be kept around. Honestly one of the most effective policies the MTA could implement to entice more bus riders.

> There's one facility to transfer garbage from trucks to trains in a marshy corner of SI

I am 99% sure there's another one in East Williamsburg because I've seen it with my own eyes.

edit: Oh you actually mentioned it

> No freight trains are allowed through the tunnels leading to Penn, nor GCT.

IIRC the Pennsylvania Railroad experimented with this during World War 2, running a test freight train through the Hudson tubes.

I think it became disconnected and immobilized.

How the freight rail connections with upstate all fit together is kinda mysterious. The car float is very limited, but it might carry the garbage. The only other way out of East Williamsburg is via Queens and the Hell Gate, and that would of course involve sharing track with Amtrak's passenger trains.

Hunts Point is connected to the broader freight network, though, so I'm reasonably certain there's a connection between the NYA (LIRR freight operations) and the outside world that doesn't involve the car float. Operationally it might be kinda limited, tho.

> fuck them and Congress should nationalize them

Like ConRail 2.0 or on a more permanent basis? Either is fine by me. No way could it be worse than what the railroads have turned into.

I accidentally ran by the main garbage transfer point in East Williamsburg once where trash is placed on the trains the article talks about.

It can get so much worse than this.

Imagine if ships entering NY Harbor had to sail between Lady Liberty's legs.

Amazing book. Veers a bit into hagiography of robber baron types, but really it's a good work of history.

I'm fine with the sprawling project. It's pretty awesome how well connected lower Manhattan is now.

Problem is that it's just not an inviting space to spend much time in, nor is it useful to you even if you're just passing through.

In for a long PATH ride to Newark Penn and then the airport? The Oculus has nothing for you.

Making a connection during your morning commute? Can't grab a coffee here.

It's purely a tourist attraction, which is fine but like...you'd think for such a huge and beautiful piece of public architecture they'd put things in it other than purely consumerist luxury mall things. Maybe a statue or two? A history exhibit? A library branch? I dunno lots of possibilities.

Fulton Center is a lot more useful but a hell of a lot less inviting.

Hey fine by me. If we can get a Barnes and Noble and a Starbucks or whatever in there the Oculus will be 10x more convenient as a train station. Local joints are probably a pipe dream but we can at least knock it off with the luxury watches and shit. Could probably get at least a few newsstand type places tho.

Oh derp

They appear to be making the same mistakes in the reno as they did with the oculus. While the improvements to crowd circulation are good and the addition of light and air are badly needed, what is with the luxury mall stores?

Seriously guys it's a train station not a mall. The old retail was far superior! Was actually useful! Cheap eats, magazines, bars, convenience stores... things you need and want for train travel.

If I take a cab I'm always struck by how much more open the avenues feel. Even in midtown traffic there's ample space given for each car (with ~1.5 people per) to have a larger buffer on all sides than any pedestrian can enjoy.

You also get that impressive "canyon" look that's impossible from the sidewalks.

Optum. Different TPA unfortunately.

Tried it every which way. It just won't work.

I saw it in that Ken Burns doco about New York that came out a million years ago (sometime in the 90s). The guy talking about it was a descendant of the guy who donated the sheep. He seemed miffed that the city would move them upstate after "my family was so kind as to" blah blah.

Lol

> You can absolutely remove payment methods. I use the browser to go to the OMNY site and log in.

This is what I do and I can't remove them! Support was even stumped, although this was a while ago (summer 2021) so maybe they fixed it.

> If you're using issued metro cards from your employer, that's a different beast.

Nah I mean the debit cards that are connected to the account your employer deposits an elected pre-tax amount into. Could easily load the card with my personal CC, but asked the TPA and they said transit benefit debit cards can only be used at ticket vending machines. They won't work with online payment providers, or at least not with OMNY.

Having done this, it's so cumbersome and lacking basic amenities (like the ability to remove payment methods or use transit benefit debit cards to autofill the OMNY card) that it's easier just to use an old fashioned MetroCard until they get the new vending machines in the stations.

Could always set up some kind of bus service yeah

Iirc homeless people in the Great Depression actually set up camps inside Central Park and the sheep that had been herded there for generations had to be moved upstate because the city was worried that starving people would kill and eat them.