It’s time for some good news: We are formally seeing the post-Labor Day transit bump.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority introduced final week that the subway set a pandemic-era ridership document, with 3.8 million individuals driving the system on Wednesday. The Long Island Rail Road additionally reached 200,000 riders for 5 days this month.
Subway and bus ridership is roughly 60 % of pre-pandemic ranges on the weekdays. The LIRR and Metro-North commuter rail strains are boasting even higher outcomes — with ticket gross sales roughly 70 % of 2019 ranges on weekdays. We’ve additionally seen some superb outcomes for weekend ridership — on Sept. 17, a Saturday, Metro-North use surpassed pre-pandemic ranges. Weekend ticket gross sales commonly hover round 90 % of pre-covid instances on commuter rail strains.
These are promising outcomes, even when transit use nonetheless stays a far cry from what we noticed earlier than the general public well being disaster. Earlier this month, MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber stated the numbers indicated that “normalcy” was lastly returning. “I’m also trying to get us to start recognizing that this is a process — that 20, and 30 and 40 percent increases year-over-year does indicate that we’re moving in a direction,” Lieber stated on the time.
Still, New York isn’t as far alongside as a few of its friends.
Bloomberg reported that ridership on LA Metro is about 70 percent of pre-pandemic levels, and 75 % on buses. Stephanie Wiggins, head of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, instructed the outlet that she has set a aim that “by the end of this fiscal year, Metro will have completely restored back to pre-pandemic levels on ridership.” The MTA, then again, hopes to regain all its riders in 2035.
That means stress stays on Albany lawmakers to give you a plan to assist hold the MTA afloat. Close to 40 % of the MTA’s working funds is determined by income generated on the farebox. Compare that to LA Metro, which largely depends on gross sales taxes, and solely derives 1.2 % of its income from ticket gross sales, Bloomberg reported.
Earlier this month, Gov. Kathy Hochul promised the MTA’s funds will play a central function in funds discussions, however declined to get into specifics.
“Well I’m not going to talk about what’s going on next year’s budget at this point, but certainly we’re looking at the needs of the MTA very seriously,” Hochul stated at a Sept. 6 press convention for Penn Station. “This is the lifeblood of New York, the lifeblood of the nation, we have to keep it strong.”
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NUMBER OF THE DAY: 1 million — the variety of autos touring on MTA bridges and tunnels on Friday Sept. 16 — a sobering reminder that as transit use recovers, visitors is steadily surpassing 2019 ranges.
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NABBING RECKLESS DRIVERS PROVES ELUSIVE — New York Daily News’ Liam Quigley and Rocco Parascandola: “It’s a cat and mouse game — but the mice drive too fast and recklessly and are not always held accountable, even when cops nab them. ‘You can’t catch me. You’re stupid,’ driver Oscar Malik, 28, allegedly taunted out-of-earshot cops in a police cruiser who spotted him as he roared on the Long Island Expressway in March 2021 at a speed police believe hit 117 mph. They did catch him, but off the road. Police traced and arrested Malik with help from the Instagram feed that recorded his high-speed drive — which officers downloaded before he deleted his account.
Malik got the last laugh in August, when the charges against him were dismissed and his case was sealed because Queens prosecutors didn’t hand over evidence to his defense lawyer in accord with the state’s discovery reform law, said law enforcement sources. The Queens DA’s office did not comment on the matter…. It was another blow to the NYPD’s unceasing race against organized reckless driving, which takes several forms —ranging from highway drag races to impromptu gatherings where drivers spin donuts at intersections, parking lots or traffic plazas.”
NEW TOWERS YIELD FEWER HOMES — The New York Times’ Stefanos Chen: “In New York City, where space is at a premium, developers tear down residential buildings to create new ones that climb higher and higher into the sky — projects that could create thousands of apartments to help alleviate the city’s affordable housing crisis. But on the Upper East and West Sides of Manhattan, a bundle of high-rise, low-density towers represent a contradiction: big towers with few units, sometimes fewer than the buildings they replace. Urban planners say the developers are squandering the precious few sites left in Manhattan’s high-density neighborhoods, where substantially more units could be built….
Such projects have a cumulative effect. From 2010 to 2020, the Upper East Side lost more housing units than any other community district in the city, primarily through the combination of smaller apartments and demolitions, according to the Department of City Planning. The builders argue that the cost of land and construction is too high for almost anything but luxury condominiums, without new tax incentives or more favorable zoning. Still, there are steps the city and state could take, housing proponents said, that could encourage or require developers to do more.”
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SHORT-TERM RENTAL FIRM SIGNS HOTEL LEASES — The Real Deal’s Holden Walter-Warner: “A short-term rental company is zeroing in on New York City’s hotel market, signing two leases in the span of a week. Miami-based CorpHousing Group announced a 15-year master lease operation agreement for The Tuscany Hotel in Murray Hill. The property at 120 East 39th Street is currently a St. Giles Signature Hotel. CorpHousing plans to begin operating the property’s 124 units in the fourth quarter under its LuxUrban brand, geared towards vacationers and business travelers. The company uses a long-term lease, asset-light strategy to manage properties in major metropolitan cities, particularly hotels hindered by the pandemic.”
TISHMAN SPEYER FACES CLASS-ACTION LAWSUIT — Crain’s Shelby Rosenberg: “Manhattan-based developer Tishman Speyer is facing a class-action lawsuit from tenants who claim the company illegally inflated rents at its 1,871-unit, three-tower complex at 28-10 Jackson Ave. in Long Island City, according to court documents filed in state Supreme Court in Manhattan. On Tuesday a judge granted the February lawsuit, initially filed on behalf of one tenant, class certification regarding claims that Tishman Speyer circumvented New York’s rent-stabilization laws by systematically registering the initial registered rents of the apartments at inflated and illegal amounts, then increasing the rents afterward.”
— A Financial District bar that was as soon as a gathering spot for Grace Kelly and Ernest Hemingway has gone out of business and may not exist for much longer.
— Traffic consultants and an area prosecutor are praising efforts to add alcohol-impairment detection systems in new vehicles.
— A hearth broke out over the weekend on the members-only Casa Cipriani hotel.
— Mayor Eric Adams is behind on the town’s aim to install 300 miles of protected bike lanes and 150 miles of bus lanes over 4 years.
