This Subway Stalled Out for 'Hours' (or '76 Minutes')

Is there more of that to come? [View this email in your browser]( This Subway Stalled Out for 'Hours' (or '76 Minutes') Last Weekend. Is There More of This to Come? Plus: The MTA intentionally flooded a subway entrance yesterday. NJ Transit conductors are getting de-escalation training for dealing with angry riders. And the sexy cab drivers calendar will print for one more year. By [James Ramsay](mailto:james@wnyc.org?subject=We%20the%20Commuters) Brian/Flickr Last Friday night, Iva Dixit got on a D train at Columbus Circle, expecting about an hour-long ride back to her home in Sunset Park. Instead, she says it took three hours. At one point, just after leaving Atlantic Terminal, Dixit says the train sat still for close to two hours, with no announcements or cell service. And passengers did not break out Gothamist's [Common Sense Guide For When You're Trapped On A Stalled Subway Car](. "People started banging on doors to be let out and weeping in frustration," [she tweeted](. The MTA, for its part, confirmed that 14 work trains had taken over the tracks on the 6th Avenue and 4th Avenue lines, causing major delays. But the agency denied that Dixit's train stalled out that long. "The delay was spread across multiple stations and at no point was the train stuck motionless for that period of time," spokesperson Shams Tarek told We The Commuters, adding that the longest delay of the night was 76 minutes. (“I’m...not entirely sure how to respond to that," Dixit told us. "I already lived through that hell journey once so I don’t want to relitigate it all over again and bicker over time stamps.") All this comes as the MTA says service has generally improved, with weekday On Time Performance (how often a train gets to its terminal within five minutes of the scheduled arrival time) hitting an average high of more than 80 percent for the 14th month in a row. But [the MTA’s recenltly-passed $51.5 billion capital plan]( calls for major work modernizing signals and elevators. And that will require extensive evening and weekend disruptions in the next several years. "We know we let people down and are revisiting the service plan so this doesn’t happen again," Tarek said. "We’re also working to ensure that crews effectively communicate with customers on trains that incur delays." — [Reporting by Stephen Nessen]( We The Commuters Live!: The 12 Delays of Christmas Tod Seelie/Gothamist We The Commuters is returning to The Greene Space on the evening of December 2nd with an all-star lineup, including: - City Council Speaker Corey Johnson, sharing his vision for New York City streets - Activists from Decolonize This Place and public officials in a candid discussion about fare evasion and over-policing - Tonight Show writer Dan Chamberlain and Rockefeller Center tour guide Lindsay Bolling talking holiday gridlock horror stories Plus, we'll have trivia and a special performance by Sterling Strings. [Get your tickets now!]( Best of the Week From Gothamist and WNYC Kaye Blegvad/[Twitter]( "Because climate change is real," the MTA intentionally flooded this station entrance for a few hours yesterday. After passerby Kaye Blegvad tweeted the above photograph with the plea, "MTA explain yourself," New York City Transit responded that it was [testing a new "flex gate"]( at the Broadway G stop, which could be used to prevent water from seeping in if another Sandy hit. And apparently, it worked! Bus-mounted cameras, designed for catching drivers illegally stopped on 14th Street, are now up and running. Today marks the start of a 60-day grace period for drivers caught breaking the rules by these automated cameras. In two months, scofflaw drivers will be sent [a $50 ticket for their first offense]( with increasing fines for subsequent violations. The collapse of a ceiling in a subway station in 2018 could've been avoided, according to a new audit. The MTA's Inspector General found that engineers relied on "ineffective inspection measures and failed to recognize the severity of the structural defect that caused the collapse," which occurred on a platform of the Brooklyn Borough Hall station and [caused one woman to suffer a concussion](. An L train was held up over the weekend because a raccoon crawled onto the tracks. The City reports that there's been at least [11 incidents this year in which a raccoon caused a subway delay](. And Gothamist has reported that raccoons have been encroaching on the L line since at least 2013. Reminder: New York belongs to the trash pandas, too. Dozens of tires were recently slashed in Bay Ridge, and the police think one suspect is behind it. City Councilmember Justin Brannan said he's offering [$5,000 of his own money]( as a reward for anyone who provides information that leads to an arrest. Did you know there's a publicly-available tennis court hidden in Grand Central Terminal? Despite its fancy name, [the Vanderbilt Tennis Club]( is neither swanky nor a club. But it does charge a fee, and it's pretty hard to find. For the last year ever, New York City is getting a sexy cab driver calendar. The hot cabbie calendar — which gives a portion of its proceeds to University Settlement, America’s oldest settlement house — has raised nearly $70,000 for charity since debuting in 2013. Here are some of [our favorite sexy drivers]( from over the years. What Else We're Reading A 26-year-old Harlem man who was forcefully stopped by police for selling candy in a subway station plans to sue the city. Byron Shark, who was arrested after failing to comply with officers' request for his ID, is suing for $5 million, saying the incident caused new injuries in parts of his body where he'd previously had surgery. A cell phone video of Shark being forced to the ground by four cops was one of several recent viral videos of the increased policing of "quality of life" offenses. ([AM New York]( The hiring of 500 more MTA police officers is expected to cost the agency loads of money in overtime pay. MTA cops already make more overtime than any other agency employees. The Citizens Budget Commission, an independent non-profit group, estimates that these added officers — whom Gov. Cuomo insists on hiring — will cost $1 billion over the next ten years. ([NY Post]( NJ Transit is expanding de-escalation training for train conductors and bus drivers. One former conductor, who tells a harrowing story about being spit on in Penn Station, explains why employees are getting trained on how to deal with potentially violent customers. ([NJTV News]( People who bought million-dollar homes on 14th Street love the new busway. According to the Times' Real Estate section, residents appreciate the vibe that came with banning most car traffic on the throughfare. One man who lives on the west side of 14th Street said he now takes the bus to get his 2-year-old to pre-school, rather than taking an Uber. "It’s one-hundredth the cost, and pretty nice," he said. ([The New York Times]( Judging by the news cycle and the time of year, there are obviously two things on commuters' minds right now: Thanksgiving, and baby Yoda. Fortunately, both "Yoda's Theme" by John Williams and "A Thankful Heart" performed by Cantus are in this week's Classical Commute playlist, which is [streaming for free on Spotify](. Have You Seen This Earring? Calling all eagle-eyed Samaritans: A New Jersey commuter on Wednesday lost an earring, and we'd like to help her find it. She says she was on a 7:09 Raritan Valley train from Westfield, and then took the PATH to the World Trade Center. That's where she realized it was missing. "I know this is a long shot, but I lost an earring that carries sentimental value," Gillian Gill told We The Commuters. "I already filed a Lost & Found report on the NJ Transit website, but if by any chance anyone found the earring, please email me. Thank you!" Gillian can be reached at shoppingreceipts@gmail.com. Let's help her out — look under your seats, New Jerseyans! Weekend Service Changes: Night of November 22nd – Early Morning on November 25th This is a partial list of major service disruptions scheduled for the weekend. For a complete list of the MTA's Weekender updates, [check here](. Saturday at 12:00 a.m. through early Monday, train service between 149 St-Grand Concourse, the Bronx and 96 St, Manhattan will be replaced by free shuttle buses. Saturday at 12:00 a.m. through early Monday, train service will be replaced by and trains and free shuttle buses. On Saturday and Sunday, train service between 149 St-Grand Concourse and E 180 St in the Bronx will be replaced by the train. On Saturday and Sunday, uptown trains will run express from Canal St to 145 St in Manhattan. trains will run via the in both directions between 21 St-Queensbridge station, Queens and W 4 St, Manhattan. trains will not stop at the 8 Av or 6 Av stops in Manhattan. On Saturday and Sunday, Astoria-bound trains will skip 39 Av, 36 Av, Broadway and 30 Av in Queens. train service between Atlantic Av-Barclays Ctr and Kings Hwy in Brooklyn will be replaced by free shuttle buses. Bay Ridge-bound trains will run express from Atlantic Av-Barclays Ctr to 59 St in Brooklyn. [Check here]( for complete details about the Long Island Rail Road. For NJ Transit, [check here]( for the latest service advisories. Upcoming Meetings and Events Monday, December 2nd We The Commuters: The 12 Delays of Christmas — 7:00 p.m. Featuring a 30 Rock tour guide and City Council Speaker Corey Johnson! The Greene Space [More info/tickets]( Monday, December 16th Joint Metro-North & LIRR Committee Meeting — 8:30 a.m. NYC Transit / MTA Bus Committee Meeting — 10:00 a.m. Wednesday, December 18th MTA Board Meeting — 10:00 a.m. Registration for two-minute public speaking slots opens 15 minutes before the start time for official MTA committee meetings. To speak before an MTA board meeting, you must register 30 minutes early. All meetings are held in the MTA's Board Room at 2 Broadway, on the 20th Floor. James Ramsay will not be sending a We The Commuters newsletter on Thanksgiving, so look out for us in December! (Photo by Amy Pearl) Support WNYC + Gothamist Make a donation to support local, independent journalism. Your contributions are our largest source of funding and pays for essential transportation coverage and more. [Donate]( Copyright © 2019 New York Public Radio, All rights reserved. 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