Copyright 2008 The New York Sun Wed, 18 Jun 2008 16:38:10 -0400 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Jeremy Smerd :: Stories from The New York Sun http://www.nysun.com/authors/Jeremy+Smerd istoll@nysun.com (Ira Stoll) webmaster@nysun.com en-us JEREMY SMERD http://www.nysun.com/new-york/transit-workers-opposed-to-contract-worry-new/25674/ Wed, 11 Jan 2006 00:00:00 EST As the 33,7000 members of the transit union meet this week to decide whether to accept the terms of a new contract, they will also have to contend with a new electronic voting system that some worry could be confusing or susceptible to fraud. The Transport Workers Union Local 100, like every other union in the city, has always used a mail-in paper ballot to ratify contracts. The union's decision to have members use phones and the Internet to vote will save it thousands of dollars that will help... JEREMY SMERD http://www.nysun.com/new-york/report-more-than-100000-jews-in-city-are-living/25099/ Thu, 29 Dec 2005 00:00:00 EST About 104,000 New York Jews live just above the poverty line, caught in a world where they are too poor to lead a comfortable life but too wealthy to receive government assistance, a report released yesterday said. The report, by the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty with help from the UJA-Federation of New York, documented 53,000 Jewish households whose income was at least $22,530 - or 150% above the federal poverty line - but less than $35,000 for a household of three people. "The idea... JEREMY SMERD http://www.nysun.com/new-york/ratify-contract-union-tells-members/25016/ Wed, 28 Dec 2005 00:00:00 EST The union representing bus and subway workers voted overwhelmingly last night to recommend that its 33,000 members ratify a new three-year contract with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, ending the standoff that led to a crippling three-day transit strike last week. The vote by the executive board of Local 100 of the Transport Workers Union was 37-4 with one abstention. The contract now must be ratified by the union's membership by mail-in ballot, a process that could take as long as a... JEREMY SMERD http://www.nysun.com/new-york/subway-union-to-meet-today-amid-talk-of-a-key/24958/ Tue, 27 Dec 2005 00:00:00 EST The executive board of Local 100 of the Transport Workers Union is scheduled to meet today, setting the stage for a contract that could revolutionize public-sector labor relations in New York by requiring union members to pay a percentage of their wages toward their health benefits. The 47-member executive board of Local 100 is scheduled to meet today at 6 p.m. at the union's headquarters on the West Side of Manhattan, to be briefed on the progress of transit negotiations - and possibly vote on... JEREMY SMERD http://www.nysun.com/new-york/pension-battle-will-persist/24891/ Fri, 23 Dec 2005 00:00:00 EST The transit strike may have ended, but the war over government pensions has just begun. The quick end to the bitter transit strike that was barely in its 60th hour came without a contract agreement that would resolve the financial crisis over rising pension costs that plague the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The strike's contentious days disclosed the depths of the feelings on both sides of the pension issue. The MTA's effort to change the pensions of its employees brought the issue to... JEREMY SMERD http://www.nysun.com/new-york/kalikow-warns-talks-may-be-futile/24823/ Thu, 22 Dec 2005 00:00:00 EST The intensification of warring words between Mayor Bloomberg and the president of the transit union, Roger Toussaint, means both sides have dug in for a protracted strike. The drama comes to a head today when Mr. Toussaint appears in Brooklyn Supreme Court, where Judge Theodore Jones, who levied a $1 million a day fine against the union Tuesday, will decide whether to send the union leader to jail. Judge Jones said yesterday that jail time was a "distinct possibility" for Mr. Toussaint and his... JEREMY SMERD http://www.nysun.com/new-york/transit-union-hit-with-1-million-fine/24763/ Wed, 21 Dec 2005 00:00:00 EST A state Supreme Court judge in Brooklyn yesterday levied a potentially crippling $1 million a day fine against Local 100 of the Transport Workers Union, raising the question of how long the union could survive as the city entered its second day of an illegal transit strike. The two sides resumed negotiations for about three hours yesterday with no progress. The discussions were described by the union's president, Roger Toussaint, as a "formality" prompted by the introduction of a mediator, the... JEREMY SMERD http://www.nysun.com/new-york/strike-in-effect-subways-closed/24743/ Tue, 20 Dec 2005 06:41:51 EST Officials from the union representing 33,700 bus and subway workers ordered an illegal strike early Tuesday morning that immediately shut down the citywide transit system because of labor unrest for the first time in 25 years. The president of Local 100 of the Transport Workers Union, Roger Toussaint, emerged from a three and a half hour closed-door meeting with the union's 47-member executive board early Tuesday morning to issue the strike order. He blamed the impasse over contract... JEREMY SMERD http://www.nysun.com/new-york/talks-fail-union-weighs-a-strike/24682/ Tue, 20 Dec 2005 00:00:00 EST As the clock ticked down to a potential transit strike, Mayor Bloomberg stepped up his rhetoric against a walkout while Governor Pataki, the elected official with the most power over the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, reiterated his warning that a strike would be illegal. Statements yesterday by the mayor and governor were part of an elaborate show in the final hours before the 33,700 men and women who run the subways and buses were poised to strike if there was no resolution in the... JEREMY SMERD http://www.nysun.com/new-york/transit-workers-ready-walkout-at-two-bus-lines/24611/ Mon, 19 Dec 2005 00:00:00 EST With no contract settlement in sight, employees of two private bus lines in Queens planned to strike this morning, giving about 57,000 riders a taste of what may be in store for the rest of the city if a contract between the transit union and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is not reached by midnight tonight. Events over the weekend have heightened the divide over the most contentious issue: the MTA's insistence that, in order to receive their full pension, new transit workers not be... JEREMY SMERD http://www.nysun.com/new-york/nyc-transit-union-calls-selective-strike/24542/ Fri, 16 Dec 2005 00:00:00 EST Officials from the transit authority and the Transport Workers Union Local 100 have agreed to a new round of talks scheduled for Saturday, more than 24 hours after a contract deadline passed. The union has agreed to postpone a strike of the city's subways and buses until 12:01 a.m. Tuesday, but union workers at two private bus lines in Queens that were recently acquired by the city could walk off the job as early as Monday morning if a contract settlement is not reached. The chairman of the... JEREMY SMERD http://www.nysun.com/new-york/mta-workers-contemplate-losing-pensions-if-called/24557/ Fri, 16 Dec 2005 00:00:00 EST Barbara Jones, a subway station agent with 25 years' experience, contemplated her retirement yesterday - or rather the risk of losing her pension if the Transport Workers Union called for her to walk off the job if a contract settlement is not reached with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Ms. Jones is 51 and under the current pension plan for transit workers, she has four years until she receives her pension. Participating in a strike is illegal under state law and doing so could cost... JEREMY SMERD http://www.nysun.com/new-york/union-prepares-to-shut-subways/24476/ Thu, 15 Dec 2005 00:00:00 EST The transit union has begun instructing members how to shut down the subway system and keep it locked down for the duration of a possible strike. If officials of Local 100 of the Transport Workers Union call a strike when their contract expires at midnight, the system's 33,700 workers have been instructed to "make sure the entire mass transit system is shut down safely and efficiently" and to "document the safe shutdown to prevent any possible management sabotage and any attempts to blame... JEREMY SMERD http://www.nysun.com/new-york/mta-okays-93b-budget-angering-union/24506/ Thu, 15 Dec 2005 00:00:00 EST The threat of a strike was heightened yesterday when the board of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority angered transit union officials by approving its $9.3 billion budget for 2006 before settling contract negotiations. The plan does not detail whether it contains money for wage increases for workers. The MTA board approved a spending plan to cover its $1.04 billion surplus, of which $705 million comes from a one-time windfall from tax revenue thanks to this year's hot real estate market... JEREMY SMERD http://www.nysun.com/new-york/showdown-set-as-judge-enjoins-transit-strike/24401/ Wed, 14 Dec 2005 00:00:00 EST The decision of a judge to issue a preliminary injuction banning transit workers from walking off the job if a contract with the Metropolitan Transit Authority is not reached by 12:01 a.m. Friday sets the state for a major showdown, as lawyers representing the city filed a separate lawsuit seeking to fine the Transport Workers Union $15 million and workers $25,000 a day if they strike. The pattern is a familiar one: First in 1999 and again in 2002, judges in state Supreme Court in Brooklyn... JEREMY SMERD http://www.nysun.com/new-york/mta-strike-could-cost-businesses-as-much-as-660/24337/ Tue, 13 Dec 2005 00:00:00 EST The transit strike that is threatened to begin Friday could cost businesses in the city between $440 million and $660 million a day in lost revenue, according to a legal brief submitted by the city in a state court yesterday. The brief, filed in Brooklyn on behalf of the commissioner of the city's Office of Emergency Management, Joseph Bruno, is part of the Bloomberg administration's legal effort to increase fines for transit workers who may walk off the job. The current three-year contract... JEREMY SMERD http://www.nysun.com/new-york/deadline-looms-as-transit-workers-endorse-illegal/24274/ Mon, 12 Dec 2005 00:00:00 EST With a deadline approaching this week for a possible transit strike, officials from Local 100 of the Transport Workers Union and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority head into round-the-clock negotiations today at the Grand Hyatt in Manhattan. Over the weekend, the 34,000-member union voted to support an illegal strike if a resolution is not reached by the time their current three-year contract expires at 12:01 a.m. Friday. The move was largely ceremonial, as the decision to walk off the... JEREMY SMERD http://www.nysun.com/new-york/toussaint-hero-to-the-rank-and-file-may-have/24205/ Fri, 9 Dec 2005 00:00:00 EST The transit union's 34,000 members will likely authorize a strike when they gather at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center on Saturday, but the decision to walk off the job could ultimately be on one man's shoulders: the union's president, Roger Toussaint. Mr. Toussaint, 49, is considered by those familiar with the inner workings of the union to be a tough, smart, and practical man who is steeped in grassroots activism and sees the interests of his members aligned with those of riders... JEREMY SMERD http://www.nysun.com/new-york/transit-authority-2005-12-09/24207/ Fri, 9 Dec 2005 00:00:00 EST Q: I use a walker and when I enter a New York City MTA bus through the rear door wheelchair lift, the bus driver asks me to come to the front of the bus with my walker to swipe my MetroCard, which I find both difficult and dangerous. Is there an MTA rule requiring me to do this? I would gladly allow the bus driver to swipe and return my Metro-Card, but I understand there may be an MTA rule against this. Is this true? A: New York City Transit bus drivers have been instructed in a bulletin sent... JEREMY SMERD http://www.nysun.com/new-york/transit-strike-may-be-on-horizon-after-workers/24130/ Thu, 8 Dec 2005 00:00:00 EST The Transport Workers Union has rejected as unacceptable a two-year contract offer from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority that includes wage increases of 3% next year and 2% the year after. The offer by the MTA during the sixth round of contract negotiations yesterday was the first substantial discussion of the central issues of wages, health care benefits, and retirement plans. It came on a day when the authority broke with its stance of refusing to discuss publicly the details of the... JEREMY SMERD http://www.nysun.com/new-york/safety-terror-concerns-addressed-in-new-east-side/24078/ Wed, 7 Dec 2005 00:00:00 EST Worries over 6,000-gallon fuel tanks considered prime terrorist targets and a cooling system that spews harmful bacteria into the air have been addressed as part of a plan to bring Long Island Rail Road service to Grand Central Terminal. Designs for one of the most controversial aspects of a plan known as East Side Access, a ventilation facility to be constructed on East 50th Street between Madison and Park avenues, have been altered significantly to address safety concerns. The fuel needed to... JEREMY SMERD http://www.nysun.com/new-york/assembly-member-holiday-subway-discounts-illegal/24035/ Tue, 6 Dec 2005 00:00:00 EST Some might call him a Scrooge, but an Assembly member who oversees the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said yesterday that the $50 million plan to provide discounts on subway and train fares during the holidays is illegal. "Ho, ho, ho. Holiday pass. Lovely, lovely. Illegal," Richard Brodsky, chairman of the Committee on Corporations, Authorities, and Commissions, said during a public hearing yesterday. Mr. Brodsky cited section 1266.3 of the law governing public authorities, which states... JEREMY SMERD http://www.nysun.com/new-york/mayor-closes-deal-on-four-remaining-private-bus/23806/ Thu, 1 Dec 2005 00:00:00 EST The Bloomberg administration has reached a $25 million deal to acquire the city's four remaining private bus lines, allowing the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to operate all the fleets by the end of February. Yesterday's agreement completes a nearly three-and-a-half-year effort by the administration to acquire the assets of all seven of the city's private bus companies, which provide about 115 million rides a year on more than 1,200 buses along 82 local and express routes in every... JEREMY SMERD http://www.nysun.com/new-york/transit-officials-unveil-test-models-of-new-high/23703/ Wed, 30 Nov 2005 00:00:00 EST Transit officials yesterday unveiled a test model of the newest subway car that will debut on the system's lettered lines late next year. Another set of test cars, which were supposed to be in the city four months ago, were scheduled to arrive late last night, ending a trying period for transit officials who had to deal with several setbacks at French manufacturer Alstom Transportation Incorporated, a first-time subway car producer. Damaged car shells, windows that did not seal properly, and a... JEREMY SMERD http://www.nysun.com/new-york/transit-ridership-reaches-highest-since-june/23017/ Tue, 15 Nov 2005 00:00:00 EST The average number of daily subway and bus riders reached 7.5 million during weekdays in September, the highest average daily ridership of any month since June 1971, according to statistics New York City Transit is expected to release today. The record benchmark is the result of a perfect combination of one-time and ongoing factors, but is itself a broader sign of confidence in the subway that has been 25 years in the making. It's attributable in part to a capital plan that injected billions of... JEREMY SMERD http://www.nysun.com/new-york/feud-closes-a-subway-exit-at-59th-and-lex/23022/ Tue, 15 Nov 2005 00:00:00 EST A feud between New York City Transit and Vornado Realty Trust will keep an entrance to one of the city's busiest subway stations - on the southeast corner of 59th Street and Lexington Avenue across from Bloomingdale's - closed this holiday season and for the foreseeable future. The lines of the battle have been drawn and detailed through correspondence, the most recent copies of which were made available to The New York Sun. The dispute remains at an impasse. Meanwhile, the subway entrance is... JEREMY SMERD http://www.nysun.com/new-york/city-rolls-out-fuel-efficient-hybrids-to-add/22922/ Fri, 11 Nov 2005 00:00:00 EST The greenest car to hit city streets is yellow, but your chance of riding in one of the new hybrid electric taxicabs is about six in 12,000. After passing a week's worth of road tests, six hybrid gasoline electric taxicabs have joined the fleet of 12,053 yellow taxis cabs. The commissioner of the city's Taxi and Limousine Commission, Matthew Daus, yesterday unveiled the taxis at a ceremony on the rooftop of the Manhattan Auto Group, a car dealership that helped modify the 2006 Ford Escapes to... JEREMY SMERD http://www.nysun.com/new-york/dot-to-eliminate-pay-to-pray-sunday-parking/22948/ Fri, 11 Nov 2005 00:00:00 EST And on the seventh day, the meter readers rested and those with cars, especially those attending church, said it was good. With little fanfare yesterday, the city's Department of Transportation said it was enacting legislation passed nearly unanimously by the City Council last month over the mayor's veto to eliminate so-called pay-to-pray parking on Sunday. The city's 72,000 parking meters will not need to be fed on Sunday starting this weekend. Though the city is still updating the thousands... JEREMY SMERD http://www.nysun.com/new-york/transit-authority-2005-11-11/22950/ Fri, 11 Nov 2005 00:00:00 EST Q: Now that the bond passed and - if the hype is to be believed - the Second Avenue subway will finally be built, what letter or number will be assigned to it? A: Officially, no designation has been made, but a spokesman for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Tom Kelly, confirmed widespread and long heard rumors that the likeliest designation is the letter T. He would not, however, confirm the color the line is rumored to be assigned: turquoise. The first $3.8 billion phase of the $16... JEREMY SMERD http://www.nysun.com/new-york/conflict-is-seen-in-bond-initiative-push-by/22811/ Thu, 10 Nov 2005 00:00:00 EST The chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority created a conflict of interest when he gave money to candidates who stumped for the $2.9 billion bond initiative that passed Tuesday, a former candidate for president of Manhattan plans to argue at post-election hearings next month. Barry Popik, a Republican, said he recently learned that the MTA chairman, Peter Kalikow, made a campaign contribution on November 2 to Mr. Popik's opponent, Scott Stringer, during a fund-raising event meant... JEREMY SMERD http://www.nysun.com/new-york/voters-reject-power-grab-by-legislature/22721/ Wed, 9 Nov 2005 00:00:00 EST New York voters overwhelmingly rejected a statewide ballot proposal yesterday to limit the power of the governor over the budget process in Albany, but approved a second statewide ballot measure to authorize the state to borrow $2.9 billion for transportation projects across the state. The passage of the bond proposal will mean that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority could begin building the first segment of the long awaited Second Avenue subway as early as next year. In rejecting the... JEREMY SMERD http://www.nysun.com/new-york/homeland-security-under-fire-after-official-says/22690/ Tue, 8 Nov 2005 00:00:00 EST The Department of Homeland Security faced criticism yesterday over an official's comment that Muslims should register with the agency before flying, as well as over newly unveiled plans that could allow passengers to carry small knives on airplanes. Speaking at a journalism conference in Washington October 20, the head of the department's office of civil rights and civil liberties, Daniel Sutherland, said that Muslims whose names are being confused with those on an anti-terrorism watch list... JEREMY SMERD http://www.nysun.com/new-york/can-city-carry-29-billion-in-debt-on-projects/22617/ Mon, 7 Nov 2005 00:00:00 EST More than 200 projects that will receive funding if voters approve the Transportation Bond Act on the ballot tomorrow, but for most, their share of the $2.9 billion bond is seed money. The question for voters Tuesday, and the fault line that divides the bond act's supporters from its detractors, is whether $2.9 billion in debt is too great a financial risk for projects whose future funding is uncertain. The partially funded projects range from $450 million for the $16 billion Second Avenue... JEREMY SMERD http://www.nysun.com/new-york/mta-moves-to-trademark-see-something-say-something/22550/ Fri, 4 Nov 2005 00:00:00 EST Transit authorities in 2003 launched the "See Something, Say Something" campaign to help make riders active participants in policing the subway. Now, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority has filed a trademark application in order to police the phrase and those who use it. The move has surprised officials at many transit agencies, who had assumed the phrase, which is now used in various iterations as part of transit security programs from San Francisco to Sydney, Australia, was an industry... JEREMY SMERD http://www.nysun.com/new-york/critics-say-mta-is-using-one-sided-ad-campaign/22422/ Wed, 2 Nov 2005 00:00:00 EST The advertisements the transit authority has placed in hundreds of subway cars do not come out and tell voters to support the $2.9 billion transportation bond on the November 8 ballot; they also don't mention how the borrowing will add to the state's already high debt burden. Critics of the bond proposal say the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which stands to reap $1.45 billion if voters approve Proposition 2 Tuesday, has used public money to fund a one-sided ad campaign that fails to... JEREMY SMERD http://www.nysun.com/new-york/police-stress-need-for-searches/22335/ Tue, 1 Nov 2005 00:00:00 EST Defending the decision to conduct random searches of subway passengers, one of the Police Department's highest-ranking counterterrorism officials told a federal judge yesterday that "in a perfect world," police would inspect bags at all of the system's 468 stations. "More is better than some, some is better than none, and none helps" the terrorists, the deputy commissioner of intelligence, David Cohen, said. Mr. Cohen, who came to the Police Department in 2002 after spending more than 30 years... JEREMY SMERD http://www.nysun.com/new-york/transit-officials-approve-50-million/22216/ Fri, 28 Oct 2005 00:00:00 EST Transit officials sent a mixed message yesterday, voting to authorize $50 million to cover discount fares for the holidays even as they are asking riders to approve a $2.9 billion transportation bond on November 8. Prior to the 12-2 vote by the board of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority yesterday, board members said they were concerned that the giveback would weaken their case with voters. "There is another thought out there, which is the MTA is awash in money," a non-voting board... JEREMY SMERD http://www.nysun.com/new-york/fast-walkers-can-outpace-one-bus/22145/ Thu, 27 Oct 2005 00:00:00 EST The frenetic pace of many of the commuters walking across town on 34th Street during the morning rush is born out of a certain necessity: If they walk fast enough, they can outpace the bus. For the second year in a row, the M34 crosstown bus in Manhattan has been identified as the slowest bus in the city, according to a study released yesterday by the Straphangers Campaign and Transportation Alternatives. The survey, called the "Pokey Awards," has been conducted for the past four years. The... JEREMY SMERD http://www.nysun.com/new-york/subway-station-rehabilitations-plagued-by-cost/22087/ Wed, 26 Oct 2005 00:00:00 EST Delays and cost overruns are plaguing the rehabilitation of more than a dozen subway stations, including some being outfitted to make the system more accessible for people with disabilities, according to a report released yesterday. The rehabilitation of several stations - portions of Rockefeller Center, Times Square, Jay Street in Brooklyn, and Chambers Street on the nos. 1, 2, and 3 line - was pared down after $400 million was cut from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's capital plan... JEREMY SMERD http://www.nysun.com/new-york/private-developments-residents-complain-about/21935/ Mon, 24 Oct 2005 00:00:00 EST For years, the city has granted private security guards the power to issue parking tickets, but recently residents whose communities they patrol say many of the "special patrolmen" have turned into heavy-handed parking enforcers. The guards are hired to patrol such private developments as Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village. Residents and City Council members say they have overstepped their bounds, egregiously handing out tickets both on and off the private property. The City Council's... JEREMY SMERD http://www.nysun.com/new-york/french-subway-cars-owed-under-contract-are-way/21874/ Fri, 21 Oct 2005 00:00:00 EST A French company that received the bulk of a $1.1 billion contract to produce 660 new subway cars for New York has yet to deliver the first prototypes after missing its third and latest deadline of October 3. The delays are part of ongoing problems for the manufacturer, Alstom Inc., hired by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in 2002 to produce 400 of the 660 new R160 cars. And they are another setback in the authority's plans to upgrade the subway cars on the system's lettered lines... JEREMY SMERD http://www.nysun.com/new-york/transit-authority-2005-10-21/21894/ Fri, 21 Oct 2005 00:00:00 EST Q: Sometimes when I press the button to cross intersections, nothing happens. At other times, there's a quick response. Why is that? A: Traffic signals for cars and pedestrians are on timers, and each timer varies in duration, which explains why the wait is longer at certain intersections than at others. At most intersections in Manhattan, the timers are "actuated," which means that lights continuously change at regular intervals. In the outer boroughs, where intersections vary in configuration... JEREMY SMERD http://www.nysun.com/new-york/once-derided-mta-board-hailed-after-proposal/21811/ Thu, 20 Oct 2005 00:00:00 EST The Metropolitan Transportation Authority board members who voted last December for a fare increase were likened to the Grinch who stole transit. After proposing a fare reduction Tuesday, the chairman of the board is now being called Santa. "I didn't consider myself the Grinch then, but it's nice to be called Santa," the chairman of the MTA, Peter Kalikow, said yesterday. Some board members, however, are upset that the recommendations for using the MTA's $928 million surplus, up to $100 million... JEREMY SMERD http://www.nysun.com/new-york/tarpaulin-fire-engulfs-queensboro-bridge/21683/ Wed, 19 Oct 2005 00:00:00 EST A fire that began in a rubbish pile at a construction site on the upper level of the Queensboro Bridge yesterday quickly spread to scaffolding and engulfed the tarpaulin that encased the bridge's steel columns and trusses, shutting the bridge for hours, fire officials said. The fire was reported at 12:53 p.m., and it took nearly two hours and more than 100 firefighters to bring the three alarm blaze under control. Five firefighters reportedly suffered minor injuries. After initially closing... JEREMY SMERD http://www.nysun.com/new-york/mta-to-release-plan-for-surplus-shortly/21736/ Wed, 19 Oct 2005 00:00:00 EST Transit officials will decide before the November 8 election how a projected $928 million surplus will be spent. A portion of the surplus may go toward wage increases for transit workers, the chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said yesterday. The chairman, Peter Kalikow, told transportation analysts gathered at New York University that "some of the surplus will be for the MTA family," which he said included riders and employees. He said the plan would be presented to the... JEREMY SMERD http://www.nysun.com/new-york/pataki-transit-speech-eagerly-awaited-for-talk/21482/ Fri, 14 Oct 2005 00:00:00 EST While Governor Pataki is scheduled to speak to the building industry Friday about the $2.9 billion transportation bond act, transit industry observers are eager to see what, if anything, Mr. Pataki may say about the transit authority's projected $928 million surplus. Words they don't want to hear from the governor include "lockbox" and "rainy day fund." Such utterances, which suggest a path of financial prudence, have been heard in past years when governors and mayors made promises that the... JEREMY SMERD http://www.nysun.com/new-york/transit-authority-2005-10-14/21486/ Fri, 14 Oct 2005 00:00:00 EST Q: Now that riders are not allowed to use the end doors to change subway cars, how are we supposed to get to the first five cars on the 1 train for the South Ferry? A: For years, passengers have reacted with panic when hearing a conductor's warning that only passengers on the first five cars of a South Ferrybound train will be able to get off. The result has been a mass exodus of people through the end doors of subway cars. By the end of the year, this will no longer be allowed. For the past... JEREMY SMERD http://www.nysun.com/new-york/torrential-rain-floods-the-subway-causing-power/21413/ Thu, 13 Oct 2005 00:00:00 EST Torrential rains flooded parts of the subway yesterday, causing two power outages, backing up drains on track beds, and temporarily shutting down eight subway lines. The effects of the deluge that deposited more than 3.3 inches of rain by 6 p.m. yesterday were similar to what happened on September 8 of last year, when 3.77 inches of rain fell, most of it during the morning rush. Although the rains yesterday did not wreak the same widespread havoc as a year earlier, for riders of the C, E, J, Z... JEREMY SMERD http://www.nysun.com/new-york/mta-to-buy-500-hybrid-electric-diesel-buses/21397/ Wed, 12 Oct 2005 00:00:00 EST The Metropolitan Transportation Authority plans to buy 500 new low-floor hybrid electric diesel buses for $249 million, its largest order of the fuel-efficient buses and one that will more than double the city's fleet of hybrids. Orion Bus Industries, a subsidiary of automotive giant DaimlerChrysler based in Greensboro, N.C., will deliver the first buses in mid-2006 and complete the order a year later, a spokesman for the company, Patrick Scully, said. The MTA has the option to purchase an... JEREMY SMERD http://www.nysun.com/new-york/gotbaum-faces-off-against-golub-whom-she-already/21400/ Wed, 12 Oct 2005 00:00:00 EST Betsy Gotbaum, who is running for reelection as public advocate, beat five rivals during a hotly contested Democratic primary, but last night she had to face one of those challengers again during a debate mandated by the Campaign Finance Board. The challenger, Jay Golub, a dentist from Queens who is a Republican turned Democrat, is also a candidate on the Conservative Party line. Dr. Golub wasted no time picking up where he left off during the Democratic primary, attacking Ms. Gotbaum as an...