Corey Johnson Begins Five-Day Subway Tour
New York City Council Speaker Corey Johnson (D-Chelsea, Hell’s Kitchen)started his five-day tour of New York’s subway system yesterday. Johnson will spend the rest of the week traveling from station to station in all five boroughs and surveying New Yorkers on how they feel about the current state of the transit system.
This, said Johnson, will help him understand what, exactly, the transit system needs to improve on.
“New York City deserves a world-class transportation system, but unfortunately, due to years of neglect and mismanagement, we don’t have one,” wrote Johnson on the City Council official website. “We all know that our transit network isn’t working as it should, whether it’s buses stuck in traffic, or subway delays that have become routine for New Yorkers.”
Today, the tour will take him to Brooklyn’s 77th St. Station, located on the corner of 77th St. and 4th Ave.
Margaret Chin Sponsors Citizenship Event
City Councilwoman Margaret Chin (D-Lower East Side, Chinatown) is sponsoring an event this Saturday that will help permanent New York residents apply for US citizenship.
The event, which is also sponsored by the DC 37 Citizenship Committee, will have legal professionals and members of the NYC/CUNY Citizenship Now! Volunteer Corps guiding attendees through the citizenship application process. Attendance is free, but pre-registration is required.
The event is slated for Saturday, Jan. 12 from 11 a.m. – 2 p.m., at 125 Barclay St.
Keith Powers Weighs in On L Train Announcement
City Councilman Keith Powers (D-Upper East Side, Carnegie Hall) voiced his concerns about Governor Andrew Cuomo’s recent announcement that the plans to close the L train have been cancelled.
On Jan. 3, Cuomo announced that the L train will not be shut down for repairs in April, as originally planned. Cuomo clarified that “a new design” would obviate the need for a complete service shutdown. Instead, MTA staff can close one tube at a time on nights and weekends, providing themselves with intervals of time during which repairs can be made.
Prior to Cuomo’s announcement, city officials had been planning to establish a new network of busways and bike lanes to compensate for the loss of the L line. Keith Powers said that he was excited to see the city invest in alternate forms of transportation, and that he still wants to see those plans come to fruition.
“I don’t want to lose the investments in alternative transportation methods that would come out of the L train shutdown,” he told Street Blogs NYC.
