Taste of Tribeca
The multi-billion dollar transportation improvement sweepstakes has another entry, as trumpeted recently by New York and New Jersey’s four U.S. Senators and by Gov. Corzine: a Midtown train tunnel connection to North Bergen, Union City and Weehawken, N.J. The other mega contestants are a Downtown rail link to the Long Island Rail Road and J.F.K. Airport, the Second Ave. subway, East Side Access to bring Long Island commuters to Grand Central Station, and a rail freight tunnel to revive the Brooklyn waterfront and reduce truck traffic
It’s easy for politicians to pick out the projects they like without thoughts to costs, or even to say “do ‘em all,” but the money is not there for that and the sooner everyone admits it, the better.
The projects affect each other. Second Ave. is often pitted against the Downtown rail link, but it will have more benefits if the link is also built because that will allow for the subway line to continue into Brooklyn. East Side Access will almost require building a Second Ave. line to avoid adding even more riders to the over-crowded Lexington line.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the Port Authority will, and should play a major role in evaluating these plans, but they should not make the decisions because they have their own turfs to protect and their parochial interests don’t always coincide with the public’s.
Transportation is one of the single best economic development investments government can make and New York’s gubernatorial candidates should make their transportation priorities a central part of their campaign. Eliot Spitzer started this off with a speech two weeks ago.
Lower Manhattan has not had new rail service in over half a century and that is the main reason Midtown has continued to widen the economic gap. The issue is not fairness though. It is estimating all of the benefits, particularly economic and environmental, and balancing them against the costs. It is now time for our leaders to not only propose plans, but to prioritize.
After The Falls
The shocking murder of Imette St. Guillen two and a half months ago horrified the city. Now the State Liquor Authority is moving ahead with steps to revoke the liquor license of The Falls. It was at this Soho bar where St. Guillen, 24, was last seen on Feb. 25.
Despite The Falls’ owners’ initial failure to cooperate with police after St. Guillen’s murder, police were able to charge a bouncer who worked at the bar, Darryl Littlejohn, with murder.
Following the murder investigation, the S.L.A. has now informally charged the owners of the The Falls, with numerous violations. The fact that they didn’t cooperate with police after the murder is simply an outrage and deserves the harshest penalty possible.
This murder has opened many eyes to the gravely serious problem of bouncers working at bars and nightclubs without any screening. Councilmember Alan Gerson’s proposal to require background checks for bouncers is essential. And his legislation to allow bars to hire off-duty police officers is worth taking a close look at in high-density bar districts.
WWW Downtown Express
