MTA’s ‘historic’ $51.5B plan to improve NYC transit gets the green light

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MTA signs off on historic $51.5 billion capital plan

The MTA officially has a capital plan for the next five years. Yesterday, the agency’s board signed off on the FY2020-2024 capital plan, which will invest $51.5 billion—the most money ever—into fixing the various ways that New Yorkers get around. While the largest chunk of change will be devoted to improving the subway system (a grand total of $37.3 billion), it also calls for significant investments in buses, Metro-North, and bridge and tunnel upgrases.

The plan has “have delivered beyond my wildest expectations,” according to Andy Byford, the president of New York City Transit and architect of the Fast Forward plan, elements of which are incorporated into the new capital plan.

Here’s what else is in it:

• $7.1 billion toward modernizing the subway’s ancient signal system
• $6.1 billion allocated for 1,900 new subway cars
• $5.2 billion to make 70 subway stations fully ADA-compliant
• $4.55 billion toward the second phase of the Second Avenue Subway
• $3.5 billion for 2,400 new buses

And there’s more where that came from; you can see the MTA’s full proposal here.

Save the Coney Island boardwalk

The famed Riegelmann Boardwalk in Coney Island was recently named a scenic landmark by the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission, but many parts of the walkway are in poor condition, according to the Brooklyn Eagle.

A section of the boardwalk (one that’s not close to the main tourist draws, like Luna Park or the Cyclone) has been covered in plywood since Hurricane Sandy, and that temporary fix is beginning to show its age. According to the Eagle, “the Parks Department is considering whether it would be financially feasible to undertake a capital project to do these repairs.”

The Eagle’s Lore Croghan has a suggestion: Get John Catsimatidis, the Gristedes owner and real estate developer—whose Ocean Dreams project is steps away from the rotting section of boardwalk—to fix the whole thing up.

And in other news…

• New York City’s potter’s field, Hart Island, is nearly full—so the city is seeking space for a new public cemetery.
• Get a peek inside the city’s opulent, turreted “castle homes.”
• The City Council passed a bill that expands what’s considered harassment for commercial tenants, and ups the fines for landlords found to have harassed their lessees.
• Sad news: Gov. Andrew Cuomo and his longtime partner, Sandra Lee, have split up. Their Westchester home (located on, no joke, Bittersweet Lane) is still on the market for $1.7 million.
• The case for tearing down the BQE.
• The city wants you to help with the 2020 Census count.
• And finally, an urbanist’s upgrade of a famous New Yorker cover: