Memo to Mayor and Gov:
There is a Middle Position
March 19 2004
Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Governor George Pataki seem headed on a collision course, according to today's New York Times, with the Mayor's Number 7 train about to crash into the Governor's East Side Tunnel.
The Mayor's 7 train extension would open an area of Manhattan up for growth, an area which has sat fallow for the past 100 years (See "...There isn't any There There") This would spur growth in the area for generations.
The Governor's East Side LIRR Tunnel would decrease vehicular traffic on the East Side, and make it easier on commuters.
Both good ideas, but is there a way to avoid a conflict between the two? Is there a way to keep the East Side Tunnel on track, but cut the cost of extending the Number 7, while still linking the area to the city's mass transit grid? Yes, there is a possible compromise, one that I think makes sense.
I was at the site yesterday. Beneath my feet, as I walked the grounds, were train tracks. Lots of train tracks. Long Island Railroad train tracks. As I read Bagli's article in the Times today, it occurred to me that we are building a convention center/stadium on top of train tracks and tunnels. Why not just put in a Long Island Railroad station serving the convention center/stadium using the infrastructure already in place? The bulk of the tunnel is already there. You would just have to grade a few tracks up to a sub-stadium level. This terminus would serve the convention center, the stadium, and be a spur to future growth for the area.
The one requirement for this plan to work would be to improve the interface between the LIRR at Penn Station and the West Side IRT and IND lines. (For you out-of-owners or youngsters, that's the 1, 2, 3, 9, E, A and C trains) This would fulfill the Mayor's astute plan to bring mass transit to the area in order to spur expansion without running the cost of tunneling under 42nd Street from 7th to 11th, then down 11th. Avenue. It also would make mass transit easier for all New Yorkers on a daily basis. And, it would bring much more bang for the transit buck.
While we still support the expansion of the Number 7 line, in a world of tight resources, we think this might be an option worth exploring.