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WEEK OF MAY-JUNE HEAVENLY OFFERINGS ◄ P.12
31-6 2018
A BOLD PLAN TO HEAL AILING TRANSIT SYSTEM INFRASTRUCTURE Cost, funding sources of MTA modernization proposal remain unclear BY MICHAEL GAROFALO
Suraj Patel at a food cart with his “New Blood” slogan. Photo: Courtesy of Suraj Patel campaign
WILL THE SURAJ INSURGENCY SURGE? POLITICS A well-funded neophyte mounting a generational challenge to topple a long-serving congresswoman fires up would-be supporters at an UES town hall
I’m not here to mail it in.” Suraj Patel, Democratic candidate in the 12th Congressional District
BY DOUGLAS FEIDEN
Can a Mississippi-born, Indianaraised, Indian-American lawyer, hotelier, ethics professor and child of immigrants — who has never before vied for elected office — oust a popular incumbent who’s served for a quarter-century to claim a hugely visible seat in the U.S. Congress? It won’t be easy. The political establishment is sure to resist. But it can be done. At least that was the crux of the message that 34-year-old Suraj
Patel sought to broadcast last week during an animated town hall meeting at the Church of the Holy Trinity on the Upper East Side. And it all boiled down to this: “NEW BLOOD.” That was the twoword, all-caps, red-ink slogan plastered on the campaign literature, buttons, posters — and $25 tote bags and $50 limited-edition T-shirts —
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Five months after he arrived in Manhattan to take charge of New York City Transit, Andy Byford’s comprehensive pitch to repair the city’s struggling public transportation system is on the table. Byford presented what he called “a bold, imaginative, ambitious plan” to “modernize New York City transit from top to bottom” at the MTA Board’s May 22 meeting. The proposal, dubbed “Fast Forward,” calls for the rapid implementation of a variety of measures overhauling bus and subway service, accessibility and corporate organization within the transit authority. “It won’t be easy to perform such massive upgrades on such a compressed time frame in such a busy system, but we can do it,” said Byford, who took office as president of NYCT in January after previously heading Toronto’s public transportation system. “Transit is in a trough right now, but we can and we must come back.” Among the plan’s most significant proposals is an initiative to accelerate the replacement of outmoded subway signals with state-of-the-art computerized systems, a step Byford called “the most transformative thing we can do to improve subway service.” Computerized signaling, Byford said, “adds capacity and exponentially improves reliability,” allowing trains to
New York City Transit President Andy Byford unveiled “Fast Forward,” a proposal to modernize the city’s subway and bus systems. Photo: Marc A. Hermann / MTA New York City Transit
Not acting now is not an option. It will only get more difficult and more expensive.” Andy Byford, NYCT president
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WEEK OF APRIL
SPRING ARTS PREVIEW < CITYARTS, P.12
FOR HIM, SETTLING SMALL CLAIMS IS A BIG DEAL presided over Arbitration Man has three decades. for informal hearings about it He’s now blogging BY RICHARD KHAVKINE
is the common Arbitration Man their jurist. least folks’ hero. Or at Man has For 30 years, Arbitration court office of the civil few sat in a satellite Centre St. every building at 111 New Yorkers’ weeks and absorbed dry cleaning, burned lost accountings of fender benders, lousy paint jobs, and the like. And security deposits then he’s decided. Arbitration Man, About a year ago, so to not afwho requested anonymity started docuhe fect future proceedings, two dozen of what menting about compelling cases considers his most blog. in an eponymous about it because “I decided to write the stories but in a I was interested about it not from wanted to write from view but rather lawyer’s point of said Arbitration view,” of a lay point lawyer since 1961. Man, a practicing what’s at issue He first writes about post, renders and then, in a separatehow he arrived his decision, detailing blog the to Visitors at his conclusion. their opinions. often weigh in with get a rap going. I to “I really want whether they unreally want to know and why I did it,” I did derstood what don’t know how to he said. “Most people ... I’d like my cases the judge thinks. and also my trereflect my personalitythe law.” for mendous respect 80, went into indiMan, Arbitration suc in 1985, settling vidual practice
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MANHATTAN'S APARTMENT BOOM, > PROPERTY, P.20
2015
In Brief MORE HELP FOR SMALL BUSINESS
The effort to help small seems to businesses in the city be gathering steam. Two city councilmembers, Robert Margaret Chin and Cornegy, have introduced create legislation that wouldSmall a new “Office of the within Business Advocate” of Small the city’s Department Business Services. Chin The new post, which have up told us she’d like to would and running this year, for serve as an ombudsman city small businesses within them clear government, helping to get through the bureaucracy things done. Perhaps even more also importantly, the ombudsman and number will tally the type small business of complaints by taken in owners, the actions policy response, and somefor ways to recommendations If done well, begin to fix things. report would the ombudsman’s give us the first quantitative with taste of what’s wrong the city, an small businesses in towards important first step fixing the problem. of for deTo really make a difference, is a mere formality will have to the work process looking to complete their advocate are the chances course, velopers precinct, but rising rents, -- thanks to a find a way to tackle business’ is being done legally of after-hours projects quickly. their own hours,” which remain many While Chin “They pick out boom in the number throughout who lives on most vexing problem. said Mildred Angelo,of the Ruppert construction permits gauge what Buildings one said it’s too early tocould have the 19th floor in The Department of the city. number three years, the Houses on 92nd Street between role the advocate She Over the past on the is handing out a record work perThird avenues. permits, there, more information of Second and an ongoing all-hours number of after-hours bad thing. of after-hours work the city’s Dept. problem can’t be a said there’s with the mits granted by nearby where according to new data jumped 30 percent, This step, combinedBorough construction project noise Buildings has data provided in workers constantly make efforts by Manhattan to mediate BY DANIEL FITZSIMMONS according to DOB of Informacement from trucks. President Gale Brewer offer response to a Freedom classifies transferring they want. They knows the the rent renewal process, request. The city They 6 “They do whatever signs Every New Yorker clang, tion Act go as they please. work between some early, tangible small any construction on the weekend, can come and sound: the metal-on-metal or the piercing of progress. For many have no respect.” p.m. and 7 a.m., can’t come of these that the hollow boom, issuance reverse. owners, in business moving The increased beeps of a truck has generto a correspond and you as after-hours. soon enough. variances has led at the alarm clock The surge in permits
SLEEPS, THANKS TO THE CITY THAT NEVER UCTION A BOOM IN LATE-NIGHT CONSTR NEWS
A glance it: it’s the middle can hardly believe yet construction of the night, and carries on full-tilt. your local police or You can call 311
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for dollars in fees ated millions of and left some resithe city agency, that the application dents convinced
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run more closely together than currently possible. NYCT hopes to install new signaling systems on 11 lines over the next decade as part of the plan, and aims to complete five lines in the next five years. This ten-year timeline is significantly shorter than previous esti-
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