Subways are for sleeping: NYC Transit survival thread

xp dude there's going to be a massive storm, what do you expect?

FUCK YOU, SANDY

fixed

So I get off work on Monday? How much time do they need to restore service? This is starting to appear serious. I'm going to buy some coffee beans.

Things I won't be able to do thanks to the subway shutdown: buy white knee socks for Halloween at the sock man and attend an old-timey spooky live radio performance in long island city. If I get off work tomorrow, that's a fair trade off.

how long do these outages last, normally?

― 乒乓, Sunday, October 28, 2012 11:02 AM (43 minutes ago)

could be a week or longer depending on where you are

I work in the Starrett-Lehigh building in westernmost Chelsea. They just called off work tomorrow. Yay.

I have tickets to see Blue Oyster Cult tonight in times square though. NOOOOOOOO

Specifically, New York City's infrastructure may take an unprecedented hit. The subway narrowly escaped flooding during Irene, and Sandy (for all the reasons above) is expected to be worse. So... 

"According to the latest storm surge forecast for NYC from NHC, Sandy's storm surge is expected to be several feet higher than Irene's. If the peak surge arrives near Monday evening's high tide at 9 pm EDT, a portion of New York City's subway system could flood, resulting in billions of dollars in damage," Masters concluded. "I give a 50% chance that Sandy's storm surge will end up flooding a portion of the New York City subway system."

http://m.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/10/why-sandy-has-meteorologists-scared-in-4-images/264198/

There were no "advance shutdowns" in the first 100+ years of the NYC subway.

#fearoflitigation #pussies

I have no idea how bad it's gonna be, but if they had shut it down at midnight, MomA would not have had to cancel Nixon Super-8 Movies.

the shutdown begins at 7 but trains are actually running til 3.

it has less to do w/ litigation and more to do w/ the fact that cautionary measures might be the difference between the system down for a day and certain lines being down for weeks. also it takes a long time to shut it down, hours.

I am healthily skeptical of the probabilities.

Anyhoo, I was to start another cycle of chemo at 2pm tomw, so will depend if the center and the car services are running.

where'd u hear the 3am thing?

secondavenuesagas twitter feed

I feel more skeptical this time than last time for sure. but I think it's easy to discount the fact that irene actually ended up being a super powerful hurricane that knocked out power for half of ct and it was very close to doing serious damage to nyc. it just did it to places we don't care about instead.

they're calling for less rain but more storm surge than irene iirc, and the surge is what has the mta worried

irene also did serious damage in parts of NJ.

Any storm does serious damage to NJ.

so this surge is related to the full moon-tidal factor as well as wind, eh.

Will the Subway Be Closed on Tuesday?

It’s looking pretty likely. Joseph J. Lhota, the chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, said Sunday morning that the authority hoped to restore service by Wednesday. “I do think Monday and Tuesday are going to be difficult days,” he said.

when the MTA shuts down, how do MTA employees go home?

Iirc they drive back to their homes in the far reaches of Queens and Sheepshead Bay.

like a lot of the nyc blue collar class a lot of them have cars parked at the end of a line, some of them don't and might be in a weird situation, some of them prob scheduled their way out.

xp yup basically

that reminds me of my question about who picks up the poop from seeing eye dogs

they are trained to eat their own poop

the mta employees?

no that is beyond their capabilities

good union contracts = you dont have to eat your own poop

just heard a train pass by on the manhattan bridge #cuomolied

bloomie sez no chance transit coming back tuesday

Based on what I've heard on WNYC in the last hour, I think the trains will be patchy to nonexistent through Friday at least.

yeah lhota says trains 'could' be out for a week but at this point they don't know the extent of the damage

the century old 7 train tunnel always has problems w/ water so I am not holding out much hope

God, I have no idea what I or anyone I know is going to do if we're expected to be at work but the trains aren't running, aside from hope our bosses are feeling nice.

Really, a week-long vacation? What about Halloween? What about the children?

best thing about it, cancelling T or T

t or t is kinda a sad scene in most of nyc anyway

if I have kids I will take them to the suburbs once a year for trick or treating + yearly anthropology lesson

What are you talking about? It's the best day of the year! It's so cute to see kids in costumes rampaging the local businesses.

yeah but getting candy from a local business is just not the same, the candy is usually crappy and the kids also get rejected like half the time

I just find the whole thing very sad

I find it better--even though half the time the businesses say, "We're out of candy!" I dunno--I think it's so cute to see rampaging kids on the loose in Queens.

At my library, we will never say, "We're out of candy--move on." Not on my watch!

kids are always rampaging on the loose in queens

are your lights flickering?

Off and on. After I finish off this bottle of wine I will be texting you desperately with candy corn requests.

http://secondavenuesagas.com/2012/10/29/sandy-updates-water-entering-lower-manhattan-subways/

Updated (10:56 p.m.): According to reports from the MTA, water entered the under-river tubes connecting Manhattan to Brooklyn as the Sandy storm surge overtook the city.

MTA
✔
@MTAInsider
We can confirm that there has been water infiltration into the New York City Subway tunnels under the East River. We cannot confirm a depth.
29 Oct 12 ReplyRetweetFavorite
Earlier in the day, the MTA offered up some information on salt water interacting with the subway system. Even after removal, salt remains on sufaces, and the salte can accelerate corrosion. Any surface impacted by flooding has to be cleaned or replaced. It’s difficult to estimate the time required to clear a flooded tunnel and bring equipment and stations back into service. The timeline depends upon the height of the storm sturge, its speed and the extent of flooding. Generally, the longer a tunnel is flooded, the longer it will take to return to service.

According to the MTA, up to four feet of water entered a Lower Manhattan station as well earlier on Monday. Kevin Ortiz, Transit spokesman speaking on CBS 2, stressed that it could take anywhere from 14 hours to more than four days to restore service if the tunnels are flooded. Once salt water hits switches and signals, all bets are off for any quick service restoration until the system can be inspected and repaired.

Speaking with The Wall Street Journal, MTA Chairman Joe Lhota said the extent of flooding is “quite serious.” Despite earlier rumors that suggested we could go a week without subway service, Lhota cautioned against such a set timeline. “We’re trying to get an estimate of what if anything we’re dealing with here,” he said.

Still, one MTA source told Ted Mann that “it could be a long time” until full service is restored. No official estimates will be released until the extent of the flooding and damage can be determined, and the MTA repeatedly downplayed early rumors of a week-long service outage:

MTA
✔
@MTAInsider
Rumors are wrong. The MTA cannot assess damage until Tuesday. It is way too early for a subway reopening timetable.
29 Oct 12 ReplyRetweetFavorite
Here’s what Adam Lisberg, the authority’s head spokesman, said via Twitter:

Adam Lisberg@adamlisberg
Entire Hudson River is flowing into Ground Zero, Carey Tunnel and subways. It sounds like Niagara Falls. Too dark for pic.
29 Oct 12 ReplyRetweetFavorite
Meanwhile, speaking on WNYC, transit reporter Andrea Bernstein said that Bowling Green is the station under water. Pumps are operating on generators and are independent of the power outages currently plaguing Manhattan south of 39th Street. It’s unclear how the rest of the system is impacted right now. I’ll keep updating this post as more information comes in (and, with the lights flickering, as long as I have power).

@jdavidgoodman: MTA: Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel is "flooded from end to end" from #Sandy

Takeaway MTA quote via Naked Capitalism: “We have to examine the entire 600 miles of subway track before we consider even turning it back on.”

I'm writing off going to the office (Soho, so no power right now anyway) for the week, but worried that the staff of my chemotherapy center in Brooklyn won't be able to get there THURSDAY for my next session.

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2012/10/some-hidden-casualties-of-hurricane-sandy.html#l23AdYSeJ3Z00GQl.99

Lhota early today:

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/10/28/nyregion/hurricane-sandy.html#sha=b994d74eb

I can p much guarantee that my boss will expect me to walk to an elevated train, find an express bus, or ride my bike to work by...Thursday? I would bet on it.

http://i.imgur.com/3DtTl.jpg no details on where this is

christie sez path could be out 7-10 days