Monday evening I took Metro-North up to central Westchester to visit a friend. Despite the fact that I got a seat on a relatively new train and it departed and arrived right on schedule, I couldn’t help but think ‘I would not want to do this five days a week, ~50 weeks a year, for the next two decades.’ Because in addition to the 40 minutes spent on the train, my friend had to pick me up and drop me off at the station to get to his house. During the interval after/before the train arrived I was standing in the parking area/platform on a cold but not freezing night where suburban temperatures are usually several degrees below those in NYC. Gee, I wondered, what must this be like from December through March? …when that train is unexpectedly running late, or is canceled? Is it crowded at rush hour, does everyone get a seat? Oh and how much does a monthly ticket cost ($268 to Harrison in this case). Then there’s station parking too ($1,000 a year in Scarsdale). I mean I could continue along this path and start talking about the cost for a second “station” car, but everyone’s already done the calculus on this trade.
So for the reason above I am extremely thankful that I’m one subway stop from a never-ending string of trains that can deliver me to my office one quick stop away in the greatest city on the planet. And I will continue to be so when it’s five-deep at the Vernon/Jackson station in the morning. And there are delays on the 7-train. Or it’s cancelled altogether and I and the rest of the local commuters decamp en masse up Jackson Avenue and then 21st Street to catch the E-train at the Court Square Station to get to Manhattan1 (hmm, should I stay or should I go think 500 people in unison?). Or it’s not running on the weekend. Or three years from now after all the development is completed and what was five-deep is now ten-deep and the arriving trains at Vernon/Jackson are completely packed from all the new residents further back in LIC and the platform at Grand Central backs up onto the stairs during the evening commute.
Because at the end of the day (both now and in a decade hence), my net commuting time to and from Long Island City leaves me just enough room to write and read all the news that you see here.
Why Some Surprising People Are Not Really Into the BQX – I said it from the start: might be a great idea but going to run waaay over budget
Smyth Condo in Dutch Kills Gets Thumbs Up from AG – 41 units in a nice looking building, but Dutch kills will never be the same
Permits Filed for 39-25 27th Street – only 9 units, but still chipping away at the old DK
Paragon Paint Building Owners Scale Back Plans, Ask for Variance – not sure why they bothered given Plaxall’s announcement last week
Homelessness of Students Still a Problem in Astoria/LIC Public Schools – be thankful: “In Astoria and Long Island City, one out of nine students have experienced homelessness by fifth grade and one in 10 pre-kindergarten through grade 12 students have experienced homelessness in the last six years in Community School District 30”
Their Life Saving Encounter in LIC – one man is v v thankful for another’s help
EZ Pawn Opens at 25-04 Queens Plaza South – keepin’ it real in QP, thank goodness!
- inevitably that’s the day that I decided to bring something bulky to the office, or it’s raining …or snowing [↩]
[…] Avenue and then 21st Street to catch the E-train at the Court Square Station to get to Manhattan1 (hmm, should I stay or should I go think 500 people in unison?). Or it’s not running on the […]