What the L: Cuomo calls off full L-train shutdown

Gov. Cuomo announced today that the 15-month L-train shutdown that was to start in April to repair Sandy-damaged tubes is no longer necessary.

During an early-afternoon press conference, Cuomo, joined by a team of Cuomo-appointed tunnel experts (engineering academics with unknown insights into MTA project management), unveiled a new renovation method using a different design for repairs that would require night and weekend closures of one tube at a time.

Details of the plan have yet to be released.

Per ABC 7:

"It uses many new innovations that are new, frankly, to the rail industry in this country ... With this design, it will not be necessary to close the L train tunnel at all, which would be a phenomenal benefit to the people of New York City," he said.

Cuomo said he does not believe this design has been used in the United States before, though it has been implemented in Europe.

The governor said that commuters should not worry about the integrity of the tunnel: Major structural elements were not compromised. The MTA needs to fix the circuit breaker house and power cables that were damaged after the tubes flooded and were therefore exposed to salt water.

Per The Wall Street Journal:

Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials spent years weighing repair options, including shutting down one track at a time to maintain some service between Brooklyn and Manhattan.

In 2016, they opted for a full shutdown, reasoning that it could be completed in half the time and at less expense than a partial shutdown. Initially, they said that a full shutdown would be needed for 18 months, but that timeline was later shortened to 15 months.

Judlau Contracting Inc., which won a $477 million contract to repair the tunnel, was offered incentives to finish the work ahead of schedule and penalties of $400,000 for every day beyond the deadline that the project was delayed.

Mr. Cuomo’s decision to alter the project raises questions about how the contractor can now finish the work on time. It also raises questions about contingency plans that were being put in place by the MTA and New York City following years of planning.

The L-train prep work started in July 2017 on 14th Street between First Avenue and Avenue B. This past summer, residents learned that this corridor was not only the main construction zone leading up to the L-train closure, but also during the 15 months the MTA expected the trains to be offline between Bedford Avenue and Eight Avenue.

Meanwhile, some quickie reaction via Twitter...

My hot take is that I have no idea if this is a better L-tunnel plan than what was supposed to happen. Obviously needs a lot of dissection. What I do know is that Cuomo took interest in this far later than he should have.

— Ben Max (@TweetBenMax) January 3, 2019

Now riders will be majorly inconvenienced for 3-5 years instead of 15 months of a total shutdown...#Cuomo plan very light on details except that it's a "breakthrough"

— David Krulewitch (@MovingBlock) January 3, 2019

Cuomo halting the L train shut down at this point is like when you've finally adjusted to life after being dumped and you feel fine in your new life and then they text you "I've been thinking a lot about you." https://t.co/Thcyvn6Efx

— Mel Owens (@melowens) January 3, 2019

Waiting until the last minute to cancel the L train shutdown -- after three years of anxiety, & a lot of uproot -- just to be hailed the hero, is the single most Cuomo thing possible https://t.co/7YBEFv2QUO

— Rebecca Fishbein (@bfishbfish) January 3, 2019

So I guess now the L train will never get fixed? Who does that help?

— Ananda Ferrari Ossanai (@aanunduh) January 3, 2019

Instead of shutting down the L train for necessary repairs we're gonna keep it running but it will be on fire. Enjoy!

— The Masked Zinger™ (@TimDuffy) January 3, 2019

How much has it already cost New Yorkers to pay for L train shutdown preparations that now won't be needed? There are A LOT of questions that need to be answered.

— Conor White (@conorjwhite) January 3, 2019

This 3-year-long L train hidden-ball-trick nonsense is the single most infuritiating event ever to occur

— Armin Rosen (@ArminRosen) January 3, 2019

reading all your L train jokes while on the L, feeling cyberbullied

— Alex Press (@alexnpress) January 3, 2019

Previously on EV Grieve:
Town Hall provides a few more details on the 24/7 construction at 14th and A

Renderings reveal the MTA's plans for the Avenue A L station; why does everyone look so happy?

Nightmare scenario for residents who learn that 14th Street and Avenue A will be the main staging area for the L-train reconstruction

L-pocalypse now: Recap of Tuesday's rally outside the MTA offices

[Assembly Member Harvey Epstein on Tuesday]

On Tuesday, Assembly Member Harvey Epstein along with residents and advocates rallied outside the MTA HQ on Broadway to call for greater community input to mitigate the ongoing impact of the L-train renovations underway on 14th Street between First Avenue and Avenue A.

The work here on this part of 14th Street started in July 2017 ahead of the L-train closure that commences April 27, 2019.

This past summer, residents learned that this corridor is not only the main construction zone leading up to the L-train closure, but also during the 15 months the MTA expects the trains to be offline between Bedford Avenue and Eight Avenue.

As one 14th Street resident told me about Epstein's press conference: "He got really annoyed with the MTA's intransigence about the ongoing work. Same issues: loud noise, accessibility issues, late hours — going to 24/7 — and general horribleness."

Here's part of the press statement released by Epstein's office (and NY1 has a recap here ... and Town & Village here)...

Assembly Member Harvey Epstein advocated with residents and business owners of 14th Street to draw attention to concerns over air quality, noise, and dust mitigation as a result of the L Train renovations. Tenants, business owners, community groups, elected officials, and others gathered to hold the MTA accountable to the repercussions of ongoing construction, which have hurt small businesses and created innumerable nuisances for local tenants.

Local residents have raised concerns about the MTA’s limited engagement. Without any input from the community, the L Train construction has created huge impediments on 14th Street. Small businesses are obstructed by sidewalk closures and barriers, and many local owners have reported a decrease in business since construction began. Tenants have been harangued by constant white noise, traffic jams, and dust and debris that have impacted air quality. There’s also been little consideration for accessibility, and sidewalk closures have made it difficult for people with disabilities to access the affected area.

The press conference was held to highlight these ongoing issues and bring the stories of 14th Street residents to the forefront. With the support of Assembly Member Epstein, advocates demanded that the MTA take definitive steps to address community concerns, including: holding monthly meetings with 14th Street residents; implementing shorter hours of construction, including prohibiting work on Sundays; instituting an independent monitor for air quality and environmental concerns.

“We're calling on the MTA to be a better neighbor to folks on 14th Street” Epstein said. “We're not trying to stop the MTA from doing the necessary work to improve the L train line and the 14th Street and First Avenue, but we do expect the MTA to seek community input in order to minimize the impact of ongoing construction on local residents."

Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney and City Councilmember Carlina Rivera also called for more accountability from the MTA.

MTA spokesperson Shams Tarek provided this statement to Gothamist:

"We have had dozens of meetings with neighbors of the L Project, have developed extensive procedures to minimize the impact of construction, and welcome practical ideas on how we can further protect local quality of life," Tarek said. "We require our contractors to uphold strict guidelines regarding noise, vibration, air quality, and safety, are monitoring all of these impacts, and any suggestion otherwise is just false."

Meanwhile, Gothamist has a piece from Wednesday focusing on the green stuff (upper-left-hand corner in that photo above) that workers are dredging up from the bowels of the L tube.

Transit Authority President Andy Byford had pledged to be transparent about what materials workers would dispose of and how. As for the green substance, officials said that it was water, concrete and dirt, per Gothamist.

"I don't believe anything the MTA says," resident Penny Pennline said Tuesday. "I'm not buying it, they also said 9/11 was safe for the first responders, where are those people now?"

L-train gunk aside, there are other quality-of-life issues, such as the constant noise. A resident who lives adjacent to the construction site shared this video from Wednesday...



Here's 14th Street resident Patrick Ryan from Tuesday: "Everyone who lives on East 14th Street understands the L train has to be repaired, but the conditions that the residents and schools and small businesses are living under are untenable and dangerous. The air quality in our area has suffered immensely due to the continuous use of diesel run machinery, a constant flow of trucks, and fifteen uncovered industrial dumpsters regularly being filled and emptied and overflowing into the streets.”



In another development, Gov. Cuomo was scheduled (at the last minute) to tour the Canarsie tube overnight "so that he and his experts can decide if repair work really needs to take 15 months," the Post reported.

Updated 6:13 a.m.

The Post has a story on Cuomo's tube tour:

“This is a vital and complicated project. We’re talking about a hundred year old tunnel. This is highly disruptive to New Yorkers,” Cuomo said after the tour. “I want to be able to look New Yorkers in the face and tell them that this is the best possible way to have done this.”

All photos courtesy of the 542 E. 14th St Tenants' Association

Previously on EV Grieve:
Nightmare scenario for residents who learn that 14th Street and Avenue A will be the main staging area for the L-train reconstruction

A look at the new L-train renderings along 14th Street

There's improved pedestrian access for businesses along the L-train construction corridor

Green paint arrives on the new 12th Street bike lane

On Wednesday, crews painted the new eastbound bike lane on 12th Street... I spotted them between Second Avenue and Avenue A ...







The bike lane for 13th Street arrived at the beginning of the month.

Meanwhile...

Time elapsed between painting the new 12th street bike lanes and people parking in them 1.0234seconds. #bikenyc @bikeblognyc @evgrieve #eastvillageParking #workingclass @bikesnobnyc pic.twitter.com/38ezAPTQFX

— Christopher J Ryan (@ChrisRyanAction) November 21, 2018

As previously reported, the city put in a bike lane on the north curb of 12th Street from Seventh Avenue to Avenue C, and the south curb of 13th Street from Greenwich Avenue to Avenue B separated from traffic with a painted buffer ahead of the April L-train closure.

The bike lanes are just one of the ways the city hopes to keep people/commuters moving during the 15 (or so) months that the Canarsie Tunnel under the East River gets repaired.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Prepping for the new protected bike lanes on 12th and 13th streets

Bike lane line work continues on 12th Street

DOT puts down the green paint on the new 13th Street bike lane (except for one mysterious spot)

DOT puts down the green paint on the new 13th Street bike lane (except for one mysterious spot)

DOT crews yesterday painted the new westbound bike lane on 13th Street... starting at Avenue B (the crew was just west of Second Avenue when I saw them)...



There is a curious gap just east of First Avenue... at first glance, it appears the the paint crew simply stopped and continued past the parked car...



However, a reader of the block chimed in saying that there's a curb cut here (and the car parked here later, seeing as the back wheels are on the freshly marked lane)...



The DOT team also skipped the construction zone in front of the incoming Thirteen East + West condos west of Avenue A.

As previously reported, the city put in a bike lane on the north curb of 12th Street from Seventh Avenue to Avenue C, and the south curb of 13th Street from Greenwich Avenue to Avenue B separated from traffic with a painted buffer ahead of the April L-train closure.

The bike lanes are just one of the ways the city hopes to keep people/commuters moving during the 15 (or so) months that the Canarsie Tunnel under the East River gets repaired.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Prepping for the new protected bike lanes on 12th and 13th streets

Bike lane line work continues on 12th Street

A look at the new L-train renderings along 14th Street

The MTA recently plastered both sides of 14th Street between Avenue A and First Avenue — the main construction zone for the L-train rehab — with banners touting the new ADA-compliant entrances on the way at Avenue A and other scenes from the incoming stations ... many of these renderings were similar to the ones unveiled in the summer of 2017.



However, there are several new scenes, which EVG reader Hank's Pound of Spaghetti shared... Hank had a sensible question: Why are the scalies arguing?



Does this indicate that life with the all-new L train still mean signal and switch problems and track fires, leading to possibly tense exchanges between commuters? Or are these roomies at EVGB upset over that drunken bocce match that got out of hand on the roof?

Hank also spotted the same female scalie with different male straphangers...



... and do these two know the men arguing behind them? ...



Anyway, a little diversion from the nonstop work already taking place here that's making life for nearby residents fairly miserable.

This work started in July 2017 ahead of the L-train closure between Bedford Avenue and Eighth Avenue that starts on April 27, 2019.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Town Hall provides a few more details on the 24/7 construction at 14th and A

Renderings reveal the MTA's plans for the Avenue A L station; why does everyone look so happy?

Nightmare scenario for residents who learn that 14th Street and Avenue A will be the main staging area for the L-train reconstruction