King Critical Tells It Like It Is
Thursday, December 18, 2003
AirTrain: Lessons in Government and What not to Do
The long-awaited maiden voyage of the Port Authority's "Air Train" to Kennedy International happened yesterday. I could have told you four years ago that this project would be a disaster.
On first glance, it would seem that every decision that the Port Authority makes is obtuse. However, if you look at the organization's motivation, you can see they merely are being self-serving. The Authority has the power to make far-reaching decisions that affect some 15 million people, but the decisions are always in the primary interest of the Port Authority and the secondary interest of the people of the City of New York (not to mention the millions of international travelers who pass through Kennedy and Newark every year). Air Train is a perfect example.
When the idea for this project was conceived, the PA blanched at the suggestion that MTA subways or commuter rails would be allowed into the airport. If the PA were to allow others into their sphere, that would be a concession; they would lose some amount of control. To the PA, it matters more that they retain every bit of power than that they meet the needs of the people. Folks: I give you AirTrain.
The PA insisted on building a train that they could keep in their little world. They built the infrastructure specifically so that it would not be compatible with NYC subway or Long Island Railroad cars. The train goes along on its little loop in Queens, nowhere near Manhattan. Essentially, it is a glorified inter-terminal shuttle or tram—except that it costs five dollars a ride.
The purpose of building rail infrastructure into and through an airport is to give travelers a one-seat ride to the central city. Even if the ride takes an hour, travelers do not want to transfer or walk far when traveling with luggage. With AirTrain, travelers use the subway or LIRR to get to a point in Queens, then transfer to the AirTrain, giving them a two-seat ride at best. When you consider that the average traveler will need to change subway lines at least once, or get to Penn Station for the LIRR, the trip becomes a three- or four-seat ride. Sadly, the only one-seat ride to Kennedy (or LaGuardia for that matter) remains a cab or car service.
The Port Authority should never have gotten away with this boondoggle. They did because they answer to no one. Amazingly, the New York Times credits the PA, even though the idea is half-baked at best. Here are some nuggets from today's New York Times article on this mess:
Before a phalanx of cameras, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Gov. George E. Pataki stepped off the AirTrain into the gleaming new terminal in Jamaica, a few hours before it opened to the public.
But the carefully choreographed moment was marred when the new train's stainless steel doors closed too quickly on Mr. Bloomberg, causing him to stagger. He was caught by Mr. Pataki.
This is New York City, not Disney World. But the AirTrain is run by computers, likely because to man the train would be another expense.
Transit advocates and politicians have long sought a "one-seat ride" directly from Manhattan to Kennedy Airport.
True. The problem, though, is that the PA ignored the advice of transit advocates on the design.
But community opposition and expense forced the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to settle on the compromise version that opened yesterday.
An outright falsehood. The PA did not "settle" on anything. They railroaded their design through with no regard for anyone but themselves.
[The AirTrain] can move at 50 miles per hour, and links the airport's nine terminals. But commuters coming from Manhattan, especially those taking the subway, must still endure a long ride and transfer.
As I said above, AirTrain is a glorified shuttle bus.
"Now you can go to Penn Station and less than 45 minutes later be ready to get on your airplane," Governor Pataki said yesterday.
Thanks, George. So after I pay two dollars for a half-hour subway ride to Penn Station, I can switch trains again to take the LIRR, which will cost me another seven dollars. And when I get to Jamaica, I can switch trains again and pay another five dollars to get to the airport, 45 minutes after my arrival at Penn Station. Good thing I travel light. Are you sure you want to take all the credit for the project?
According to the Port Authority, taking the Long Island Railroad from Penn Station to Jamaica, Queens, and then the AirTrain to the Airport should take 35 minutes, at a total cost of $11.75.
But on the subway, the same trip—either an E train to Jamaica or an A train to the second AirTrain station in Howard Beach, Brooklyn—takes an hour or more and costs a total of $7. The AirTrain alone is $5.
Sounds well worth the time, money, and effort.
Many credit Governor Pataki with pushing through the scaled-back plan despite criticism that the $1.9 billion cost was too high for something that was not even a one-seat ride.
Yesterday, an exultant Mr. Pataki said: "We said: 'Enough of the studying. It's time to build. It's time for action.' "
You tell them, George. Even if it's ill-conceived, we'll build it. 1.9 billion? That's a drop in the bucket.
The effort to win approval for this plan was not easy. The Port Authority hired a team to lobby the City Council and three community boards. It also had to go to court for the right to use $1.3 billion of its share of revenue from a $3 fee assessed on all air travelers. Airline industry groups had contended that the money should be used only on the airport grounds.
"It really was persuasion on every level," said Robert Boyle, the former executive director of the Port Authority who oversaw the project before he left in 2001.
Friday, December 05, 2003
What's Wrong With This Headline?
"Car Kills Boy, 5, as His Mother Takes Him to School"
Yesterday morning in Queens, a boy was stuck by a woman driving a car. He was killed right outside of his school.
The above headline is from an article in today's New York Times.
The headline reflects what is wrong with our attitude: in this incident, it was the car that killed the boy, not the person driving it. Would the Times consider publishing headlines such as "Bullet Kills Man in Drive-By," or "Baseball Bat Kills Catcher in Freak Swinging Incident"? When a car is involved, we attribute the killing to the car, not the person mis-handling it.
Here are some more choice lines from the article:
The accident took place about 8:20 a.m., the police said, in full view of dozens of horrified children and parents who were just arriving at the school, Public School 92, on 34th Avenue and 99th Street in Corona. [Emphasis added]
Now, I don't doubt that this was an accident, but it sounds as if no one is accountable, since it was "just an accident."
The boy, Christian Plaza, was holding his mother's hand as they walked up to the front gate when a gold Toyota Camry lurched backward, jumped the curb, and knocked the boy from his mother's grasp into the iron and concrete gate, witnesses said.
From this line, you'd think the car had a mind of its own. It sounds like a vicious, reckless car.
[The boy's] mother, Monica Orellana, was not injured but was taken to Elmhurst Hospital Center to be examined, as was the driver of the vehicle, who was parallel-parking when she lost control of the car, a law enforcement official said.
The driver was parallel parking? Notice that language: the woman "lost control of the car." It couldn't have been through any fault of her own. I'm curious to know how fast she might have been going when parallel parking to make the car jump the curb.
The police said that no charges would be filed. After the accident, police officers quickly blocked off the scene and hung white sheets to hide the sight of Christian's blood on the pavement. [Emphasis added]
Do some research and you will find that in cases like these, charges are almost never filed. According to Transportation Alternatives, an advocacy group for cyclists and pedestrians, "[I]n 1999, the New York Post found that New York City district attorneys charged murdering motorists with vehicular homicide or assault just 11 times, even though motorists killed 419 people that year."
The school and the district provided a crisis counseling team to the students, parents and teachers, said Margie Feinberg, a spokeswoman for the Department of Education. "The chancellor is saddened by this tragic accident," she said."
A tragic accident indeed, but where is the outrage?
Ms. Chauca [the driver of the car] was backing up when she lost control of the car, Jessica said. "She pressed the brake with one foot, then with two feet, but still it didn't stop," she said. "She hit the fence, and then she realized she hit the kid."
There is no mention of whether the police investigated the potential mechanical failure of the brakes. It sounds to me that a more likely possibility is that the woman hit the accelerator instead of the brake.
The boy was not running out in the street. He was a pedestrian, walking on the sidewalk, holding his mother's hand. Of course this murder was unintentional, but there are charges for laws covering involuntary manslaughter, vehicular homicide, and assault with a deadly weapon.
Cars can be deadly weapons, just as guns, knives, bats, or many objects can. It is time that we started treating them that way.
Thursday, December 04, 2003
Ah, Fair Fairfield
Fairfield University, a Jesuit school located in Fairfield, CT, has a "Stag" for a school mascot. The school has numerous sports teams, and players on Fairfield teams are called "Stags." Strangely, this includes women on athletic teams, which alone is enough to make one grimace.
But the women's teams once had a name that was worse and actually made even less sense. Sadly, the women's teams were once called the "Lady Stags."
I remember going to a basketball game at Manhattan college when I was young—the Manhattan Jaspers were playing the Fairfield Stags. There was a women's game to follow the men's, and as the Fairfield women walked
in, I noticed their name. It actually said "Lady Stags" on their uniforms.
I swear I am not making this up. References on Fairfield's website are few, but to verify my claim, you can refer to this article.
It seems that all Fairfield teams now go simply by the Stags, and I was able to find no "history" section or reference to the Lady Stags on the Fairfield sports website. But on the school's website, I learned that it was an all-male institution until 1970. For the Fairfield Fight Song, "The Men in Red," go here.
A visit to the Fairfield sports website shows that the women's sports at the school outnumber the men's, and include volleyball, field hockey, and crew, which are exclusively for women. The school eliminated its men's football and ice hockey teams starting with the 2003-2004 academic year.
For Fairfield's Stag logo, go here. For Fairfield's academic site, go here.
From Merriam-Webster OnLine:
stag: noun. 1. an adult male red deer. 2. chiefly Scottish: a young horse; especially: a young unbroken stallion. 3. a male animal castrated after maturity. 4. a young adult male domestic fowl. 5a. a social gathering of men only 5b. one who attends a dance or party without a companion
Wednesday, December 03, 2003
George Bush is a miserable failure.
It's true; the internet says so. Go to Google and type in the words
miserable failure
and see what comes up.
"How to Treat a Band Like Shit" or "My Experience with Excess dB"
My favorite band is the EXPLOITED. What's yours?
The following email exchange about a rock and roll show took place between me and a "promoter." He emailed me to see if my band wanted to play a show, then he told me that we would have to sell tickets for it. Dumbfounded, I then played dumb to see if he was serious. Apparently so.
In all my years of playing rock and roll, both in New York City and across the country, I have never played a show where we were required to sell tickets—a scam known as "pay to play" among professional bands and professional promoters alike. Read on...
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--- casey@excessdb.com wrote:
hey wanted to see if the banned would be intrested i playing at the continental on sunday 12/14 @3pm with The ducky boys, river city rebels, and street dogs. Please get back to me asap if intrested.thanks
casey
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--- kingcritical wrote:
We will probably be able to play, but let me check with my bandmates.
I assume this show is all-ages. What is the cover?
Regards,
Brian/THE BANNED
http://www.thebanned.net
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--- casey@excessdb.com wrote:
the show is all ages, 21 to drink with ID. Tickets are $10, how many would the banned be able to sell to this show?
casey
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--- kingcritical wrote:
Are you selling advance tickets? Usually the people who come to see us show up and pay at the door.
But if there are advance ticket sales, we would definitely point that out when we promote it.
If it is likely to sell out, we can make a point of telling people to get them in advance. Otherwise, I don't think many people would bother to buy tickets beforehand.
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--- casey@excessdb.com wrote:
well you as a band are obligated to sell these advance tickets.
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--- kingcritical wrote:
Are the other bands obligated to sell tickets as well?
Regards,
Brian/THE BANNED
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--- casey@excessdb.com wrote:
touring bands are not obligated to sell tickets, that is the job of the local band.
casey
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--- kingcritical wrote:
We have never played a show in New York where we were required to sell tickets--pay to play, or whatever you want to call it.
People will come to see us at this show, especially since there are no age restrictions, and if we are on the bill we will promote it well. But if you require us to sell tickets for it, we have to decline.
Regards,
Brian/THE BANNED
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[To the previous message, I received no response.]
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--- kingcritical wrote:
Hey Casey, just checking back to see if you still want us to play that December 14 show. Please let me know. Thanks.
-Brian/THE BANNED
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--- casey@excessdb.com wrote:
no im looking for a band to sell tickets. sorry
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This promotion company, Excess dB, is based in New Jersey, where I guess they do things a little differently. If this instance is any indication, I imagine that they book shows with a bigger band or two to headline, and then use some local/high school/not-yet-established band to open. Such is the usual way to get a good crowd for the show.
Excess dB errs when they have the locals "sell tickets." This usually means that the local band buys tickets from the promoter and then must re-sell them to their fans. What the promoter is doing is forcing his responsibility on the band. Often, the local band is so excited to get the show that they don't care that they are being exploited. I can't speak for all the other shows that these guys do, but that was what they expected of my band.
Both the bands and those who book them have a responsibility to promote their shows. But as it would be unfair to a promoter for a band to just show up and play without doing anything to let people know about it, it is unfair for a promoter to use a band to sell tickets. Grow up, Excess dB.
