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Watering New York’s Transit Deserts Watering New York’s Transit Deserts
(about 1 hour later)
Last week the New York City Council voted to temporarily limit the number of Uber, Lyft and other ride-hail cars as a way to ease congestion in densely populated parts of town. The plan may well work in Manhattan and Downtown Brooklyn, where riders have an abundance of public transit options.Last week the New York City Council voted to temporarily limit the number of Uber, Lyft and other ride-hail cars as a way to ease congestion in densely populated parts of town. The plan may well work in Manhattan and Downtown Brooklyn, where riders have an abundance of public transit options.
But a moratorium on new Uber and Lyft licenses, should it become permanent, will exact a heavy toll in New York’s boroughs outside Manhattan, where ride-hail cars fill a transit gap that the city has too long ignored. This problem will only grow as New Yorkers move to the city’s far corners in search of affordable housing — which means the council needs to get serious about developing creative and effective transit solutions that serve everyone, and fast.But a moratorium on new Uber and Lyft licenses, should it become permanent, will exact a heavy toll in New York’s boroughs outside Manhattan, where ride-hail cars fill a transit gap that the city has too long ignored. This problem will only grow as New Yorkers move to the city’s far corners in search of affordable housing — which means the council needs to get serious about developing creative and effective transit solutions that serve everyone, and fast.
On the low-slung plain of southeast Brooklyn, where the land slips gently toward the sea, subway stations are as common as obedient cats. Its neighborhoods — East Flatbush, Flatlands, Canarsie, Mill Basin, Marine Park, Gerritsen Beach — are diverse, affordable and unspoiled by gentrification. They are also far away — a solid hour’s commute from Midtown, if you’re lucky. In urban planning parlance, southeast Brooklyn is a rapid-transit desert, unserved by a single subway line. Some neighborhoods here are more than three miles from a station.On the low-slung plain of southeast Brooklyn, where the land slips gently toward the sea, subway stations are as common as obedient cats. Its neighborhoods — East Flatbush, Flatlands, Canarsie, Mill Basin, Marine Park, Gerritsen Beach — are diverse, affordable and unspoiled by gentrification. They are also far away — a solid hour’s commute from Midtown, if you’re lucky. In urban planning parlance, southeast Brooklyn is a rapid-transit desert, unserved by a single subway line. Some neighborhoods here are more than three miles from a station.
It wasn’t supposed to be this way. Plans for extending subway service to this part of Brooklyn — the so-called IND Second System — were drafted even as the area was developing in the 1920s. One line was to come down Utica Avenue and hook south along Avenue S toward Sheepshead Bay. A later version took the tracks down Flatbush Avenue to Floyd Bennett Field, New York’s first municipal airport. The Nostrand Avenue line was to be similarly extended, from the junction at Brooklyn College south to Voorhies Avenue. None of these were ever built.It wasn’t supposed to be this way. Plans for extending subway service to this part of Brooklyn — the so-called IND Second System — were drafted even as the area was developing in the 1920s. One line was to come down Utica Avenue and hook south along Avenue S toward Sheepshead Bay. A later version took the tracks down Flatbush Avenue to Floyd Bennett Field, New York’s first municipal airport. The Nostrand Avenue line was to be similarly extended, from the junction at Brooklyn College south to Voorhies Avenue. None of these were ever built.
Local residents were partly to blame. The first plan, dashed by the Great Depression and then postponed by World War II, was revived in the 1950s only to be quashed by civic groups outraged that the city wanted to build the new lines not underground but overhead. Downtown Brooklyn and all of Manhattan had only recently been relieved of the dark and noisome “els,” and nobody wanted them resurrected in a leafy bedroom community. By the time plans were dusted off again in the late 1960s, crime was soaring and subway cars, now spectacularly covered in graffiti, had become rolling symbols of social collapse. New York was under siege; no one wanted subways anymore — underground, overhead or anywhere else.Local residents were partly to blame. The first plan, dashed by the Great Depression and then postponed by World War II, was revived in the 1950s only to be quashed by civic groups outraged that the city wanted to build the new lines not underground but overhead. Downtown Brooklyn and all of Manhattan had only recently been relieved of the dark and noisome “els,” and nobody wanted them resurrected in a leafy bedroom community. By the time plans were dusted off again in the late 1960s, crime was soaring and subway cars, now spectacularly covered in graffiti, had become rolling symbols of social collapse. New York was under siege; no one wanted subways anymore — underground, overhead or anywhere else.
Today, with urban living resurgent and transit-rich parts of New York City becoming increasingly unaffordable, we need to revisit plans to better link boroughs outside Manhattan to the city’s center. This is especially so in light of the recent move to cap ride-hailing, an effective free-market solution to a transit problem it should have solved decades ago.Today, with urban living resurgent and transit-rich parts of New York City becoming increasingly unaffordable, we need to revisit plans to better link boroughs outside Manhattan to the city’s center. This is especially so in light of the recent move to cap ride-hailing, an effective free-market solution to a transit problem it should have solved decades ago.
Recent subway extensions have been misguided. The staggeringly expensive Second Avenue Subway, with deep tunnels bored through solid rock, may have taken pressure off the overcrowded Lexington Avenue line, but the affluent Upper East Side it serves was no transit desert. As Aaron Gordon put it in The Village Voice last month, the people who used to have a 15-minute walk to the subway “now have a mere ten-minute walk.”Recent subway extensions have been misguided. The staggeringly expensive Second Avenue Subway, with deep tunnels bored through solid rock, may have taken pressure off the overcrowded Lexington Avenue line, but the affluent Upper East Side it serves was no transit desert. As Aaron Gordon put it in The Village Voice last month, the people who used to have a 15-minute walk to the subway “now have a mere ten-minute walk.”
The proposed Brooklyn-Queens Connector, a street-level light-rail line along the East River waterfront from Astoria to Sunset Park, would mostly serve gentrifying neighborhoods that — with the exception of Red Hook — are already flush with transit options.The proposed Brooklyn-Queens Connector, a street-level light-rail line along the East River waterfront from Astoria to Sunset Park, would mostly serve gentrifying neighborhoods that — with the exception of Red Hook — are already flush with transit options.
Compared with these big-ticket items, extending the crucial Utica Avenue line deeper into Brooklyn would be a cakewalk. It would irrigate in a single stroke Brooklyn’s largest subway desert and — if built just below street grade using traditional “cut and cover” construction techniques — could be realized for a mere fraction of the $4.45 billion that Phase I of the Second Avenue Subway cost taxpayers.Compared with these big-ticket items, extending the crucial Utica Avenue line deeper into Brooklyn would be a cakewalk. It would irrigate in a single stroke Brooklyn’s largest subway desert and — if built just below street grade using traditional “cut and cover” construction techniques — could be realized for a mere fraction of the $4.45 billion that Phase I of the Second Avenue Subway cost taxpayers.
Of course, building subways takes time. In the meanwhile, let’s extend ferry service. When I show students a route map of the immensely popular NYC Ferry, the first thing they point out is the seemingly spiteful omission of a single landing site along the 15-mile run between Bay Ridge and Far Rockaway. Southeastern Brooklyn, easily reached by water, is completely bypassed by this wonderful new commuting option. This is something the city could rectify almost overnight — by adding, for example, landings at the foot of Knapp Street in Sheepshead Bay, where a huge parcel of city-owned land has sat idle since I was a toddler, or on Mill Basin at Kings Plaza, where no less than five bus lines come together. At the very least it should add a stop at Canarsie Pier — something local residents have already petitioned the mayor for. Of course, building subways takes time. Meanwhile, let’s extend ferry service. When I show students a route map of the immensely popular NYC Ferry, the first thing they point out is the seemingly spiteful omission of a single landing site along the 15-mile run between Bay Ridge and Far Rockaway. Southeastern Brooklyn, easily reached by water, is completely bypassed by this wonderful new commuting option. This is something the city could rectify almost overnight — by adding, for example, landings at the foot of Knapp Street in Sheepshead Bay, where a huge parcel of city-owned land has sat idle since I was a toddler, or on Mill Basin at Kings Plaza, where no less than five bus lines come together. At the very least it should add a stop at Canarsie Pier — something local residents have already petitioned the mayor for.
There may be cause for hope: In a statement to Vice in April, the vice president of the city’s Economic Development Corporation, Stephanie Báez, hinted that a study was in the works “to determine the feasibility of expanding NYC Ferry service to more communities.”There may be cause for hope: In a statement to Vice in April, the vice president of the city’s Economic Development Corporation, Stephanie Báez, hinted that a study was in the works “to determine the feasibility of expanding NYC Ferry service to more communities.”
The city could also easily expand its CitiBike program, which serves not a single Brooklyn neighborhood south of Prospect Park. Even dockless shared bikes, ubiquitous in many Asian and European cities, would be an immense help to residents.The city could also easily expand its CitiBike program, which serves not a single Brooklyn neighborhood south of Prospect Park. Even dockless shared bikes, ubiquitous in many Asian and European cities, would be an immense help to residents.
These steps can be taken quickly, at little extra expense — and they need to be, within the next few years, while the city decides how to make rail transit reach the vast parts of the underserved boroughs outside Manhattan. The irony is that the city’s ride-hailing freeze, taken in part to help the companies’ underpaid drivers, disadvantages the very neighborhoods where many of those drivers live. Without a comprehensive approach to filling in the service gaps left by ride-hailing, they will be inarguably worse off than if the council had done nothing.These steps can be taken quickly, at little extra expense — and they need to be, within the next few years, while the city decides how to make rail transit reach the vast parts of the underserved boroughs outside Manhattan. The irony is that the city’s ride-hailing freeze, taken in part to help the companies’ underpaid drivers, disadvantages the very neighborhoods where many of those drivers live. Without a comprehensive approach to filling in the service gaps left by ride-hailing, they will be inarguably worse off than if the council had done nothing.
Thomas J. Campanella (@builtbrooklyn) is director of the Urban and Regional Studies Program at Cornell University and author of the forthcoming book “Brooklyn: The Once and Future City.”Thomas J. Campanella (@builtbrooklyn) is director of the Urban and Regional Studies Program at Cornell University and author of the forthcoming book “Brooklyn: The Once and Future City.”
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