Oh man I love my trains! Here is the train that provides service to the facilities at JFK Int'l Airport in NYC.

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Labels: flickr, new york, subway

Yet another great use of Flickr Video... they actually are pictures! And they're a video! Amazing!

Labels: flickr, new york

I love this stuff! This is hardcore! Who knows who they are transporting, but they must be important or in danger or both! They're in town for the UN business going on, must be some head of state!

I hate posting two Flickr Fridays in a row, I'll try to blog some this week!

Visit my flickr page: j.reed

Labels: flickr, new york

A foggy Saturday morning, 62 years ago, the Empire State Building encountered a US Army B-25 Mitchell twin-engined medium bomber aircraft in less than ideal conditions. In 1945 the Empire State Building was still the world's tallest building, a record it held for 23 years until eclipsed by the World Trade Towers' North Tower.

After the completion of World War II, Lieutenant Colonel William F. Smith was flying a B-52D from Bedford, Massachusetts to eventually return to home base in South Dakota. The weather at the time left much to be desired, dense fog had covered the tristate region. Smith had at first been directed to land at LaGuardia by air traffic control, requesting that he terminate the current leg to Newark, New Jersey. Being a decorated veteran of over 100 combat missions, Smith believed he could navigate the think fog. At 9:40am, soon after a fateful right rudder maneuver just past the Chrysler Building, the B-25D collided with the Empire State Building at 200mph (320kph). Smith and two other occupants in the plane were killed. Eleven of the building's occupants also perished. Hitting the building, between the 79th and 80th floors, had caused extensive damage, however, the building was still open on the following Monday.

The crash extensively damaged the elevators in the building, yet they were still used to transport the injured. Betty Lou Oliver, an elevator operator on the 80th floor, was initially injured but survived the impact. After being placed in an elevator to return to the ground to receive medical attention, the already damaged elevator cables finally gave way. Oliver plunged 75 stories into the sub-basement. Amazingly she survived, setting a world record for the longest survived elevator fall recorded.

Labels: history, new york

There are going to be two ffs from me today, since I haven't blogged in the last 10 or so days, including missing a flickr friday.

Here is the Cyclone roller coaster in NYC, which I'll have to say is the best wooden roller coaster I've ever been on. The sky looks awesome, almost like fire, like doomsday or something.

Remember not to ride "on the wheels" while on this coaster!

Visit my flickr page: j.reed

Labels: flickr, new york

I haven't had one from New York in a while... so here is the top of the Chrysler building. I love the detail this picture shows of the top of the building with the darkened edges and how the flat square pieces make the arch on the sides of the building.

Visit my flickr page: j.reed

Labels: flickr, new york

I'm not going to go into great detail on this, but it looks like the MTA was able to strap together enough cash to build the envisioned Fulton Street Transit Hub. Previously they mentioned that an E train connection would cost too much when coupled together with the giant glass done they would install at the main entrance.

Over at the NY Times there is a neat interactive graphic display of what the hub will look like and how you can get around.

The hub is currently scheduled for a late 2008 opening and a 2009 opening of the Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH) station. So we can probably expect this to over budget and behind schedule as early as 2010.

Labels: new york, subway

There have been amazing stories these past few days of a man helping a seizure victim at the 137th St station in New York.

While waiting for an approaching train, 20 year old Cameron Hollopeter suffered a stroke and fell onto the tracks from the platform. Wesley Autrey, a bystander who was waiting for the train with his two daughters, jumped down to help Cameron. Autrey noticed the train was too close to remove the stunned victim from harms way and decided to cover the victim in between the rails. They managed to escape getting hit by the train by very very little. Autrey claims he felt the train brush up against his hat.

This absolute amazing act of heroism saved Cameron's life who thanked Autrey from his hospital bed. Autrey was awarded free rides on the subway for a year and was thanked by the mayor at city hall. Donald Trump also awarded him a check for $10,000.

Labels: new york, subway

So far, so good, for the January 11th trip to New York! Hopefully I'll get to see Grand Central Terminal again and possibly the New York Transit Museum Annex. You should also look forward to some flickr fridays from myself with my new camera!

Visit my flickr page: j.reed

Labels: flickr, new york, subway

Yikes! I missed two weeks of Flickr Friday! I'm going to this wonderful city on the 11th! Here is a great shot of New York City looking north from atop the Empire State Building. This picture was taken with a Nikon D80, which is the other camera I was considering buying over the XTi. I think the D80 is a bit better, but hopefully I'll be able to pull out these god-awesome shots still.

Visit my flickr page: j.reed

Labels: flickr, new york

Back in August I mentioned the new R160 trains that were going into an in-service test to evaluate their readiness for the New York Subway system. The test period ran for 30 days, restarting the 30 days every time an problem was encountered. Apparently there were a few problems. but they've all been ironed out.

This is great news for everyone that hates those yellow trains with the orange seats that seem to have been placed inside the train by happenstance. These new trains have a wide open layout with handsome blue benches on either side. Come the end of 2007, 700 of these beauties and their digital information screens and automated announcements will go into use on the N and Q lines. Thats great news for the N line, as it is regarded as the worst line on the entire system (along with the W).

The years coming will be seeing plenty of nice new things on the NYC Subway -- these trains, the Second Avenue subway, and the Fulton Street transit hub (one of the worst stations on the system, and also one of the busiest).

Labels: new york, subway

Unfortunately for the owners of the new World Trade Center complex, no one wants to work in the new Freedom Tower. A realativly small portion was leased by government agencies, but the remaining space has still not be claimed by any private corporations. Maybe they don't want to move in because the building doesn't seem like it will be finished (or even started) anytime soon?

The people that work for the agencies that have made a commitment to move into the new tower, such as the Port Authority, aren't all that thrilled. Basically the employees that don't want to move in are scared of what might happen. Now you must be mindful of the fundamental concept of terrorism. Terrorists aren't out to blow up a building, they're out to instill fear (read: terrorism) in us and affect the way we live our lives. This building has been designed with the previous tower's collapse in mind. The only faults of the Trade Center was lack of communication and a partial lack of stairways in the south tower and complete loss in the north tower. Many people below the impact zone successfully evacuated. Had the tower's fireproofing remained in place, it is disputed that the towers may even have remained standing.

Labels: new york

I've previously mentioned that New York was the most polite city and now they've been named the safest big city for 2005. Crime in the Big Apple has dropped %17.7 since 2001!

When I visited, I felt pretty safe everywhere but Chinatown (everything was closed and it was quite dark!). Terrorism funding leading to increased police presence just about everywhere has definitely helped. The influx of upper middle class residents displacing some less desired housing possibly has helped too. Either way, NYC has come a long way from the seedy past of the 70s and 80s.

Labels: law enforcement, new york

NYC's Municipal Transport Authority announced their high tech Rail Control Center and they're also testing their nifty spiffy R-160 trains on the N line.

The photo on the right is of the R-160's fancy dynamic stop information display. It can update for services changes, wither it be for a reduced late night/weekend schedule, a temporary diversion, or construction. These new trains are vital to the new command center and new train information systems at each station platform. If all goes well in this not-less-than 30 day test, the MTA will purchase 600+ cars from their manufacturer. Each time they encounter a problem, the 30 day test period starts over, so far, it has started over once. As far as I know, these new trains don't contain anti-urine seats.

With all these new trains and increased ridership the MTA is launching their high tech control station. Currently they can only tell if there is a train in a 600 ft long block section, with the new system, they should be able to tell where the train is at to the foot. This will enable displays at stations notifying awaiting riders of their wait time for their train. Allowing trains to ride closer together though the advanced features of this center will allow more trains to run, and thus a higher passenger capacity. The location of what, when finished in four years, will be the most advanced rail control system in the world, is a guarded secret, as it could potentially be a terrorism target.

Labels: new york, subway

Another great shot from New York found on flickr via Gothamist.

Do you think the shy is photoshopped or is it just a camera trick? I love how the top half of the photo is unreal and then as you pan down to see the street it really comes alive.

Labels: flickr, new york

A recent comment to one of my previous posts stated that "NYC is probably the rudest city on earth, I BET THATS WHY YOU LIKE IT THERE, MISTER BASTARD!" (Note: 6th grader all-caps and lack of apostrophe in "that's"). It is actually quite the contrary on both counts. According to MSNBC.com, New York City was named the most polite city in the world, in front of Moscow and London -- and that's one of the reasons I like it there. No mention of any Canadian cities, since frankly, no one cares about Canada!

Labels: new york