Just last month, in July, the MTA was talking about a $104 unlimited monthly card, a $99 monthly card with 90 rides, and a $29 weekly card.

But on August 23rd, the whopping cost of $130 for a monthly card was being tossed about — that’s a 46% increase! And the MTA also mentioned a $38 weekly card and a $2.50 single card ride. Check out the Public Notices, like the one below.

According to The Daily News , “The notice is written to allow enough flexibility for the board to incorporate public input in making its final decision,” the MTA said in a statement. “The goal is to increase revenues from fares and tolls by 7.5%, and the hearings are designed to elicit input on the best way to achieve that increase.”

The next day, the MTA reported that the $130 rate was actually a mechanism for it to sell a variety of MetroCards, and that it most likely wouldn’t happen.

The only silver lining in this cloud is that the MTA historically has put out these very high potential increases and then the MTA Board has approved more reasonable fares.

The increases are all part of the MTA’s 2009 plan to increase revenue by 7.5% in 2011 and 2013, and includes changes such as a $1 charge for a new MetroCard (to encourage us to refill our cards), reducing the bonus rides you get with a Basic Card, and getting rid of the 1-Day and 14-Day Passes.

Public Hearings are happening from Sept 9th - Sept 21st in all five boroughs and Manhattan, so now’s your chance to be heard.

Just put in a request and ask for one of the garages above.

Can’t beat this deal!

To request this unbelievable offer, just put in a request with Park It!.

http://www.nyc.gov/html/dof/html/about/about_news_park.shtml

To get complete information about reserved parking for people with disabilities, read the DMV brochure, Parking for People With Disabilities.
Who is eligible for vehicle plates for disabled persons or a parking permit for disabled persons?

The NYS Vehicle and Traffic Law defines the permanent disabilities that qualify. If you have a permanent disability that qualifies, you can get vehicle plates for reserved parking from the DMV or a parking permit from your local government. It is illegal to park in a parking space reserved for persons with disabilities if you do not have the correct vehicle plates or parking permit. You can use the vehicle plates or parking permit in New York State and in most other states.
How do I get a parking permit for disabled persons?

You and your healthcare provider can complete the application form MV-664.1. You also can have your healthcare provider (MD, DO, DPM, or NP) complete a statement on their letterhead. The statement must describe the disabling condition and verify that the disability qualifies according to the law. Bring the form or statement to the issuing agency in your locality (normally the office of your city clerk, town clerk or village clerk). There is no fee for a permit. Remember that the DMV does not issue the parking permits.
How do I get vehicle plates for the disabled?

* Bring the proof of your disability (either form MV-664.1 or the statement from your healthcare provider) and current vehicle plates to any DMV office.
* Bring your proof of identity.
* Complete the application form, pay $18.00, and surrender your current vehicle plates. For transaction processed on and after September 1, 2009, the fee is $18.75. Remove frames and fasteners before you surrender a vehicle plate or vehicle plates. The DMV office will not accept a vehicle plate with a frame or any fasteners attached.
* Vehicle plates for disabled persons are issued only for vehicles registered in the name of the disabled person.
* Each disabled person can have one set of vehicle plates.

How much is the fine for someone who parks in a parking space or an access aisle reserved for disabled persons?

These fines are:

* $50 to $75 for a first offense.
* $75 to 150 for a second offense.

The locality can add to the amount of these fines. The law also allows police officers to tow and store illegally-parked vehicles.
How is the number of reserved parking spaces for disabled persons determined?

A locality can establish a local law or ordinance to reserve parking spaces on a street and install the signs. Municipalities do not have control over the assignment of parking spaces in private parking lots, but many facilities provide their own reserved parking. If you have a question about reserved parking for disabled persons on a specific street, determine if the street is part of county, city, town, village or state property. Then contact the correct officials for that locality. Shopping centers that include five or more retail stores are also required to provide and reserved parking spaces for disabled customers.
Is reserved parking for people with disabilities available in New York City?

New York City (NYC) issues parking permits and vehicle plates for disabled persons to its residents, but there are no reserved spaces in NYC. If you have questions about reserved parking for disabled persons in NYC, contact the NYC Department of Transportation, Bureau of Traffic.
What is a metered parking waiver and how do I get one?

From the DMV web site, you can download the information form and the Application for Metered Parking Waiver for Persons with Severe Disabilities (Forms MV-664.1 and MV-664.2)

The DMV does not issue metered parking waivers. The same agency that issues parking permits for the disabled in your locality also issues the metered parking waivers.

The NYS Vehicle and Traffic Law does not allow New York City to issue metered parking waivers to NYC residents, and the New York City Department of Transportation does not issue metered parking waivers.

Good news! If you got a parking violation at a bus stop that was ‘de-commissioned’, you can fight it and get the ticket dismissed. Turns out the Traffic Enforcement Agents were told not to give tickets in these bus stops, but the message didn’t get out to everyone. More info from the Wall Street Journal.

If you’re thinking of going to the fireworks, the 26 minute display starts at 9:00 pm. According to Gridlock Sam the best viewing area will probably be South of 42nd Street along the pier, by the Circle Line.

Read more about driving and parking for the fireworks, plus great parking deals.

If you’re driving to see the fireworks:
The West Side Highway will be closed from 14th to 79th Streets in both directions, from about 4pm onwards. You will need to exit at 79th Street going south.

The NYC Police Department may close the West Side Highway as high as 125th Street or 158th Street, depending on traffic.

All cross-streets in the Viewing Area (23rd to 59th Streets) will be closed to vehicles west of 11th Avenue.

All streets should re-open between 2 – 3am, depending on how long the clean-up takes.

Here are some parking ideas:
Since July 4th is a Sunday this year, parking on the street is free.

If you want to park your car in a garage, there are 47 garages and lots from 42nd to 23rd Street between 8th Avenue and the West Side Highway. Since about half of these garages are used to charging a special ‘event rate’ for the Javits Center, they will probably impose an event rate for July 4th. But we’ll have to wait and see, since this is the first time the fireworks will be on the West Side. We suggest going east of 8th Avenue and trying some of the smaller chains or independent garages that are more likely to charge their normal weekend rate. Garages in midtown may be much less expensive on a Sunday night and then you can take the Shuttle over to Times Square and walk to 12th Avenue.

Great Parking Deals
Keep checking back here as we get some fabulous parking deals from our garage partners!

ProPark - South Street Seaport. Open lots, great viewing of the fireworks.

Edison - Secaucus train station. Just one stop to Penn Station and you don’t have to drive in the city. FREE parking to anyone who parks at this lot on 675 New County Road (Exit 15x on the Turnpike) on July 4th between 2pm and 10pm. The promotion is valid for 12 hours. Get the promotion here.

Fifth Avenue generally divides Manhattan into the East Side and West Side. Building numbers start at 1 at Fifth Avenue and go up as the buildings move East or West of Fifth Avenue. Here’s the chart, which was generously given to us by John Tauranac, author of Block by Block and other fabulous guides to NYC subways, buses, and streets.

East/West Buildings are numbered by block from 23rd – 139th Streets
1 – 40………5th - Madison Aves
41 - 99……..Madison – Park Aves
100 - 140…..Park – Lexington Aves
141 - 199…..Lexington – 3rd Aves
200 - 299…..3rd – 2nd Aves
300 - 399…..2nd – 1st Aves
400 - 499…..1st Ave – Ave A, Sutton Pl, York Ave or Pleasant Ave
500 - 599…..Ave A – Ave B, York - East End Ave
600 - 699…..Ave B – Ave C, East End Ave – East River

West Side from 5th Ave, 14th – 59th Streets
1 - 99……….5th – 6th Aves
100 - 199…..6th – 7th Aves
200 - 299…..7th – 8th Aves
300 - 399…..8th – 9th Aves
400 - 499…..9th – 10th Aves
500 - 599…..10th – 11th Aves
600 - 699…..11th – 12th Aves

West Side from 5th Ave, 60th – 109th Streets
1 - 99………Central Park West - Columbus Aves
100 - 199…..Columbus - Amsterdam Aves
200 - 299…..Amsterdam - West End Aves
300 - 399…..West End Ave - Riverside Dr

Read more to find out how to Find an Avenue Address or Cross-Street, know how long it will take you to walk to your destination, and find a Street Address.

Finding an Avenue address — Let’s say you have a meeting at 522 Fifth Ave – how do you find it? There’s a really easy way to find the cross-street for any Avenue address. Here’s a FREE Cross-Street Finder for you.

Even Streets go East – which means that generally, an even numbered street is going to be East Bound. Exceptions are two-way streets 14th, 34th, 57th, 72nd, 86th, and 96th, plus a few others..

Even Buildings on the South – side of the street, that is, so 250 E 18th St is going to be on your right as you head East. And 307 E 59th St is going to be on the North side of the street.

North/South Avenue Building Numbers are completely random. Sorry, but there isn’t any formula for figuring out if a building is on the East or West side of the Avenue, or if 773 Lexington is at the same cross-street as 773 Madison – because Avenues start at different parts of the city.

20 North/South blocks is about a mile, and figure 1 minute per block if you’re walking.

7 Crosstown Avenues is about a mile, and it can take 3 -5 minutes per block of walking. We did our own survey and found that for the average 5′6″ person walking, it’s:
300 steps from 1st – 2nd Ave
270 steps from 2nd – 3rd Ave,
180 steps from 3rd – Lexington Ave
30 steps to cross an Avenue, such as Lexington or 3rd
15 steps to cross a Street, like 55th or 56th St, and
95 steps to walk a North/South block, such as 42nd - 43rd St (Numbered Crosstown streets are generally 200 feet apart).

North/South Avenues can be as far apart as 920 feet (i.e. going from 7th - 8th Ave) — anyone know which block this could be?

Do you have any hints? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

The results are in, and those newer metal chairs and tables are going to stay plus get an upgrade to permanent furniture.

Times Square - before new traffic pattern

Times Square's pedestrian area

It’s all part of the Green Light for Midtown project spearheaded by Mayor Bloomberg and implemented by the NYC DOT*, where the goals are to make the NYC streets safer and to reduce NYC traffic and congestion. For Times Square, DOT was looking to improve the NYC traffic flow on 6th & 7th Avenues and make Broadway safer for pedestrians and drivers. If you’ve been through that area, you’ve seen the new pedestrian spaces on Broadway from 42nd – 47th Streets, and also on 33rd – 35th Streets.

How do we know if it worked? DOT used GPS units in taxis to compare travel times in fall 2008 against fall 2009 and found that:
• Northbound travel speed — throughout West Midtown improved 17% compared with 8% in East Midtown. So that’s a 9% improvement overall.
• Southbound travel speed – 2% fall in West Midtown while East Midtown showed an increase of 3%
• Eastbound trip speed - increased by 5%
• Westbound travel speed – increased by 3%, based on a 9% increase in the affected area and a 6% increase in the control area.
• NYC Bus travel speeds — increased by 13% on 6th Avenue and fell by 2% on 7th Avenue.

Other studies and statistics show that:
• Injuries to motorists and passengers in the project area are down 63%
• Pedestrian injuries are down 35%
• 80% fewer pedestrians are walking in the roadway in Times Square

Based on these findings, Mayor Bloomberg has decided to make these changes permanent. NYC DOT will begin a capital project to design and build the plazas and corridor treatments with permanent, high quality materials.

Here’s a tidbit for your next cocktail party. NYC Taxis make up abut 45% of all vehicles in the study area.

But we delved deep into the DOT’s 45 page report and have some INSIDER TIPS for you, based on the study’s 1.13 million taxi trips in West Midtown and 990,000 taxi trips in East Midtown.

If you need to go East:
Central Park South – best time is between 4 – 7pm
57th St – face it, it’s always going to be slow
50th St – about 50% slower than before the re-routing
44th St – best before 10am
36th St – avoid 10am-12pm
Overall, it’s about 30% slower to go East during 10am-12pm

If you need to go West:
Central Park South – is now 94% slower, or expect to double your trip time
49th St – also about 40% slower
45th St – best before 10am, avoid lunchtime

How did the results compare to DOT’s prediction?
6th Avenue traffic near Macy’s was a little higher than expected
9th Avenue diverted traffic actually fell 1% instead of increasing 27%
44th & 11th Ave is a bit more congested now
6th & 7th Avenues aren’t as fast as hoped
34th Street is faster than anticipated

And the project has had additional benefits as well.
• 74% of New Yorkers surveyed by the Times Square Alliance agree that Times Square has improved dramatically over the last year.
• The number of people walking along Broadway and 7th Avenue in Times Square is up 11% and pedestrian volume is up 6% in Herald Square.

*Department of Transportation

Where are these job cuts coming from? 600 of them are administrative staff from different MTA divisions, and they make up about 15% of the non-union employees. The other 450 staff are NYC subway station agents. Get this, though, those 600 admin jobs somehow create a savings of $50 million. How does that work?

To put the numbers into perspective, the MTA has about 70,000 employees.

Why does the MTA seem to be unable to manage its revenues and expenses? Because it is funded by NY State funding and certain tax revenues, and relies heavily on ridership. When fewer people use the NYC subways and buses because they’re out of work, revenues go down immediately.

According to a NY Daily News article, ’surcharges on real estate transactions pumped $1.6 billion into NYC MTA coffers in 2007, but they’d fallen to just $400 million last year.’ That’s a loss of $1.2 billion in one year.

From March 1st - 4th, you can attend public hearings about the proposed service changes, changes to student fares, and potential increases in crossing charges.

NYC’s Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC)’s one-year test of a Group Ride program started a few weeks ago. Three Group Ride Stands are already active and three more are being planned.

How it Works
Two to four passengers can pay a per-person flat fare of $3 - $4 to share a taxi from a Group Ride stand to a common destination and you can get out anywhere along that route.

Who Tips?
Saving on a taxi ride is definitely a great idea. Our only question is, who tips? No doubt the last person exiting the taxi is going to get stuck with a higher fare than the other riders. Let us know if you have any ideas how to manage the tipping issue.

Where to Get a Group Ride
W 57th St & 8th Ave - goes to Park Ave & 42nd St, $3.00
E 72nd St & 3rd Ave - goes to Park Ave & 42nd St, $4.00
W 72nd St & Columbus Ave - goes to Park Ave & 42nd St, $4.00

Can I Group Ride on Saturday Night?
No, sorry. Group rides stands are active only on weekdays from 6 – 10am. This time slot was picked based on locations with high volumes of pick-ups and corresponding drop-offs.

What’s Next
More stands are being planned for the US Air and Marine Air Terminals at LGA.

Other stand locations planned for Manhattan include:
Grand Central Terminal to 59th St & 6th Ave, $3.00 fare,
Penn Station to 59th St & 6th Ave, $4.00 fare, and
Port Authority Bus Terminal to 59th Street & 6th Ave, $3.00 fare

Next time you get into a cab, check out the TV screen. It’ll will explain the group ride program and that drivers aren’t allowed to use any electronic equipment while driving.

“Group rides are smart policy,” said TLC Commissioner/Chairman Matthew W. Daus. “It increases taxi capacity during high-demand hours, which is both efficient and environmentally responsible; it costs passengers less and earns drivers more, and it standardizes and makes more economical a practice of sharing cabs that many taxi riders have favored for years. Everyone wins.”