Podcast appearances and mentions of Andy Byford

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 15, 2022 8:29

There's some light at the end of the Crossrail tunnel. London's Transport Commissioner, Andy Byford, has confirmed that the long-delayed Elizabeth Line will open before 30th June 2022. Although, he won't give an exact date just yet.The east-west line, which will link Reading and Heathrow with Shenfield and Abbey Wood via twin tunnels between Paddington and Whitechapel, was initially meant to have opened in December 2018 but has fallen years and billions over budget.The Evening Standard's City Hall Editor, Ross Lydall, explains everything we know so far about the £20 billion line. Today we talk about:The latest Crossrail developments (4:14)Whether the Elizabeth Line will be worth the wait (5:58)The ten new stations (7:19) See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

reading sight paddington heathrow airport whitechapel evening standard crossrail andy byford shenfield

Come ride with us on London's £19 billion Crossrail

covid-19 billion transport city hall paddington sadiq khan tfl crossrail overground liverpool street andy byford ride with us

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 26, 2022 6:42

It's London's biggest rail project in a long time, eclipsing the Overground upgrade and Jubilee Line extension.We're promised Crossrail will be up and running in the not-too-distant future this year...and although the powers-that-be are staying schtum over exactly when, there's suggestion that May's the month.The central part of the new purple £19 billion Elizabeth Line is now being tested to eventually whizz commuters from Abbey Wood in south-east London into Paddington.As offices grind back into post-Covid life, how busy will the Elizabeth Line be at rush hour, and how much does cash-strapped Transport for London hope to squeeze out of passengers?The Standard's City Hall editor Ross Lydall went on a test return trip between Paddington and Liverpool Street, and onboard he quizzed Mayor Sadiq Khan, Crossrail CEO Mark Wild and TfL boss Andy Byford. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Andy Byford on the future of public transit, A test of faith in a First Nations community, Sesame Street star Sonia Manzano, The power of fun in trying times

The Sunday Magazine

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 19, 2021 94:04

This week on The Sunday Magazine with Piya Chattopadhyay: • Transit guru Andy Byford on the future of public transportation • Why a First Nations community is trying to rebuild its Catholic church • Science journalist Catherine Price on the value of fun in trying times • Sesame Street star Sonia Manzano builds on her legacy with a new kids' show Discover more at https://www.cbc.ca/sunday

science catholic sesame street first nations trying times public transit test of faith catherine price sonia manzano andy byford sunday magazine first nations community

A Conversation with Andy Byford, London's Transport Commissioner

Connected Places

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 2, 2021 33:40

In this episode Professor Greg Clark speaks to Andy Byford, London's Transport Commissioner about his ambitious plans for Transport for London (TfL). We'll be exploring where the opportunities lie for innovation in how we imagine, design and operate the transport systems of tomorrow? What's the role of a public transport authority in managing the post-COVID economic recovery? What now for urban mobility in London and how can other UK cities learn from overseas? Andy Byford is the Transport Commissioner for London and he leads the capital's transport authority, TfL. Before joining TfL, he was the CEO of the New York Transit Authority where he was responsible for 50,000 staff and an investment budget of USD$40bn. He was also the Chief Executive of the City of Toronto's Transit Commission, and he ran the Rail Corporation of New South Wales in Australia. He began his career in uniform as a station foreman on the London Underground. To download a copy of the Catapult's newly published Net Zero Places Innovation Brief, and to learn more about what we're doing in this area, click here. Music on this episode is by Blue Dot Sessions and Phill Ward Music (www.phillward.com)

Why Boris Johnson and Sadiq Khan should ride the Tube; & yet another government coronavirus U-turn

coronavirus government ride parliament boris johnson tube bolton yet another downing street u turns londoners evening standard sadiq khan tfl sir keir starmer trafford andy byford

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 2, 2020 11:24

How can Londoners be expected to get on public transport when political leaders aren't being seen doing it themselves? The government's repeatedly called for people to go back to work, but commuter numbers on trains and busses don't seem to be rising. Meanwhile, car use does appear to be on the up. We speak to the Evening Standard's Sam Fishwick, who interviewed recently appointed TFL chief Andy Byford, who says he needs people like Boris Johnson and Sadiq Khan to make it clear that the tube, busses and trams are safe to use. Also, just after being roasted in Parliament by Sir Keir Starmer for several government U-turns during the pandemic, Boris Johnson made another one. Following pressure from councils in Bolton and Trafford plans to ease restrictions there have been dumped. Our deputy political editor Nicholas Cecil tells us the repeated reversals are causing disquiet on the Tory back benches, and endangering public confidence in Downing Street's handling of the coronavirus crisis. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Andy Byford – Transport for London

Transit Unplugged

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 1, 2020 32:13

“I had huge empathy for front line employees. I always have. But it also really influenced my management philosophy because very occasionally when the top brass visited Regents Park and…or on occasion they’d stop and say hello to you. And then you’d feel 10 foot tall. That always resonated with me. It’s seared into my psyche. So now if you ever follow me around in transport on any of the jobs I’ve done or watch me walk through a subway station or out on the streets I will not walk past one of my colleagues without stopping to acknowledge them. “ Andy Byford, Commissioner of Transport for London, joins Transit Unplugged from his home base in London, where he originally began his transit career as a graduate trainee. A lot has happened since then. Andy has worked around the world and dedicated his professional life to being a public servant improving the lives of transit riders and employees. Returning home thirty-one years after he embarked on his transit industry journey, Andy Byford is the Head of Transport for London, taking on perhaps his biggest role to date. After recent tenures in New York and Toronto, where he accomplished a number of things he speaks of with pride, like the Toronto Transit Commission being named APTA’s Transit System of the Year in 2017 and progressing Fast Forward: The Plan to Modernize New York City Transit which captured the imagination of New Yorkers. He joins Transit Unplugged to talk about the highlights, his management philosophies, and his outlook on Covid-19 and the recovery process. Remember to check out transitunplugged.com to learn from top transit professionals and stay updated on all the latest industry trends.

covid-19 new york head toronto commissioners transport new yorkers apta transit system regent's park transport for london toronto transit commission andy byford transit unplugged

London's economic crisis revealed: Coronavirus causes worst outlook since WW2

new york coronavirus britain world war ii revealed outlook west end city hall economic crisis evening standard central london sadiq khan tfl andy byford

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 13, 2020 13:06

Central London is facing the biggest economic crisis in generations with tens of thousands of jobs and hundreds of businesses at risk of being wiped out in Britain's most vibrant economic powerhouse. An Evening Standard investigation has unearthed the true scale of the problem, revealing predictions that 50,000 jobs in the vulnerable retail, tourism and hospitality sectors could disappear in the West End alone this year with total spending down by half — a loss of revenue of about £5 billion — as a direct result of the coronavirus lockdown. Our consumer business editor Jonathan Prynn tells the podcast why it's the worst outlook since the Second World War.Also, Andy Byford earned the nickname "Train Daddy" when he turned around New York's failing transit system. Now he's back in London, where he started as a trainee on the underground, having been picked as TfL's commissioner by Sadiq Khan. The Evening Standard's City Hall editor Ross Lydall takes him for a walk around the city to find out what the new boss's plans for the future are. Is Crossrail among them? And how will he get reluctant commuters back on the tube? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

NYC Transit President Sarah Feinberg On Starting A New Job Amid A Pandemic

Bustle

Play Episode Listen Later May 5, 2020 8:35

Days before Sarah Feinberg started as interim president of New York City Transit (NYCT), we made plans to ride the subway together. By her first day on March 9, there were 142 cases of COVID-19 in New York, and Mayor Bill de Blasio had urged nonessential workers to stay home. As of publishing, there has been a 92% drop in average ridership on the New York City subway, an over 70% drop in ridership on buses, and nearly 3,000 of the NYCT's 51,000 employees have tested positive for COVID-19, according to the press office of its parent agency, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). “[It was] clear I was landing in the middle of the crisis,” the 42-year-old tells me from her home in Manhattan’s East Village. “The job under all of my predecessors was to run a system that served 5 million people a day. The job now is to make sure that, in the best of times, the system will run safely and efficiently. But it's also a job of economic recovery, of helping this workforce recover, and of offering my condolences.” Feinberg apologizes and pauses a beat longer than normal. Despite best efforts, 84 MTA employees have already died from COVID-19. Feinberg says she’s called or left messages for the families of each worker who’s passed, and on April 14, the MTA announced that families of deceased workers will receive death benefits totaling $500,000. Her voice wavers when she speaks again. “Right now this is a job focused on moving the tens of thousands of essential workers in New York," she says, "but also doing the best I can to protect our workforce and get them through [losing] dozens of their colleagues.” As a way to thank the MTA staff, Feinberg’s team helped launch its #HeroesMovingHeroes campaign on April 6, which features images of employees on and off the job. During her first weeks as president, she'd planned to visit workers at stations across the city, but those get-togethers were quickly axed. “It was not helpful to have another person and set of germs entering these facilities," she says. Instead, she focused on disinfecting touch points at the city’s nearly 500 stations and figuring out how to protect her workforce from the virus. Feinberg’s resume puts her in a small group of leaders who, in recent years, have helped manage multiple global public health crises at the federal level. During the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, which infected 60.8 million and killed 12,469 people stateside, Feinberg was a special assistant to President Obama and senior adviser to his chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel. Less than five years later, during the Ebola outbreak, she provided strategic counsel to the secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation. “During Ebola, governors started saying, ‘I don't want trucks carrying hospital waste from places where there's Ebola to travel through my state,’” says Feinberg, whose other professional bona fides include communication work for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Bloomberg L.P., and Facebook. “Hospitals treat their waste in a way where disease does not survive, so there's no risk whatsoever. But there's a panic that makes people behave in ways that aren't reasonable.” In 2015, Obama nominated her as administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration, which she ran for two years, and in early 2019, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo appointed Feinberg to the MTA board; she became NYCT's interim president a year later. (She replaced the well-liked Andy Byford, nicknamed "Train Daddy," who earned his stripes for improving train timeliness.) Feinberg says her team created several contingency plans for the coronavirus outbreak, like service reductions, assuming that staffers would get ill. “Our job is to make sure we have options available to the governor and, now, the White House,” she says. “You want to present the boss with every tool available to best attack the problem.” That said, the organization’s handling of the crisis hasn’t come without criticism. Employees told The New York Times that leadership was slow to distribute masks and gloves, failed to inform them about possible exposure, and took weeks to implement social distancing policies. MTA officials said they acted as quickly as possible, distributing over 5.2 million gloves and over 700,000 masks (including 300,000 N95 masks), implementing rear-door boarding on buses, and suspending cash transactions with station agents. “We had a healthy stockpile of masks, but we felt like it was important to follow the medical expert guidance,” she says, referring to the CDC’s recommendation that only symptomatic people wear face masks, which changed in early April. “I am responsible for 51,000 people. At the end of March, we went out on a limb and said, ‘I know that the CDC guidance is that we should not be providing masks to healthy people, but we're not going to abide by it anymore.’ Who are we to tell these essential workers we're not going to provide them [masks] because the CDC seems to be weeks behind where it should be?” Feinberg’s team was also criticized when reduced services led to pictures of overcrowded subway cars making rounds on social media. “People are upset that there isn't more service, and I don't know how many more times we can say that [it's] because literally thousands of our workers are sick,” she says. “It's a little bit like people complaining in the middle of the pandemic, ‘Why is the emergency room so overcrowded?’” She recommends going to another train car, waiting for another train, or walking to the next station. “The alternative is for me to bring back workers who are either ill or quarantined to run additional trains, which is just not something I'm willing to risk my workforce for.” As for many, an acute professional crisis has collided with a challenging personal set-up. Feinberg is mother to a 2-year-old and stepmom to a 12-year-old. (Both Feinberg and her domestic partner, media executive Josh Tyrangiel, were previously married; she to Obama’s former director of communications, Dan Pfeiffer, and he to a New York architect.) “We're barely keeping it together, just like everyone else,” she says. “[Josh's] doing the majority of the child care at the moment. I might do the morning bottle and reading.” Based on the layout of their apartment, self-isolating hasn't been realistic. “I both work and have my emotional moments in our bedroom with the door closed, or sometimes in our bathroom when our bedroom is being used to play with Calico Critters.” Feinberg had been quarantining at home since March 27 after encounters with three colleagues who tested positive for the virus. She has since returned to work, but it’s still on an interim basis. Her initial priorities for the role, pre-COVID-19, were to help recruit a permanent president and curb the increasing crime rate. “I did not believe that would be the right thing for my family,” she says of taking the job permanently, given that on a good day, it requires being on 24/7. New roles often come with learning curves, and most executives have time to make mistakes before they face their first major challenge. Feinberg hasn’t been so lucky. Even knowing what awaited her, she would take the job again without question. “This is one of the best jobs in public service in America,” says Feinberg, whose father served in the West Virginia state legislature and whose mother was a federal magistrate judge for the state’s U.S. District Court. “I love public service, I feel strongly about it, and I believe that if the governor or the president asks you to serve, it is your obligation and your honor to do so.”

Episode 10 (Transit News with Jose Martinez)

Second Avenue Sagas Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 11, 2020

It's been a busy few weeks in NYC transit as coronavirus has descended upon the city amidst the fallout from Andy Byford's departure and the ongoing MTA Transformation effort. Jose Martinez, a long-time veteran of the transit beat and current senior report for THE CITY, joins me for the Season 2 premiere to make sense of the madness of all of the recent news.

new york city transit jose martinez andy byford

Byford leaves MTA - Executive Order 9066 apology - racist responses to COVID - Canadian railway protests: OTR 2/23/20

Objection to the Rule

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 29, 2020 59:30

Emily, Theresa and Jasmin talk about Andy Byford leaving the MTA, hostile architecture in NYC, California's apology for the internment of Japanese-Americans during WWII, racist responses to the novel coronavirus, and railway and pipeline protests in Canada.

covid-19 california canada new york city canadian executives protests wwii racist apology responses executive orders railways japanese americans mta byford andy byford

Goodbye Andy Byford, Public Transit President

Uptown Radio

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 22, 2020 2:30

Megan Cattel reports on the New York Public Transit President's last day on the job. New Yorkers express disappointment that #TrainDaddy is no longer working for the MTA.

new yorkers mta public transit andy byford

Session 26 - awoI

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 4, 2020 87:09

Kyle and Malik talk the failed Iowa caucuses, DNC last-minute rules changes, and what’s really good with this sham ass impeachment trial. But first, a moment of silence for our dearly departed homie, Andy Byford..

iowa dnc andy byford

Session 26 - awoI

new york city coronavirus bloomberg albany andrew cuomo cuomo bill de blasio byford andy byford

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 4, 2020 87:09

iowa dnc andy byford

It’s Andrew Cuomo’s State, and We Just Live in It

I HEART* NY

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 2, 2020 48:03

#4 – Coronavirus! First cyclist death of 2020! Bloomberg’s running for president, and his VP is his money! Andy Byford resigned! A LaGuardia AirTrain is being built in a bewildering location! Cuomo vs. De Blasio! We also talk at length about Andrew Cuomo’s legacy as a builder, and how he wields his power to get what he wants, both at Albany and NYC. It’s never been as starkly realized as this past month, in the silence from city officials over Byford’s resignation. This didn’t fit into one exclamation, so it got its own paragraph in the episode description. Thanks for listening! link to Andrew Cuomo’s poster twitter: @nyc_links --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/iheartny/message

2020 Politics Roundtable

Firewall

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 29, 2020 42:06

Bradley speaks with Chris Coffey, Yvette Buckner, and Eric Soufer on Firewall’s 100th episode to break down the New York City playbook. The four discuss Rubén Diaz, the 2020 presidential race, ranked choice voting, De Blasio, Medicare, Andy Byford, and Cuomo’s next steps.

new york city politics roundtable medicare diaz rub cuomo bill de blasio firewalls andy byford

Episode 50: Mondays at The Overhead Wire - 60 Seconds to Glory!

Talking Headways: A Streetsblog Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 28, 2020 60:16

This week Laramie Bowron joins the show to talk about Nashville, the Menino Mayors Survey, Andy Byford and more! Swiftly's State of Public Transit Report - Swiftly News Andy Byford resigns - New York Times Paris warehouses get urban makeover - Wired Cities annexing to pump up census #s - New York Times Odds and Ends Household travel in EU - Eltis Oregon DOT launches new office - Smart Cities Dive China bans single use plastics - Core 77 Story of the Week Nashville's transit plans derailed - TransitCenter US Mayors know of safety issues, not solutions - Fast Company

story nashville fast company 60 seconds andy byford overhead wire

Who's Your Train Daddy

WCBS 880 In Depth

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 28, 2020 20:54

The Departure of Andy Byford and the Viability of the MTA with WCBS's Steve Burns and Reinvent Albany's Rachael Fauss

train daddy departure mta viability andy byford

Saucy Conversations (S2 - EP-5) (Vernice Return)

Saucy Conversations

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 27, 2020 93:56

Hey Saucy Nation! We are back with episode 5! Listen to Jeff Thad and Vernice do a MLK Tribute to open the show, also talk about Trump hearings, Antonio Brown, Andy Byford, break the news of Kobe Bryant's death and touch on various topics on the Saucy Bowl. Don't forget to follow us on social media and all streaming platforms. Peace and love! --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/saucyconversations/message

donald trump conversations peace kobe bryant antonio brown saucy andy byford

New York Daily News, 1/24

New York Daily News

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 24, 2020 3:04

Good morning. I’m Rosemarie DeSapio, and here is your New York Daily News morning briefing for Friday, January 24. NYC Transit president Andy Byford resigned yesterday from the agency, MTA officials confirmed. In a statement Byford did not say why he was leaving the agency but thanked Governor Cuomo for giving him “the opportunity to serve New York and to head up North America’s largest transit system.

new york north america andrew cuomo new york daily news mta spokenlayer byford andy byford

Ontario teen calls police because his fake ID never arrived

Only in Toronto

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 23, 2020 11:04

A teen in Norfolk County called the cops to report that the fake ID he ordered online never came. Former TTC boss Andy Byford just resigned from his post as New York City's subway president, and a new online calculator shows how long it would take to save $35K in RRSPs for the Home Buyers Plan. Plus, Alicia Keys is coming to Toronto, and Koukla on Ossington is a new Greek with a seafood bar.

Bye, Bye Byford: NYC Transit President Resigns

Off Topic/On Politics

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 23, 2020 29:03

What does Andy Byford's resignation mean for riders? NY1's Juan Manuel Benitez, Courtney Gross, and Zack Fink analyze the unexpected resignation of the New York City Transit president. They're also joined by Gloria Pazmino to discuss the emotional debate on gentrification sparked by comments from Eric Adams, Brooklyn borough president and candidate for mayor. Join the conversation on Twitter: #NY1OffTopic or @ZackFinkNews, @JuanMaBenitez, and @Courtneycgross and @GloriaPazmino For more information: ny1.com/offtopic

new york city donald trump politics government train housing subway bus inequality transit cuomo resigns gentrification eric adams mta byford andy byford gloria pazmino

53: Top New York City News Stories of 2019

A Great Big City — New York City News, History, and Events

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 2, 2020 28:05

AGBC collects a variety of links from across the internet and analyzes them to power our links page. Links are selected and ranked based on whether they are about New York and interesting enough to share. A few times per day, this same system also re-ranks the past few hours of news links and creates our top stories page. Taking that same idea and expanding it, here are the top stories about NYC for each month of 2019, along with a bit of follow-up to see how things have progressed since they were first published. January 2019 New York City's 2019 Women's March in Photos Not quite as large as the original 2017 Women's March, but still impactful enough to earn the highest-rated news story from January 2019. The third Women's March was actually two marches after one had split from the original organizing committee. Accusations of antisemitism against organizers of the national march led local organizations to split from the group based in Washington D.C. On January 19th, both an independent group, the Women's March Alliance, and the original national group held protest marches, one on the Upper West Side and one in downtown Manhattan at Foley Square. For 2020, the Women's March Alliance plans to march near Columbus Circle, but has not released a route as of yet, and the official local chapter of the national Women's March plans a rally in Foley Square. Both events are scheduled for January 18th. February 2019 Police detective killed by friendly fire in New York City A chaotic robbery at a T-Mobile store in Richmond Hill in Queens led to the first NYPD killed in the line of duty in nearly two years. The death of Detective Brian Simonsen brought increased focus to the case and revealed the many strange details of what would have been a typical store robbery. Most striking was the revelation that, although a bystander correctly told police that the man was robbing the store with a gun and forcing employees into a back room, in the aftermath of the police response and the shooting of the suspect, the gun was found to have been fake, and Simonsen had been accidentally shot and killed by fellow police officers. When the suspect emerged from the back room holding the realistic gun, officers retreated back outside, but the suspect not only raised the gun, but made movements as if he were firing it at officers. The seven officers at the scene then fired 42 shots within 11 seconds, striking the suspect eight times and hitting two officers. A second suspect, who had served as a lookout during the robbery, was captured several days later. Sergeant Matthew Gorman, who was also one of the first to respond to the robbery, was also hit in the hip by shots fired by other officers, but survived his injuries. In an interview with local news site The City in April 2019, the suspect said he was attempting to commit suicide by cop and he expressed that he wanted to tell the family of Detective Simonsen how sorry he was, although more recently, speaking to the NY Post from Rikers while awaiting trial, he stated that the robbery was meant as a prank and that he shouldn't be held responsible for the shootings of the officers. Although Detective Simonsen's death had been the first NYPD death in almost two years, tragedy would strike again in September 2019, when Detective Brian Mulkeen was accidentally shot and killed by fellow NYPD officers during a struggle with a suspect at the Edenwald NYCHA Houses in the Bronx. March 2019 Manhattan drivers near new era that may include $11.52 tolls The top story for March was about the congestion pricing plan, which was planned as part of the budget. Although the final toll price to charge vehicles entering Manhattan south of 60th Street hasn't been decided on, a prior study in 2017 by a state-appointed task force called for a $11.52 toll, which is being used as a baseline for what the new recommendation will actually be in 2020. The congestion pricing plan would go on to pass as part of the state budget on April 1, 2019 despite the pricing not yet being finalized. Under the current plan, pricing and enforcement systems will be studied throughout 2020 and announced at the end of the year. With details still up in the air, the earliest that congestion pricing could take effect would be 2021, but it remains to be seen how many legal challenges the various parts of the system will face, including potential last-minute lawsuits similar to those that delayed the 14th Street busway for three months this year. When congestion pricing does take effect, the funds will be used to improve the entire MTA system and install bus and bike lanes citywide. If the timeline holds true, New York will be the first city in the United States to implement congestion pricing, following world cities like Singapore, London, and Stockholm. April 2019 Toll hike makes Verrazzano–Narrows Bridge most expensive in country While the congestion pricing plan made headlines in March 2019 when it was finalized in the state budget, another toll jumped into the spotlight by April 2019, when the Verrazzano Bridge became the most expensive toll bridge in the country. Depending on your discounts and payment methods, may pay a variety of prices to cross, but the most expensive crossing, a Staten Island-bound non-E-ZPass trip, increased $2 and hit $19 on April 1st, 2019. If you're looking to cross the bridge on a budget, you can get a discount for using an E-ZPass, which will bring the price down to $12.24, and if you're a Staten Island resident, you can further chop away at the price by showing proof of residency to get a $5.50 price, or if three or more people can carpool together in a Staten Island-registered vehicle, the price drops to $3.40. The MTA-maintained bridge had daily traffic of more than 202,000 daily crossings in 2016, down from an all-time high of 219,000 in 2001, and in 2017, tolls on the bridge totaled about $417 million per year. May 2019 Brooklyn, Queens neighborhoods top list of fastest growing rental markets With May 1st being the time when New York leases traditionally expired, it's no surprise that the top story for May was about rental prices. Real estate site StreetEasy outlined their report in which housing sales were dropping while the rental market was growing, especially in Brooklyn and Queens. StreetEasy saw the biggest rental growth in the most expensive neighborhoods, which they theorized may be because people who want to live in those desirable neighborhoods are more willing to rent as sales prices have been increasing three times more quickly than rentals. Given the different rates of price increases between rentals and sales, an expensive rental may still be the smartest choice once all the costs of owning an apartment are factored in. Even with Amazon canceling plans to move to Long Island City, that neighborhood remained in the greatest demand in Queens, with Dumbo taking the priciest spot in Brooklyn. Although May 1st is no longer official the city's Moving Day, the middle of the summer is still a difficult time to change apartments, so if you're looking for a new place, consider trudging through the snow-filled streets when the lower number of renters means you'll have more bargaining power when signing a new lease! June 2019 Even Without Amazon, Rents Spike in Northwest Queens Like I said, during the summer, a city's mind turns towards real estate, and for June, real estate site Mansion Global looked at data from Douglas Elliman and Citi Habitats focused on the high end of rentals in the city. Like the StreetEasy report, Douglas Elliman found luxury rents rising in Long Island City despite Amazon's decision to cancel HQ2. Long Island City will continue to grow with or without Amazon, and the new luxury buildings rising up in the former industrial neighborhood are finding tenants willing to make it the most expensive neighborhood in Queens. Luxury rentals in Manhattan stayed the same year-over-year, with the Soho and Tribeca area remaining the priciest, with a median monthly rent of $6,150, and Dumbo the priciest in Brooklyn, with a median rent of $5,100. July 2019 NY House Dems call on city to bail out thousands of cab drivers suffering because of taxi medallion ‘crisis' As the summer moved on, the top story for July highlighted the ongoing crisis hitting yellow cab drivers, who are being impacted by ride-share companies while being left with large investments in pricey taxi medallions and business expenses. In July 2019, the Daily News covered a letter signed by 10 U.S. Congressmembers from New York who asked the city council's newly-formed Taxi Medallion Sale Prices Task Force to ensure assistance for taxi drivers and medallion owners who were suffering from a weakening medallion market and predatory lending. The letter came after a New York Times report on the hardships faced by taxi drivers, including mounting debt that led some drivers to suicide. The city was eyed as a source of assistance after the report showed more than a decade of artificially-inflated medallion prices and the city's $855 million earned from selling medallions directly and by collecting taxes on medallion sales. After an influx of mostly-unregulated ride-share companies flooded the market, prices of medallions dropped, leaving medallion owners in debt on an asset that had been sold as a sure-fire investment. For reference, taxi medallions peaked at a price of $1 million in 2013, but none of have for more than $500,000 since 2018. August 2019 NYPD officer shoots self in head in Queens home, ninth suicide of city cop this year After July's story highlighting the risk of suicide among taxi drivers, in August a similar threat was revealed among NYPD officers, when an off-duty officer took his own life, becoming the ninth officer to die by suicide in 2019. Robert Echeverria was a 25-year member of the NYPD, and his death turned the conversation toward an epidemic of officer suicides that needed special attention. According to the Daily News, another officer had taken his own life just one day earlier, and four officers killed themselves in June 2019. Sadly, by October 2019 a 10th officer would die by suicide, doubling the typical rate of suicides seen among NYPD officers and leading the city to establish confidential mental health services for NYPD members, offering free counseling and prescriptions through a partnership with NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. Officers interested in seeing what services the program provides can search "NYPD Finest Care" or call NewYork-Presbyterian at 1-877-697-9355 and ask for the NYPD Finest Care counseling program. September 2019 Six hundred straphangers evacuated in Brooklyn after train's mechanical failure We couldn't escape 2019 without a story of the subway breaking down, and September certainly delivered when a Manhattan-bound 'C' Train became stuck between stations underneath Brooklyn Heights at the High Street–Brooklyn Bridge station. Although there was also smoke reported in the tunnel, the cause was determined to have been the train's emergency brakes being activated. Although that sounds like the same work of the chronic emergency brake puller arrested in May 2019, this brake was apparently automatically activated after one of the shoes that make contact the third rail and power the train lifted off and caused sparks and smoke in the tunnel. In order to evacuate the tunnel, another train was pulled to the end of the disabled train and passengers were able to walk from one to the other and evacuate through the nearby station. Thankfully only one person was treated for a minor injury, which was a much better outcome than if a train of 600 people had come to a jolting stop, where many people would have been thrown to the ground. If you happen to find yourself crawling out of a smoke-filled subway tunnel but your coworkers refuse to believe your story, you can submit a Subway Delay Verification online to receive an official confirmation that you were late due to the MTA. One train evacuation aside, according to the MTA's own data, major incidents are slowly trending down across the entire subway system after a spike in January 2018. Subway on-time performance has also been on the rise, with Andy Byford claiming on-time performance topped 80% for the first time in six years, a figure defined as a train arriving within five minutes of its scheduled arrival. October 2019 Videos Of Teen Arrests In Subway Spur Outrage November 2019 City Council Grills MTA On Fare Evasion, Homelessness, And Hiring 500 New Cops By the time October and November rolled around, the MTA was having a harder time in the news. For two months, the top stories were directed at policing in the subways. Two chaotic arrests caught on video in October spread across social media and formed protests in response to what people saw as unnecessarily aggressive actions by police in the subway. Adding to the problems raised by the videos were confusion about what the teenagers in either video were being detained for, and the confusion was amplified by the clipped nature of the videos, only showing the police response and not the events that led to any of the teens being detained. Once it was revealed that one of the arrests was over turnstile jumping, the focus turned toward the MTA and Governor Cuomo's plan to hire 500 new police officers who would be assigned to the subway system. Critics saw the 500 officers as an unnecessary addition to preexisting NYPD subway patrols and the MTA police force, and at a time when the NYPD's data showed a decrease in subway crime. During a meeting with the city council in November, the plan for the new officers was scrutinized, with questions raised on why the 500 officers, which would cost $50 million a year, were being added when the MTA was running at a deficit. The costs of police assigned to stop fare evasion could potentially put a dent in the estimated $215 million per year lost to turnstile jumping, but the methods the MTA uses to estimate those losses were also questioned, as well as whether the 500 police would even be assigned to monitor fare evasion or if they were meant for general policing. The lack of any concrete plan for the 500 officers made the public and the city council skeptical, combined with video going viral on social media at the same time showing what people already considered an overly aggressive police response to a possible turnstile jumper. December 2019 'Bus lanes are for buses': MTA rolls out enforcement cameras on Brooklyn bus line And, ending out a year of top stories, another MTA story, but one where the MTA gets some good-natured retaliation after so many critical stories in previous months. For December, bus-mounted cameras took the top story spotlight as the MTA's social media campaign for the cameras gave straphangers a chuckle. Back in September, the MTA first started having some fun introducing their bus-mounted traffic cameras by showing an animated bus taking a photo that actually zapped the delivery truck out of the way, sending the bus lane scofflaw off into some other dimension and leaving the bus lane clear. After a 60-day trial period where warnings were mailed out, the cameras began issuing actual tickets along the M15 Select Bus line in December, where the cameras had caught 15,000 total bus lane blockages during the 60-day trial period. The first casualty in December was Santa and his sleigh! In a second social media post promoting the expanding bus camera program, a B44 bus zapped Santa's sleigh out of the way after Santa left his delivery vehicle parked in the bus lane. In another animation, an M15 bus cleared the snowy streets by zapping a car with an ice ray and knocking it out of the bus lane. The cameras will also come to M14 buses to help enforce parking and stopping rules along the 14th Street busway. So that was the year in New York City news! A few quick, unscientific numbers from our database of news stories: Of the 27,556 links indexed over 2019, the most common borough mentioned was Brooklyn, followed by the Bronx, Queens, Manhattan, and then Staten Island. "Police" and "NYPD" appeared in 3,575 stories, with firefighting keywords like "FDNY" and "fire" appearing in 1,066 stories. Both "man" and "woman" appeared in the top 25 most-popular terms, with terms like "man" and "boy" appearing 1,739 times and "woman" and "girl" appearing 1,058 times. A Great Big City has been running a 24-hour newsfeed since 2010, but the AGBC News podcast is just getting started, and we need your support. A Great Big City is built on a dedication to explaining what is happening and how it fits into the larger history of New York, which means thoroughly researching every topic and avoiding clickbait headlines to provide a straightforward, honest, and factual explanation of the news. Individuals can make a monthly or one-time contribution at agreatbigcity.com/support and local businesses can have a lasting impact by supporting local news while promoting products or services directly to interested customers listening to this podcast. Visit agreatbigcity.com/advertising to learn more. AGBC is more than just a news website: Every evening, just before sundown, A Great Big City checks the Empire State Building's lighting schedule and sends out a notification if the tower's lighting will be lit in special colors for a holiday or celebration. Follow @agreatbigcity on social media to receive the alerts. Park of the day Sherman Street Seating Area — 40.650827, -73.973892 — This plaza provides a nice set of benches and some old trees providing shade before you ascend the stairs to cross Ocean Parkway via the pedestrian bridge. Parks Events Recycle your Christmas tree at Mulchfest — The Parks Department and the Sanitation Department are ready to take that Christmas tree off your hands with locations across the city where they will chop up real trees into mulch that can be spread around other trees to protect them from cold weather. You'll be able to drop off your tree, and at some locations you'll even be able to see the trees get chopped into mulch and be able to take some mulch home with you to either use on your own tree or to spread around a tree along the street. Remember to remove all lights and ornaments before handing over your tree, and schedule your trip for a Saturday if you want to see the mulch-making machine in action! Check out the list of locations at nycgovparks.org and drop off your tree anytime from December 26th to January 11th and visit one of the chipping sites on Saturdays beginning at 10am to pick up a bag of mulch! If you can't make it to the park, the Sanitation Department offers curbside pick-up of trees from January 6th through January 17th, when you can place your tree outside with regular trash bags. Real trees collected curbside will also be made into mulch and used in parks across the city. Concert Calendar Here's the AGBC Concert Calendar for the upcoming week: Flosstradamus is playing Webster Hall on Friday, January 3rd at 9pm. Dry Reef is playing Mercury Lounge on Friday, January 3rd at 10pm. I Love The 90s with The Fresh Kids of Bel-Air is playing (Le) Poisson Rouge on Friday, January 3rd at 11pm. Ja Rule with Ashanti is playing New Jersey Performing Arts Center on Saturday, January 4th at 8pm. Satisfaction is playing Bergen Performing Arts Center on Saturday, January 4th at 8pm. Jessie's Girl is playing (Le) Poisson Rouge on Saturday, January 4th at 9pm. Reggaeton vs Hip Hop Night NYC is playing Bowery Ballroom on Saturday, January 4th at 10pm. Firebeatz is playing Marquee New York on Saturday, January 4th at 11pm. Wolfgang Gartner is playing Webster Hall on Saturday, January 4th at 11pm. Motion City Soundtrack with The Sidekicks is playing Webster Hall on Wednesday, January 8th at 7pm. Yola is playing Music Hall of Williamsburg on Wednesday, January 8th at 8pm. yMusic is playing Bowery Ballroom on Thursday, January 9th at 7pm. Smif-N-Wessun with Black Moon is playing Gramercy Theatre on Thursday, January 9th at 7pm. The Dead South with Legendary Shack Shakers is playing Warsaw on Thursday, January 9th at 8pm. Cimafunk is playing Webster Hall on Thursday, January 9th at 8pm. Afromondo Showcase is playing SOB's on Thursday, January 9th at 8pm. Find more fun things to do at agreatbigcity.com/events. New York Fact Here's something you may not have known about New York: 220 West 135th Street lost its National Historic Landmark status in 2009 when it was discovered not to have been the correct address for the home of Florence Mills Weather The extreme highs and lows for this week in weather history: Record High: 72°F on January 6, 2007 Record Low: -4°F on January 1, 1918 Weather for the week ahead: Light rain on Friday through next Wednesday. Thanks for listening to A Great Big City. Follow along 24 hours a day on social media @agreatbigcity or email contact@agreatbigcity.com with any news, feedback, or topic suggestions. Subscribe to AGBC News wherever you listen to podcasts: iTunes, Google Play, or Player FM, Spotify, Overcast, or listen to each episode on the podcast pages at agreatbigcity.com/podcast. If you enjoy the show, subscribe and leave a review wherever you're listening and visit our podcast site to see show notes and extra links for each episode. Intro and outro music: 'Start the Day' by Lee Rosevere — Concert Calendar music from Jukedeck.com — Buzzy 'Auld Lang Syne' by David Fifield — 'Auld Lang Syne' by Two Ton Baker and the Maple City Four

christmas united states women new york amazon spotify new york city real new york times west girl washington dc police santa train park manhattan queens singapore weather google play bronx stockholm luxury depending individuals critics homelessness subway satisfaction soho nypd staten island bel air andrew cuomo officers accusations t mobile warsaw dumbo ashanti reggaeton ja rule williamsburg sob ny post news stories daily news tribeca empire state building mta sidekicks record high upper west side new york fire department moving day player fm music hall firebeatz yola rikers long island city simonsen black moon new york presbyterian hospital wolfgang gartner hq2 richmond hill motion city soundtrack citynews webster hall douglas elliman brooklyn heights national historic landmark flosstradamus new york presbyterian smif n wessun columbus circle cimafunk ez pass m15 mercury lounge bowery ballroom jukedeck gramercy theatre le poisson rouge m14 new jersey performing arts center streeteasy ymusic legendary shack shakers andy byford sanitation department foley square top new york agbc

Special Character Escorts

A Great Big City — New York City News, History, and Events

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 27, 2019 38:43

Sean and Sharon have a very special Thanksgiving treat for you all - Jamie, THE Pilgrim Woman in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, joins them for this episode to peek behind the curtain and unveil the magic that goes into putting on the iconic American spectacle. Jamie is a true parade VIP, with TV time and all! You may remember Jamie from the "Saint-Georges" episode earlier this year when she told the amazing tale of how a Parisian metro worker serenaded her over the station intercom for her birthday. Jamie continues to amaze with incredible inside knowledge of and stories about the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, including the secret Parade Studio warehouse in Jersey, costume party-buses, horse pooper-scoopers with rolling trash cans, political activist protesters, television cues, social strata of parade positions, and so much more! Jamie is dedicated to being part of the magic of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, having participated in it for nearly a decade now and even seeing an ex each Thanksgiving for the sake of a prime parade post. She's a pro balloon-head handler at this point, helpin' them march over potholes with ease. There's literally no better way to celebrate Thanksgiving than listening to this totally topical episode! During News of the Week, Sean discusses how the MTA intentionally flooded a G train entrance in Brooklyn while the station was open, and Sharon milks her new New York Times subscription by choosing an anti ferry article just to piss off Sean, which ends up backfiring. Sharon and Sean also catch up a bit after Sharon's terrible LA trip that caused her to miss meting the one and only ANDY BYFORD at the Riders Alliance gala. Jamie and Sharon sass Sean for not taking the opportunity to pimp the podcast to Mr. Byford. Sean did manage to discuss #BusLyfe with Andy Byford, and he and Sharon end up speculating about Mr. Byford passing the time on his prime bus-watching perch. Also, Sharon learns what an air marshal is. *This podcast is not sponsored by Macy's or any of its affiliates. Sean, Sharon, and Jamie are simply big fans of the Magic of Macy's.

tv american thanksgiving magic new york times character vip jersey parisian mta escorts saint georges byford macy's thanksgiving day parade andy byford riders alliance

50: Thanksgiving Parade Mishaps

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 23, 2019 23:25

Visit agreatbigcity.com/support to learn how to support New York City local news and allow us to keep bringing you this podcast. If you are a New York-based business and would be interested in sponsoring our podcasts, visit agreatbigcity.com/advertising to learn more. The ridership on crosstown buses at 14th Street has increased to more than 32,000 daily riders, an increase over last year's 26,000 daily riders, and now the city is looking at increasing service along the route. Now that buses are moving faster thanks to the clear streets and the installation of bus loading platforms, some are beginning to need to hold at bus stops to avoid getting ahead of schedule. The 14th Street buses will also be getting on-board camera systems that photograph any bus lane blockers and send that info to the Department of Transportation. Any scofflaws caught blocking buses by those on-board cameras or street-mounted cameras will be subject to fines. These are the same on-board cameras that made a dramatic debut recently when the Transit Authority posted a video on social media showing the bus camera zapping a delivery truck out of the bus lane. Although there haven't been any reports of disintegrating delivery vans, the cameras have been operating on the M15 and B44 Select Bus routes. Good and bad news for any holiday shoppers hoping for some traffic relief in Midtown this holiday season: City Council Speaker Corey Johnson said the success of the 14th Street busway should lead the city to expand the program to similar streets like 34th and 42nd, but Mayor de Blasio's view is still that instituting busways on other streets would be a premature move before the 14th street pilot program has completed. The current busway pilot program is scheduled to last 18 months, after which the DOT will examine the results and decide whether the program will continue. Midtown bus riders may still be stuck behind empty Ubers on 34th Street, but visitors to Rockefeller Center will get a bit more breathing room. The city announced on November 22nd that, beginning Friday, November 29th, movable barriers will be installed to close streets around Rockefeller Center and add more pedestrian space during the holiday season. The plan is to completely close 49th and 50th Streets from Fifth to Sixth beginning in the afternoon until midnight, when most shoppers and visitors will be in the area. Along Fifth Avenue from 48th to 52nd, a lane of the road on each side will be reclaimed for pedestrian traffic with movable barriers. On Sixth Avenue, a similar barrier setup will take over one lane of traffic, but only when the NYPD and DOT observers see that crowds are growing and more pedestrian space is needed. According to State Senator Brad Hoylman, the Rockefeller Center area attracts 125 million visitors during the holiday season. When news of the potential street closure plan leaked at the end of October, Mayor de Blasio emphasized that it had not yet been approved by City Hall and that someone at the DOT may have accidentally or intentionally leaked it "trying to further their own agenda". The plan will take effect the day after Thanksgiving. You may notice one problem when you combine the previous two stories: In response to news of the Rockefeller Center street closures, Transit Authority head Andy Byford released a short statement criticizing what he called a unilateral decision by the city that will slow down buses in the Rockefeller Center area since they are not given priority in the current plan. Fifth Avenue is a major north-south route for buses, and it remains to be seen how the four-block narrowing of the street will impact traffic or transit times. This week, the Port Authority announced this week that they hope to use autonomous vehicle technology to more closely space their buses through the Lincoln Tunnel. While they plan realistically wouldn't eliminating drivers, the technology would allow the buses to drive close to each other and maintain a higher speed by closely monitoring the surrounding environment and avoiding collisions with greater accuracy than a human driver. Today's podcast is brought to you by City Survival: The AGBC Holiday Gift Guide — Whether it's a tiny replica of a fire escape to hang on your wall or a gadget that may one day help you escape a stalled subway train, find all your gifts this year through our Gift Guide at agreatbigcity.com/gift-guide and your purchases will financially benefit AGBC. Coming up November 28th, the 93rd annual Macy's Thanksgiving parade will fly 16 giant balloons from 77th Street to 34th Street, with new giant balloons this year of Astronaut Snoopy, Dr. Seuss's Green Eggs and Ham, a new Spongebob Squarepants design featuring Gary the snail, and the reappearance of Smokey the Bear, but those new balloons will hopefully stop to pay their respects to some of their fallen comrades. Over the 93 years of Macy's parades, there have been three major balloon crashes: 26 years ago in 1993 — The Sonic the Hedgehog balloon in the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade knocks down a streetlight in Columbus Circle, injuring a child and an off-duty police officer 22 years ago in 1997 — Four are injured, two seriously, when a Cat in the Hat balloon from the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade knocks down a streetlight on Central Park West — Hear more about the Corey Lidle plane crash on Episode 44 of the podcast 14 years ago in 2005 — Two are injured when an M&M balloon from the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade knocks down a streetlight in Times Square Safety limits are now set on where balloons may only fly if sustained winds are below 23mph and gusts are below 34mph. For this Thanksgiving, the winds are predicted to be in the 20mph range, so it remains to be seen if high winds may ground the balloons this year. No matter what happens to this year's Macy's balloons, it won't be as exciting as the parade's end from 1927 to 1932, when parade balloons were simply launched into the sky after the parade, where the helium-filled balloons would rise into the air and Macy's predicted they would deflate and land, so they attached a note that offered a $100 reward to anyone who returned the balloon's remains. The tradition ended, however, when one of the loose balloons finally ended up getting stuck on the wing of an airplane and sent the plane into a tailspin. 13 years ago on November 25, 2006 — Sean Bell is shot and killed by police in a controversial shooting that raised protests over how police handled the encounter and whether anyone in Bell's bachelor party was actually armed — Sean Bell is shot and killed by police in a controversial shooting that raised protests over how police handled the encounter and whether anyone in Bell's bachelor party was actually armed. Upon leaving the bachelor party at a strip club, undercover police testified that they heard one of Bell's friends say he was going to get a gun, so police, who were outside the club investigating possible prostitution at the location, drew their guns and fired on the group, killing Bell and severely injuring two others. The NYPD response hinged on whether a gun was mentioned or displayed, with witnesses saying no one in the bachelor party mentioned a gun and none being found at the scene. Mayor Bloomberg called the shooting unacceptable and said it looked like a case of excessive force, with five officers firing a total of 50 shots, hitting Bell four times, Trent Benefield three times, and Joseph Guzman 19 times. Protests took place comparing Bell's death to similar police shootings of unarmed men and protesters called for the officers to be held accountable. Three of the five officers involved in the shooting were indicted and went before a judge in a bench trial where all charges were dropped on April 25, 2008. Despite their acquittal, all officers and their commanding officer were fired or forced to resign by 2012. Liverpool Street from 94th to 101st Ave in Jamaica, Queens was named in honor of Sean Bell on what would have been his 27th birthday. 109 years ago on November 27, 1910 — The original Penn Station opens to the public, with an estimated 100,000 visitors on the first day — The original Penn Station opens to the public, with an estimated 100,000 visitors on the first day The city operated a bit differently in those days, with the New York Times noting the increase in pedestrians on a Sunday in the "usually very quiet" area in Midtown between Penn Station and Times Square, and that the crowds were "impressed with the lack of confusion" at Penn Station on opening day. One aspect of the opening day report did seem all too familiar: The new station caused a notable increase in subway passengers at both the Times Square and 33rd Street stations, causing passengers to question why there had not been extra capacity added to the Seventh Avenue cross-town trolley. The increase in train traffic also relocated a large number of support personnel to the city, with many settling in southeast Queens near the newly-constructed Sunnyside train yards. This increased the population of Long Island City by at least 2,000. The original above-ground structure of Penn Station would remain until 1963, when it had fallen into disrepair and was torn down and replaced with Madison Square Garden. The loss of what was once an architectural wonder led to the formation of the Landmarks Preservation Commission that would save Grand Central Terminal from a similar fate just two years later. Today, the Moynihan Train Hall near Penn Station is being renovated into a modern version of what Penn Station once was. The new train station will service Amtrak and LIRR customers and feature a soaring glass atrium ceiling about the size of Grand Central's main hall. A Great Big City has been running a 24-hour newsfeed since 2010, but the AGBC News podcast is just getting started, and we need your support. A Great Big City is built on a dedication to explaining what is happening and how it fits into the larger history of New York, which means thoroughly researching every topic and avoiding clickbait headlines to provide a straightforward, honest, and factual explanation of the news. Individuals can make a monthly or one-time contribution at agreatbigcity.com/support and local businesses can have a lasting impact by supporting local news while promoting products or services directly to interested customers listening to this podcast. Visit agreatbigcity.com/advertising to learn more. AGBC is more than just a news website: Every evening, just before sundown, A Great Big City checks the Empire State Building's lighting schedule and sends out a notification if the tower's lighting will be lit in special colors for a holiday or celebration. Follow @agreatbigcity on social media to receive the alerts. Park of the day Bergen Triangle — E. 181 St., Anthony Ave., Grand Concourse, the Bronx — Named for William Bergen, one of the largest developers in the Bronx, who spotted vacant lots and bought them, constructing over two hundred homes on his land. One of Bergen's most notable achievements as a developer was the construction of the Bergen Building, built in 1915 at the intersection of Tremont and Arthur Avenues, about one mile southeast from Bergen Triangle Park. Parks Events The city will be hosting Black Friday Hikes on November 29, 2019 as a way to clear your mind from any holiday stress and avoid any ravenous shopping crowds. There will be one official hike in each borough, but you're encouraged to visit any park and take your own hiking adventure. Concert Calendar Here's the AGBC Concert Calendar for the upcoming week: Snoh Aalegra with Baby Rose is playing Webster Hall on Sunday, November 24th at 7pm. Bob Dylan is playing Beacon Theatre on Sunday, November 24th at 8pm. Hozier with Angie McMahon is playing Hammerstein Ballroom on Monday, November 25th at 8pm. Jaden Smith and Willow Smith are playing Terminal 5 on Tuesday, November 26th at 7pm. Hozier with Angie McMahon is playing Hammerstein Ballroom on Tuesday, November 26th at 8pm. Bob Dylan is playing Beacon Theatre on Tuesday, November 26th at 8pm. Bob Dylan is playing Beacon Theatre on Wednesday, November 27th at 8pm. Lil Tjay is playing PlayStation Theater on Wednesday, November 27th at 8pm. Mega Bash with Luis Fonsi, Reik, Ozuna are playing Prudential Center on Friday, November 29th at 7pm. Bob Dylan is playing Beacon Theatre on Friday, November 29th at 8pm. Fobia is playing PlayStation Theater on Friday, November 29th at 8pm. Madeon with Instupendo is playing Brooklyn Steel on Friday, November 29th at 8pm. Pentatonix is playing The Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden on Saturday, November 30th at 7pm. Guster with Rubblebucket is playing Terminal 5 on Saturday, November 30th at 7pm. Bob Dylan is playing Beacon Theatre on Saturday, November 30th at 8pm. Hot Tuna is playing The Town Hall on Saturday, November 30th at 8pm. Find more fun things to do at agreatbigcity.com/events. Today's fact about New York Here's something you may not have known about New York: You can call, text, or chat with a trained counselor 24 hours a day at the city's NYC Well program Weather The extreme highs and lows for this week in weather history: Record High: 77°F on November 20, 1985 Record Low: 13°F on November 22, 1880 Weather for the week ahead: Light rain this weekend, with a chance of wind on Wednesday and Thursday Thanks for listening to A Great Big City. Follow along 24 hours a day on social media @agreatbigcity or email contact@agreatbigcity.com with any news, feedback, or topic suggestions. Subscribe to AGBC News wherever you listen to podcasts: iTunes, Google Play, or Spotify, Player FM, Pocket Casts, or listen to each episode on the podcast pages at agreatbigcity.com/podcast. If you enjoy the show, subscribe and leave a review wherever you're listening and visit our podcast site to see show notes and extra links for each episode. Intro and outro music: 'Start the Day' by Lee Rosevere — Concert Calendar music from Jukedeck.com

new york spotify new york city thanksgiving new york times bear uber park mayors protests queens weather cat streets google play jamaica bronx transportation individuals bob dylan sonic the hedgehog madison square garden spongebob squarepants ham sixth seuss bergen nypd terminal town hall times square city hall mishaps smokey michael bloomberg pocket casts ave bill de blasio amtrak gift guide empire state building midtown ozuna jaden smith sunnyside record high hozier player fm fifth avenue fobia luis fonsi rockefeller center port authority green eggs pentatonix willow smith long island city grand central reik penn station guster lil tjay snoh aalegra prudential center webster hall thanksgiving parade tremont madeon hammerstein ballroom hot tuna grand central terminal sean bell lirr columbus circle m15 beacon theatre lincoln tunnel jukedeck angie mcmahon seventh avenue liverpool street rubblebucket transit authority hulu theater andy byford brooklyn steel nyc well joseph guzman playstation theater city council speaker corey johnson agbc

49: Ellis Island Closes and The Macy's Thanksgiving Parade

A Great Big City — New York City News, History, and Events

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 12, 2019 27:32

Visit agreatbigcity.com/support to learn how to support New York City local news and allow us to keep bringing you this podcast. If you are a New York-based business and would be interested in sponsoring our podcasts, visit agreatbigcity.com/advertising to learn more. If you're one of the 26,000 people who visit the Wall Street Bull on a typical day, you may soon need to ask for a different set of directions. Back in April 2018, when it was announced that the Fearless Girl statue was going to be moved from Bowling Green to outside the New York Stock Exchange, there were also rumblings of a possible move for the Charging Bull statue. The Bull is one of the city's most popular and iconic attractions, but its location in the middle of Broadway has long caused a dangerous situation, with onlookers standing inches away from the taxis and tour buses that travel down Broadway. A small pedestrian area added along the border of Bowling Green plaza has not helped, and concrete barriers are still necessary along the border of the plaza to prevent the multiple lanes of traffic from hitting visitors to the statue. A year after the city moved Fearless Girl, the mayor's office has confirmed that the Wall Street Bull will be moving out of Bowling Green and into the plaza outside the NYSE, where visitors can more safely gather around the iconic statue. Tourists may be asking for directions to the Bull for quite a long time, as Google Maps currently still shows the Fearless Girl statue as being located in Bowling Green, despite being moved to the Stock Exchange a year ago in November 2018. If you're a fan of the Bull, be prepared for its 30th anniversary, coming up on December 15th, when the Bull was first dropped off in front of the Stock Exchange in what sculptor Arturo Di Modica called a gift to the people of New York that was meant to represent the strength and power of the American people. Despite initially placing the Bull in front of the Stock Exchange, Di Modica is no fan of the statue being relocated there again. Although no final placement has been announced, Di Modica was also critical of the placement of the Fearless Girl near his statue, and would likely fight having the statues placed facing each other again. The Parks Department does not purchase art to display in city parks, so in a unique arrangement, the Bull is technically still owned by Di Modica, but has also long outlasted the one-year limit that pieces of art are typically granted to be displayed in public parks. This unofficial arrangement over the statue's ownership will likely cause further confusion if the sculptor disagrees with the city's plans to relocate the statue. Checking in with the 14th Street busway, the Department of Transportation will be installing new bus-boarding platforms along 14th Street from now through December 2019. These are snap-together plastic islands that allow faster boarding of buses without taking up sidewalk space. The plastic platform extends out from the bus shelter and prevents vehicles from being able to block the bus stop and allows the bus to continue along the route without pausing to merge back into traffic. This, combined with the all-door boarding of the Select Bus Service allows faster bus stops with more room for passengers while exiting or waiting for the bus. Each platform will take about six days to install and will temporarily close the bus stop at that location, but the DOT will stagger the installations so that the nearest surrounding bus stops remain in service. The busway itself just passed one month in operation after a series of lawsuits delayed its opening. Both city Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg and Transit Authority president Andy Byford have publicly praised the results of the busway and see it as a template for possible busways in other parts of the city where traffic has slowed buses to a crawl. The 14th Street busway program is expected to last 18 months, after which the DOT will examine the results and decide whether the program will continue. If you're elsewhere in the city and can't catch one of the frequent 14th Street buses, soon you'll be able to flag down a truly unique taxi option. This week, the Taxi and Limo Commission added the 2019 Tesla Model 3 as an approved vehicle to be converted into a city taxi. The electric cars have a minimum range of 220 miles, but excel in city driving as they don't waste energy while stopped in traffic. During the Taxi of Tomorrow competition, part of the complaint against the winning Nissan NV200 was the cost of maintenance, another area where Teslas would shine, as they have no required maintenance. According to Allan Fromberg of the TLC, there are already Teslas operating as for-hire vehicles in the city, but none have gotten the full taxi treatment yet. Any potential Model 3s that will be used as city taxis will receive the same makeover as all other vehicles, from the yellow paint job to the clear partition and roof-mounted lights. It would be up to the taxi company using the Model 3 to figure out how and when to recharge the car, as Tesla explicitly prohibits taxi and rideshare vehicles from using its Supercharger network, which is the fastest way to recharge a Tesla vehicle. Taxi operators would instead need to install high-power electric hookups at their garages, much like companies install private gas pumps to refuel their fleets of vehicles. Coming up November 28th, the 93rd annual Macy's Thanksgiving parade will feature 16 giant balloons, 40 smaller balloons and inflatables, 26 floats, 1,200 performers, 11 marching bands, and more than 1,000 clowns. New giant balloons this year are Astronaut Snoopy, Green Eggs and Ham, a new Spongebob Squarepants design featuring Gary the snail, and the reappearance of Smokey the Bear. If you've ever followed AGBC during the Thanksgiving season, you may know that this is also the season for the AGBC Thanksgiving Parade — a page on our site that takes all 93 years of balloons and jumbles their names into a wacky new lineup. Let's hit the randomizer and see what ideas we come up with for this year's AGBC parade: Visit agreatbigcity.com/thanksgiving to shuffle the list and generate your own funny balloon names. Where else will you see the Buzz Rugrats balloon, How to Train Your Santa Claus, and Mama and Papa Doughboy? Only in a hypothetical AGBC parade, of course! 61 years ago on November 10, 1958 — New York jeweler Harry Winston donates the Hope Diamond to the Museum of Natural History by mailing it to Washington D.C. via registered mail 50 years ago on November 10, 1969 — Sesame Street debuts on public television after an earlier test period in July when episodes were shown to preschoolers in Philadelphia and NYC 212 years ago on November 11, 1807 — Washington Irving gives New York the name "Gotham", which means "goat's town" Bill de Blasio finally called it quits after attempting a Presidential run back in September, but this week former Mayor Bloomberg indicated that he may take another swing at the campaign, himself! Bloomberg has toyed with the possibility of running for President over the years, but seemed to declare his most serious effort for the upcoming 2020 election. While he has not officially declared his candidacy, this week Bloomberg filed paperwork to appear on the Alabama ballot, which had an early deadline candidates must meet, and is in the process of filing in Arkansas and is listed as a potential candidate by the Michigan Department of State. According to various reports from people close to Bloomberg, he has not made a final decision, and will soon announce his intentions. In a statement, top advisor Howard Wolfson stated that this was not a campaign announcement, but that Bloomberg was increasingly concerned that the current field of Democratic candidates are not well positioned to defeat Donald Trump. Neither Bloomberg nor Wolfson provided any specific criticisms on policies or candidates that they find troubling, earlier in October, Bloomberg had reportedly only considered entering the Presidential race if front-runner Joe Biden dropped out. With Bloomberg's recent filing of paperwork in Alabama, the latest Quinnipiac poll was only able to ask the final half of those surveyed about a potential Bloomberg Presidential run, and although the sample size is only 636 potential New Hampshire Democratic voters, the results are certainly less than encouraging: Of the 636 surveyed, 54% responded that they would definitely not vote for Bloomberg in the Democratic primary. Among the full 1,134 likely New Hampshire Democratic primary voters, Joe Biden still takes the top spot, but with only 20% of those surveyed choosing him if the primary were held today. In a separate question, 61% indicated they might change their mind on which candidate they'd vote for before the primary. In a November 8th poll by Morning Consult, Bloomberg faced high unfavorability numbers, but would fare about as well as Biden, Sanders, and Warren in a hypothetical match-up against Trump if the election were held today. 65 years ago on November 12, 1954 — Ellis Island is closed after years of serving as a detention center after both World Wars 18 years ago on November 12, 2001 — American Airlines Flight 587 crashes in the Belle Harbor neighborhood of Queens on takeoff from JFK Airport, killing all 260 people aboard and five people on the ground In AGBC history: 2 years ago — Hugo Boss Rooftop Features Massive Cologne Bottle — Wednesday, November 8 8 years ago — Occupy Wall Street - Evicted From Zuccotti Park by the NYPD — Tuesday, November 15 3 years ago — NY1 is Rebranded as "Spectrum News" — Tuesday, November 15 A Great Big City has been running a 24-hour newsfeed since 2010, but the AGBC News podcast is just getting started, and we need your support. A Great Big City is built on a dedication to explaining what is happening and how it fits into the larger history of New York, which means thoroughly researching every topic and avoiding clickbait headlines to provide a straightforward, honest, and factual explanation of the news. Individuals can make a monthly or one-time contribution at agreatbigcity.com/support and local businesses can have a lasting impact by supporting local news while promoting products or services directly to interested customers listening to this podcast. Visit agreatbigcity.com/advertising to learn more. AGBC is more than just a news website: It also automatically checks MTA data before morning rush hour and sends out notifications if there are delays on any subway lines, LIRR or MetroNorth trains, and bridges and tunnels. Follow @agreatbigcity on social media to receive the alerts. Park of the day Ewen Park Parks Events Raoul Wallenberg Forest Tree Planting — Date: November 17, 2019 Volunteer with the Stewardship Team to plant trees in Raoul Wallenburg Forest! Concert Calendar This is the AGBC Concert Calendar for the upcoming week: Charly Bliss is playing Webster Hall on Wednesday, November 13th at 6pm. The Charlie Daniels Band with The Allman Betts Band are playing Beacon Theatre on Wednesday, November 13th at 8pm. Joe Bonamassa is playing Beacon Theatre on Thursday, November 14th at 8pm. Jay Park is playing Terminal 5 on Thursday, November 14th at 8pm. Lux Prima is playing Kings Theatre on Thursday, November 14th at 8pm. Billy Joel is playing Madison Square Garden on Friday, November 15th at 8pm. Joe Bonamassa is playing Beacon Theatre on Friday, November 15th at 8pm. Taking Back Sunday is playing Terminal 5 on Friday, November 15th at 8pm. Taking Back Sunday with Frank Iero is playing Terminal 5 on Saturday, November 16th at 3am. New York Hurling Classic is playing Citi Field on Saturday, November 16th at 12pm. Tool with Killing Joke is playing Prudential Center on Saturday, November 16th at 7pm. Joe Bonamassa is playing Beacon Theatre on Saturday, November 16th at 8pm. Anderson .Paak are playing Brooklyn Steel on Sunday, November 17th at 8pm. A Day To Remember with Beartooth and I Prevail are playing Terminal 5 on Tuesday, November 19th at 6pm. SuperM is playing Madison Square Garden on Tuesday, November 19th at 7pm. Tool with Killing Joke is playing Barclays Center on Tuesday, November 19th at 7pm. Find more fun things to do at agreatbigcity.com/events. Did you know? Those dark green USPS sidewalk mailboxes without mail slots are called relay boxes and are used so that mail carriers don't have to carry an entire route's mail with them all at once Weather The extreme highs and lows for this week in weather history: Record High: 80°F on November 15, 1993 Record Low: 17°F on November 16, 1933 Weather for the week ahead: Light rain tomorrow and next Monday. Thanks for listening to A Great Big City. Follow along 24 hours a day on social media @agreatbigcity or email contact@agreatbigcity.com with any news, feedback, or topic suggestions. Subscribe to AGBC News wherever you listen to podcasts: iTunes, Google Play, or Podcast Addict, Player FM, Spotify, or listen to each episode on the podcast pages at agreatbigcity.com/podcast. If you enjoy the show, subscribe and leave a review wherever you're listening and visit our podcast site to see show notes and extra links for each episode. Intro and outro music: 'Start the Day' by Lee Rosevere — Concert Calendar music from Jukedeck.com

american new york spotify president new york city thanksgiving donald trump state joe biden washington dc philadelphia alabama model bear park broadway tesla mama tool museum queens arkansas weather google play presidential democratic checking volunteers bloomberg bull transportation individuals sanders tlc gotham taxi sesame street madison square garden spongebob squarepants google maps ham terminal billy joel closes usps smokey michael bloomberg natural history tourists bill de blasio nyse bowling green new york stock exchange superm paak podcast addict killing joke mta record high tesla model ellis island citi field barclays center player fm washington irving stock exchange wolfson green eggs quinnipiac day to remember joe bonamassa rebranded taking back sunday supercharger michigan department ny1 beartooth hope diamond prudential center morning consult webster hall jay park thanksgiving parade jfk airport i prevail american airlines flight charlie daniels band parks department lirr fearless girl allman betts band frank iero charly bliss beacon theatre harry winston jukedeck kings theatre transit authority andy byford charging bull brooklyn steel lux prima howard wolfson nissan nv200 agbc

14th Street Busway! Andy Byford Almost Quit! Closing Rikers Island! Five Charter Amendments!

I HEART* NY

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 27, 2019 50:38

#2 – It's been a busy month since our last episode, and we have much ground to cover. 14th St has "banned" cars, but where's the apocalypse that Arthur Schwartz (city villain) predicted? Andy Byford's fractious relationship with Andrew Cuomo hit another speed bump last week The movement to close Rikers Island is gaining momentum. Predictably, the proposal from City Hall making both sides unhappy Early voting is happening this week for NYC's 2019 general elections. You can vote on five amendments to the city charter! What are they, and what does the podcast endorse? Links from this episode: Locate your Early Voting and your Election Day polling site Check out Veronica's sketch show this Wednesday at 7pm Follow us on Twitter | Rate us on Apple Podcasts --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/iheartny/message

new york city quit election day andrew cuomo charter city hall amendments early voting locate rikers island predictably apple podcasts send arthur schwartz andy byford busway

Catamaran Quorum

san francisco brazilian buenos aires uruguay quorum catamaran andy byford

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 24, 2019 33:36

Are you ready for more Buenos Aires content? Sean and Sharon sure are! This episode is all about boat transit in BA. #FerryLyfe The dynamic duo discusses their ferry adventure to Uruguay via the delightful BuqueBus ferry company. Their Uruguay adventure includes choppy waters, a curious pancake-like dessert - "Que es pancake?", landmarks closed due to bad weather, and lots of storytime. They also recount their trek to the Tigre River region, which they traveled to and from via regional rail (along with some familiar feathered friends). They enjoyed a lovely catamaran ride on the river thanks to help of a particularly persuasive Brazilian. In News of the Week, Sean discusses a close call about transit hero Andy Byford, while Sharon shares San Francisco's plans for their very own busway! Also, Sean gives Sharon a very special gift.

Hour 2 Trump will not play political games with the Dems.

Mark Simone

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 23, 2019 33:37

Andy Byford will stay with the MTA. Mayor de Blasio wants to crack down on loud neighborhoods. Ann Coulter

donald trump mayors dems bill de blasio mta ann coulter political games andy byford

Feel The ❤️Bern

russia italian queens bernie sanders cuomo tulsi rikers feelthebern andy byford

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 22, 2019 74:44

Bernie Sanders' heart is full... from the love he got this weekend in Queens! Does AOC really give his campaign new life? Plus, Cuomo uses the N-word to show how Italians were treated like the N-words. Rikers is finally closing. Andy Byford quits quitting. Tulsi drags Hillary to Russia. Oh, and it's the Season Two premiere! THE CAMPAIGN SEASON IS HERE!! For bonus content, join the party at patreon.com/houseparty.

Feel The ❤️Bern

russia italian queens bernie sanders cuomo tulsi rikers feelthebern andy byford

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 22, 2019 74:44

41: Other Early September Terror Attacks Against the City

A Great Big City — New York City News, History, and Events

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 13, 2019 20:53

A quick note on what is undoubtedly the top story of this week: The September 11th attacks. It's a uniquely difficult subject to cover, and one that has a unique interpretation within the city, whether you witnessed it first-hand or have come to understand it by living in the city and walking the same streets. I won't be playing excerpts from eyewitness video of people's final moments. I won't be reinterpreting the attack as a patriotic celebration. I will ask that you look around you and treat your fellow New Yorkers with kindness and compassion to honor those we lost, who were also regular, everyday New Yorkers, walking these same streets. Kindness is stronger than hate. — 18 years ago: The September 11th attacks destroy three buildings in the World Trade Center complex, killing 2,606 people in and around the buildings and 147 aboard the two planes ☮️. Also 18 years ago, just one week after the September 11th attacks, A benefit concert and telethon is simulcast across 35 major television channels and raises over $200 million for the September 11th Fund — 'America: A Tribute to Heroes' featured musical performances from New York, London, and Los Angeles, and a variety of celebrities both hosting the event and answering calls. The money raised went toward cash assistance, counseling, and other services for individuals and businesses impacted by the September 11th attacks, and the Fund would distribute $528 million by 2004. Although 'Tribute to Heroes' was the first fundraiser held, by October 2001, the 'Concert for New York City' would be held at Madison Square Garden with another all-star line-up and raise $35 million for first responders, and on October 21st 'United We Stand: What More Can I Give' concert was headlined by Michael Jackson from Washington D.C. that unfortunately was haunted by technical problems and scheduling issues with performers. Recently I mentioned that 4 years ago, the MTA was facing a string of assaults on workers, and this week the same news appears again. The Transit Workers Union Local 100 reports that assaults on bus and subway workers are up 39% year-over-year, with 85 workers suffering various attacks in the first eight months of 2019. While the MTA and the state have been increasing the law enforcement presence in the subways, transit union president Tony Utano accused the MTA of concealing the increasing assault numbers and not making the statistics public. Earlier this year, the union had also called for greater police enforcement in the subway due to incidents where MTA workers were spit upon. This news of an increase in assaults comes as the transit union is in contract negotiations with the MTA, and workers have been without a contract since May 2019. The MTA is simultaneously trying to address increases in the homeless population within the subway system and a push from Governor Cuomo and MTA head Andy Byford to prosecute fare evasion. This week brought the final sentencing of the student who stabbed two classmates at a Bronx school in 2017. Abel Cedeno was 18 years old at the time and stabbed two younger students with a spring-loaded knife he had purchased from Amazon. One victim survived by was in a coma for several days and of the victims was killed, making the attack the first killing inside a city school in over 20 years. This week, Cedeno received a 14 year prison sentence for manslaughter, 8 years for assault, and 90 days for criminal possession of a weapon, all of which will be served simultaneously. Although the attack was initially explained as an on-going bullying incident, the court documents described the incident that precipitated the attack as a typical school interaction, where one of the victims threw something that hit Cedeno, then claimed that he didn't intend to hit him, but Cedeno challenged the victim to a fight and drew a knife. Further complicating the theory of on-going bullying was testimony given during the trial that the two victims had not had much prior interaction with Cedeno. In an interview with ABC7, Cedeno claimed that he took the knife to school because he felt threatened and that when the attack occurred, he 'just snapped'. In a stunning detail, Cedeno's mother had contacted the school two and a half years before the attack to tell them that he had been taking a knife to school, but administrators failed to take proper action to log the event, instead simply searching his belongings one time and not notifying the school's principal of the mother's concerns. Another terror attack also took place in the city 99 years ago on September 16, 1920 — A horse-drawn wagon bomb explodes outside 23 Wall Street, killing 38 and injuring hundreds — It was an unorthodox way of delivering a bomb, and no one knew the danger that was carried on a horse-drawn wagon as it was pulled along busy Wall Street. In the wagon was 100 pounds of dynamite surrounded by 500 pounds of sash weights, which are heavy cast-iron weights used to counter-balance windows that slide open. The dynamite exploded at noon and sent the heavy shrapnel flying into the lunchtime crowd outside the financial buildings along Wall Street. The attack is still unsolved, but historians believe it was carried out by an Italian anarchist group. The sheer cruelty of the bombing, which seemed to have no intended target and killed a random assortment of innocent people who were nearby, made it difficult to even theorize what the intent of the bombers had been. The federal Bureau of Investigation did find flyers with vague threats stuffed in nearby mailboxes, but they did not directly reference the bombing. It became the worst single loss of life in the city since the Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire from nine years earlier in 1911. Today, you can still see damage from the blast at 23 Wall Street, where part of the stone wall has been preserved showing the chips in the stone from the projectiles in the explosion. Just around the corner from the 23 Wall Street bombing, 8 years ago on September 17, 2011 — The Occupy Wall Street movement gathers in the Financial District, eventually settling in a camp at Zuccotti Park — The Occupy Wall Street movement gathers in the Financial District, eventually settling in a camp at Zuccotti Park After planning to camp in either Chase Manhattan Plaza or Bowling Green Plaza, the group lucked out and selected Zuccotti Park, which is designated as a privately-owned public space. The park's status put the protest in kind of a limbo between rules the city could enforce, with police being able to monitor the camp from the sidewalk surrounding it, but otherwise needing to be invited onto the property by Brookfield, the property's owner. The protest camp would last two months until the early morning hours of November 15, when the group was evicted from Zuccotti Park by the city after courts ruled that the protesters did not have a First Amendment right to camp in the park. 168 years ago on September 18, 1851 — The first edition of the New-York Daily Times is published. Six years later, the paper would shorten its name to the New York Times — The paper published six days a week with morning and evening editions and charged one penny for the day's news. A larger, weekly version was printed to be distributed outside the city. Times Square would not be renamed after the paper for another 53 years, so the first offices were downtown at 113 Nassau Street near City Hall Park, then 138 Nassau Street, then 41 Park Row. By 1904, the paper would move to the Times Tower in what was then known as Longacre Square before it was renamed Times Square in honor of the paper. After establishing the Times Square New Year's Eve ball drop from atop their building, the paper would again outgrow the location, expanding and moving some offices westward until completely relocating to their current building on Eighth Avenue. For a bit of local news, that first edition of the New-York Daily Times contained a front page story on the ongoing construction of the fountain in Washington Square Park, which would be completed one year later in 1852. In another attack against the city that gets forgotten in the shadow of 9/11: 18 years ago on September 18, 2001 — One week after the September 11th attacks, letters containing anthrax poison are mailed to four NYC-area newsrooms — The letters appeared to have been mailed from Princeton, NJ and a public mailbox near the Princeton University campus was found to be contaminated with anthrax spores. Letters mailed to Democratic Senators in October 2001 contained a similar threatening note referencing the September 11th attacks. In all, 17 people were sickened and five were killed due to anthrax exposure. Victims included assistants who opened or handled the letters, postal workers who sorted the letters, and a woman from the Bronx whose exposure could never be determined. Although the letters were written to appear as if they were from Muslim extremists, an FBI investigation identified the perpetrator as an American microbiologist, vaccinologist, and senior biodefense researcher at a government facility in Maryland. Bruce Edwards Ivins, a 62-year-old white male, became the focus of the investigation seven years after the incidents, after which he started to show signs of strain and was involuntarily committed to a psychiatric hospital where he went on to suggestively discuss the anthrax letters during therapy sessions. Ivins died by suicide on July 29, 2008 after learning that he had been identified, and the FBI formally closed the case in 2010, identifying Ivins as the sole perpetrator of the letters and detailing how he falsified evidence and attempted to frame co-workers at the governmental research lab to throw investigators off the case. It was back in July when we discussed mosquitoes first testing positive for West Nile virus within the city, and this week, the first human West Nile infections were documented within the city, with one confirmed infection in Brooklyn, two in Queens, and one in Staten Island, although mosquitoes testing positive for the disease have been found in every borough. Now is the time to be prepared and protect yourself from mosquitoes if you will be outside. Wear clothing that covers your skin, use a mosquito repellent containing the chemical repellents DEET or Picaridin, or use a natural repellent containing oil of lemon eucalyptus. Be sure to seal around your window air conditioners so that mosquitoes won't have an easy entrance into your home, and use window screens if you'll be leaving windows open. If you'll be traveling overseas, take special precaution to avoid mosquito bites, and research which vaccinations you'll need to avoid diseases that are common in the areas where you will be traveling. If you're staying in the city, you can even do your part by calling 311 to report standing water, defined as a place on public or private property where water gathers and remains for more than five days, creating a habitat where mosquitoes may breed. The city may have escaped the effects of the most recent Hurricane Dorian, but 81 years ago on September 21, 1938 — A Category 3 hurricane made landfall on Long Island, becoming one of the most powerful hurricanes ever recorded to hit New England — A Category 3 hurricane makes landfall on Long Island, becoming one of the most powerful hurricanes ever recorded to hit New England It became known as the 1938 New England Hurricane and heavily impacted Long Island, although winds were only 60 to 70mph in NYC, with eastern Long Island taking the worst damage. An estimated 682 people were killed, with damages equivalent to $4.7 billion. A Great Big City has been running a 24-hour newsfeed since 2010, but the AGBC News podcast is just getting started, and we need your support. A Great Big City is built on a dedication to explaining what is happening and how it fits into the larger history of New York, which means thoroughly researching every topic and avoiding clickbait headlines to provide a straightforward, honest, and factual explanation of the news. Individuals can make a monthly or one-time contribution at agreatbigcity.com/support and local businesses can have a lasting impact by supporting local news while promoting products or services directly to interested customers listening to this podcast. Visit agreatbigcity.com/advertising to learn more. AGBC is more than just a news website: It also automatically checks MTA data before morning rush hour and sends out notifications if there are delays on any subway lines, LIRR or MetroNorth trains, and bridges and tunnels. Follow @agreatbigcity on social media to receive the alerts. Park of the day Galileo Playground — 75 WEST 175 STREET, the Bronx — Previously named Macombs Park, Galileo Playground is located in Morris Heights in the west central Bronx. A former vacant lot, the land for the playground was assigned to City of New York / Parks & Recreation on December 30, 1993. Construction of the new playground was completed during the Fall of 1999 and features jungle gyms and spray showers. Parks Events Check out some birds of prey up close at the Central Park Raptor Fest — Saturday, September 14 — The Urban Park Rangers will bring a selection of eagles, falcons, owls, and hawks to this family-friendly event on the East Lawn in Central Park, just inside the park parallel at 99th Street. The event is free and starts at noon. Call (212) 360-2774 for more info. And on Sunday, there will be the 39th Annual Antique Motorcycle Show in Queens at the Queens County Farm Museum — Sunday, September 15, 2019 — Over 100 antique motorcycles will be part of the show, and live music and food will be available. Tickets will cost $11 at the door to benefit the Queens County Farm Museum. The event runs from 11am to 4pm at Queens Farm Park on the border of Glen Oaks and Floral Park in Queens And now let's check in with our robot friend for the concert calendar: Concert Calendar Here's the AGBC Concert Calendar for the upcoming week: GRAVITY and DAY6 are playing Playstation Theater on Friday, September 13th. Two Door Cinema Club and Overcoats are playing Manhattan Center Hammerstein Ballroom on Friday, September 13th. Joanna Newsom is playing El Teatro of El Museo del Barrio on Friday, September 13th. AmaduConcert Music Albums and Amadu are playing Music Hall of Williamsburg on Saturday, September 14th. Kamelot, Battle Beast, and Sonata Arctica are playing Playstation Theater on Saturday, September 14th. The Growlers, The Lemonheads, and The Nude Party are playing SummerStage NYC on Saturday, September 14th. Japanese Breakfast is playing NeueHouse on Saturday, September 14th. Low and Christopher Tignor are playing Murmrr Theatre on Saturday, September 14th. Joanna Newsom is playing El Teatro of El Museo del Barrio on Saturday, September 14th. Jethro Tull is playing Forest Hills Stadium in Forest Hills on Saturday, September 14th at 7pm. Brandi Carlile with Mavis Staples are playing Madison Square Garden in Midtown West / Chelsea / Hudson Yards on Saturday, September 14th at 8pm. Gipsy Kings is playing Beacon Theatre on the Upper West Side on Saturday, September 14th at 8pm. Salt-N-Pepa with Loni Love is playing Kings Theatre in Ditmas Park / Flatbush on Saturday, September 14th at 8pm. Shakey Graves and Dr. Dog, Shakey Graves, and Dr. Dog are playing The Rooftop at Pier 17 on Sunday, September 15th. The Body and Assembly Of Light are playing The Bell House on Sunday, September 15th. Joanna Newsom is playing El Teatro of El Museo del Barrio on Sunday, September 15th. Backstreet Boys is playing Prudential Center on Sunday, September 15th at 8pm. Marina with Daya is playing Rumsey Playfield, Central Park in Midtown East on Monday, September 16th at 7pm. Angels and Airwaves are playing Playstation Theater on Tuesday, September 17th. Cold, Awake For Days, and University Drive are playing Brooklyn Bazaar on Tuesday, September 17th. Phantom Planet is playing Elsewhere on Wednesday, September 18th. Malcolm Mooney and The Eleventh Planet and Malcolm Mooney are playing Union Pool on Wednesday, September 18th. Mac DeMarco is playing Brooklyn Steel in Greenpoint on Thursday, September 19th at 8pm. Madonna is playing BAM Howard Gilman Opera House in Boerum Hill on Thursday, September 19th at 8pm. Blink-182 with Lil Wayne and Neck Deep are playing Barclays Center in Boerum Hill on Friday, September 20th at 7pm. Find more fun things to do at agreatbigcity.com/events. New York Fact Here's something you may not have known about New York: If you see a damaged, broken, or dying tree in the city, you can submit a tree service request notifying the Department of Parks Forestry Division of the location Weather The extreme highs and lows for this week in weather history: Record High: 94°F on September 13, 1952 Record Low: 44°F on September 15, 1873 Weather for the week ahead: Possible light rain tomorrow and Sunday, with high temperatures peaking at 84°F on Monday. Intro and outro music: 'Start the Day' by Lee Rosevere — Concert Calendar music from Jukedeck.com

american new york amazon new york city los angeles body dogs fall west washington dc italian angels fbi maryland park heroes cold kindness wall street muslims queens weather tickets michael jackson letters wear construction fund bronx long island investigation victims individuals bureau gravity recreation blink lil wayne princeton university madison square garden first amendment central park staten island andrew cuomo new yorkers times square world trade center backstreet boys barrio rooftop williamsburg hurricane dorian airwaves mta occupy wall street jethro tull terror attacks record high upper west side daya brookfield barclays center brandi carlile el teatro music hall el museo salt n pepa mavis staples greenpoint mac demarco west nile japanese breakfast lemonheads washington square park growlers democratic senators loni love abc7 forest hills bell house deet neck deep prudential center two door cinema club day6 joanna newsom financial district overcoats gipsy kings ivins kamelot shakey graves lirr battle beast phantom planet zuccotti park early september sonata arctica beacon theatre neuehouse jukedeck kings theatre city hall park andy byford eighth avenue floral park midtown east park row brooklyn steel union pool boerum hill brooklyn bazaar nassau street playstation theater agbc

Otter Pops vs. Fla-Vor-Ice

new york city japan new england similar grubhub seamless otter pops andy byford

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 3, 2019 37:43

After over a year, Sharon and Sean revisit the topic of subway ad campaigns. In a conveniently topical coincidence, they start off the episode discussing Otter Pops, which Sean has never heard of before, growing up in New England where Fla-Vor-Ice was king of the freeze pop market. Sharon relishes enlightening Sean on the joys of Otter Pops and consumes half a dozen of them in the process. (Similar to Seamless and Grubhub, Otter Pops and Fla-Vor-Ice are apparently owned by the same company - who knew! https://www.eater.com/2018/8/21/17660626/freeze-pops-ice-otter-pops) If the freeze pops aren't enough to entice you, you'll definitely want to listen to hear Sharon and Sean's latest take on some of the more recent subway ad campaigns, including one that has a deep cut reference to an NYC occurrence that they discussed on an episode earlier this year! During News of the Week, Sean shares distressing news that the MTA Board is making moves to strip our beloved Andy Byford of control of crucial capital projects. Sharon then lightens the mood with a story about a rogue slug disrupting travel for 12 thousand straphangers in Japan. In the anecdote, Sean tells the tale of a surprise encounter with a character from Astoria #BusLyfe in an unexpected place. Also, Sean struggles with a mystery delivery at work.

Episode 3 (Aaron Gordon)

Second Avenue Sagas Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 23, 2019

Aaron Gordon, author of the "Signal Problems" transit newsletter, stops by to discuss the ins and outs and ups and downs of covering the MTA as he prepares to retire the gig. We talk rumors about a rift between Andy Byford and Andy Cuomo, the challenges of covering non-transparent government agencies and whether the subways are indeed getting better.

mta aaron gordon andy byford

372. Freakonomics Radio Live: “Would You Eat a Piece of Chocolate Shaped Like Dog Poop?”

Freakonomics Radio

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 28, 2019 53:54

What your disgust level says about your politics, how Napoleon influenced opera, why New York City’s subways may finally run on time, and more. Five compelling guests tell Stephen Dubner, co-host Angela Duckworth, and fact-checker Jody Avirgan lots of things they didn’t know.

new york city dogs stitcher chocolate piece shaped napoleon angela duckworth radio live dog poop stephen dubner freakonomics radio jody avirgan david pizarro andy byford petra moser

Broadcasting from The Bloomberg Year Ahead

Bloomberg Businessweek

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 28, 2018 40:49

Mindy Grossman, CEO at WW, discusses brands with purpose. Antoine Drean, Chairman of Triago and Founder of Palico, breaks down the state of private equity invetsing. Dirk Van De Put, CEO at Mondelez, explains growth in the snack food business. Don Cornwell, Partner at PJT Partners, talks about the explosion of E-Sports. Jon Gray, President and COO of The Blackstone Group, shares his thoughts on investing in the year ahead. Andy Byford, President of the New York City Transit Authority, addresses safety and reliability of NYC’s subway and bus system.

ceo founders president new york city partner coo bloomberg esports broadcasting year ahead ww mondelez jon gray blackstone group mindy grossman andy byford new york city transit authority pjt partners palico

Broadcasting from The Bloomberg Year Ahead

Bloomberg Businessweek

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 28, 2018 40:49

Horror on the Subway