Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer wants answers after a recent spike in deaths, injuries

By Caroline Lewis

A man jumped onto the subway tracks as an R train came hurtling toward the platform at the Fourth Avenue-Ninth Street Station in Park Slope on Sunday morning. The man was taken to the hospital and remained in critical condition after his apparent suicide attempt, and the NYPD reported him dead the next day.

This was the sixth death on the tracks in January, and the news is beginning to feel eerily commonplace. The incident prompted Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer to renew last week’s call for the MTA to conduct an in-depth investigation into the cause of deaths in the subway and an analysis of the cost and effectiveness of measures that could be taken to prevent them.

“Another attempted suicide cannot become a commonplace occurrence in one of the largest transit systems in the world,” Stringer said.

A PSA that the MTA placed in subway cars informs riders that an average of 140 people get struck by trains each year. In 2012, 55 of those incidents resulted in death, up from 47 in 2011. Stringer claims that the upswing in subway deaths in December and January puts the city on track to reach 100 fatalities in 2013.

Suicide is the most common cause of death on the subway, but even within the last two months, the incidents have run the gamut from a man being pushed, to a woman falling, to a guy wandering around drunk on the tracks.

“The bad spike in being struck by trains is something that’s on the minds of hundreds of thousands of riders who would like to see something done about this tragic and frightening problem,” said Gene Russianoff of the Straphangers Campaign.

But given the varied nature of subway tragedies, including many that are intentional, how realistic is it to try to prevent them?

More frequent audio warnings, barriers on the platform’s edge, motion sensors on trains and better mental health services have all been mentioned as possible ways to prevent death and injury on the subway.

But Stringer, Russianoff and other transit safety advocates want to avoid jumping to conclusions about how to solve the problem, especially if the solution has a hefty price tag. In December, the MTA publicly considered the idea of placing sliding doors between the platform edge and the train tracks to prevent deaths and injuries, starting with the L train as a pilot program. The agency estimated that installing sliding doors system-wide would cost over $1 billion.

For now, transit safety advocates just want as much information as possible as to why people die on the subway and what safety measures have worked for public transit systems in other cities.
“Deaths and injuries in the subway worry everyone, and there’s very little information available about the best way to prevent them,” said John Raskin of the Riders Alliance.

Stringer specifically called on MTA Inspector General Barry Kluger to conduct the investigation. He responded to Stringer’s letter by saying that a state agency—not the MTA—will lead the investigation.

“As the MTA inspector general, I am coordinating our efforts regarding subway fatalities with the New York State Public Transportation Safety Board, which has primary responsibility for the investigation of accidents and fatalities on the facilities of the MTA, and of which I am a member,” Kluger said in an official statement.

SeaStreak accident left more than 70 passengers injured

By Caroline Lewis

With a full investigation under way, the SeaStreak resumed full service this week, ferrying commuters between Atlantic Highlands, N.J., and Wall Street.

Many passengers on board were already out of their seats and moving toward the exit of the SeaStreak Wall Street vessel, ready to make their way to work, when it crashed into Pier 11 on its second trip of the day last Wednesday morning. As Captain Jason Reimer rushed between the ferry’s control stations trying to get one of the recently modified consoles to respond, both diesel engines shut down. More than 70 of the 326 passengers and five crew members on board were injured, sustaining minor to serious head injuries.

”I woke up about 6 feet from where I was standing,” said ferry passenger Ashley Furman, who was visibly shaken after the crash. She said she sat with two women she knew who were bleeding until medics came to load them into ambulances.

In July, the SeaStreak Wall Street was converted from a water jet system to a controllable pitch propulsion system and the new system is under investigation as one possible cause of the accident. “The engine remained the same; it was the propulsion system that actually changed,” said Robert Sumwalt in his last update on the investigation of the accident by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

“Since we purchased the company in the spring of 2008, we have implemented numerous changes to the vessels and the service, many of which relate to safety,” SeaStreak President James Barker wrote on the company’s website.

A spokesperson for SeaStreak says the NTSB has requested that the company not comment on the cause of the accident, sentiments of the captain or crew, or future safety measures they plan to take until the investigation is completed. He did say that the company is reaching out to passengers on its Facebook page, where the company has received an outpouring of positive support.

Captain Reimer, at the helm at the time of the accident, was the most experienced captain at SeaStreak , the NTSB discovered. He had conducted the sea trials of the vessel after it was modified and he was also responsible for training other crew members on how to operate it.

The NTSB is speaking with passengers and has interviewed the crew members, who were all breathalyzed and determined to be sober immediately following the incident. “Each of these crew members is shaken and very concerned about the accident,” said Sumwalt, following initial contact with the SeaStreak team.

The NTSB and SeaStreak Wall Street’s engine manufacturer are in the process of reviewing closed-caption video of the engines. According to Sumwalt, this new information may shed light on the specific cause of the accident.

By one account, crew members have grumbled about the vessel’s new propulsion system, saying it was more difficult to operate.

“I was talking to one of the employees, and he was telling me that none of these guys like this boat—the captains—because it has something different. It’s not jet-propelled or something,” eyewitness Dee Wertz told the Associated Press after the accident. “After he said that, literally, the front of the boat hit into the corner of the barge.”

This is not the first accident for SeaStreak, or even this particular vessel, according to U.S. Coast Guard records. The same ferry (with the previous propulsion system) was involved in a crash of unspecified cause in 2010. Since 2007, SeaStreak vessels have been involved in 10 separate incidents.

New York City used SeaStreak to expand ferry service to the Rockaways after Sandy shut down subways. According to a spokesperson from the New York City Economic Development Corporation, the expanded service has been very popular and the Request for Proposals from other companies to permanently run the service remains.

“We are shocked by [yesterday's] court decision,” said Richard McBee, President of Lower Manhattan’s Sixteenth Street Synagogue. The NYS Supreme Court has upheld the eviction of the synagogue from their home of more than 65 years by building owner Jack Braha. This decision marks a low point for McBee and the synagogue on the roller coaster ride of a real estate battle that has ensued over the Fifth Avenue property in the last few years.

Braha posted the five-day eviction notice two weeks ago, but the NYS Supreme Court put a Temporary Hold on the mandate, allowing the synagogue’s lawyers to argue their side in court. The Sixteenth Street Synagogue claims partial ownership of the building where they hold daily services and also asserts “moral rights” to the building based on the claim that Braha verbally promised to let the congregation remain rent-free when he purchased the building in 2005. Unfortunately, they have no paperwork to prove it.

Neither Braha nor his lawyer returned phone requests for comment.

As McBee promised, the synagogue will be filing an appeal of the decision in yet another attempt to save the religious community they’ve built over the years. “This action by the court forces our hand to pursue other options in our fight for our synagogue’s life and our own future as a community,” he said.

By Caroline Lewis

Council Member Diana Reyna listens to a South Street Seaport small business owner talk about rebuilding her business after Hurricane Sandy. Photo by Aaron Adler

Made Fresh Daily, an all-natural café in the once-bustling South Street Seaport neighborhood, enjoyed a buzzing lunch hour on a recent Monday afternoon, seven weeks after Hurricane Sandy left a high-water mark halfway up the large window that looks out on historic Front Street. 
The triumphant café is the first to be profiled for the “Support NYC Small Businesses” campaign, centered around an interactive map of shops that are “Back in Business,” created in partnership with Yelp. But the view from owner Jacqueline Goewey’s café window is still bleak. Fourteen of her Front Street neighbors are shuttered.

“Our furniture was completely tossed around like rag dolls. There was nothing to repair,” said Fernando Dallorso, the owner of Stella Restaurant on Front Street.

The old landmark buildings in the Seaport District housed more than 100 small businesses before the storm: coffee shops, pet grooming, restaurants, retail stores. Many of their fates remain uncertain. Before he can think about reopening, Dallorso needs to appeal denied insurance claims and to figure out when—if—he will be able to return to his old building. He is banding together with other small business owners in the neighborhood, not just to seek legal and financial support, but also to bring back the concentration of diverse shops that make the Seaport an attraction.

“This has set the neighborhood 10 years back into history,” Dallorso said. “I don’t want to be the one guy, if I’m lucky and get power, to be standing in 10 blocks that are decimated.”

Last year, Lower Manhattan was one of New York’s fastest-growing communities, according to a report by New York City Small Business Services, but many residents and corporate employees have moved their homes and offices following the storm. Robert LaValva hosts a seasonal open-air market in the Seaport with 150 small entrepreneurs.

“It’s the small, independent local businesses that make [this neighborhood] an interesting place to come to and spend time in, so we very much see the whole neighborhood as interconnected,” he said.

“We’re really hoping that whatever solutions are worked out by various levels of government are very small-business focused,” LaValva said.

Mayor Bloomberg announced multiple initiatives to speed along the recovery process for small businesses this month, including individualized help for those in Business Recovery Zones like the Seaport District.

“Let’s get to the bottom of why we’ve been closed so long, why we’re going to continue to be closed,” said Amanda Byron, owner of a dog spa called the Salty Paw. “I can’t afford to take out any more loans. I’ve been in this neighborhood 17 years. I went through 9/11. Lots of us are paying back those loans from 9/11. We need grants.”

Low-interest loans are available from both city and federal agencies for small businesses impacted by the storm. So far, SBS has issued $4.2 million in loans to small businesses and has hundreds of applications pending. The loans must be paid back within two years, but the mayor also created a fund to offer matching grants of up to $10,000.

Grants with no strings attached are harder to come by. The Downtown Alliance closed the application window for its Back to Business Grant after being flooded with applications. The organization awarded the first grants to Lower Manhattan businesses this week and set aside $120,000 in deferred grants to be held for six applicants in South Street Seaport until they reopen.
Byron submitted her application, but said that even if she gets a grant from the Downtown Alliance, she may not be able to reopen by their April 30, 2013, deadline.

“We need grants that can help us rebuild,” Byron said.

Matthew Young, who helps to administer federal loans, now shares an office with SBS in order to streamline the loan application process.

“Some people are waiting on their insurance, they’re waiting on their grant money. We don’t need all that other information to get the process started,” Young said. “Get that application in so we can see if we can approve that loan.”

Dallorso is skeptical.

“None of us who already lost an average of three, four, five hundred thousand dollars, wants to get any further in debt by borrowing any money,” Dallorso said. “And the application, no matter what they say, is not that easy. It’s not that simple and it’s depending on your own capability to repay. I just lost my shop, I just lost my income,” Dallorso said. “What is my capability to repay? I have no idea.”

His uncertainty has a lot to do with the state of the building to which he is trying to return.

“Besides destroying all the retail spaces, [Hurricane Sandy] also destroyed all the building’s mechanical systems, meaning the heating, the cooling, the electrical systems, the light safety, all the pumps,” explained Jordan Barowitz, a representative of the Durst Fetner development company, which owns the property where Stella Restaurant and a dozen or so other businesses were located.

“They’re old buildings. It’s a landmark project, they’re 200 years old.”

In addition to replacing floors and walls, Barowitz said the company plans to install a modern mechanical system that would be more resilient in the case of future disasters; one that would not be located in the basement. He could not yet give a timeline for completing all the work that has to be done.

“There’s also tremendous stress on the contractor and mechanical supply community and that’s making it even more difficult,” said Barowitz.

Mayor Bloomberg and Community Board 1 are pushing the approval of a new development for the undamaged Pier 17, featuring a multi-use glass structure, according to schedule.

“We just want to make sure that it’s done as quickly as possible with as much consideration for the individual businesses as possible,” said Michael Levine, director of planning and land use on Community Board 1.

For small-business owners, time is money.

“It’s great that we can open Wednesday,” said Sara Williams, co-owner of Fresh Salt on Beekman Street. Two days before re-opening, Williams stood amid frantic construction on the still-unfinished bar. Her building owner was able to agree to a rush re-construction job and had some friends who were contractors.

“But we’re going to be in trouble if we can’t get them back with us,” Williams said, looking toward empty storefronts across the street. “They have a whole other host of issues that I feel very lucky that we don’t, but at the same time, we are all together in this area and that’s how people’s perception of us is. We do need them open.”

By Caroline Lewis

A “postmodern grassroots variety show” may sound like just another one of the dismissive names people have been lobbing at Occupy ever since it cropped up in Zuccotti Park last September. But that’s what activist Laura Hanna promises in the fundraising extravaganza the Occupy group Strike Debt is putting on tonight at Le Poisson Rouge in the West Village.

"The art collective Not an Alternative sets up giant props they made for the event. Photo by Caroline Lewis

For some, this will be a quirky variety show, but for alternative music and comedy fans, this will be a star-studded event. Comedians like Janeane Garofolo and David Rees will entertain along with members of Neutral Milk Hotel, Sonic Youth, Fugazi, and Das Racist (OK, there will be magicians, jugglers, and real live Occupiers as well).

What brings them all together? It’s the kickoff of the Rolling Jubilee. The Rolling Jubilee is an ongoing “project of Strike Debt that buys debt for pennies on the dollar, but instead of collecting it, abolishes it,” explains the group’s website.

And thanks to some very kind words from mainstream commentators hailing from all over the political spectrum, the group far surpassed their goal for tonight’s fundraiser before it even started.

“Whoa, did you see that?” asked Annie Spencer, a member of Strike Debt. “The live ticker on the Rolling Jubilee website just crossed $200,000 being raised.” That’s enough to buy and abolish more than $4 million worth of debt.

Praises being sung of the Rolling Jubilee are rightly qualified by the observation that this is a nice thought, but probably won’t make a dent in America’s $11 trillion of debt. In fact, the group can’t even promise to erase an entire family’s debt.

“This first debt purchase of over $100,000 of medical debt is roughly 80 different people,” said Thomas Gokey, who helped execute the group’s successful test run.

Gokey said that certain kinds of debt, like mortgage debt and student debt, are also more difficult to erase. “As we learn more about the industry and talk to more people with expertise who are willing to help us, we may learn that there are additional things possible.”

But if nothing else, the Rolling Jubilee is educating people about the rules of the debt game by letting them join in.

The fundraiser will be interactive as well. “I think what makes us different is we don’t actually have telephones that are ringing in,” said Hanna. “But we have a social media booth that we’re going to set up so we can interact with people who are watching the LiveStream.”

You can learn more about debt and the Rolling Jubilee by checking out the resources on their website or watching the LiveStream of tonight’s fundraiser, which will be complete with “speed lectures” on a variety of debt-related issues. And jugglers – don’t forget the jugglers.