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Second Ave. Sagas
Personal blog · secondavenuesagas.compoliticseconomics
Second Ave. Sagas is a personal blog at secondavenuesagas.com about politics and economics. Since 2010, 22 different Hacker News readers have linked it 28 times. The last post was in 2022, but the archive is still widely read.
Too few sampled comments (12) to say how often HN recommends it.?
Why HN links it
Linked as a NYC transit blog covering Second Avenue subway construction, its schedule history, tunnelling, and MTA costs and finances.
Summarised by Claude from a sample of 12 HN comments that link here. Each comment is marked recommending, critical or neutral (citing without judging); how this works.
A New York City Subway Blog
Most-linked posts?
- /2018/01/01/inside-times-deep-dive-factors-behind-mtas-massive-cost-problems/2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2022-05-19
- /2013/06/25/abandoned-sas-segment-party-prompts-nypd-inquiry/2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2013-06-27
What Hacker News says?
> I'd be interested to know if any US cities have deeper tunnels Some NYC subway stations and lines were built with boring as opposed to cut and cover. 90% of the new 2nd Avenue line, for example, is planned to be bored[1]. Here[2] is an article with more details about the tunnel boring machine used -- the comments also have a lot of good discussion. Also, Los Angeles has done some boring for its new subway lines[3]…
Comment linking /2010/05/14/down-the-rabbit-hole-a-tunnel-boring-machine-comes-alive/
on “Elon Musk is boring a tunnel to skirt gridlock”Submitted An observation on MetroCards, after a $1 fee (2013) as a story · 44 points
HN discussionSecond Avenue Sagas — http://secondavenuesagas.com/ — is also a good one dedicated to NYC transit and has extensive coverage of this project specifically at http://secondavenuesagas.com/category/second-avenue-subway/
Comment linking /category/second-avenue-subway/
on “Tunnels in the US cost more than anywhere else”Submitted Some thoughts on when NYC last opened new subway stations as a story · 21 points
HN discussionIn case any New Yorkers are wondering, the party was held between Pell and Canal St, in a section of the subway that was created for the Second Ave Subway in the 70s, but will not be used in the one being built now (so, will likely never be used). And this is not confidential information: http://secondavenuesagas.com/2013/06/25/abandoned-sas-segmen...
Comment linking /2013/06/25/abandoned-sas-segment-party-prompts-nypd-inquiry/
on “Inside An Illegal Party In An Abandoned Subway Station Deep Under NYC”Submitted Thoughts on the fare evasion conundrum: why the MTA cares and why we shouldn’t as a story · 3 points
HN discussionChinatown area, the article says they walked for a bit from DUMBO which would make sense to cross the bridge. http://secondavenuesagas.com/2013/06/25/abandoned-sas-segmen...
Comment linking /2013/06/25/abandoned-sas-segment-party-prompts-nypd-inquiry/
on “Inside An Illegal Party In An Abandoned Subway Station Deep Under NYC”Submitted Enough Is Enough. New York's Subway Construction Costs Are Too High as a story · 3 points
HN discussionThere are several factors: * Labor costs and construction material costs have grown faster than inflation. * There are more amenities in subways (such as handicapped access in stations) now than 100 years ago, and new construction accounts for them from the beginning. * The underground infrastructure has become more crowded, which increases the number of pipes and the like that need to be relocated or avoided during…
Comment linking /2019/09/23/mta-officials-cite-fire-code-in-defending-6-billion-cost-for-phase-2-of-the-second-ave-subway/
on “Why New York City Stopped Building Subways (2018)”Submitted A Crowdsourcing Solution to Subway Tracking as a story · 3 points
HN discussionGood luck holding a vacuum under the ocean. I read stuff like this and I think, "Gee, I don't think these people have actually built anything." because if they had they would realize that if it costs $1M a foot too build subways [1] in cities with moderately skilled labor, its going to cost $10 - 25M/ft to build something like this. That's half a quadrillion dollars (448 trillion dollars). What sort or rate of retur…
Comment linking /2010/01/14/the-costs-of-second-ave-construction/
on “New York to London in an hour - by train”Submitted NYC mayor set to endorse $2.5B Brooklyn-Queens waterfront light rail plan as a story · 2 points
HN discussionThis article on MTA construction in NYC gives a good overview of the kind of money that goes to waste due to union worksite staffing requirements https://secondavenuesagas.com/2018/01/01/inside-times-deep-d...
Comment linking /2018/01/01/inside-times-deep-dive-factors-behind-mtas-massive-cost-problems/
on “MI officials fast-track bridge fix after man says it 'collapsed under my feet'”Submitted MTA releases limited app for RealTime subway tracking as a story · 2 points
HN discussionNot to be a wet blanket, but let's not forget how far behind schedule this line is - it was originally supposed to be opened just a few years after World War II(!): http://secondavenuesagas.com/second-ave-subway-history/ The most ironic part is that the bulk of the line is already complete (or mostly there) - they just don't have enough to stretch below 42nd street, IIRC, which is the tipping point for when they can…
Comment linking /second-ave-subway-history/
on “Tunneling Below Second Avenue (for New Subway)”Submitted NYC Subway Cell & wifi Service: a panacea or a prison? as a story · 2 points
HN discussionWhy do the floors of the subway have to be much so worse than the floors of Grand Central Station, or for that matter, the ground in Bryant Park? All are open to the public and incredibly heavily trafficked. The only difference is funding. NYC subways remain woefully underfunded. There's no big secret of what it would take to fully fund a clean subway system. The answer is $100 M a year [1]. Now, should the capital…
Comment linking /2015/09/10/cbc-mtas-state-of-good-repair-remains-forever-elusive/
on “Much of the technology in the NY subway hasn't been updated in over 100 years”Submitted Designing Public Spaces with Nowhere to Sit as a story · 1 points
HN discussionUnlike the Europeans, who don't have to deal with unions: > In Europe, too, subways cost less. Madrid's recently-opened Metrosur line is 41 km long, with 28 stations, yet was completed in four years at around $58m per km. Recent expansions in Paris and Berlin cost about $250 million per km. * https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2011/11/1-billion-doe... > In Japan and continental Europe, Levy found, tunnels usuall…
Comment linking /2018/01/01/inside-times-deep-dive-factors-behind-mtas-massive-cost-problems/
on “Why Is Infrastructure So Expensive to Build in New York?”Submitted Inside NYC's Seoncd Avenue Subway Phase 2: Twenty Years for Six Subway Stops as a story · 1 points
HN discussionThe MetroCard system is pretty old, and the MTA is probably doing the minimum possible maintenance since it was planning on phasing out the system 2 years ago: http://secondavenuesagas.com/2013/02/24/a-rudderless-project... And this leftover-money pattern will probably disappear once the base fare is raised, anyway. People who live in the city generally just repeatedly reload their Metrocard, especially since the MT…
Comment linking /2013/02/24/a-rudderless-project-to-replace-the-outdated-metrocard/
on “MTA Responds Citing Lack of “Infinite Change” for MetroCards”Submitted Where have all the transit riders gone? as a story · 1 points
HN discussionIn 1968, Garrett Hardin wrote a paper called "The Tragedy of the Commons" [1]. Many people seem to think this term dates further back to Adam Smith or earlier it does not. Well, this became hugely influential in noeliberalism and was used as the justification for governments to sell off their assets in the 1980s and 1990s in particular, all based on this (flawed) idea that private industry was more efficient. This w…
Comment linking /2018/01/01/inside-times-deep-dive-factors-behind-mtas-massive-cost-problems/
on “How Madrid built its metro cheaply”Submitted Enough Is Enough. New York City's subway construction costs are too high as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted Some thoughts on building the ideal transit app as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted Infographic of the Day: How Americans commute as a story · 1 points
HN discussion
