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Saturday June 18, 2011 was the date of the 29th Annual Mermaid Parade in Coney Island. People come from all over parading in costume in what can only be described as Coney Island’s version of the Mardi Gras. Here are some pictures that I was able to take at this year’s event:

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As some of you know, the New York-New Jersey PATH rail system prohibits photography of their property without a license. A group of photographers are getting together to file a legal complaint against the PATH system. If you’re a photographer who has been hassled for not having a photo permit, or if you’ve been denied a photo permit by the Path system, please send a brief email, and briefly describe your experience to pathphotosuit@yahoo.com.

Some pictures from my trip to the American Airpower Museum this weekend…

An MTA board member responded by saying “That service continues to be pretty bad [...] It ain’t getting any better.” when discussing the MTA’s release of statistical data that proves what the riders have known all along: More trains are delayed this year than previous years.

MTA president Tom Prendergast tried to sugar coat the findings by saying: “We’re still bound by the principle that evenness of service is by far the most important thing rather than just late, although we’d like to do both,” “But evenness of service is more important because that way you’re having less impact on customers.”

Story on NY1

The new buses that the MTA is deploying are no better than cattle cars in their treatment of passengers. We reported earlier that the MTA ignored passenger preference in choosing between several bus models. Unfortunately they made the worst choice possible resulting in many unhappy riders. The new buses fall short in leg and headroom, and from what we heard, extremely weak air conditioning. Get ready to suffer in heat and discomfort if you ride the MTA Monopoly. According to the New York Post:

The strange setup forces the long-legged to sprawl themselves into the aisle, The Post observed during a recent ride.
“These buses are made for a 98-pound woman who is 5 feet tall.

The MTA motto should be: “The Public Be Damned”!

I spent most of my time at the show tending to my vendor’s table but I did have some time to take some video clips during the break. Here is a short video I put together from those clips:

The elevator/escalator transfer at Court Square was completed several months ago according to people in the neighborhood. The MTA itself acknowledges that it has been finished for at least “several weeks”. Regardless, people continue to suffer having to walk outside to make the transfer between the E, M or G trains to the #7 line. Shuttered businesses are also suffering tremendous losses thanks to the MTA that has ensured that access to their business is either extremely difficult if not outright blocked. The MTA gives a lame excuse in an article in the Queens Chronicle:

According to MTA spokesman Kevin Ortiz, the transfer is not yet open because part of it was built on land that belongs to Citi Corp. The transit authority has been unable to ink a memorandum of understanding with the bank, so the transfer remains under wraps. Ortiz could not discuss issues of contention, and the bank did not respond to requests for comment as of press time.

You would think that an agency that employs 125 LAWYERS on staff and excels at harassing photographers who sell prints that include the route bullets in the background, would know how to write agreements and have those agreements in place BEFORE starting construction.

The article continues:

Straphangers are not the only ones who have suffered from the construction. Businesses located behind the enclosed glass escalator have been rendered invisible from the street. Two of the restaurants are closed, while one, Fortune Cookie, placed angry signs in its window when scaffolding further buried it, Charney said.
However, the worst part of all this, according to the commuter, is that no one has even been able to use the transfer. “I have seen high rises dug in the ground and built in the three years this escalator has been under construction,” he said

Who will compensate those businesses? I bet in that case the MTA will employ its full power of lawyers on retainer to block any lawsuits as a result of their own incompetence.

Do you really want to ride the subway after watching this video:

City Rant: Joann vs. the Filty Subways: MyFoxNY.com

Part of the ceiling at the IRT Eastern Parkway Station in Brooklyn (2/3 lines) collapsed and hit two children on the head last Saturday, April 23rd. According to the Prospect Heights Patch:

Christopher Ennis, 12, of Flatbush received three stitches on his head after being cut by debris. Stanley Jenkins, 11, of Brownsville was bruised on the shoulder, Stanley’s mother said.

An MTA spokesperson played down the incident, claiming that it was only plaster that fell from the ceiling. Witnesses to the incident say the debris was much heavier, probably concrete.