Urbanite

Likely MTA chief looks to bring British innovation to NYC Transit

Tuesday September 8, 2009 6:51 PM By Heather Haddon

Jay Walder, seen with Gov. David Paterson, has big plans for the MTA that reflect his background in London. (AP)

The British are coming! The British are coming! To your commute?

Jay Walder, the favorite son to become the next MTA chief, is looking to import innovations he honed at London's transportation system, including a pumped-up bus system and the quick-swiping “Oyster Card.”

During a public hearing on his candidacy Tuesday, Walder said public transportation in London and New York City were “sister systems,” but NYC Transit has suffered from a decline in technological improvements.

“If you go around the world, you see we are no longer at the top of the standings as a transit system. We are not even in the wild card position,” said Walder, a Queens native and former MTA executive. “We have a lot of work to do.”

If the state Senate approves his nomination, Walder said he would tap his London experience to:

- Scrap the MetroCard in favor of a contact-less payment method like the Oyster Card, which has a 98 percent customer approval rating, Walder said. The cards speed up service and save money by making the buses more efficient, he said.

- Install digital signs informing straphangers about the next train’s arrival time, like the ones currenty on the L line. Waiting for the train without them is “not the way to operate a 21st century transit system,” he said.

- Greatly expand the MTA's bus system through dedicated street lanes and ticketing of drivers who violate them.

London moves more than 6 million commuters a day by bus, more than New York’s subways carry. Most of its 8,000 buses are double-decker models.

Last year, NYC Transit experimented with double-decker buses, which last plied city streets in 1953. Transit tested the 81-seat buses on several routes, but found that the 13-foot-tall models ran into trees hanging over the street, MTA officials said. Transit currently doesn’t have the budget for double-deckers, and they are “on the backburner,” a spokeswoman said.

MTA and city officials, however, are keen on Walder's idea for dedicated bus lanes. The city has identified 31 corridors where it hopes place rapid bus lines traveling in painted lanes, like theone already in the Bronx and the bus lane on 34th Street.

Sen. Carl Kruger (D-Brooklyn), one of the hearing's chairs, said ticketing drivers in bus lanes would further the city's unbearable traffic. But transit advocates approved of Walder's early push for innovation and better buses.

“He's smart, a transportation professional, accessible and rider-oriented,” said Gene Russianoff, of the Straphangers Campaign.

Kruger, a harsh MTA critic, said he expected to support Walder during the Senate's confirmation hearing Thursday. Lawmakers are expected to confirm him quickly, and Walder said he could leave his London flat for the city within weeks.

“I am very excited,” said Walder, 50. “I go in with my eyes open to the tremendous challenges that lie ahead.”

hhaddon@am-ny.com

Tailgating touchdowns, with The Jets' Calvin Pace

Tuesday September 8, 2009 6:53 PM By Lucy Blatter

Calvin Pace's profession is athletic. His hobby is culinary.

Football season starts Thursday, and even if you don’t know the difference between a quarterback and a running back, there’s a reason to get into pigskin: the food.

Tailgating is a time-honored tradition, so we turned to the New York Jets’ No. 97, Calvin Pace, for tips.

A self-described food aficionado, the linebacker knows his way around the kitchen. “I started cooking early, about 10 or 11 years old, coming home from school. And for some reason I always liked watching the Food Network,” Pace said.

While his teammates tend to go for traditional food like Applebee’s and T.G.I. Friday’s when they’re out to eat, he’s always up for something a bit more adventurous. “I’ll try anything once,” he said. “When everyone’s getting California rolls, I’m getting sea urchin.”

Whether you’re going the traditional route and cooking in a parking lot pre-game, or doing a tailgating-themed meal at home, you’ll want to heed Pace’s advice on pre-game grub.

Playing it safe
Pace suggests classic barbecue dishes such as ribs when tailgating. “I strongly recommend using charcoal if possible when grilling just so you get that good smoky flavor,” he said.

He suggested using a good dry rub or homemade sauce to give ribs a kick.

“In North Carolina, where I went to school, they make a vinegar-based barbecue sauce. That’s always good,” he said.

“My all-time favorite food is a good slab of ribs with a nice homemade sauce and a cold beer. Ribs kind of put me in the tailgating spirit,” Pace said.

Something new
“I really like the Cajun theme that people in Mississippi and Louisiana use because they do a lot with crab boil and incorporate seafood,” he said. “Even though BBQ is the norm for tailgating, a good crab boil is a good change of pace,” the Georgia native said, recommending blue crabs, corn and potatoes.

“More than anything it’s like if you get a group of people, you want something that brings them all together,” Pace said.

Football and food go hand-in-hand
Pace said both his profession and hobby require trial and error.

“When we practice during the week and when I cook for myself during the week it's the time when I try different things that I normally wouldn't try, and whatever works I continue to use and whatever doesn't work I throw out. Ultimately, when it's game time or time to make a great meal for other people, I have a plan in place,” he said.

RECIPE: Calvin Pace-approved spiced braised short ribs

INGREDIENTS:

1/6 cup peeled ginger
3 item cloves garlic
1 item bottle Guinness stout
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1/3 tablespoon Hungarian paprika
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/2 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1/2 tablespoon dried ginger
1/2 tablespoon whole allspice ground
1/4 tablespoon black pepper ground
1/4 cup canola oil
1/8 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon thyme leaves
1/2 item sprig rosemary leaves
2/3 tablespoon kosher salt
2 pound bone in beef short ribs
2 cup chicken broth

PREPARATION:
In a blender grind the ginger, garlic, and beer to a paste then add coriander, dried ginger, allspice. Heat the canola oil over medium heat and when the oil gets hot add paste, constantly stirring until the paste becomes thick (5-8 mins.). When the paste becomes thick remove from heat and let cool. With the cool paste add ketchup, maple syrup, thyme, rosemary, and salt and combine with ribs in a dish to let marinate for 1 day. After marinating, place short ribs in a crock pot for 4-6 hours. Serve with your favorite vegetables or side dish.

NYC Top chefs dish out their recipes

Tuesday September 8, 2009 6:18 PM By Lucy Blatter

New York City’s restaurant scene is arguably the best in the world, and while there are enough restaurants to offer you a different meal every night of the week for years, at some point you’ll have to make your own.

“New York Cooks: 100 Recipes from the City’s Best Chefs,” out this month, gives readers a chance to try some famous NYC restaurant recipes at home.

The recipes, which range from quick and simple to complicated, and ingredient-heavy, have been penned by chefs such as Telepan’s Bill Telepan, Artisanal’s Terrance Brennan and The Little Owl’s Joey Campanaro.

All dishes fall into one of seven categories — New American, Italian, Urban Country, French, Classic American, Mediterranean and Iberian or Specialty Cuisines (which include raw food and global seafood).

“New York has a certain cache,” said the book’s co-author, Barbara Winkler. “People want to make dishes that have been vetted by New Yorkers.”

We spoke with Winkler and co-author Joan Krellenstein about the book.

How did you choose the chefs?

JK: We wanted to capture the New York experience — use fresh names and high-end, more established ones, we wanted to run the gamut. Ultimately we decided to do it by cuisine.

What’s unique about New York’s restaurant scene?

BW: The diversity. There are all kinds of cuisines and all kinds of prices.

JK: A lot of people come here from other countries, it’s their culinary mecca.

Did many chefs refuse to give away their trade secrets?

BW: Not at all. The challenges were that the chefs are used to restaurant quantities and sometimes it was hard for them to adjust measurements. Also, a lot of them don’t use recipes when cooking. Andy Nusser at Casa Mono said he draws the dish.

JK: What helped was that we asked the chefs to give recipes that reflect how they cooked at their restaurant, but also how they would want to cook at home.

Are the recipes difficult for the average home cook who’s not classically trained?

JK: There’s something for every skill level. Some are relatively simple and some take a day and a half to make.

Recipe: Mussels Marinière from Marc Murphy, executive chef and owner, Landmarc

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 large shallot, peeled and sliced

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 pounds mussels, scrubbed and debearded

1 ½ cups dry white wine

salt and ground black pepper to taste

6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, cubed

½ bunch chopped parsley

½ pint grape tomatoes

Heat oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add shallots and garlic and cook until they begin to brown. Add the mussels and the wine and season with salt and ground black pepper. Cook until the mussels all open, around 4 minutes and remove with a slotted spoon to a large bowl.

(Discard any unopened mussels). Reduce the heat to medium and add the butter, swirling around to emulsify. Toss in the parsley and grape tomatoes and cook until just heated through. Season to taste with more salt and pepper.

TO SERVE

Pour sauce over mussels and garnish with more parsley, if desired. Serve with crusty bread or french fries.

Man dies from boating accident in the Bronx

Monday September 7, 2009 7:31 PM By Heather Haddon

A man riding a personal watercraft died after he collided with two others also out on the Bronx waters yesterday evening, police said.

The man, who was in his 30s, and his 16-year-old companion ran into two teenagers who were also aboard a personal watercraft about 4 p.m. yesterday near Goose Island off Pelham Bay Park in the Bronx.

The man was taken to Jacobi Hospital and pronounced dead, police said. The three teenagers were in stable condition. The cause of the crash was under investigation.

Last week, amNewYork reported that recreational boating accidents have increased as more people have taken to the city’s waterways.

Last year, 24 boaters died in New York State waters, up 60 percent from three years before, according to U.S. Coast Guard statistics. 

hhaddon@am-ny.com

City looks to expand ferry service for commuters

Monday September 7, 2009 6:43 PM By Heather Haddon

Ship ahoy, straphangers.

Ridership on the New York Water Taxi line running between Manhattan and Long Island City, Williamsburg and Dumbo is up 10 percent from last year, with hundreds of New Yorkers turning to the private ferry service to save time and avoid subway crowding.

And with more New Yorkers moving to the once industrial waterfront, the city is seeking to expand service, looking to run ferries every 20 minutes at four new and existing locations along the East River by 2011.

New housing developments rising next to the docks will dump thousands of passengers a day on already overwhelmed subway lines such as the No. 7 and L. Increased ferry service could absorb this population shift while harkening back to a once popular mode of commuting -- ferry service helped develop Brooklyn in the 19th century.

“East River ferry service will significantly expand and improve the options available to commuters,” said Venetia Lannon, head of New York City Economic Development Corp.’s maritime division.

Subsidies generated by city taxes will keep prices equal to MTA express bus fares, now $5.50, officials said. The development corporation estimates that 1,700 commuters will use the service a day. Additionally, the corporation will finish a $300,000 study of the feasibility of 50 other ferry sites across the boroughs by the end of this year that could in time significantly increase the profile of ferry commuting.

The Staten Island Ferry is the city’s oldest and largest commuting boat service, transporting about 65,000 commuters a day. In 2003, New York Water Taxi started running high-speed ferryboats from the East River stops to Wall Street and East 34th Street, adding a route to Bay Ridge and Far Rockaway last year.

The East River commutes are a quick five to 20 minutes, compared to traditional subway commutes that can run as long as 45 minutes. Tickets are from $3 to $5.50.

“It's pleasant, convenient and it beats the train,” said Igor Yampolsky, 32, a commuter on the Rockaway service.

Currently the service only runs a handful of times during rush hour, and missing a boat can make for a long wait on a breezy dock.

Ferries have room for up to 150 passengers, as compared to the subway that moves up to a thousand people per train. Building a ferry route is expensive, with the landings averaging around $3 million and the larger boats costing $2.4 million. The development corporation could not say how much operating the expanded service will cost.

To be certain, ferry service is not expected to become a widespread alternative to subways and buses.

“Ferries are really a niche market,” said Robert Paaswell, director of the CUNY University Transportation Research Center.

Still, the city recently received a boost from $47 million in federal stimulus funds that will help renovate ferry landings. Some private developers have also kicked in money for building the docks, Lannon said. The stage may well be set for a boom.

“I firmly believe that the East River could be the Grand Canal of the United States,” said Tom Fox, president of New York Water Taxi. “Psychologically, it's a hell of a better way to travel.”

 hhaddon@am-ny.com

Ferry routes:
From Wall Street and East 34th Street to:
DUMBO
Long Island City
South Williamsburg


From Wall Street to:
Far Rockaway
Bay Ridge

From Battery Park to Staten Island

From West 39th Street and the World Financial Center to:
Hoboken
Weehawken
And other locations
 
Upcoming routes:
From Wall Street and East 34th Street to:
Greenpoint
North Williamsburg

Trolleys on track to return to Brooklyn, but ridership uncertain

Monday September 7, 2009 6:24 PM By Heather Haddon

Clanging trolleys could return from the grave to Brooklyn streets. But who would ride them?

Some planners estimate that tens of thousands of commuters and residents could flock to a new service running between Red Hook and downtown Brooklyn along the waterfront. It could also attract tourists visiting the new Carnival Cruise Lines Terminal in Red Hook and the Brooklyn Bridge Park now under construction, local officials said.

“We’re talking about an area that isn’t served well by subway access,” said Carl Hum, president of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce.

However, the Regional Plan Association found that the local population would have to grow by more than 50 percent to provide sufficient demand. Since 2000, the entire population of Brooklyn has only grown by 4 percent, according to U.S. Census figures.

Nevertheless, Mayor Michael Bloomberg has made streetcars serving “growing waterfront communities” in Brooklyn and Queens one of the issues in his mayoral bid. And the federal government is also on board, with the city receiving a $300,000 earmark this year to study the feasibility of streetcars running along a Brooklyn waterfront route.

“Even if you only ran it during rush hour, it would help,” Daniel Jones, a worker in Red Hook, said of trolley service. He argued that bus service is at times unpredictable.

Trolley track costs about $30 million to build per mile, which is more expensive than a bus line but far cheaper and easier to construct than a subway, said Bob Diamond, a Brooklyn rail buff who helped bring about a pilot trolley in Red Hook between 1999 and 2001 before funding ran out.

hhaddon@am-ny.com

Trolleys could also help relieve overcrowding of local subways and buses, as they provide about twice the capacity of a bus, Diamond said..

Wanna get away? This week's travel deals

Monday September 7, 2009 5:35 PM By Lucy Blatter

$300 companion credit for Canadian travel: Book a trip to Canada for yourself and a companion and qualify for a $300 air credit toward your companion’s airfare. The Liberty Travel offer is valid only on air and hotel packages booked by Sept. 19. A two-night minimum stay is required and travel must be completed by Dec. 15. Destinations include Niagara Falls, Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal.
Call 877-LIBERTY or go to libertytravel.com for more.

50 percent Barbados resort discount: Barbados’ Cobblers Cove resort is extending its 50 percent off sale through Nov. 30, for travel through Dec. 19. The 50 percent rate discount applies to all oceanfront suites, and there are no minimum day requirements. With the discount, oceanfront suite rates start at $343 per night. When making reservations, request booking code “50/50.”
Call 800-890-6060 or visit cobblerscove.com.

More than $400 in savings with the St. Croix fall promotion: The U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Tourism’s St. Croix Fantastic Flight promotion is back again this year. Visitors who book before Oct. 5 for travel to St. Croix through Nov. 15 will receive a $150 per-person airfare credit and a fourth night free at participating hotels. St. Croix Fantastic Flight must be booked through one of the following participating tour operators: AA Vacations, Cheap Caribbean, Delta Vacations, Expedia, GoGo Worldwide Vacations or Travelocity.

Great staycation: Brooklyn by bicycle

Monday September 7, 2009 5:33 PM By Heather Haddon

Brooklyn is the city’s most populous borough, and on just two wheels you can feel, taste and explore the vast reaches of its cultural melange.

For the adventurous staycationer, an entire span of the borough can be biked in half a day, complete with long stops to admire the views and Kings County’s culinary bounty.

The route
The full ride is more than 20 miles, but cruising through a dozen neighborhoods in a day has gotten easier thanks to a new bike lane stretching along Bedford Avenue from Williamsburg to Sheepshead Bay. Take the borough’s longest street south to the beach, and after some noshing return home along the tranquil Ocean Parkway, site of the nation’s first bike path.

The first leg
Start at Bedford Avenue just south of Atlantic Avenue. Pass the 19th-century Armory Building, and those feeling leisurely at Eastern Parkway can detour to Prospect Park or the Brooklyn Museum.

Heading south past Empire Boulevard, take in the vibrant West Indian culture of Lefferts Gardens, with its 19th-century homes. Coast downhill past the 1930s-era Sears Tower building and enter the alphabet soup of avenues (Avenue D, Avenue U, etc.). At Avenue I, stop to admire Brooklyn College, complete with old brick buildings covered in ivy.

Refueling
Keep trucking south and you’ll smell salt air. At Emmons Avenue, you reach the Sheepshead Bay boardwalk, with superb Turkish restaurants and an authentic Czech pub (Sweik Restaurant & Beerhouse, 2027 Emmons Ave.). Cross the bay on the pedestrian bridge, hang a right on Oriental Boulevard and enter frenetic Brighton Beach. Stop for a smorgasbord of salads, cheeses, meats and breads at M & I International Foods (249 Brighton Beach Ave.).

Head further west toward Surf Avenue for Coney Island, and grab some knishes.

Heading home
Return to Ocean Parkway. The ride is fast and relaxed along a two-way greenway.

Eventually hang a right a Cortelyou Road and continue through Ditmas Park to Mimi’s Hummus (1209 Cortelyou Rd). The petite, BYOB Israeli-owned spot is decorated with family photos and serves a variety of hummus spreads, salads and a mean Moroccan stew. Very cozy and affordable.

Andy Roddick and James Blake's night out

Monday September 7, 2009 3:25 PM By Julie Gordon

Andy Roddick and James Blake drowned their U.S. Open sorrows in partying.

The two — along with 30 pals, including Roddick’s girlfriend, model Brooklyn Decker — boozed it up at the Chelsea lounge Las Chicas Locas until “late into the night”  on Monday into Tuesday, a spy at the bar told us.

Roddick drank Bud Lights all night, while Blake indulged in margaritas. The rest of the crew sipped on vodka sodas, Bud Lights and Patron Silver shots.

“Andy and Brooklyn were super chill, didn’t request any specific type of vodka, saying ‘Whatever you have is fine,’ our source said.