If You Don't Get To Work Today, The Terrorists Rain Wins

Posted by John Carney, Aug 08, 2007, 10:32am

rainstormnyc.jpgIf you are reading this from anywhere around NYC, you probably managed to get to work somehow. Which very likely means you are really dedicated to your job and unwilling to use the third-worldization of New York City's transit system to scam a free morning off from work or even claim a "work from home" day. Either that or you hate your home life so much even the deluge couldn't keep you there. Reports from our sources on the trading floors indicate that there's a lot of absentee traders today. Lazy employees or happy with their home life? We report. You deride.

Team DealBreaker is scattered all over the city, trying to figure out how to make our way to the DealBreaker Global HQ. The 4/5/6, 2/3 and N/R are all in various states of fustercluck. (Some of our correspondents report that they were forced to leave their beloved subways lines to take busses! The horror!) Cabs are pretty much unavailable, and traffic is snarled all over the city anyway.

Right now the Dow is up nearly 100 points, barely an hour into the trading day. Rain is volatility's friend.

Update: The New York Times City Room blog is reporting that the subways are going to be like Heelys stock options (underwater) for a least a few more hours.

At 9:55 a.m., transit officials warned that the subway system would not be back until noon at the earliest — and possibly not until the evening rush. “We can pump a lot of water out of the system — we do, on a daily basis — but when we have this much rain in the system at one time, our ability to pump the water out into the sewer system is hampered because that system is overwhelmed,” Paul J. Fleuranges, a New York City Transit spokesman, told NY1 News.

Meanwhile, we've just heard that a senior manager at one Wall Street firm noted for its efforts to be a "good citizen" of New York City is telling employees to stay home until the transit mess clears up.

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Posted in: The Commute

Comments

Posted by , Aug 08, 2007 10:45AM

god forbid if dealbreakers crack reporting team cant make it in.... they probably dont have IM and posting abilities from home.

Posted by inadvertant morning workout, Aug 08, 2007 10:47AM

walking from 14th to wall was a great time this morning, thank you mta, thank god for the nysc on wall, oh that and century 21!

Posted by anon, Aug 08, 2007 11:02AM

try walking from soho to grand central that was fun to do in heels

Posted by Blunt Smoke, Aug 08, 2007 11:03AM

Hey I'm glad everyone's stuck, it's a wakeup call of sorts.

How much money do NYC politicians squandered? And how many roads actually get fixed (in under three years)? How many (f)ailing schools "educate" the youth of NYC? How many of you actually care about REALLY making NYC a better, cleaner place?

Let's face it, it's hard to notice the crackheads, bums, muggers, rapists and murderers when you're busy getting hammered at happy hour and hooking up with anything in a skirt. You pay a small fortune to sleep three or four to a two bedroom apartment just so you can ride a subway system which doubles as a vagrant hotel.

Short of liberals skimming $10million off of the taxes they're supposed to pay on their restaurant, it's amazing anything in NYC works. But hey if smelling street funk and giving to panhandlers is your idea of living, then I'm surprised you don't enjoy the rain.

Now that's a blog post!

Posted by inIT4the$, Aug 08, 2007 11:06AM

couldn't you just take a cab?

Posted by NotNasser, Aug 08, 2007 11:08AM

buses. not busses.

Posted by good luck, Aug 08, 2007 11:09AM

there was about an ice cube's chance in hell of getting a cab between 8am-10am this morning. Anytime one pulled out to unload they got bumrushed by like 5-10 people.
On a high note though, I"ve never seen so many girls (attempt to) run in stilletos haha

Posted by inIT4the$, Aug 08, 2007 11:12AM

Blunt, I wouldn't says NYC wastes a ton of money as they are perennially in fiscal trouble (not that there is not waste or mismanagement), it's that NYC sends about 2x as much money to Albany as it gets back (basically we fund the rest of the hicks in the state).

Posted by mini ballerette., Aug 08, 2007 11:19AM

exactly. no effing chance in hell of getting a cab this morning.

blunt smoke i totally agree- how is it that we are virtually the only ones int he country paying a 3rd tax on our incomes (besides state and federal) just to be nyc residents and we get absolutely screwed on basic rights: public transport, not having the smell of shit emanating from the streets every morning, dodging rats everywhere due to poor sanitation. and fuck cipriani i hope he pays his taxes out the ass AND loses his uptown AND downtown leases.

Posted by Blunt Smoke, Aug 08, 2007 11:26AM

Here you go genious:

www.1010wins.com


Senator: NY Diverts $750 Million from Highway Repair Fund

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -- The state has for years diverted as much as $750 million annually from a "dedicated'' tax fund intended for bridge and highway maintenance and repair, using the money instead to cover unrelated budget costs, state Sen. Thomas Libous said Tuesday.

"We're raiding the fund and that's wrong,'' the Broome County Republican said in announcing a bill with bipartisan support to end the practice. "I've been saying that for three years ... but now it's a matter of public safety.''

A spokesman for Gov. Eliot Spitzer said change is on the way.

"The governor campaigned on the need for greater dedication to infrastructure,'' Jeffrey Gordon said. "The governor believes transportation must be a high priority, and the decisions of how much to spend and from which sources of funding will be part of the deliberations in creating next year's budget.''

Libous said the $3 billion fund created in 1991 now pays for dozens of budget items not related to maintaining bridges and highways, including snow and ice removal and Department of Motor Vehicle costs. Supporters of the spending said over the years they believed it was consistent with the mission of the state's Dedicated Highway and Bridge Trust Fund.

The bill to make sure the gasoline taxes and other fees are used for bridge and highway work would be phased in over five years. Libous said the move gained urgency after the collapse of a Minnesota bridge into the Mississippi River last week. It took only seconds for the eight-lane, 1,900-foot Interstate bridge to collapse. It opened in 1967.

There's cause for concern in New York, from the aging Brooklyn and Tappan Zee bridges to a span in Binghamton, because 60 percent of the state's bridges were built before 1970, said Libous, chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee.

A spokesman for Democratic Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver had no immediate comment.

Libous released data that shows 2,206 of the state's 7,604 bridges were rated deficient last year, a consistent number over the last three years. He also said more than 1,000 of the bridges were built between 1910 and 1936.

Shoring up budget shortfalls by shifting funding from so-called dedicated funds isn't new for New York governors and the Legislature. A state environmental protection fund created to buy and protect open space has been used in past years to fund day-to-day expenses.

Posted by inIT4the$, Aug 08, 2007 11:33AM

Blunt, you just made my point, if NYC (not NYState) got to keep it's tax rev's (also if the MTA was not run by the state which it is) we'd be in a lot better shape.

Posted by Blunt Smoke, Aug 08, 2007 11:35AM

In4the$, how do u explain other large cities in the US not suffering from the same problems?

It boggles the mind how there could be so many parts of a city you'd never want to go yet according the mayor it's the greatest city on earth. Yea ok that's cuz his rich ass isn't walking the streets of red hook, south bronx or washington heights at 2am.

Posted by inIT4the$, Aug 08, 2007 11:48AM

Blunt, why would I want to go to those hinterlands? You seem a bit upset about the whole thing, relax, smoke more as your handle implies. Don't let a little rain get'cha down.

Posted by anon, Aug 08, 2007 11:49AM

11:35, NYC not the only city having this prob- Philly (SEPTA) nearly shut down last month b/c of budget shortfall & Chicago (METRA) also not in great shape. Basically any city w a transit system that predates WWII is in the same boat.

Posted by walking is good for health ?, Aug 08, 2007 12:06PM

my ass was dripping sweat walking all the way from UES to my midtown office. Is this why i pay so much to live in this city ?

Posted by em, Aug 08, 2007 12:07PM

If things don't change, in the not too distant future, the metro is actually going to be a boat.

Posted by mini ballerette., Aug 08, 2007 12:11PM

anon @ 11:49...the metra serves the suburbs, like metro north...we are talking primarily about inner city transport, which is totally dismal in nyc. when i lived in chicago i only remember the buses slowing down once and that was in the worst blizzard i'd ever seen. but they were still running (the El had no problems). There is no comparison between how chicago and new york are run; chicago is far superior.

Philly on the other hand is a shithole what can you expect...

Posted by pathetic, Aug 08, 2007 12:14PM

when the fastest route on the west side was ferry/path back to nj and ferry/path back downtown...

Posted by ues75, Aug 08, 2007 12:15PM

try the reverse commute.. only took 4 hours today

Posted by , Aug 08, 2007 12:18PM

actually...the El is in trouble too. waits are increasing insanely, trains are more frequently delayed, and cars are always packed like crazy. the infrastructure hasn't grown anywhere as quickly as the rest of the city and more importantly the population. chicago is in trouble too

Posted by roger, Aug 08, 2007 12:24PM

Thank you hard working new yorkers for putting up with that heinous, wretched diseased lifestyle so that we in telecommuting world can still have great jobs in finance while not knowing what your subways look like or how bad your streets smell. we really appreciate your sacrifice, and hope the rats dont give you the scurvy or the black death anytime soon.

Posted by anon, Aug 08, 2007 12:31PM

not sure what is worse, nj transit trains (and busses, but thats another story) or nyc subways

Posted by , Aug 08, 2007 12:34PM

anon @ 11:02: you're a girl?

Posted by anon, Aug 08, 2007 12:36PM

no...i just wear heels for fun? c'mon

Posted by wall, Aug 08, 2007 12:37PM

just walked outside the FDR is still a parking lot going southbound, what a mess

Posted by anon, Aug 08, 2007 12:39PM

roger, what kind of pointless job in finance allows you to telecommute? Are you in IT?

Posted by LippyTex, Aug 08, 2007 12:41PM

Raining like a cow pissin' on a flat rock.

On the prairie we call it a "turd floater" when it rains that hard. (Or a "frog strangler" if you're among polite company.)

We had our share a while back, too.

Posted by mini ballerette., Aug 08, 2007 12:44PM

that was me in 11:02 (12:36 you poseur)..i just wasnt in the mood to type it out. yes im a girl. and now im limping in the office on account of the brutal circumstances this morning.

Posted by Edwin LeFevre, Aug 08, 2007 12:49PM

OK....I'm going to Tenjune tonight and when I walk in I'm going to say, "Man, it's raining like a cow pissin' on a flat rock! A real turd floater out there!

That'll get me the babes.

Posted by Blunt Smoke, Aug 08, 2007 12:56PM

Look all I'm sayin is that NYC could be way better. Look how much garbage there is in the subway? And in the streets? What do u think causes the drains to back up? Which in turns floods everything else.

I am a little bitter, yea, cuz I understand the depth of political corruption in NYC and where the money goes (or where it doesn't). What aggrivates me is the people who expect everything to be ok cuz they have their head in the sand most of the time, then subways flood and they're aghast. But what do you expect when instead of cleaning up the system you give retired cops admin duties so they can collect a pension and $100k+ salary? (for example)

Posted by Croesus, Aug 08, 2007 1:02PM

I thought McDonalds workers in NYC earned at least $100k annually. I mean, that is the minimum wage law in Manhattan isn't it?

Posted by Ajax, Aug 08, 2007 1:11PM

The bottom line is, living in a big city is basically charity for anyone with a decent job. We pay 50% of are incomes in taxes, and what "services" do we get. Welfare/EITC? Nope. Schools? Nope, they suck, kids gotta go to private school. Medicaid? Thank God no. Maybe you get back 1% of what you pay back in services you can actually use (highways, subways, police, fire dept.). Instead of always bashing the rich, it would be nice if the leeches and parasites in our society said "thank you" to the rich, or anyone with a job and no illegitimate bastards running around, every once in a while.

Posted by mini ballerette., Aug 08, 2007 1:21PM

hahah! on that note kick out all the bloody hipsters too- just because they're sympathizers. and bc they need to wash their hair and get some trousers that actually fit.

Posted by , Aug 08, 2007 1:52PM

thank god we are all capitalists here

Posted by amen, Aug 08, 2007 1:53PM

manlaw: no wearing your girlfriends jeans (at least not in public you hipster freak)

Posted by F the MTA, Aug 08, 2007 1:57PM

Seeing how I am never going to get home tonight, I am going to get hammered and sleep in the closet bar to my office.

Fucking MTA.

Posted by Gordon, Aug 08, 2007 2:00PM

Don't forget the 6k we pay every year into social security that: #1 we'll never see due to bankruptcy and #2 pays for wealthy geezers to winter in Boca.

Posted by F the MTA, Aug 08, 2007 2:01PM

Sorry - that is closest not closet.

Posted by Eric M., Aug 08, 2007 2:02PM

Ajax,
Recently a bum listing sideways on a subway bench shoved his cup towards me and shook it, requesting change. I put my hands out, gestured towards the subway walls and ceilings, and responded, "isn't a home enough?"

Posted by Ajax, Aug 08, 2007 2:07PM

he clearly put his 12 years of free education to good use. and i'm sure his own self-destructive behavior isn't the cause of his problem

Posted by you sure 'bout that?, Aug 08, 2007 2:14PM

F the MTA - closet bar was probably more accurate (and funnier)

Posted by Billy Sol Skilling, Aug 08, 2007 2:28PM

Damn rain. But, wait! I know a sweetie who works for the Journal. Maybe she'd let me sleep over if I gave her a good "scoop"! (Pardon the expression.)

Posted by chris, Aug 08, 2007 2:53PM

I just put a request into facilities to build me a closet bar. It will almost be as cool as a woodburing fireplace.

Posted by , Aug 08, 2007 4:55PM

What's happening with the subway now? Anyone?

Posted by F the MTA, Aug 08, 2007 5:10PM

It looks like most of them are up and running. I am still going to sleep at the close[s]t bar tonight!

http://www.mta.info/alert/alertnyct.htm

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