What Happened to December?

Photographed on 21 Jan 2006

Photographed on 4 Feb 2006

Same stairway on the downtown N/R/Q/W platform at Times Square.  This stairway was originally supposed to be done in December.  Then it was postponed to April, and within the past two weeks the completion date has been pushed back to the end of May.  The plywood surrounding the stairs has shrunk since I took the top picture.  New tile that has been laid out but not cemented in place is visible.  There is still bare cement around much of the stairs, however.  Peeking through the plywood reveals the old stairs in rough shape, perhaps being prepared for refurbishment. 

I don't know much about stairway construction but should it really take four months to repair a flight of stairs (on top of the year plus the stairs have been closed)?  Seriously, I'd like to know why this has taken so long.

Unrelated:  Homeland Security - very concerned about the vegan menace.

Brief Restaurant Review:  Tiny's Giant Sandwich Shop (Rivington at Norfolk) - anything with the chipotle mayo is delicious.  Vegetarian and carnivore friendly.  Interestingly, like at Sparky's a few weeks ago, Pavement was on the stereo.  This time it was Terror Twilight. 

Comments

[nycanalyst76]

If the passageway from the 1/2/3 to the N/R/Q/W is any indication, that sign will be updated many more times before you ever see the stairs.

[Pandora]

Gah! Since I am considering moving to NY because of career changes, all this horrible MTA crap really scares me.

At this point, whats more likely?

1. Getting mugged/killed/etc.
2. Not being able to get to work
3. Getting a decent (small) place to live within an hour commute to Manhattan when the subways are always this screwed

[joe]

Pandora, don't let this discourage you! The problem here seems to be that the contractor doesn't set a realistic completion date and it keeps getting set back.

Complaints of us cynical NYers aside, the subway system is an engineering marvel. Although there are days when it can be pretty frustrating it works quite well most of the time. With very little effort on my part I can get to most places in the city for two bucks or less.