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Author Topic: 74th Street Station  (Read 8273 times)

Offline E train

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74th Street Station
« on: March 20, 2014, 02:39:34 PM »
I am a regular user of this station both the subway and the 7 line.This is the hub station for Jackson Heights yet it seems to be festering in neglect. The subway lines are always foul and dirty, a perfect environment for the ever larger rats that have made this station their special preserve. The walls are dirty, the stairs leading out of the station on 37th road are nearly always covered in litter. Recently the elevator to the 7 train has been stopping on the platform with the doors not opening for 30 seconds enough time for anyone with the slightest bit of anxiety to start wondering how long a response might take after pressing the alarm button.

Does the community have any access to the station manager on a regular basis? Only regular and frequent accountability to users of the service can there be any hope of turning around this disgraceful situation.
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Offline gsmayes

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Re: 74th Street Station
« Reply #1 on: March 21, 2014, 03:31:24 PM »
all the subway stations are dirty and festering in neglect
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Offline Lilybell

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Re: 74th Street Station
« Reply #2 on: March 25, 2014, 11:40:03 AM »
It is about as filthy as every other subway station in NYC.  However, I always shudder involuntarily when I walk by the bathrooms in the station - I don't think I would go in there without a hazmat suit. 
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Offline Londonjo

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Re: 74th Street Station
« Reply #3 on: March 25, 2014, 05:30:32 PM »

I have 18 serious complaints (and questions, and useful suggestions) about the transit system, about half are to do with the local station. You can see exactly how thick the dirt is from the landing outside the 7 platform lift - look at the faces of the upward lights. The whole place needs a power hose. I did see a lady with a brush last week but no other staff around to help passengers. I would not be impressed if I had just arrived on the new airport bus with no clue where to go. Is there a subway map in the foyer yet? How would a stranger ever find their way to the 7 platform via the grossly over-used lift? Is there a  general transit theme on this site?
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Offline taggie

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Re: 74th Street Station
« Reply #4 on: March 25, 2014, 05:40:24 PM »
 I like that someone is bringing up this concern. As a transportation hub in Queens, we should be a
showcase for the MTA. Personally think the 74th street station looks like something leftover from the
gulag and wonder why we got stuck with this drab and lifeless design full of pigeon sh*t. I never see
anyone cleaning either. Some of the stores below do a good job like The Flower Power guys and the
Backwoods clothing store which are both assets but why can't they get the whole place rented?
 And why are so many people hanging on 73rd st selling rides etc. It's so nasty when you go into the
subway from Diversity Plaza. If anyone could pour some bleach and hot water there once or twice a
week and scrub it down, it would improve a hundred percent. This is not an expensive solution!
 It would be great to see some initiative in this direction and there are too few storeowners to work
this out alone at the moment.Thanks for calling attention here.
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Offline Shelby2

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Re: 74th Street Station
« Reply #5 on: March 25, 2014, 06:01:38 PM »
Quote from: taggie on March 25, 2014, 05:40:24 PM
I like that someone is bringing up this concern. As a transportation hub in Queens, we should be a
showcase for the MTA. Personally think the 74th street station looks like something leftover from the
gulag and wonder why we got stuck with this drab and lifeless design full of pigeon sh*t. I never see
anyone cleaning either. Some of the stores below do a good job like The Flower Power guys and the
Backwoods clothing store which are both assets but why can't they get the whole place rented?
 And why are so many people hanging on 73rd st selling rides etc. It's so nasty when you go into the
subway from Diversity Plaza. If anyone could pour some bleach and hot water there once or twice a
week and scrub it down, it would improve a hundred percent. This is not an expensive solution!
 It would be great to see some initiative in this direction and there are too few storeowners to work
this out alone at the moment.Thanks for calling attention here.

I remember hearing that the stairwell to the subway on Diversity Plaza is privately owned, and not owned by the MTA.  I couldn't easily find a list but here's an article in general about privately owned escalators in the MTA system.  Being prviately owned is not an excuse to allow them to fall into neglect! 

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/mta-inspector-general-report-subway-escalators-elevators-owned-private-firms-unfixed-article-1.988307
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Offline Di_11372

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Re: 74th Street Station
« Reply #6 on: March 29, 2014, 10:20:44 AM »

Take a tour around every borough, and you will see that our station is on the same level of dirt & neglect as most stations.  For me, this is a much bigger MTA topic, why can't we have a cleaner subways as a whole, regardless of the specific station.
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Online dssjh

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Re: 74th Street Station
« Reply #7 on: March 29, 2014, 10:45:53 AM »
parts of our station, particularly those around 73rd, are extremely nasty. and i do think it has a lot to do with the privatization deals the MTA has cut to save money. that's why escalators go out of service for months, even years at a time (see Union Square). they issue fines against the property owners, who pay them and continue to ignore repair orders, since it's much cheaper to pay the fines.

it's really all about cash. if there's money to be spent, it's going to go to track work and train repair before it's going to go into station cleaning. and since this is a zero sum game, i'd prioritize train service over stairwell cleaning as well. it'd be nice to be able to say 'well, we deserve both,' but realistically there is a finite amount of cash there, and it's not terribly well managed -- much like road repair, police efforts, public housing and so on.

and for what it's worth, i see power washers with bleach working on the mezzanine and inner stairwells pretty often -- right around one AM, usually.

Quote from: Di_11372 on March 29, 2014, 10:20:44 AM

Take a tour around every borough, and you will see that our station is on the same level of dirt & neglect as most stations.  For me, this is a much bigger MTA topic, why can't we have a cleaner subways as a whole, regardless of the specific station.
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Offline Londonjo

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Re: 74th Street Station
« Reply #8 on: June 20, 2014, 05:51:43 AM »
It's not just the inside of the station. Something should be done to make it possible for pedestrians to cross Broadway and Roosevelt without risking death. There are SO MANY problems with this station. How about a public meeting? Does MTA consult with user groups? Is there one already? Where can we find the station manager?
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Offline Palermo

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Re: 74th Street Station
« Reply #9 on: June 20, 2014, 06:20:48 PM »
Quote from: Londonjo on June 20, 2014, 05:51:43 AM
It's not just the inside of the station. Something should be done to make it possible for pedestrians to cross Broadway and Roosevelt without risking death. There are SO MANY problems with this station. How about a public meeting? Does MTA consult with user groups? Is there one already? Where can we find the station manager?

Regarding the MTA's jurisdiction in the matter, there are two ways to cross Roosevelt without intersecting traffic, either by going underground through the IND or over the street via the IRT.  There is no way to cross Broadway in such a manner.  Other than that, it becomes the province of the Department of Transportation and I suppose the Mayor.
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Offline QnsRunr

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Re: 74th Street Station
« Reply #10 on: June 27, 2014, 01:25:54 PM »
For one thing, we can get rid of the guy who distributes handouts to the transients on the corner of 72nd and Roosevelt every night. It's a public health concern when every other night there's 20-30 transients eating food on the ground and leaving the trash for us residents to walk through. Bird shit everywhere and puddles of urine right next to the momo cart.

Not to the concern of crime from having so many people there hanging out all the time with nothing to do. Poor Filipino guy just got punched in the face the other day and died.
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/man-dies-punched-face-stranger-queens-article-1.1843230

Get rid of the AM New York stand on the corner of Broadway and 72nd because it just gets strewn about everytime it rains or someone decides they want to throw the newspapers.

And how about the furniture movers that leave their filing cabinets and office chairs on the corner of Roosevelt and 72nd once or twice a week? Since when is that a staging area for movers? Get them out.

You'd think Daniel Dromm would treat this as a priority issue, but he's too busy with his own "agenda" to care about basic quality-of-life issues. Yeah I've written to him before, and they just play the blame game, saying it's the MTA not the city. If it's an issue they actually cared about, they'd figure out a way to get it done.
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Online dssjh

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Re: 74th Street Station
« Reply #11 on: June 27, 2014, 02:05:14 PM »
going after a church for feeding the hungry? not a good way to win friends and influence people.

shutting down the bars whose drunk patrons are responsible for the urine - and the attack on the filipino guy? now you're talking.
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Offline Jeffsayyes

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Re: 74th Street Station
« Reply #12 on: June 27, 2014, 05:42:17 PM »
yeah let's get rid of the guy who was nominated as a "Hero of the Year" by CNN http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/03/19/cnnheroes.jorge.munoz/
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Offline QnsRunr

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Re: 74th Street Station
« Reply #13 on: June 27, 2014, 07:58:14 PM »
Quote from: Jeffsayyes on June 27, 2014, 05:42:17 PM
yeah let's get rid of the guy who was nominated as a "Hero of the Year" by CNN http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/03/19/cnnheroes.jorge.munoz/

He tries to fix one problem but contributes to others in the process. He lives in Woodhaven. What about the residents of the Woodside/Elmhurst/Jackson Heights area that have to deal with the mess? What about women who come home at night from the subway and have to walk by there?

Simply put, that street corner can't handle that kind of regular operation, and so it shouldn't be there. If you want to run a large scale operation like that, find a suitable location.

Quote from: dssjh on June 27, 2014, 05:42:17 PM
shutting down the bars whose drunk patrons are responsible for the urine

Only half true. I have personally seen people urinate on that corner. Sometimes coming from the bar, but more often after trashing the area with free food.
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Offline jenni_squirrel

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Roosevelt Ave Train Station
« Reply #14 on: July 30, 2014, 08:46:43 PM »
Does anyone know what is going on at the Roosevelt Ave - 75th Street train station? Why are they corralling us like cattle? It's starting to drive me crazy.  The first time I saw it, I thought there was construction somewhere.  But no.  It's like they're purposefully making it less efficient for large crowds to get through.  Why is it happening and how long are they going to keep this up?
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