New WTC Hub For PATH Train Opens

The long-delayed PATH train hub at World Trade Center partially opens today.

At the center is the Oculus, which from the outside looks like the spine peeled out of a fish. Below, with half of the glass installed, light shines through its ribs, the longest one reaching 202 feet in the sky. “It’s awesome and I mean that in the actual sense of the word ‘awesome.’ It induces awe,” said Jessica Lappin, director of the Downtown Alliance. PATH riders can get a view of the Oculus in the coming weeks when the temporary PATH station that went up after the 9/11 attacks gets dismantled. The platform is the third part of the Port Authority’s WTC hub that sprawls beneath the 16-acre site where the Twin Towers once stood. It has earned the reputation of the world’s most expensive train station, over budget at $3.9 billion. For that price tag, transit riders and visitors get a facility decked out in white marble that is spacious, without any corners — all cured and sleek. It is well lit and bright, in stark contrast to the city subway system’s dank stations nearby.

All NYC Mass Transit To Close At 11PM

This includes subways, buses, ferries, PATH, Metro-North, Long Island Railroad, and (perhaps obviously) AirTrain. New Jersey Transit will suspend all rail service until Thursday at 8PM tonight. No re-start time for the MTA has yet been announced. Wherever you are at 11PM, you'll likely be there for 36-48 hours.

UPDATE: Gov. Cuomo has also declared a ban on all non-emergency vehicular traffic beginning at 11PM, warning that those caught on the roads will be ticketed and fined $300.

Officials Rebel Against Port Authority Plan To End Overnight PATH Train Service

Nighttime workers and nightlife fans in New Jersey will soon have no way to get home from Manhattan if the Port Authority gets its way. Via the Jersey Journal:

Several Hudson County officials will join forces with other officials tomorrow to call on the Port Authority to to cancel its proposal to eliminate the overnight PATH service. The press conference, which will include federal, state, and local elected officials, is scheduled for 2 p.m. at the Grove Street PATH Station in Jersey City.

A slew of officials are scheduled to attend, including Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop, U.S. Rep. Albio Sires, Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer, Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, North Bergen Mayor and state Sen. Nick Sacco, Union City Mayor and state Sen. Brian Stack, and state Sen. Sandra Cunningham.

In a report released over the holidays -- and signed off on by Govs. Chris Christie of New Jersey and Andrew Cuomo of New York -- the Port Authority proposes to eliminate PATH service 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. weeknights as a cost-savings measure. It would also affect hundreds of thousands more people if weekend overnight service were also eliminated, according to a press release. The PATH connects New York City with Jersey City, Newark, Harrison and Hoboken.

Jersey City residents have already suffered through two years of restricted service out of the World Trade Center station due to Hurricane Sandy-related repairs.

NOTE: For those wondering, a cab from downtown Manhattan to Newark will run you about $100 after you add in tolls and tip. It's about $40-$50 to Jersey City.

NEW JERSEY: Commuter Train Escalator Reverses At High Speed

Gothamist reports that this morning at PATH's Exchange Place station in New Jersey, hundreds of commuters were riding the escalator when it suddenly reversed direction at high speed. Several dozen people reportedly landed in a pile at the bottom and five injuries are reported. The below clip begins just as the stairs begin to slow down.