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 YORK CITY: 16 Year-Old Thwarts Security, Reaches Top Of 1 WTC Tower

So much for that "ring of steel" security perimeter around 1 World Trade Center. Via the New York Post:

A New Jersey teen captivated by 1 World Trade Center sneaked out of his home in the dead of night, got past the wall of security — and a sleeping guard — making it all the way up to the spire, The Post has learned. Scrawny 16-year-old Justin Casquejo crawled through a hole in a Ground Zero fence at about 4 a.m. Sunday and got a lift up the tower from a clueless union elevator operator, even though he had no ID. He was dropped off on the 88th floor and hiked the stairs up to the 104th floor — where a guard assigned to protect the top of the world’s biggest terror target was sound asleep. That guard has since been fired. Casquejo told cops he then climbed up to the roof and made it up to the antenna. After spending two glorious hours atop the nation’s tallest building snapping photos, the young daredevil was finally caught by a construction worker as he made his way back down.

Casquejo, whose Facebook page is laden with photos of 1 WTC, has been charged with misdemeanor trespassing. The Port Authority, the NYPD, and two private security companies guard the building at all times. All have refused to comment. (Tipped by JMG reader Dwight)

Proposed Toll: $15 To Enter Manhattan

This is an old ploy by the Port Authority. Propose an insane toll increase and then "settle" for one that feels entirely reasonable by comparison.

The cost of crossing the bridges and tunnels that span the Hudson River to New York City could rise by 50 percent for many drivers under a steep series of toll increases to be proposed on Friday by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, according to two people familiar with the plans. A $4 toll increase for E-ZPass users could go into effect as soon as September on the three major Hudson River crossings – the George Washington Bridge and the Holland and Lincoln Tunnels – as well as three other bridges between New Jersey and Staten Island, the Bayonne and Goethals Bridges and the Outerbridge Crossing. The biggest increase by far would be felt by drivers who pay in cash: cash tolls on those crossings would be raised by $7, to $15 a trip. (By comparison, a cash toll on the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge currently costs $13.) About 25 percent of drivers on the Port Authority crossings currently pay in cash.

The Port Authority also calls for raising the PATH train fare by one dollar.

The Geese Are Cooked

Speaking of more reasonable animal rights activists, the Humane Society is unhappy that the Port Authority is conducting a campaign to kill about 2000 Canada geese around JFK and LaGuardia airports. About 200 birds have been killed so far in attempt to reduce them as a threat to aviation after US Airways 1549 was forced into the Hudson after hitting a flock of flying Canucks. A petition drive to stop the killings has sprung up. The Humane Society:

"Canada geese, in particular, can be successfully managed with nonlethal techniques including hazing, aversive conditioning, egg addling and landscape management"—scarecrows and balloons help scare geese—"In short, geese are not attracted to places that are not attractive - and that simple approach should guide airport area managers. Such an approach was proposed for New York City and unfortunately rejected."

(Via - Gothamist)