"C" Sickness on the subway

http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/39314.htm ^ | clemente lisi

[grand old partier]

A fire in a subway control room has put the C line out of service for up to five years and caused serious problems on the A line that will make the commute miserable for hundreds of thousands of subway riders, officials said yesterday.

The unstaffed room containing 600 electrical devices called "relays" that are used to power signals and switches along a segment of the vital Eighth Avenue line were destroyed Sunday in the blaze.

Cops blamed a vagrant who set a shopping cart full of wood blocks ablaze six feet into the tracks at the Chambers Street station. Cops are searching for the derelict.

[grand old partier]

The bums stirke again!

[ZeitgeistSurfer]

Five years!?! You could build a new subway system in another city in five years (and probably for what it will cost to replace this sub-station).

[conserv13]

Five Years!?

[U S Army EOD]

But, I feel his pain.

[theFIRMbss]

>Cops blamed a vagrant who set a shopping cart full of wood blocks ablaze

This is what they tell the sheeple! But we all know what really happened!

[Hank Rearden]

They've got to mean five weeks, possibly months.

Unless it's a government union that'll be "fixing" it. Then it's five years and billions of dollars.

Lash the bum to the rails when they find him.

[litehaus]

Not in Mass if you name it the BIG DIG.....LOL.........

[conshack]

You could build a new subway system in another city in five years

That's probably optimistic. Remember, they're primarily Dims(and union), so the time and cost estimate is likely to be understated.

[Alberta's Child]

Five years is definitely a long time, but there are two factors to consider here:

1. It's extremely difficult to do major construction work on a project like this when you have to keep operating the subway as close to normal as possible.

2. Some of this electrical hardware is over 60 years old, so it's not like you can just walk into Radio Shack and buy it off the shelf. I'm guessing they have to replace major components of the system just because of compatibility problems with replacement parts.

[GovernmentShrinker]

Yes, but here in NYC the unions will make sure it takes years.

[writer33]

Has no one considered the plight of this homeless man? You conservative beasts.

:) Hehehe! Denote sarcasm.

[patton]

Seems to me that if the switch room had been climate controlled, the homeless guy would not have needed to light a fire...

Then again, they could have just locked the darn door.

[Tennessee_Bob]

I want a warning next time you post a picture of Hillary!

[wtc911]

We need five years to design and build new switches for one subway line but we're going to rebuild an entire country?

[writer33]

Seems to me that if the switch room had been climate controlled, the homeless guy would not have needed to light a fire...

Locking the door makes way too much sense. So I think you're on to something here. They probably need some more tax payer funding to make sure all of these compartments are climate controlled. It could run into the millions, but we can't afford to let these homeless people freeze.

Much less have them creating damage. It's a sad tale, making it almost paramount to throw money at this. We'll all feel better for doing it anyway. :)

[Atlas Sneezed]

"Vagrant"

---

They're "homeless" when they want money, but "vagrants" when they commit crimes.

[nw_arizona_granny]

Ping

[NewHampshireDuo]

Howie Carr in Boston was all over this story tonight. He loves bum stories. (Of course he followed up with the latest discoveries about Boston's Big Dig construction and oversight screw ups.)