Speed of Subway Trains Challenged

Subway trains at the Spring Street station twice struck passengers lying on the tracks on separate occasions. How fast should subway trains be moving when they enter a station? The faster the subway trains go, the more people the trains can carry and the quicker people will get to their destinations. Even a slowdown of a few seconds per train can slow the entire system. Speed is so important to the mission of the Transit … <Read More>


No rent abatement during shutdown

Hugo Boss store at Columbus Circle which was forced to close by COVID-19 executive order sought rent relief. Hugo Boss operates a retail store in The Shops at Columbus Circle in New York City. A/R Retail LLC is the landlord for this luxury indoor mall. Hugo Boss entered into a 13-year lease at the location as a way to gain visibility in the heavily trafficked location catering to premium market customers. Hugo Boss’s rent was … <Read More>


COMMENTARY – Last Subway: The Second Avenue Subway’s Phase 2 Begins

Since January 1, 2017, when Governor Andrew Cuomo led the celebration to open the Second Avenue Subway, much has happened. A pandemic undermined subway ridership, Governor Cuomo resigned, and a new governor and mayor took office. And now the second phase of the Second Avenue Subway has begun. This will provide the next chapter of the wonderful book by Philip Mark Plotch’s on the Second Avenue Subway, Last Subway: the Long Wait for the Next … <Read More>


Prison Populations, The Census, and Prison Gerrymandering

Prison gerrymandering manipulates the boundaries of electoral districts by inflating the districts with incarcerated individuals who have no real relationship to the districts where the prisons are located. Incarcerated individuals in New York are not allowed to vote. As a result, in districts with prisons and large prison populations the votes of the voters who can vote become more powerful compared to the vote of the voters in districts without a prison population. At the … <Read More>