There are two stories in the New York Times today that would be interesting enough by themselves, but taken together, have a larger impact. One is The Case For New Hudson River Rail Tunnels. The other is Betting on the New York Ferris Wheel to Elevate Staten Island's Fortunes. What they say about the nation's priorities and what actually gets accomplished in this country speaks volumes.... if anyone is listening.
More below the Orange Omnilepticon.
Let's start with the tunnels. Over a hundred years ago, the Pennsylvania Railroad built not one but two tunnels from New Jersey, under the Hudson River, and into New York City to Pennsylvania Station. They are a vital part of the Northeast Corridor and the commuter rail operations into New York City.
...Engineers realized both tunnels urgently needed repairs to avoid Railmageddon. Built on silt, they move with the tide. People who have inspected them tell me they’ve seen pools of water. Today the tunnels barely manage 24 trains at peak hours. Closing one for long-term repairs, experts say, will reduce the hourly number to six trains, an 80 percent drop, which, as Tom Wright, president of the Regional Plan Association, put it the other day, would be “a catastrophe for the Northeast,” with implications that “register on” the national gross domestic product.
Because of damage from Superstorm Sandy and sheer age (over 100 years old), one or both tunnels may have to be taken out of service for repairs in the near future, say within 20-25 years if we're lucky, sooner if we're not. There's a huge case to be made for building new tunnels and also improving rail connections in Manhattan, which took a huge hit
when Pennsylvania Station was demolished. There's a plan ready to go:
the Gateway Project. (pdf) It's been out there for years, and
the economic case is compelling.
New tunnels would handle increased demand and cut travel time. A Regional Plan Association study showed property values for New Jersey houses within a half-mile of a train station rising $3,000 for every single minute knocked off commuting time. The benefits accrued out to two miles, potentially adding up to $18 billion — billions more than Gateway’s current $15 billion projected tab. That’s not counting benefits for farther-flung commuters: Philadelphia’s mayor is a fan of Gateway for good reason.
New Yorkers would profit as much as anyone. The city needs better access to more affordable areas of the region where skilled employees can live; it shouldn’t lose human capital to other parts of the country because squabbling public officials dawdle for decades over a tunnel plan.
And because Amtrak also uses these rails, it's a critical part of our national passenger rail system - which is pathetic enough by international standards. This isn't just a regional issue; it's a national issue and part of the larger problem we have with the unwillingness and downright hostility on the part of some of the elements of our political system to government investment of any kind in public infrastructure, no matter how vital. One of the comments on the article picked out by the Times captures the narrative they've built up over the years to instill a "No Can Do" attitude in their base. As Maxine from Chicago puts it:
I note that there is no detailed proposal for funding what would be an inevitably be an immense boondoggle of astronomical proportions rife with corruption and cost overruns. Is there any doubt of that really? Is this the time for a virtually bankrupt Federal government and states to launch this scam? Why should the. People of Kansas or Alabama bay for this scheme? Surely it would be fairer, cheaper and make more financial sense for many of the big corporations to simply move out of New York. In the 21st century there is no longer any need for them to be in New York. If cities are to survive and thrive they must clean up their politics, create healthy and desirable living spaces and reinvent themselves for the future. 1930's public works projects are not the answer.
emphasis added
Doug McDonald from Champaign, Illinois chimes in another Times selected comment with some familiar variations on the theme:
We need infrastructure improvements all over the country.
But they have to serve all the people. Let NY and NJ pay more than the
share that people in the heartland pay, because I know that as day turns into night we won't get big new projects. We got our share from Eisenhower and we're never again going to.
And the Federal money has to come from cuts in unearned entitlements, such as Medicaid, Obamacare, food stamps, and boondoggles like agriculture subsidies and Hard Start, not cuts in earned entitlements and increased taxes. Infrastructure will feed money into the economy with something real to come from it.
emphasis added
There are plenty of supporters for the tunnels - but damn few politicians have stood up yet. New York's Senator Chuck Schumer is notably missing in action, as is NY Governor Andrew Cuomo. (Chris Christie, absentee governor of New Jersey is, of course, the man who killed a related ARC tunnel project that was all set to go, and diverted the money to fill budget holes left by tax cuts and the usual shenanigans.)
MEANWHILE...
Ground has been broken for a shopping mall that will be one element of a large engineering project in/on Staten Island: the New York Wheel.
The New York Wheel promises to become one of the City’s–and the world’s–great landmark attractions, alongside the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building. Located on the northeastern side of Staten Island (St. George), the 630-foot, or roughly 60-story, attraction will be the tallest observation wheel in the world and the only one in New York City.
The Wheel will accommodate up to 1,440 people per ride, welcoming as many as 30,000 visitors per day and an anticipated 4+ million visitors per year.
The New York Wheel will be open 7 days a week, approximately 350 days per year (accounting for severe weather days and maintenance) from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m./12 a.m. in the fall, winter and spring, and staying open as late as 2 a.m. on special occasions.
And how is this coming about? According to
the NY Times article,
With so many moving parts, the wheel still presents many hurdles for developers. But Rich Marin, president and chief executive of the New York Wheel, said financing is not one of them.
His company is close to raising the full $500 million it will need to build the wheel along with a terminal building and parking garage, he said. Nearly one-third of that sum, $150 million, has been collected from 300 Chinese families that invested with the hope of receiving visas through a program run by the federal immigration service.
Mr. Marin, who worked on Wall Street for years, said that the wheel “might not have been built” without the Chinese investors, and that their enthusiasm was a “very strong indicator” of the project’s viability. A report issued in September by the city’s Independent Budget Office estimated that the Staten Island Ferry draws 1.8 million riders from out of town annually. Most of them take the free ride to get a closer look at the Statue of Liberty. Tourism officials and Mr. Marin project that 3.5 million people will visit the wheel every year, which would make it as popular as the statue.
emphasis added
So, government authorities are going out of their way to accommodate a private investment scheme in the hopes that some of the benefits will trickle down to the region, while foreign investors are going to be among primary beneficiaries of the project - IF it actually meets expectations. Is it just my imagination, or does this sound a lot like the development schemes that claimed that building giant shopping malls or gigantic casinos would revitalize the regional economy and create jobs, etc.?
Granted, a giant Ferris wheel would be a spectacular tourist draw, and tourism IS a vital part of the regional economy... but still, the mind boggles. A private project can get millions in investment money from around the world, to build something that's essentially a giant tourist trap luxury item, but a critical transportation link isn't even on the radar?
Sure $500 million is not that much compared to the billions the Gateway project will need, but vital infrastructure literally millions of people depend on directly and indirectly can't get a dime because it would be up to the government to do what the market won't, because public good be damned/taxes/government bad/I got mine so screw you, etc etc ad infinitum...
We're dealing with weaponized stupidity here.