For $2.1 Billion, We Better Get Expos Up The Ying Yang

One station, $2.1 billion, to be funded by the city:

The city will pay $2.1 billion to build a single subway stop on the No. 7 train extension as part of its deal with the MTA to share a role in developing the West Side rail yards.

MTA board members yesterday unanimously approved a plan to auction the prime Manhattan real estate to the highest bidder that meets a set of yet-to-be-determined criteria set by the agency and the city.

Should the cost of extending the No. 7 train from Times Square west to 11th Avenue and down to 34th Street end up costing more than $2.1 billion, the MTA will be on the line for any overruns, officials said.

MTA Chairman Peter Kalikow said that despite arguing with the city over the particulars, the offer was hard to refuse.

“This is one of the few times we’re getting a project where we don’t borrow or use our own resources,” he said. “Our riders get an extension of their line at no cost to them.”

Under the current plan, the city will pay only for building the terminal station at 34th Street, not the second one originally planned for 41st Street and 10th Avenue.

Instead, a “shell” of a station will be built at 41st Street, in case the agency later decides the extra stop is necessary. Building that station would cost hundreds of millions of dollars.

But Kalikow said the MTA decided the station isn’t needed now.

“This is a lot of money for one stop,” said Beverly Dolinksy, director the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA. “The MTA and the riders are still going to be left hanging.”

And is it just me or does the Javits calendar look pretty busy already?

Second Avenue Subway Work To Begin

Believe it — work is set to begin on the Second Avenue Subway in 2008:

Phase 1 of the project calls for the construction of stations at East 96th, 86th, and 72nd streets, and a connection to existing tracks at 63rd Street.

A giant hole will be dug between 92nd and 95th streets to allow the tunnel-boring machine to launch under ground, said Mysore Nagaraja, president of MTA Capital Construction.

The Post warns, however, that if they find too many arrowheads, work will stop:

. . . [A]rchaeologists will be on hand to halt the massive tunnel-boring machine at the first sign of artifacts dating back hundreds of years . . . officials said.

A consultant hired by the MTA told the agency that there is the potential for Native American and Colonial artifacts along the route, which was once closer to the shoreline than it is today, said Amanda Sutphin of the Landmarks Preservation Commission.

“You don’t know what is there until you start digging and it can actually be tested,” Sutphin said. “The topography of Manhattan was very different back then. Hills were leveled and valleys filled in.”

Low Hanging Fruit

Anyone who wants to get a rise out of people only needs to ask subway riders what upsets them most:

They chew like cows, clip their nails and charge open seats like linebackers.

Meet the rudest of the rude subway riders.

The Daily News asked readers last week for their subway bad manners pet peeves — and our e-mail boxes filled up faster than the No. 7 train at rush hour.

There were daily horror stories about door blockers who refuse to move, and sprawlers who spread their legs far too wide, taking up more than one seat.

. . .

One reader snapped at “GUM SNAPPERS. These people try to make as much noise as possible. They sound like cows and act like pigs.” Others took aim at “pole huggers” who wrap themselves around the floor-to-ceiling poles designed to be used by many standing riders.

I prefer the term “subway pole dancer,” but that’s just me.

Deal By December

Your semi-annual strike update:

The contract dispute between the MTA and the Transport Workers Union could be settled just in time for the first anniversary of the strike, the arbitrator hearing the case said yesterday.

Union sources say TWU boss Roger Toussaint had hoped the proceedings would be delayed until January, when a new governor — who may be more willing to cut a deal — takes office.

And, god willing, if they decide to go on strike again, it will be right around Christmas again!

Now That Was Easy

No, it really wasn’t worth noting because apparently it was never going to happen in the first place:

MTA Chairman Peter Kalikow pulled the emergency brake yesterday on proposals to raise bus and subway fares and cut back on service next year.

Predicting deficits upward of $1 billion starting in 2008, the agency said in July that a 5 percent fare hike would likely have to kick in next September, along with reductions in the number of subway trains and buses that run during midday, nights and weekends.

But yesterday, amid complaints from transit advocates and union leaders, Kalikow switched tracks.

Noting that ridership had soared to levels not seen in decades, he said straphangers deserved a little slack — and there will be no fare hikes or service cuts through 2007.

. . .

The announcement infuriated some transit officials, who contend the proposed cuts were included in the preliminary budget over their objections — and now Kalikow is making himself out to be the hero, sources said.

Though MTA sources say the cuts never really had a chance of remaining in the final November budget, transit advocates fumed that the agency would even think of hurting riders to save $20 million annually — a measly sum compared to the agency’s $10 billion budget.

And this the kind of win-win-win scenario that allows everybody to grandstand:

Balking at the proposed cuts, which could also cost hundreds of transit jobs, Transport Workers Union boss Roger Toussaint said the MTA should “cut suits instead of service.”

And that looming deficit? Take it out of LIRR’s budget!