Transit Watch: MTA Vehicular Tunnel Flood Doors to be Tested, Subway Crime Down

Live tests utilizing 25-ton doors designed to protect the Hugh L Carey and Queens Midtown Tunnels against extreme weather are being conducted on selected overnight trial rubs this summer, the MTA announced.

The tests can only be done when a tube is shut to vehicle traffic. To that end, one of the two tubes at each tunnel will need to be closed for testing; the other tube will be open for one lane of traffic in each direction.

In total, there are eight of these gates, installed in 2017, as part of hurricane remediation following the devastation caused by Superstorm Sandy which hit NYC on Oct. 29, 2012. Each massive door is 29-feet wide, 14-feet high and nearly two-feet thick. In the event of a coastal storm, these doors provide the last line of defense, preventing water from infiltrating tunnels and causing extensive damage.

The work seven years ago for both MTA tunnels required a complete rebuilding of the electrical, lighting and pumping systems, wall tiles and ceiling panels. The gates were patterned after smaller ones used in Norfolk, Virginia, and should protect the tunnels from a from a 17-foot-high storm surge, 4 feet above Hurricane Sandy’s.

MTA Bridges and Tunnels and MTA Construction and Development teams performed overnight flood door tests in the Hugh L. Carey Tunnel and Queens Midtown Tunnel as part of preparations for potential hurricanes or tropical storms.

The overnight closing dates for Hugh Carey Tunnel were slated for Monday, 7/22, Tuesday 7/23 and 7/24, each for eight hours. At the Queens Midtown Tunnel, the closings will be Saturday, 7/27, Sunday 7/28, Saturday 8/3 and Sunday 8/4.

The following day, Governor Hochul and Mayor Adams held a press conference to note that subway crime is down almost 45% this week by comparison to the same week last year, almost 8% this year to date versus last year in the same timeframe.

This was a follow up from March, when the Governor announced a five-point plan to protect New Yorkers on the subway, which started with the first meeting of the New York Subway and Transit Safety Task Force.

Whether these numbers are affirmed by the experience of subway riders is another matter. Which is to say, these figures do not wholly reflect a system still rampant turnstile jumping and open drug use—including crack and intravenous drugs, in addition to the now ubiquitous reek of weed, which however legal it is above ground, is, like all other smoking, supposed to be banned on trains— not to mention the many disturbed individuals whose dangerous behavior is often overlooked until something really bad happens.

Relatedly, and also part of the mix: finding secure housing for homeless individuals who live on subway trains. Now, there are more opportunities for those with behavioral health issues to access the mental health care they may need.

Noted NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban: “With subway ridership steadily increasing, the NYPD continues to deploy its resources to stations, platforms, and trains in a strategic, intelligence-driven manner that is lifting every neighborhood and improving the lives of all the people we serve in communities across our great city.”

If current trends continue, July will be the sixth consecutive month with a double-digit decrease in subway crime.

The Governor noted, “Secure, reliable transit is a necessity for residents and visitors in our great city. With continued partnership with Mayor Adams, Chairman Lieber and our partners in law enforcement, we will continue to do everything in our power to keep the system safe.”

Not addressed? The proliferation of unlicensed vendors and smoking, both on platforms and aboard trains, illegal under current MTA laws.