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Which Routes Can Use the "Super Express"?


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There are certainly plenty of older folks in Brooklyn Heights as well. Of course Riverdale is more suburban, but there are certainly parts of Brooklyn Heights that are like Riverdale. My old boss and his wife used to live in Brooklyn Heights, before moving to Bay Ridge and while he isn't old, he's in his 40s now with a kid. Not exactly the yuppie type either.

Not as many as Riverdale.... Not even close.....

 

Riverdale is known for having a significant elderly population, Brooklyn Hgts. just, isn't.... any real estate agent will tell you that.... you don't have to take my word for it, though... I'm sure you'll take more trips out there, and you'll come to notice what I'm conveying to you.....

 

 

 

Hmm I see... I also wanted to use the BxM1 because I've been wanting to go back to the Cloisters but I don't want to have to deal with the subway and all of that going through the grimy areas and the BxM1 would put me within walking distance from the Cloisters by about 14 blocks or so. I'll have to investigate a bit further though. Inwood is not the greatest, but it's tolerable.

 

Good luck, b/c I can't see myself ever living in no Inwood when I get older.... nope, not anywhere near marble hill, or washington heights..... Inwood's reputation has gotten worse since like, the late 90's....

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Not as many as Riverdale.... Not even close.....

 

Riverdale is known for having a significant elderly population, Brooklyn Hgts. just, isn't.... any real estate agent will tell you that.... you don't have to take my word for it, though... I'm sure you'll take more trips out there, and you'll come to notice what I'm conveying to you.....

 

Oh I agree, no question, but I certainly saw plenty of young folks my age as well. On the BxM2, there was this SAKS type... Well dressed with the slick hair and such. He got off w/me at 263rd street and another guy around my age that works next door to me also lives in Riverdale w/his wife and kids, so while I realize that an older population is there, there are some young folks there too, at least around my age anyway, but I don't see any yuppies living there because it is too far out, which is just fine by me. I could certainly see myself living there, especially since there is such good express bus service there. :cool: I haven't decide when yet, but I'll be certainly taking more trips up there to check out the neighborhood and see if there are any good eateries around. I may have to start going up there anyway, as this client may start wanting to meeting a few times a year to discuss progress on streamlining things and costs and such.

 

Good luck, b/c I can't see myself ever living in no Inwood when I get older.... nope, not anywhere near marble hill, or washington heights..... Inwood's reputation has gotten worse since like, the late 90's....

 

LOL.... Well me neither... I was just talking about taking a trip up to the Cloisters, but I don't want to use the subway... If I can take the BxM1 over to 207th street and somehow walk from there I may do it. I did see some whites along there, so it must be okay to walk there as long as you stay in certain parts I suppose, but I'll do some research first so that I don't get stuck once I get off of the BxM1.

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1) Oh I agree, no question, but I certainly saw plenty of young folks my age as well. On the BxM2, there was this SAKS type... Well dressed with the slick hair and such. He got off w/me at 263rd street and another guy around my age that works next door to me also lives in Riverdale w/his wife and kids, so while I realize that an older population is there, there are some young folks there too, at least around my age anyway, but I don't see any yuppies living there because it is too far out, which is just fine by me. I could certainly see myself living there, especially since there is such good express bus service there. :cool: I haven't decide when yet, but I'll be certainly taking more trips up there to check out the neighborhood and see if there are any good eateries around. I may have to start going up there anyway, as this client may start wanting to meeting a few times a year to discuss progress on streamlining things and costs and such.

 

2) LOL.... Well me neither... I was just talking about taking a trip up to the Cloisters, but I don't want to use the subway... If I can take the BxM1 over to 207th street and somehow walk from there I may do it. I did see some whites along there, so it must be okay to walk there as long as you stay in certain parts I suppose, but I'll do some research first so that I don't get stuck once I get off of the BxM1.

 

1) Out of curiosity, when you do those meetings, do you return to your office in Midtown, or do you go straight home. Obviously, if he's your main client, and you're going straight home, it would make sense to live up in Riverdale.

 

2) I think Inwood west of Broadway is the better half, so you should be alright there.

 

Because you can only come into the park from the south, it's going to be a pretty long walk from Broadway/207th Street (Google Transit says 2.3 miles). If you want, you can take the (A) to 190th Street and then take the M4 from there.

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1) Out of curiosity, when you do those meetings, do you return to your office in Midtown, or do you go straight home. Obviously, if he's your main client, and you're going straight home, it would make sense to live up in Riverdale.

 

No. The Vendors' meeting went until about 16:00. It was supposed to start at 14:30 but they had a meeting in the conference room that went long, so all of us (about 30 or so total) sat in the lounge/cafeteria area (which was actually pretty nice) and watched CNN on this big flat screen Sharp tv until they turned it off. :mad:

 

Once the meeting was over, I didn't stick around. I got a Lincoln to pick me up there in Yonkers and take me over to the first stop there at 261st & Riverdale Avenue. On a side note, I also like that the car service (Private Car Service) that I took had an entire fleet of nothing but Lincolns and the service was very prompt both coming and going. :cool: I think all of the drivers are Latinos though and the guy that I had coming back (Dominican guy) didn't speak much English, so I said f*ck it, I don't want to be here all day giving him instructions in English, so I just broke down & spoke in Spanish. I usually try to pretend that I don't speak it, but the Dominicans can usually tell once they see me and once they hear me speak in Spanish forget it. lol

 

But anyway, I didn't get back into Midtown until about 17:30 so I just got off at 56th & Lex, took a Crosstown M31 over and got the X30 over by Columbus Circle (57th & Broadway), this way I was able to make a stop to get some grub.

 

I tell ya boy I may just rent there until I get enough saved for a condo because the rents aren't that bad and I know that the apartments wouldn't be all seedy and stuff in terms of the folks living there. The neighborhood seems relatively walkable and if not car service is quick and reasonable. Then you have 3 express buses (4 if you count the BxM3 over on Broadway, which actually is nice there in Riverdale (used Broadway when I used car service) AND MetroNorth, so if I want hang out in the city late until 02:00 or 03:00 in the morning, I can just take MetroNorth and not have to deal with the subway, but the express bus service there is quite impressive. :tup:

 

 

With that said though, I think the BxM1 could be faster. Seems like it meanders a bit too much in comparison to the BxM2. I would have only select buses serving 207th street since that bus is really there to serve Riverdale IMO.

 

2) I think Inwood west of Broadway is the better half, so you should be alright there.

 

Because you can only come into the park from the south, it's going to be a pretty long walk from Broadway/207th Street (Google Transit says 2.3 miles). If you want, you can take the (A) to 190th Street and then take the M4 from there.

 

Yeah, I was thinking it would be a long walk, so I did indeed consider the (A) train because that far up it is only 2 stops and not too terrible in terms of the folks riding and such. From 190th I could probably walk over to the Cloisters. :cool:

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Other than the routes that already do, I can only think of one that could warrant super-express service...the X17C, with two pickup points: first stop, and then Bryant Park. It really doesn't work going south or west.

 

Isn't that the X17J?

 

Once the meeting was over, I didn't stick around. I got a Lincoln to pick me up there in Yonkers and take me over to the first stop there at 261st & Riverdale Avenue. On a side note, I also like that the car service (Private Car Service) that I took had an entire fleet of nothing but Lincolns and the service was very prompt both coming and going. :cool: I think all of the drivers are Latinos though and the guy that I had coming back (Dominican guy) didn't speak much English, so I said f*ck it, I don't want to be here all day giving him instructions in English, so I just broke down & spoke in Spanish. I usually try to pretend that I don't speak it, but the Dominicans can usually tell once they see me and once they hear me speak in Spanish forget it. lol

 

Yeah, I was thinking it would be a long walk, so I did indeed consider the (A) train because that far up it is only 2 stops and not too terrible in terms of the folks riding and such. From 190th I could probably walk over to the Cloisters. :cool:

 

Well, that's to be expected (the fact that there are a lot of Latino drivers), since Yonkers does have a very large Latino population. It's concentrated in Southwest Yonkers, but it's noticeable in all Yonkers neighborhoods.

 

As far as the (A) goes, I don't think there's a sidewalk on the road to the Cloisters. You may have to walk in the road or on the grass, which I obviously wouldn't recommend while wearing dress shoes. The M4 would be a better bet.

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Isn't that the X17J?

 

I'm confused myself. What does he mean by "first stop"? Where would the first stop be?? Aside from that there would be too many X17Cs. As long as the X17J is still running I don't see a need for the X17C to have super express service, esp. since a lot of people drive to it anyway so that they can get "super express" service. A lot of folks like myself will catch the X17C at the last stop before it hits the SIE giving ourselves a one stop ride into Manhattan.

 

I would love to see one or two more X42s in the morning because the X12s get caught in too much traffic Downtown and I hate have having to get off to take the subway when I can have a one ride seat to Midtown because I have to head east to the subway schlepp down the stairs and then hope that I can catch a train because now the new thing is that at 09:30 in the morning if you miss that train there is a 10 minute wait for another (4) or (5) train, which is ridiculous and then when it comes we keep stopping because of so called "train traffic" ahead. A load of BS when you consider a 10 minute wait on that line.

 

It's like they don't realize how many people start working at 10:00 and how many people finish working at 18:00 or 19:00. I was talking to someone at the stop there at 46th & 5th and I had rushed over there from my office across the street to catch the last X42 last Friday which is at 18:00 (which is ridiculous) and I asked the lady waiting if she saw one and she said no and then said there are so few of them right? I agreed and we both laughed. It isn't like they aren't well used either, so I don't know why they're so stingly with them. :mad: The South Shore has direct Midtown service past 09:00 and we on the North Shore have it ended before 09:00. :mad: We have very long commutes just like the South Shore and while they may argue that the South Shore has higher ridership, a lot of that is because folks from the North Shore go down to the Mid-Island/South Shore to use their express buses because our service ends so damn early.

 

Well, that's to be expected (the fact that there are a lot of Latino drivers), since Yonkers does have a very large Latino population. It's concentrated in Southwest Yonkers, but it's noticeable in all Yonkers neighborhoods.

 

Well I knew that the Bronx overall had a huge Latino population, but wasn't aware of Yonkers having that set up, probably because it is suburban so that wasn't the first thing I would expect.

 

As far as the (A) goes, I don't think there's a sidewalk on the road to the Cloisters. You may have to walk in the road or on the grass, which I obviously wouldn't recommend while wearing dress shoes. The M4 would be a better bet.

 

LOL... Not to worry, I do have some sporty looking shoes/sneakers for the weekends that I wear from Switzerland. Right now I have two pairs of Italian dress shoes, and a pair of driving shoes (aka drivers) and the drivers I wear usually on Fridays or on the weekends since they're also comfy too and then a pair of old Italian shoes that I use for the rain. Maybe I'll try to plan a trip up there to the Cloisters this month and then hang out in Riverdale afterwards so I can get a better feel for the area. :cool:

 

The last time I went to the Cloisters was years ago when I was working in Chelsea and we were let out early on Fridays for the summer so we would leave at 14:00. I had lunch and the took the M4 all the way up there. Took forever though it wasn't terribly crowded and then I took it back to Midtown and went home from there. I had fond memories of visiting it as a kid and it is quite nice up there, but the long ride via the local bus and the annoying subway ride has kept me away, so now that I know that the BxM1 stops by there I'll try that and try to tolerate the (A) train for one stop from 207th st. :cool:

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LOL.... Well me neither... I was just talking about taking a trip up to the Cloisters, but I don't want to use the subway... If I can take the BxM1 over to 207th street and somehow walk from there I may do it. I did see some whites along there, so it must be okay to walk there as long as you stay in certain parts I suppose, but I'll do some research first so that I don't get stuck once I get off of the BxM1.

If by "stuck" you mean, gettin off the bxm1 in an area you won't/don't necessarily care for, forget it.... bxm1 puts you off along dyckman, and along broadway whilst in manhattan; doesn't pan into the nicer part of inwood at all...

 

 

Other than the routes that already do, I can only think of one that could warrant super-express service...the X17C, with two pickup points: first stop, and then Bryant Park. It really doesn't work going south or west.

two routes = x17J & x19

 

...shuts that suggestion Down.

(don't assume all 17j riders emanate from midtown either... you get quite a bit that take the train up to 42nd, to avoid 17c's... that's nothin new.)

 

 

With that said though, I think the BxM1 could be faster. Seems like it meanders a bit too much in comparison to the BxM2. I would have only select buses serving 207th street since that bus is really there to serve Riverdale IMO.

the only other option would be to move the bxm1 off harlem river drive & onto the deegan... but this is what 2's & 18's already do....

 

what surprises me a bit, is how many bxm1 riders actually get off in inwood.... so I wouldn't move 1's off harlem river drive (as much as I can't stand harlem river drive)....

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1) I'm confused myself. What does he mean by "first stop"? Where would the first stop be?? Aside from that there would be too many X17Cs. As long as the X17J is still running I don't see a need for the X17C to have super express service, esp. since a lot of people drive to it anyway so that they can get "super express" service. A lot of folks like myself will catch the X17C at the last stop before it hits the SIE giving ourselves a one stop ride into Manhattan.

 

2) It's like they don't realize how many people start working at 10:00 and how many people finish working at 18:00 or 19:00. I was talking to someone at the stop there at 46th & 5th and I had rushed over there from my office across the street to catch the last X42 last Friday which is at 18:00 (which is ridiculous) and I asked the lady waiting if she saw one and she said no and then said there are so few of them right? I agreed and we both laughed. It isn't like they aren't well used either, so I don't know why they're so stingly with them. :mad: The South Shore has direct Midtown service past 09:00 and we on the North Shore have it ended before 09:00. :mad: We have very long commutes just like the South Shore and while they may argue that the South Shore has higher ridership, a lot of that is because folks from the North Shore go down to the Mid-Island/South Shore to use their express buses because our service ends so damn early.

 

3) Well I knew that the Bronx overall had a huge Latino population, but wasn't aware of Yonkers having that set up, probably because it is suburban so that wasn't the first thing I would expect.

 

 

1) By first stop, I think he just means 57th Street/Lexington Avenue. I can't see a super express working out with just those two stops. Just leave it with the X17J.

 

2) And that's exactly why there should be an off-peak discount. Chances are that they'll predict a lot of riders on the North Shore express routes, and add service (even if a lot of those riders ride under the current fare structure)

 

3) Type in "Region is Reshaped As Minorities Move to Suburbs" into any search engine (plus, southwest Yonkers is far from suburban. It has a lot of apartment buildings and tenements)

 

two routes = x17J & x19

 

...shuts that suggestion Down.

(don't assume all 17j riders emanate from midtown either... you get quite a bit that take the train up to 42nd, to avoid 17c's... that's nothin new.)

 

 

When I had the summer program at Cooper Union, it actually said the fastest way to get home was to take the (N)(R) up to 42nd Street for the X17J (and the second fastest way was to take the (6) to the (4)(5) to Bowling Green for the X17A).

 

Of course, since I had a Student MetroCard, I never actually did that. I always either took the ferry or I went through Brooklyn.

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1) By first stop, I think he just means 57th Street/Lexington Avenue. I can't see a super express working out with just those two stops. Just leave it with the X17J.

 

IAWTP..... I don't see the point of an x17c super express either; it would be rather redundant....

 

...and lol @ trip planner (I'm assuming you're referring to in the other part of the post) suggesting 17j's & 17a's before the 17c !

 

 

Well I knew that the Bronx overall had a huge Latino population, but wasn't aware of Yonkers having that set up, probably because it is suburban so that wasn't the first thing I would expect.

 

(plus, southwest Yonkers is far from suburban. It has a lot of apartment buildings and tenements)

 

...as far as Yonkers go (same exact thing goes for camden btw), ppl. often assume it's predominantly black.... it's not, it's actually more hispanics than blacks up there....

 

When I tell ppl. there are more blacks in mt. vernon than there are in yonkers, I get stupefied looks, a general disagreement, or a combination of both.... mount vernon got far more blacks than yonkers does....

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1) By first stop, I think he just means 57th Street/Lexington Avenue. I can't see a super express working out with just those two stops. Just leave it with the X17J.

 

If that's what he means then I agree... The X17J is sufficient enough. I've been using the X17J just about every day this week and the commute from 48th & Madison where I get off at from say Goethals Rd North & Richmond is about 45- 50 minutes depending on the traffic. If traffic is really light you can do that in 40 minutes, which isn't bad at all. :cool:

 

2) And that's exactly why there should be an off-peak discount. Chances are that they'll predict a lot of riders on the North Shore express routes, and add service (even if a lot of those riders ride under the current fare structure)

 

In other words, you're saying that low ridership is the cause of the North Shore routes being stopped earlier?? I mean I think it is total BS. The North Shore has long commutes also.

 

3) Type in "Region is Reshaped As Minorities Move to Suburbs" into any search engine (plus, southwest Yonkers is far from suburban. It has a lot of apartment buildings and tenements)

 

Yes, true, southwest Yonkers is not suburban. It is weird because you have Riverdale right there, which is somewhat suburban and also affluent and then that southern part of Yonkers which is rather run down IMO. :eek: Aside from that you have Latinos moving all over the place to suburban places. I've done some work of late for places out in the Midwest (i.e. Iowa and Kansas) which isn't really know for having a Latino population, but I think Mexicans in particular are helping to debunk that notion, since they in particular are moving to many remote places in the U.S. like Idaho, etc.

 

 

When I had the summer program at Cooper Union, it actually said the fastest way to get home was to take the (N)(R) up to 42nd Street for the X17J (and the second fastest way was to take the (6) to the (4)(5) to Bowling Green for the X17A).

 

Of course, since I had a Student MetroCard, I never actually did that. I always either took the ferry or I went through Brooklyn.

 

Well when I first started using the express bus, I would take the X16 to the (1) train there at Rector St and then transfer at Chambers for the (2) train because I had to be in early in the morning and since there were very few people on the train I would do that since it was very quick that way. I would catch say the 06:45 X16, and be Downtown by about 07:20. :cool:

 

I come in later now and I'm also don't want to deal with the subway because it requires too much backtracking, so I try to make sure that I catch routes like the X2 or X17J if I leave a bit later since those buses bypass Downtown.

 

I think they should re-route some of the buses that have to go Downtown in the mornings because they get stuck in way too much traffic and it basically forces us to have to take the subway even though the bus is more convenient in that it puts us closer to our destinations. It is really annoyed having to get off and walk in the other direction to get the (4) or (5) at Wall Street and then backtrack back towards Madison Avenue and walk up all of those f*cking stairs at Grand Central, when the X12 could put me 2 - 3 blocks from the office, minus the backtracking and stairs.

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lol @ (us) posting @ the same time....

 

well one thing's for sure... without even having to look at the differing street signage.... the border b/w yonkers & riverdale is CLEARLY defined.

 

 

 

I think they should re-route some of the buses that have to go Downtown in the mornings because they get stuck in way too much traffic and it basically forces us to have to take the subway even though the bus is more convenient in that it puts us closer to our destinations.

I do too....

 

the problem is, how ?

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lol @ (us) posting @ the same time....

 

well one thing's for sure... without even having to look at the differing street signage.... the border b/w yonkers & riverdale is CLEARLY defined.

 

Yeah I was reading up the restaurant scene in Riverdale and apparently most folks just go to the city. Not much that is memorable up there, but I can live with that. As long as there is a few banks near by and at least a few decent places I can go to when I want to stay in the neighborhood, then I would be fine with that. Same thing goes with the supermarkets. Nothing spectacular on that end either and Southern Yonkers seems to be quite ghetto from what I've been reading in terms of supermarkets, so I'll just have to do shopping in the city or when I go back to Sheepshead Bay I'll pick up the few items I need there and then get the rest of the stuff from my regular spots in the city. I mean I do that now and the commute is a bit longer. I think I'm going to go up there tomorrow to walk around along Riverdale assuming that I don't want to sleep in. I may actually take the BxM3 up there or back. I'll have to plan that out too though, since the BxM3 would work best for me since it runs along Madison & 5th Avenues.

 

 

 

I do too....

 

the problem is, how ?

 

I know... ;) The only thing they could do is run some buses along West St. Quite frankly I would have some of those X12s run as X42s.

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...as far as Yonkers go (same exact thing goes for camden btw), ppl. often assume it's predominantly black.... it's not, it's actually more hispanics than blacks up there....

 

When I tell ppl. there are more blacks in mt. vernon than there are in yonkers, I get stupefied looks, a general disagreement, or a combination of both.... mount vernon got far more blacks than yonkers does....

 

I think people have that misconception about the South Bronx as well.

 

And Camden is about 50% Black and 50% Hispanic. It's just that the northern part is like 70% Hispanic and 30% Black, and the southern part is the opposite.

 

In other words, you're saying that low ridership is the cause of the North Shore routes being stopped earlier?? I mean I think it is total BS. The North Shore has long commutes also.

 

Yes, true, southwest Yonkers is not suburban. It is weird because you have Riverdale right there, which is somewhat suburban and also affluent and then that southern part of Yonkers which is rather run down IMO. :eek: Aside from that you have Latinos moving all over the place to suburban places. I've done some work of late for places out in the Midwest (i.e. Iowa and Kansas) which isn't really known for having a Latino population, but I think Mexicans in particular are helping to debunk that notion, since they in particular are moving to many remote places in the U.S. like Idaho, etc.

 

 

No, but they probably think there's low ridership (or that could be the excuse they give to avoid adding service). At least if there was more off-peak ridership, there would be another reason to expand the service hours.

 

And basically, minorities getting priced out of the city, with all of the gentrification going on. They figure "Why pay all this just to live in the city when I can go further out and get more for my money?" That's sort of the mentality my family had: If we move out to an area further out, we can live in a bigger home, instead of a 1-bedroom apartment (2 1-bedrooms if you count my grandmother's apartment) and not have to spend a whole lot more (considering my grandmother moved as well).

 

I mean, if you look at the housing prices even in Sheepshead Bay and Brighton Beach, you can get a similar-sized and similar-quality house for a lot less in SI.

 

Of course, the cycle that a lot of immigrants go through is that they spend a generation or two in the inner city, and then they get more money and move to the suburbs. Of course, like I said, with gentrification going on, the "inner city" is being pushed out further, so rather than living in say, Bushwick, they might move up to say, Paterson, NJ or Hempstead, LI.

 

As far as moving all the way out to the middle of Idaho, I can't think of any reason for that. Maybe they grew up in a rural part of Mexico and prefer a rural lifestyle.

 

I know... :( The only thing they could do is run some buses along West St. Quite frankly I would have some of those X12s run as X42s.

 

Realistically, it wouldn't cost too much to expand X42 service (assuming X12 service was cut back to 23rd Street in the process).

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No, but they probably think there's low ridership (or that could be the excuse they give to avoid adding service). At least if there was more off-peak ridership, there would be another reason to expand the service hours.

 

Yeah, I keep holding out hope but it's not happening and I think I know why. For example, my neighborhood in West Brighton, I think I'm the only one that uses the express bus. Just about everybody else hops in their car and drives whereever they go, plus there are more older middle aged folks here too. In Riverdale though, you do have young families moving there to escape the prices of the city who want to be close to the city, but also want that suburban, green, quiet neighborhood that a place like Riverdale offers and seeing how walkable Riverdale can be, I get the feeling that folks use their express buses more there, plus those buses are subsidized by the city too.

 

And basically, minorities getting priced out of the city, with all of the gentrification going on. They figure "Why pay all this just to live in the city when I can go further out and get more for my money?" That's sort of the mentality my family had: If we move out to an area further out, we can live in a bigger home, instead of a 1-bedroom apartment (2 1-bedrooms if you count my grandmother's apartment) and not have to spend a whole lot more (considering my grandmother moved as well).

 

I mean, if you look at the housing prices even in Sheepshead Bay and Brighton Beach, you can get a similar-sized and similar-quality house for a lot less in SI.

 

That's one reason why I'm not so wild about moving back to Brooklyn. I mean Brooklyn will always be #1 in terms of the best borough since I was born and raised there, but I don't care for what's going on there. Brooklyn used to be a place for the average middle class down-to-earth folks and now the damn yuppies are coming in and it is losing its character. Another thing is this condo craze, which is fine, but they are SO overpriced. I mean really there are condos in Sheepshead Bay going for what you can buy a house for on Staten Island. And the thing about Sheepshead Bay is the commute is relatively long and the express bus service sucks because there is no service on Sunday and they are cutting Saturday service like no tomorrow. :mad: I'm not paying $1,300.00 a month and don't have express bus service to the city. Meanwhile in Riverdale I could pay that or perhaps less and have access to 3 express buses 7 days a week and 1 during rush hours, AND Metro North, all providing a one seat, quick ride to the city.

 

As far as moving all the way out to the middle of Idaho, I can't think of any reason for that. Maybe they grew up in a rural part of Mexico and prefer a rural lifestyle.

 

That's a pretty simple one. There's only so much work in some places, so they go where there is a better chance of them getting work and making ends meet.

 

 

Realistically, it wouldn't cost too much to expand X42 service (assuming X12 service was cut back to 23rd Street in the process).

 

Yeah well they already have some X12s only going to 23rd street anyway when the X42s are running so they should just expand that a bit more with a few more X42s. It's almost like they don't want to be too generous even if they could make it cost effective. :mad: We couldn't dare give folks good service past the dead of rush hour now could we?

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1) Yeah, I keep holding out hope but it's not happening and I think I know why. For example, my neighborhood in West Brighton, I think I'm the only one that uses the express bus. Just about everybody else hops in their car and drives whereever they go, plus there are more older middle aged folks here too. In Riverdale though, you do have young families moving there to escape the prices of the city who want to be close to the city, but also want that suburban, green, quiet neighborhood that a place like Riverdale offers and seeing how walkable Riverdale can be, I get the feeling that folks use their express buses more there, plus those buses are subsidized by the city too.

 

2) That's one reason why I'm not so wild about moving back to Brooklyn. I mean Brooklyn will always be #1 in terms of the best borough since I was born and raised there, but I don't care for what's going on there. Brooklyn used to be a place for the average middle class down-to-earth folks and now the damn yuppies are coming in and it is losing its character. Another thing is this condo craze, which is fine, but they are SO overpriced. I mean really there are condos in Sheepshead Bay going for what you can buy a house for on Staten Island. And the thing about Sheepshead Bay is the commute is relatively long and the express bus service sucks because there is no service on Sunday and they are cutting Saturday service like no tomorrow. :mad: I'm not paying $1,300.00 a month and don't have express bus service to the city. Meanwhile in Riverdale I could pay that or perhaps less and have access to 3 express buses 7 days a week and 1 during rush hours, AND Metro North, all providing a one seat, quick ride to the city.

 

3) That's a pretty simple one. There's only so much work in some places, so they go where there is a better chance of them getting work and making ends meet.

 

4) Yeah well they already have some X12s only going to 23rd street anyway when the X42s are running so they should just expand that a bit more with a few more X42s. It's almost like they don't want to be too generous even if they could make it cost effective. :mad: We couldn't dare give folks good service past the dead of rush hour now could we?

 

1) I doubt people are driving to Manhattan: You said yourself express bus usage is pretty good in West Brighton. As far as making short trips, I can't see it being that much more transit-oriented than West Brighton.

 

And I think MTA Bus and NYCT are in the process of merging, so the "blank check" agreement might in a few years. Of course, even if they cut back the 4 express routes (which is unlikely, since they get decent ridership), there's always Metro-North.

 

2) Well, most of the "yuppies" are moving to areas close to the subway, and close to Manhattan in general (You won't see them in say, Canarsie or even the eastern parts of Sheepshead Bay)

 

3) Yeah, but realistically, can you find a good job out in the middle of Idaho? Or are they moving to cities and their suburbs at least?

 

4) Exactly. It really wouldn't cost a whole lot to add say, an 18:20 and 18:50 X42. Hell, if nothing else they could add a couple more X14s instead.

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No. The Vendors' meeting went until about 16:00. It was supposed to start at 14:30 but they had a meeting in the conference room that went long, so all of us (about 30 or so total) sat in the lounge/cafeteria area (which was actually pretty nice) and watched CNN on this big flat screen Sharp tv until they turned it off. :mad:

 

Once the meeting was over, I didn't stick around. I got a Lincoln to pick me up there in Yonkers and take me over to the first stop there at 261st & Riverdale Avenue. On a side note, I also like that the car service (Private Car Service) that I took had an entire fleet of nothing but Lincolns and the service was very prompt both coming and going. :cool: I think all of the drivers are Latinos though and the guy that I had coming back (Dominican guy) didn't speak much English, so I said f*ck it, I don't want to be here all day giving him instructions in English, so I just broke down & spoke in Spanish. I usually try to pretend that I don't speak it, but the Dominicans can usually tell once they see me and once they hear me speak in Spanish forget it. lol

 

But anyway, I didn't get back into Midtown until about 17:30 so I just got off at 56th & Lex, took a Crosstown M31 over and got the X30 over by Columbus Circle (57th & Broadway), this way I was able to make a stop to get some grub.

 

I tell ya boy I may just rent there until I get enough saved for a condo because the rents aren't that bad and I know that the apartments wouldn't be all seedy and stuff in terms of the folks living there. The neighborhood seems relatively walkable and if not car service is quick and reasonable. Then you have 3 express buses (4 if you count the BxM3 over on Broadway, which actually is nice there in Riverdale (used Broadway when I used car service) AND MetroNorth, so if I want hang out in the city late until 02:00 or 03:00 in the morning, I can just take MetroNorth and not have to deal with the subway, but the express bus service there is quite impressive. :tup:

 

 

With that said though, I think the BxM1 could be faster. Seems like it meanders a bit too much in comparison to the BxM2. I would have only select buses serving 207th street since that bus is really there to serve Riverdale IMO.

 

 

 

Yeah, I was thinking it would be a long walk, so I did indeed consider the (A) train because that far up it is only 2 stops and not too terrible in terms of the folks riding and such. From 190th I could probably walk over to the Cloisters. :cool:

If you hang out until 2 or 3 in the morning I think your Metro-North option is non-existent. Correct me if I'm wrong people but IIRC the last train from GCT leaves at about 2 am.

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If you hang out until 2 or 3 in the morning I think your Metro-North option is non-existent. Correct me if I'm wrong people but IIRC the last train from GCT leaves at about 2 am.

 

Yeah, I was assuming that they run later, but the last one leaves at 01:50. Still that's pretty good, esp. since it is only a 25 minute ride back to Riverdale. Worse case scenario I'll get car service back to Riverdale or crash at a friend's house until the morning and catch an express bus back as I've done in the past. I see that they also have a bus that connects you to MetroNorth. I saw a sign as I was getting on the BxM1 over on 261st & Riverdale Avenue. I'm curious as to how it works exactly. I'll read up on it now.

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