Extending our failed subway

[grump]

Faced with the 30 year long failure of its idiotic ill conceived and unnecessary subway the hapless fools who run NFTA again want to extend this failed dinosaur into Amherst. Not that they pay any attention but the railbed of the above ground portion in the city is crumbling before our eyes. If they let the part that we can see decay like that then one can only imagine the condition of the tunnel portion which is out of view. Their idiotic notion is that extending the subway will bring "development" to the area. Perhaps they should actually visit the area. Clearly, they haven't because if they had they would realize that this is one of the most well developed successful retail/small business corridors in upstate New York...all without p*ssing away another $1billion in taxpayer money for a subway that no one wants and no one rides. We already pay the highest transfer tax on real estate sales of any county in NYS because of this mess. Why see the that tax doubled or tripled to satisfy the sexual fantasies of Kim Minkel?

[leftWNYbecauseofBS]

Faced with the 30 year long failure of its idiotic ill conceived and unnecessary subway the hapless fools who run NFTA again want to extend this failed dinosaur into Amherst. Not that they pay any attention but the railbed of the above ground portion in the city is crumbling before our eyes. If they let the part that we can see decay like that then one can only imagine the condition of the tunnel portion which is out of view. Their idiotic notion is that extending the subway will bring "development" to the area. Perhaps they should actually visit the area. Clearly, they haven't because if they had they would realize that this is one of the most well developed successful retail/small business corridors in upstate New York...all without p*ssing away another $1billion in taxpayer money for a subway that no one wants and no one rides. We already pay the highest transfer tax on real estate sales of any county in NYS because of this mess. Why see the that tax doubled or tripled to satisfy the sexual fantasies of Kim Minkel?

Grump. Disagree with you 100% on the idea that light rail would not bring development. My opinion is that it would cause the Blvd Mall area to explode with growth. That said, I went do the rabbit hole this weekend and read about light rail / subway projects in other places. My general takeaway is that this line is so far down the list that it will never see the 50% of federal funds to make it happen.

I'll talk about it all day as I love this subject matter but it's never going to happen.

[grump]

Leftie, the construction of the metro rail devastated Main Street. Thirty years later they're still trying to undo the damage that this abortion perpetrated. Why do that to an area that is already booming? My guess, High talker Higgins and the Dems want to deal a substantial financial blow to a town that grew successfully through responsible Republican leadership.

[OutsidetheBox]

Leftie, the construction of the metro rail devastated Main Street. Thirty years later they're still trying to undo the damage that this abortion perpetrated. Why do that to an area that is already booming? My guess, High talker Higgins and the Dems want to deal a substantial financial blow to a town that grew successfully through responsible Republican leadership.

If you can't recognize the difference between placing rail transit down the middle of a street in a city and completely closing off that street and placing rail transit along an area of auto-centric commercial development and connecting to the main UB campus while presumably maintaining traffic flow then you shouldn't be commenting on the matter.

[grump]

If you can't see the damage done to Main Street by both the above ground and underground sections of the subway you're blind as a bat. And no one rides this stupid system and no one wants to ride it. That's the simple unalterable fact that there is no escaping. Why double the transfer tax to extend a colossal mistake that never should've been built. This area is losing population, there is no crowding...there is simply no legitimate need for it. It's a totally inflexible system that, once built, can't be changed redirected or altered without the expenditure of millions and millions of dollars. But if we're gonna do it let's make sure it ties in to a new train station from which the trains can only depart in one direction. Yeah, that sounds like the Buffalo I know. Let's get some more college professors to work on this right away.

[grump]

Why should the town of Amherst have to suddenly share law enforcement authority with that bunch of keystone cops that pass as the NFTA police. Amherst has a highly professional police department that is generally acknowledged as one of the best in NY. They'll be stuck doing business with a bunch of clowns. When last reported upon the NFTA cops had picked a gunfight with an unarmed man. After their officers unloaded in every direction it took them weeks to fully account for who fired, at whom they fired, why they fired. It took them another week to report that they may have actually hit someone. They were either lying or too stupid to figure out what happened. Most like the former in order to cover up the latter.

[HipKat]

The Metro Rail itself was not failed. The design and the takeover of Main Street was flawed, but in itself, the Metro Rail has done great. I rode it all the time back home and it served it's purpose well

[OutsidetheBox]

If you can't see the damage done to Main Street by both the above ground and underground sections of the subway you're blind as a bat. And no one rides this stupid system and no one wants to ride it. That's the simple unalterable fact that there is no escaping. Why double the transfer tax to extend a colossal mistake that never should've been built. This area is losing population, there is no crowding...there is simply no legitimate need for it. It's a totally inflexible system that, once built, can't be changed redirected or altered without the expenditure of millions and millions of dollars. But if we're gonna do it let's make sure it ties in to a new train station from which the trains can only depart in one direction. Yeah, that sounds like the Buffalo I know. Let's get some more college professors to work on this right away.

The system was installed at a time when there was substantial disinvestment in the city. The placement of the Metrorail above ground and change to a pedestrian mall on Main Street exacerbated this. If you look at the last 5-10 years there has been a tremendous amount of investment in the downtown and city when compared to decades ago. This system will only be improved by the extension and will help the future of the region. The younger generations are less inclined to own vehicles and will look for alternative modes of transportation and if Buffalo wishes to even be remotely relevant in the future we will need better and more mass transit options.

[Neubs24]

This will be filled with students heading downtown, guaranteed. And between campuses if it goes to UB North. If they ever extend it to the airport, I would ride it downtown all the time instead of driving and trying to find parking. I already use it all the time for arena or stadium events.

[grump]

Hipkat, you're pulling the old grump's leg! By any responsible measure the rail is a financial disaster. That's why Erie County pays the highest real estate transfer tax of any county in New York.

[grump]

Outsidethebox, I'm glad you acknowledge that it has taken 30 years to redress the damage. There was substantial disinvestment in the city precisely because of the construction of the subway with the collateral damage it caused all along Washington St and other pathways into the city. I was actually working downtown then and saw the slow daily strangulation of local business by this disaster. No one wants it and no one rides it. It's as simple as that. This is just another glowing example of the Buffalo mentality: "Our city is dying. Let's build something quick."

[HipKat]

I can't remember, but AM&A's, Bergers, Hens & Kelly, Woolworths, etc... Did they close before or after the Metro Rail was built?

[grump]

AM&A closed in '85, Berger was right around there as well. Woolworth may have gone sooner but as I recollect the chain had real problems. I forgot Hens & Kelly. I think they got bought out and bought out again. That owner went in the dumper and took HK with it but I can't remember which it was. Think it was a discounter with a local connection.

[grump]

I was wrong. Bergers hung on downtown until 1991 but it's business had been ravaged by the subway construction. Only the personal commitment to downtown of the Berger family despite their betrayal by NFTA kept the store going that long. A buffaloplace website has a photo of Bergers Main Street store completely cut off from traffic by the subway construction clearly seen in the foreground. This idiotic project, conceived and begun with no guarantees of sufficient funding to reach its exaggerated goals, wreaked havoc on businesses large and small in its direct path and across downtown. The people at NFTA who refuse to this day to admit the damage this project wrought, are liars, pure and simple. Only the dry up of federal funding prevented the damage from being spread across the region. If it's true that the definition of insanity is performing the same act repeatedly and expecting a different result, then the people at NFTA are surely mad.

[Neubs24]

AM&A closed in '85, Berger was right around there as well. Woolworth may have gone sooner but as I recollect the chain had real problems. I forgot Hens & Kelly. I think they got bought out and bought out again. That owner went in the dumper and took HK with it but I can't remember which it was. Think it was a discounter with a local connection.

AM&A's/Bon Ton was '95.