THE FIG FILE for 11.20.08

THE FIG FILE for 11.20.08: by Mike Figliola

The Fig File: Need another reason to be outraged at the M.T.A.’s reported cuts on train service? Fine. Here you go: The Lexington Avenue subway line at rush hour, dawn or dusk. There is a better chance of a person being trampled than catching an uptown or downtown bound train, and an even better odds of walking to your destination in relative comfort than being shoe horned into the number 4, 5, or 6 at that time. This isn’t complaining, this is sincere concern. I have ridden the NY Train system for 20 years back and forth from Manhattan to Queens connected to Brooklyn and transferred up to the Bronx - even back down to the Staten Island Ferry at Whitehall Station at all times of the day and still, the mad chaos that fills for example, 51st and Lex, when the whistle blows at the end of the work day is visually stunning. I liken it to an ant colony on the move from one nest to another - a sad infestation - stifled and tired commuters who just want to get home, eat dinner, kiss their spouse and hit the hay. 

Needless to say, because of my hours on The John Gambling Show,  I recently stopped taking the green numbered trains - but there are those who don’t have that option. Their answer comes in the form of Councilman Daniel Garodnick (D-Manhattan) who spoke to reporters yesterday at City Hall. Councilman Garodnick said that “The MTA has some difficult decisions to make, but this is an easy one — cutting service on the Lexington line will create catastrophe,” . The Councilman went on to say “When you can’t squeeze even one more person onto the platforms, let alone the trains, which is what we observed at the 77th Street station on multiple occurrences, you have a system that has reached its breaking point.”Amen Councilman . Here is the part of this that bears repeating: “...cutting service on the Lexington line will create catastrophe”. You know what that says to me? Law suit. And this city can’t afford a suit of that magnitude. Neither can I - I am still saving my pennies for those tolls coming to the East Side Crossings!

Inside Studio Four: An Inside Look Into The John Gambling Show: Albany Must See TV

We had Assembly Minority Leader James Tedisco on The John Gambling Show yesterday to discuss the Special Session called by Governor Paterson to hammer out the NY State Budget. If you saw the live “must see TV” broadcast of the meeting of the minds in Albany, you may as we all did here on the John Gambling Show, cringed while looking at your television screen, even covered your eyes once or twice. The mudslinging was quite fierce. It continued today when Assemblyman Tedisco responded to John Gambling’s question about what his colleagues in the assembly proposed to balance the budget. Tedisco turned his focus onto Assembly Speaker Silver calling him an ‘owl sitting in a tree who had no plan to offer’ - a remark that had the entire morning crew from John to myself covering our eyes - once again. I can’t wait to see what happens at the next special session in December.

Odds and Ends: Café De Cornelia.

This is one of most favorite places in the world, really. The Cornelia Street Café or as I have come to know it as ‘The Stadium’, combines delectable dishes upstairs and jazz-ma-tazz poetry swing in the basement - a great combo for hungry working suits and thirsty bar fly’s. The service is fine, but I’d say make the place your own and depend not on the Stadium’s amenities. You’ll have a better time if you settle on going for drinks and live music than a quiet meal. 

Cornelia Street Café
29 Cornelia St., New York, NY 10014
nr. 4th St.  
212-989-9319