07 August 2013

SCENE FROM A RUN: BROKEN STREETCHARGE, BLOCKED CAUSEWAY

Tracing out phrases and words while out on a run is fun and all but I'm usually restricted to areas close to home.  Some such run may cover 10 km or more but in reality I would be just a few blocks from home.  One thing I like about running is getting to see different parts of my neighborhood.  I miss all that, so today I made a loop to include a part of the Riegelmann Boardwalk in Coney Island, one which I haven't ran lately.  My original plan was to re-visit the AT&T StreetCharge to see if they would work with my Android phone now, which uses a micro-USB connection.  Last time I tried, there were some micro-USB cables but none of them work.  Today it was even worse!  Between the two charge stations there should be a few micro-USB cables but in reality there was only one.  Where there should be cables there was none.  I suspect it was a result of vandalism, sad.  The one micro-USB cable remained again didn't work, at least not with my phone.

Another unpleasant surprise I got was that the footbridge connecting the F train West 8th Station and the Boardwalk was closed permanently.  At first I thought it was just under construction, but the sign said "permanently".  I know certain section of it was under repair, as evidenced by the chain-link fence, but it seems the entire bridge will be taken down.  There goes my favorite way to cross Surf Avenue.  I wonder if it's just a bad wording of the construction.

I love footbridges in general, but this particular one is part of my mostly car-free route from home to the Boardwalk.  Starting at Stillwell Avenue and Avenue V, I mostly travel along the Coney Island Rail Yard and have to actually cross the street only once, at Neptune Avenue.  While running, the less I have to deal with cars the better.  In the future, I'll just have to cross Surf Avenue, not that it's that busy in the early morning when I run.  Of course, it takes only one bad driver to ruin the experience.  I know, I know, First World Problem, but it's still a problem.

There is juice in the station, as the green light is on, reflected on the platform, but cable didn't work.
"CAUSEWAY PERMANENTLY CLOSED", oh no!
The soon-to-be-demolished causeway?  In the back is the famed Cyclone roller coaster.
Access to the F train West 8th Station is blocked off by boards.

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