Here's some happy fun time news -- The PATH will reopen the Exchange place to WTC line 12/20

Hooray! After a year of being shut down for "necessary repairs" on the weekends the Exchange Place to WTC line is back up and running a week from this upcoming Saturday, 12/20.

About time Port Authority. It better not screw up now either, you've had a YEAR to make your fixes.

We'd like to tip our cap to Ward E Councilwoman Candice Osborne

As a backdrop to us being all complimentary and such, tonight is the night the PATH closes the Exchange Place to WTC line for over a year on weekends. What? You didn't get the eight day warning about this disruption? Well luckily for you Ward E councilwoman Candice Osborne did and has gotten some promises out of The Port Authority to try and help alleviate some of the mess. Osborne thus far has been able to get The Port Authority to increase PATH train frequency on the 33rd Street line to every 10 minutes during the day and every 15 minutes at night. She's in talks with the PA to find affordable ferries and to secure shuttle buses that would take PATH riders from the World Trade Center to Christopher Street where they could link back into the 33rd St. line.

Terrence T. McDonald has more on Osborne's efforts at the Jersey Journal.

Well done Councilwoman Osborne. It's a shame we haven't heard more from your colleagues on this but your work on this closure with such short notice has been more than admirable.

Exchange Place to WTC on the PATH is no more on weekends for a long long time

We guess it matters how you think about Chris Christie and his lackeys at the Port Authority as to how you read this one.

The Port Authority has announced:

The shutdowns—between the Exchange Place station in Jersey City and the World Trade Center—are scheduled to begin Feb. 14 and continue on most weekends during 2014. 

So is this well-timed payback towards Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop or is the PA actually trying to fix the tunnels? They are claiming the need to get this Exchange Place to WTC line power-washed and brought in line with something called "positive train control" which is mandated by January of 2015. The Wall Street Journal has more:

The new signal system will be similar to the technology called "communications based train control," which is installed on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's L subway line. The system provides both protection against collision and the ability to run trains closer together, enabling operators to squeeze more capacity out of overburdened transit lines.

But the new system couldn't have been installed in time for the Dec. 31, 2015 deadline to install the federally mandated anticrash system. Many intercity railroads, which are subject to the mandate, have said they can't meet the deadline, including Metro-North and the Long Island Rail Road.

So is the timing of this really a signal modernization and cleaning or is this a stick in Jersey City's eye? Before you answer remember that the new national WTC Memorial opens this year and the easiest way to get there from Jersey City and Hoboken was just cut off on weekends.

So there you have it and friends it will be up to you as to how you interpret it.

The PATH will close the WTC and Exchange Place stations for the next three weekends

One year after Superstorm Sandy the folks who keep the PATH trains running are still trying to remove saltwater damage from the rails and other electronics. So, Nov. 9-10, Nov. 16-17 and Nov. 23-24 the PATH will not stop at Exchange Place or the WTC stations. This allows workers uninterrupted chances to clean things up AND PATH says it will keep the trains running on those lines over the holiday season.

It's a news roundup kind of morning

So lets start rounding up these little doggies, er stories...

*Our friends at the Jersey City Independent have a story on the burgeoning business around Exchange Place

*A man who was pooping in between subway cars paid the price for it falling under the #6 train yesterday. Yet another man fell onto tracks and was hurt at a nearby station.

*The school busses. They no run in NYC. No run.

*The U.S. House of Representatives last night passed the Sandy relief bill....finally. SHAME on anyone who voted against this bill, especially those Republicans from Gulf Coast states who couldn't spend government money after Hurricane Katrina fast enough.

*Finally, do you know what the word 'witticaster' means? You can improve your word skills with a quick hop over to 'Twists and Turns'. Come back here and use it in a sentence in comments.

Escalator malfunction at Exchange Place PATH stop this morning injures 6

And when you hop on over to NJ.com to watch the clip you can see how people would be hurt. A very full up elevator it looks like suddenly started going down causing quite a pileup down below. But, it's the video you wanna see so here is the link.

We're sure a top man or woman is on the situation but could this backup have been from storm damage? A lot of electronics we're told could go cattywumpus from the saltwater. Exchange Place was certainly flooded. Time will tell friends.

PATH Updates: Exchange Place and WTC are back on line tomorrow

Again, limited hours for Exchange Place and the WTC stops, 5am til 10pm just like the other stops when they started back up. Also of note, 9th St. and Christopher St. stops will be allowing normal traffic beginning tomorrow.

So, the only PATH station/stop not running is Hoboken. We have no word on when it will be back up. The Port Authority is still doing their best imitation of a dead person when it comes to giving information. The announcement of the WTC, Exchange Place and the 9th and Christopher St. updates were made by Governors Christie and Cuomo. So it would appear Hoboken is cut off from the rest of the world for another week or so. Somebody at the Port Authority needs to see the back of the unemployment line after this. ALL the other stations are back up and running. Hoboken? Not so much. No word, no update. Why does the Port Authority even bother with a Twitter account to update riders? They have 3 posts in the last 9 days.

Here is all the valuable information on the closed PATH stations from the Port Authority:

PATH is running from 33rd to Newark today!

Well kids, most of the PATH system has been restored. That being said the bad news is BAD indeed.

First the good news. The PATH is now up and running as of 5am this morning from Newark and Harrison into NYC. The stops along the line will be Newark, Harrison, Journal Square, Grove, Newport, 14th St., 23rd St., and 33rd. St. The trains run from 5am til 10pm though we're not sure why they can't run all the time.

Now the bad news. It may be WEEKS before the Hoboken, Exchange Place and the WTC stops are back online. You read that right, weeks.

The giant Space Cat head with laser eyes attacked a group of Goldman Sachs employees last night

The giant Space Cat head with laser eyes that has menaced the Hudson and Essex County areas (oddly since Johnny moved here from Michigan) struck again late last night, around 11pm, suddenly rising up off the western bank of the Hudson River attacking several employees of Goldman Sachs heading to Exchange Place.

"We were just dumbfounded at first seeing a giant cat head floating around, I mean who wouldn't be? Then it started shooting at us with it's laser eyes and I just ran" said Julie Evans. "I moved here to get away from sudden unannounced attacks and now this" said Parminder Salim.

Jersey City police would only say several areas along the riverwalk were scorched and a couple benches destroyed. They would not say for certain if it was even a giant cat head with laser eyes; police spokeswoman Kelly Myers said "Who knows, maybe it was a runaway Toyota that took out those benches, we just aren't releasing anymore information at this time".

Witnesses said the cat head then darted towards the New York City side of the river.

(File footage)