The Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s chairman Jay Walder and television health guru Dr. Mehmet Oz flipped the switch on the Grand Central Holiday Laser Light Show, bringing dancing snowflakes, virtual mistletoe and a  dizzying spinning Pegasus to life on the ceiling of the main concourse.

At least 100 people gathered with heads tilted upward to watch the light display. Holiday classics including “Frosty the Snowman,” “Rudolf the Red-nosed Reindeer,” and “Winter Wonderland” accompanied the many holiday icons in bright red, green and blue lights.

“We think of it as a tremendous New York City landmark and as an iconic transportation facility,” said Walder. “But there is no better place to spend the holidays than Grand Central.”

The light shows, first introduced in 1999 according to an MTA spokesman, is part of the annual holiday traditions at Grand Central. The five-minute show replays every 30 minutes between 11 a.m. and 9 p.m. daily through Dec. 31.

Talk show host Oz said Grand Central “has carried millions of people not just to and from work, but home for the holidays, too.”

One of those people was Paula Serignese, a Connecticut resident visiting her daughter in New York. With suitcase in hand, she was mesmerized by the holiday lights and sounds.

“It was nice,” she said. She added/said that it helped put her in the mood for the holidays.

But she also wanted to get a peek at Dr. Oz in person. “I used to watch him when he was on Oprah,” she said. “I always liked him.”

Go to www.grandcentralterminal.com for more information.

— Ruth Schneider

Transit officials are not impressed.

It’s not surprising considering the mocking tone of the tweets. A few recent tweets include:

• “Today in Transit History: 1898-Subway adopts F.R. Sneed’s newly patented “hangy-downy” emergency brake. Sneed’s design remains unchanged!”
• “Uptown 3 trains will be delayed approximately three weeks, due to a tear in the time/space continuum.”
• “Transit terms explained: ‘Police investigation’ = keys fell between baggie of Cheerios and Surge sixer.”

The account is the brainchild of Josh Oswald and Reed Jackson, both of whom work in the media.

“It popped into my head as something I would have fun doing,” said Oswald. “I’m not angry at all with the MTA. I think if anything it comes off as everyday frustrations that everybody shares.”

“We are aware of the problem,” said James Anyansi, a spokesman for New York City Transit. “We’re not happy about it.”

A Metropolitan Transit Authority official declined to comment. Both MTA and NYCT mentioned @NYCTsubwayscoop is the official Twitter account of the subway system.

Gene Russianoff, spokesman for NYPIRG Straphangers Campaign, didn’t see the big deal.

“It seems funny,” he said. “I’ve looked at it a few times and the caliber of the writing was very good. It’s not like they’re jumping turnstiles or anything.”

Neither MTA nor NYCT contacted the duo, Oswald said. He doesn’t understand why NYCT would call the account “a problem.”

“It’s not intended to provoke riders. It’s not intended to provide false information. “It’s the most ridiculous parody.”

— Ruth Schneider

“I am still traumatized by it,” said the Brooklyn Democrat, chair of the Women’s Issues Committee, about her trips across town in the early 1990s.

“You have to think about what women go through everyday. It should be better than 20 years ago,” she told James Hall, the New York Police Department Transit Chief.

She made the comments in a city council hearing held by Women’s Issues, Transportation and Public Safety committees addressing sexual harassment and assault on New York City subways. Members of the three committees grilled Hall and New York City Transit officials for more than two hours Thursday morning, trying to determine the best ways to address to problem.

“It’s the No. 1 quality of life offense on the subway,” said Hall. “The most important way people can fight against these disgusting crimes is to report them.”

Unfortunately, not many people do. Last year, 578 victims reported instances of sexual harassment. But even Hall admits that number is nowhere near the number committed on a subway system that serves 5 million people everyday. The number of reported incidents is up from 2008, when 564 complaints were reported. In addition, Hall said the number of arrests decreased 6 percent. Meanwhile, the number of transit officers has remained nearly constant for the past several years, hovering around 2,600 officers.

“This is not an underreported problems,” said Comptroller-elect John Liu, a Queens Democrat and chair of the Transportation Committee. “This is an unreported problem.”

The interrogation generated new ideas for both NYPD and NYCT to consider.

“I would like to see something along the lines of wall of shame,” said Councilman Peter Valone, a Democrat representing Astoria. “We used to publish names of people patronizing prostitutes, so I don’t see a problem with it. Posting pictures of people convicted, especially with 20 percent recidivism.”

Lois Tendler, Vice President of Government and Community Relations for NYCT, said the department would consider the legal ramifications of the suggestion.

Helen Spears, an outgoing council member from Queens, criticized the public announcement systems that Tendler lauded.

A recent campaign arrived on subways in the form of 11 by 70-inch subway car cards as well as a regular audio message that states: “A crowded train is no excuse for an improper touch. Don’t stand for it, feel ashamed, or be afraid to speak up. Report it to an MTA employee or police officer.”

Sears and fellow council member Larry Seabrook both felt the audio announcements of sexual harassment warnings and information were too infrequent and the audio systems on the cars needed improvement.

But Oraia Reid, co-founder and executive director of RightRides for Women’s Safety, found an additional problem.

“Too much of that particular campaign in on the onus of the victim or the survivors,” she said. “In my own personal experience, I have tried to say ‘a guy just grabbed me. I want to report it.’ And I have been denied it.”

“We have more important things to do, ma’am,” she said she was told.

Several other facts came out of Thursday morning’s session:

• The average perpetrator is a 39-year old male.
• The average victim is a woman older than 17.
• The times sexual harassment and assaults are most common coincides with rush hour — 8 to 10 a.m. in the morning and 4 to 6 p.m. in the evening.
• 74 percent of the reported attacks occur on the train
• Of the 587 incidents reported this year, 374 of them occurred in Manhattan.
• 412 people have been arrested this year in sexual harassment and assault cases. Three percent of those are register sex offenders.

— Ruth Schneider

The front window of the New York Transit Museum shows an array of subway-related merchandise. Photo courtesy of New York Transit Museum.

By Ruth Schneider

There’s a story behind every item sold in the New York Transit Museum Gallery and Annex. Roxanne Robertson knows most of them.

As the director of special projects at the Brooklyn museum, she’s familiar with all the merchandise in the store and handles the marketing of it. And as a self-admitted collector, she owns a number of the items sold in the shop — everything from the subway line-dotted galoshes to the cinch sack with a map of the subway line printed on it. For her, it’s about the nostalgia, a reminder of the days when she tucked two tokens into her loafers — one for the trip to her destination, and one for the ride back home.

“It evokes a time where life was a little more tangible and tactile,” she said.

The museum store, tucked in the back of the Metro-North terminal at Grand Central, attracts its fair share of people who revel in the mass transit nostalgia. But it also attracts little boys who pore of bins of track pieces trying to construct the tracks of their dreams. And tourists who enjoy the novelty of the city’s transportation infrastructure.

“I bought a Metrocard holder, a G magnet and a G bookmark,” said Chris Stephens, a Los Angeles native who was wandering through Grand Central when he spotted the store. The friend he is staying with for a couple days lives on the G line, he explained.

Micheal Raeburn, a tourist from London, left the store with a bag full of wooden train tracks and little subway cars for his 2 1/2 year old grandson back home.

“It’s something he won’t get in England,” he said.

Train cars are available for $9.95 each. Photo courtesy of New York Transit Museum

The 2,000-square-foot store buzzed Thursday morning as salespeople stocked the shelves with busloads of train sets, a popular item according to Robertson. Individual subway cars sell for $9.95 and bins of track provide individual pieces sold for as little as $1 apiece.

“Did you know there’s a standard gauge for train sets?” she said. “I just found that out this morning.” The Thomas the Tank Engine trains in the corner can be mixed and matched with subway cars and all ride the same wooden rails.

Robertson grabs a handbag made from recycled subway maps. “Each time we sell one of these, a tree gets planted.”

Florida-based online retailer ecoist.com makes the bags and takes care of planting the trees, said spokeswoman Lauren Daniels. She explained the process:

“We take the map, and hand cut, hand fold and hand sew it,” said Daniels. MTA sends the company its discontinued maps, and the company creates and entirely new product from the recycled paper. So far, 20,000 “trees for the future” have been planted in Haiti, Mexico, Uganda and India, said Daniels.

In the back of store, tossed in a box are the grab holds that spurred the nickname straphangers for subway riders. The grab holds, formerly installed in the trains, sell for $35 apiece.

It’s not the only previously used subway accoutrement available. MTA lists items as they are removed from the trains and stations. A pair of sliding subway doors goes for $175. And old subway tokens are sold in batches of 100. Depending on the coin, the prices for a lot ranges from $175 up to $500.

Or you can buy an old subway bench. “Can you imagine adding an authentic seat from the subway car to your home, work or office? The ‘oohhs’ and ‘ahhs’ you will get from your family, friends, co-workers and customers!” urges MTA’s paraphernalia Web site.

In addition to the items sold in the store, there is a small annex with rotating displays.

Mazel-Tov Moving and Storage workers spent Thursday morning pulling out the gallery’s old exhibit and preparing for the next one set to open Nov. 25. Workers carted out display cases and tables to make space for the Lionel Train exhibit installed annually for the holidays that follows the direct path between Manhattan and Santa’s home in the North Pole.

A cityscape is included in the annual Lionel Train holiday display. Photo courtesy of New York Transit Museum.

Robertson described the display as a multi-level experience enjoyable for both parents and children.

“Parents can look down and enjoy the skyline of Manhattan,” she said. And children still have plenty to see at their eye level, as subway cars race “underground,” and Metro-North, Long Island Rail Road and Pennsylvania Railroad cars race above on the multi-level spectacle.

Robertson is proud of the store and what it offers. “It’s more than buses and trains,” she said. “It’s about the individualized transportation experience.”

And some pretty nifty transit-related toys.

Melissa Giorgio, a college student, is remembered by her mother. Giorgio died in 2008, a result of a drunk driving accident in Lower Manhattan. Her mother is now active in Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

— Misha Rezvi and Ruth Schneider

Photo: Ruth Schneider

If today’s Pokey, Trekkie and Schleppie Awards ceremony is any indication, rapid transit is a misnomer in the world of New York City buses.

The awards, given annually by the NYPIRG Straphangers Campaign, honor the slowest bus, the most unreliable bus and the bus with the longest scheduled running time in New York City. This year’s recipients were honored with mock golden trophies printed on poster board.

Gene Russianoff, spokesman for the Straphangers Campaign, said the awards give the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, goals to work toward.

Paul Steely While, director of advocacy group Transportation Alternatives, pointed out that last year 13 bus routes were eligible for the Schleppie award, honoring the least reliable bus. This year only four bus routes made the cut, a significant sign of progress.

The M42, clocked at 3.7 miles per hour, received the Pokey Award.

“It could be beaten by a 5-year-old on a motorized tricycle,” said Russianoff, noting that most X-Treme Scooters models reach a cruising speed of 5 miles per hour, more than 20 percent faster than the M42.

The Straphangers Campaign dubbed the B44, the winner of the Schleppie Award. The B44 carries more than 41,000 commuters everyday and is the fifth most-used route in the city. According to the group’s research, more than 1 in 5 B44s arrive in bunches or come with big gaps in service.

Finally, the Trekkie Award, newly introduced this year, was awarded to the M4 which takes 1 hour 50 minutes to travel from Midtown to Upper Manhattan. It takes less time to take an Amtrak train from New York to Philadelphia.

“Riders on the M4 should bring along travel monopoly and a pillow,” Russianoff said.

But it wasn’t all bad news Thursday morning. A program called Select Bus Service is being tested on several routes. The Bx12, one of the Select Bus Service test routes, increased its speed by 41 percent.

“The only way to stem the time of falling bus speeds is by giving buses more priority on the street than the rest of traffic,” said White. “Stars are starting to align for a bus rapid transit program that will get buses moving.”

— Ruth Schneider

Not bad for a man of 88 who has never been to a gym. (He rejects the notion of exercising in a room filled with recycled air.)

Harangozo is the oldest male participant in today’s New York City Marathon.

The oldest female runner will be Yolande Marois, 84. Between the two of them, they have crossed more than 50 marathon finish lines. And neither runner intends to make this year their last. Still, that doesn’t make them immune to some pre-race jitters.

“I’m scared to death,” Marois said from her home in Quebec earlier this week. “I’m scared because it is a challenge. I’m getting old. It’s not just demanding – it’s long.”

Harangozo was a Hungarian freedom fighter in World War II, and escaped Hungary in 1950. He returns to his home country every summer and usually runs a marathon while he’s there. At his home on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, Harangozo has a stack of medals, certificates and trophies that are proof of his success as a runner.

“Up till age 70, I used to make it under 3:30,” said Harangozo, a wiry man whose running shorts expose sinewy legs. “I used to make first, second or third place up to 60 years of age.”

Last year, he finished the race in slightly more than six hours.
He chuckles. “Now I walk fast. I can walk almost as fast as running because I run slow now.”

For Harangozo and Marois, exercise is simply part of their daily routines.

“I run almost everyday,” said Marois. “If I don’t run, I do the bicycling, which is supposed to be very good for your legs.”

But, she said, “I don’t get rigid about it. I do it when I feel like it.”

She says there is something addictive about running.

“It’s like a drug, I guess,” she said. “You do get high, you know. It’s just that’s what happens when you run. You get in touch with the mental.”

Both are happy to share the secrets to their success in marathon careers that span decades. A healthy diet is critical, Harangozo believes. He is so fanatical about health food, he would make Jack LaLanne proud.

“I eat beans,” Harangozo said. “Lots of beans.”

Harangozo, who ran marathons in the early 1980s with legendary marathoner Alberto Salazar, vividly recalls the sound of Salazar passing him by on the 26.2-mile path.

“He was breathing like a horse.”

That breathing technique, Harangozo explains, allows twice as much oxygen into the system. He calls it the sound of a winner.

Marois focuses on the mental aspect of surviving the marathon.
“You have to brainwash yourself and say ‘I can do it,’” she said. “My point is just to achieve it. It’s good for people who see me. All you need is a good pair of shoes and legs.”