Explained Archives - Newshacker

How Penn Station Access Will Transform NYC Regional Rail

New York City’s East Side Access project, which will bring Long Island Rail Road services into Grand Central Terminal and will be finished in December 2022, will receive a follow-up project. That project is Penn Station Access, which will bring Metro-North Railroad services into Penn Station. Together, the two rail projects will help connect both of New York’s long-disconnected rail terminals.

Why Boston Must Build the North-South Rail Link

Welcome to Infrastructure Spotlight, a new series on Newshacker Blog examining major U.S. infrastructure projects in-depth. Today, we’ll be talking about a proposed project in the Boston area: the North-South Rail Link.

Like many cities in the Northeast, Boston’s commuter rail system is fractured into two halves due to a legacy of the system: the commuter rail system was built by multiple companies that were directly competing with each other. As a result, all of Boston’s commuter trains terminate at either one of the city’s downtown terminals: North Station or South Station, with no direct rail connection between the two train stations.

Why Kathy Hochul Should Reconsider AirTrain LaGuardia

Welcome to Infrastructure Spotlight, a new series on Newshacker Blog examining major U.S. infrastructure projects in-depth. We’re back in New York today discussing the AirTrain LaGuardia.

Now that Andrew Cuomo is no longer governor of New York, Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul is now in charge of all the problems plaguing the U.S.’s largest city and fourth-largest state. That includes all the problems the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is facing and all the other infrastructure projects currently under construction, such as East Side Access. One major thorn Hochul will have to fix is AirTrain LaGuardia.

Regional Connector: A Light Rail Tunnel Through Downtown Los Angeles

Welcome to Infrastructure Spotlight, a new series on Newshacker Blog examining major U.S. infrastructure projects in-depth. After visiting New York in the first post of this series, today we’ll be heading over to the West Coast to discuss the Regional Connector project in Los Angeles.

Mass transit in Los Angeles is fairly lackluster. A car is required to get around the city efficiently, and there are still many areas not served by the city’s subway and light rail network. However, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, or LA Metro, is looking to change that. The Regional Connector, a light rail tunnel project under construction in Downtown Los Angeles, is the first step of that plan.

New York’s East Side Access Project Explained

Welcome to Infrastructure Spotlight, a new series on Newshacker Blog examining major U.S. infrastructure projects in-depth. The inaugural post is about East Side Access, a major passenger railroad project in New York City.

New York City is the American city with the highest mass transit ridership, with almost 57 percent of commuters making use of transit. This represents about one-third of all U.S. transit riders and two-thirds of all rail riders make trips to or from New York City. Therefore, it is important that the city’s railroad infrastructure is kept in good shape.

A Brief History of Independence Day

July 4 is universally recognized to be the day in which the United States gained independence from Great Britain in 1776 and is celebrated as Independence Day. It is one of eleven federal holidays and one of the most widely observed holidays in the country. It has been celebrated since at least 1777, making it one of the longest continually celebrated holidays in the country.

Decoding the Moves of Sen. Joe Manchin

Sen. Joe Manchin, a moderate Democrat from the very Republican state of West Virginia, may seem to be one of the last, if only, conservative-esque, centrist Democrats left in Congress. He seems to oppose many Democratic priorities, such as on abortion, increasing the minimum wage, and gun control, and always tries to act in a bipartisan way. Lately, he voiced his opposition to passing the For the People Act, a large, sweeping Democrat-backed voting rights reformed package also known as H.R. 1 or S. 1. However, despite this, he isn’t nearly as conservative or as Republican-friendly as he may first seem.

The American Court System Explained

The U.S. has one of the most complex judicial systems in the world. It has two court systems—the state courts and the federal courts—and all are overseen by the United States Supreme Court. Each system works a bit differently, and it all gets super complex when states sue each other or the U.S. government itself (i.e., the Department of Justice, DOJ) is a party. Let’s take a closer look at how the American judiciary system works.

The Story of the Pilgrims and Thanksgiving

As America continues to battle its way through the COVID-19 pandemic that has infected over 13 million Americans and killed 263,000 more, we have reached the busiest travel season of the year: Thanksgiving. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has requested all Americans avoid travel this year, and consequently, over 61 percent of Americans have decided to change their travel plans. While you’re at home on Black Friday, let’s take some time to understand how Thanksgiving came about, and debunk some of those myths you were told about the holiday back in school.

Nebraska and Maine’s 2nd District Explained

If you’ve looked at any electoral map prediction, you may have noticed that Maine and Nebraska are slightly different in the way that they assign electoral votes to presidential candidates. Rather than assigning all of that state’s electors to the overall statewide winner, the two states assign two votes for the at-large winner and one each for each of their congressional districts (three in Neb. and two in Maine). Coincidentally, in both of these states, the second district is competitive. Today, we’re going to take a closer look at these districts.

Why Is Mass Transit So Bad in America?

Mass transit networks are fast, ubiquitous, and cheap in many cities in places like Asia and Europe. Trains, buses, subway lines, streetcars…you name it, plow through the streets of busy cities like Tokyo, Hong Kong, London, and Paris. But in the U.S., with the exception of a few cities like New York and Washington D.C., mass transit sucks. It’s expensive, infrequent, and coverage is extremely limited. Just why is mass transit so bad in America? Well, it has to do with history, culture, and city planning.

The US Presidential Election Process Explained

Updated Dec. 31, 2020. This post has been updated to reflect the situation after the 2020 election.

Many people still don’t fully understand the process of electing a president. And, contrary to popular belief, it is way more complex than it seems at first. So in this post, let’s go through the process of electing a president from start to finish, from nominations, to primaries, to debates, to Election Day, and to the Electoral College voting.

The Constitutional Amendments Explained

Since the United States Constitution was ratified in 1789, twenty-seven amendments have been made to the Constitution. It is very important to know these amendments in order to understand the current government. The first ten amendments are known as the Bill of Rights and were ratified along with the Constitution. The Bill of Rights lists all the rights of people living in the United States. Here are all of the amendments summarized.

The Bill of Rights

American Empire: Overview (US Territorial Claims Explained)

The United States, obviously, consists of 50 states that are united, but if you dig slightly deeper, you can find that the U.S. has much more to it than just those states. In today’s episode, let’s take a brief overview of how the organization of the U.S. territorial empire works.

The US Constitution Explained

The United States Constitution, ratified in 1788 and effective in 1789, is the supreme law of the United States. It comprises seven articles, detailing the framework of the federal government and establishes the structure of the U.S. Government, such as laying out the three branches of government: the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. It also comprises 27 amendments, most of which detail the rights of the people in the U.S. Understanding the Constitution is essential to understanding the structure of the government and understanding how it works. So, in today’s post, we will look at the seven articles that make up the Constitution.