title: Revolution (Beatles song)

text: The English pop band Thompson Twins recorded "Revolution" for their 1985 album "Here's to Future Days", which was co-produced by Nile Rodgers.<ref name="Lent/HR"></ref> On 13 July that year, in advance of the album's release, the band performed the song with Rodgers,<ref name="Fulton/DR"></ref> Madonna and guitarist Steve Stevens at the concert held at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia that formed the US part of Live Aid. The concert was watched by a television audience estimated at 1.5 billion and raised $80 million for African famine relief. In a 2017 interview, Thompson Twins singer Tom Bailey said that, having grown up in the 1960s when music was "about social change and making the world a better place", he now believed that it had become "tamed by the corporate world" and Live Aid represented "the last great moment of rock and roll fist waving for change".


title: Revolution (Beatles song)

text: "Revolution" was one of three tracks on "Here's to Future Days" to feature Stevens on guitar and was first released in September 1985.<ref name="Thomas/NightFlight"></ref> It was subsequently issued as a single, backed by the non-album instrumental "The Fourth Sunday". The band made a promotional video for the single, directed by Meiert Avis. The song peaked at number 56 on the UK Singles Chart, spending five weeks on the chart. In 2004, the Live Aid performance of the song was included on the four-disc DVD release from the event.<ref name="Beets/AustinChronicle"></ref>


title: Revolution (Beatles song)

text: In October 2001, the rock band Stone Temple Pilots performed "Revolution" live during "", a television special in tribute to Lennon that raised funds for victims of the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center. Singer Scott Weiland said that the band had selected the song while on tour in Europe, several weeks before "Come Together"; he added: "Our real decision for picking 'Revolution' was simply because it rocks." After their performance received considerable radio airplay, Stone Temple Pilots recorded a studio version of the song, which was released as a single on 27 November 2001.<ref name="Wiederhorn/MTV"></ref> The single reached number 30 on the US Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, was the 77th best-selling single in Canada for 2002, and the 90th best in 2001.


title: Revolution (Beatles song)

text: Along with White Album tracks such as "Revolution 9", "Helter Skelter" and "Piggies", "Revolution 1" was interpreted by Californian cult leader Charles Manson as a prophecy of an upcoming apocalyptic racial war between the establishment and the Black community that would leave him and his followers, the Manson Family, to rule America on counterculture principles. In an attempt to initiate this revolution, the Family carried out a series of murders in Los Angeles in August 1969. For the soundtrack of the 1976 TV film "Helter Skelter", "Revolution 1" was performed by the band Silverspoon.


title: Revolution (Beatles song)

text: "Revolution" has also been covered by Anima Sound System, Billy Bragg, the Brothers Four, Enuff Z'nuff, Jools Holland, Kenny Neal, Reckless Kelly, Stereophonics, Jim Sturgess and Trixter.<ref name="Fontenot/About"></ref> In 2007, a cover version of the song was featured in the Universal comedy "Evan Almighty" performed by country rock band Rascal Flatts.


title: Brit Awards

text: The BRIT Awards (often simply called the BRITs) are the British Phonographic Industry's annual popular music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain", or "Britannia" (in the early days the awards were sponsored by Britannia Music Club), but subsequently became a backronym for British Record Industry Trusts Show. In addition, an equivalent awards ceremony for classical music, called the Classic BRIT Awards, is held in May. The awards were first held in 1977 and originated as an annual event in 1982 under the auspices of the British record industry's trade association, the BPI. In 1989, they were renamed The BRIT Awards. Mastercard has been the long-term sponsor of the event.


title: Brit Awards

text: The highest profile music awards ceremony in the UK, the BRIT Awards have featured some of the most notable events in British popular culture, such as the final public appearance of Freddie Mercury, the Jarvis Cocker protest against Michael Jackson, the height of a high-profile feud between Oasis and fellow Britpop band Blur, the Union Jack dress worn by Geri Halliwell of the Spice Girls, and a Chumbawamba member throwing a bucket of iced water over then-Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott. These moments took place in the 1990s when the ceremony had a reputation for being “a little shambolic, unpredictable and, at times, anarchic” with a criticism it has lost its edge since then and “evolved into a more polished, sanitised affair.”


title: Brit Awards

text: The BRIT Awards were broadcast live until 1989, when Samantha Fox and Mick Fleetwood hosted a widely criticised show in which little went as rehearsed. From 1990 to 2006, the event was recorded and broadcast the following night. From 2007, The BRIT Awards reverted to a live broadcast on British television, on 14 February on ITV. That year, comedian Russell Brand was the host and three awards were dropped from the ceremony: British Rock Act, British Urban Act and British Pop Act. For the last time, on 16 February 2010, Earls Court in London was the venue for The BRITs. The BRIT Awards were held at the O Arena in London for the first time in 2011.


title: Brit Awards

text: The BRIT Award statuette given to the winners features Britannia, the female personification of Britain. Since 2011, the statuette has been regularly redesigned by some of the best known British designers, stylists and artists, including Vivienne Westwood, Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin, Peter Blake, Zaha Hadid, Anish Kapoor and David Adjaye. In 1992, KLF opened the show and invited extreme metal band Extreme Noise Terror on stage, complete with flame-throwers, and fired machine gun blanks over the crowd. The group sent a dead sheep to the aftershow party, and later buried their BRIT Award statuette at Stonehenge signifying their abhorrence of the music industry. Robbie Williams holds the record for the most BRIT Awards, 13 as a solo artist and another five as part of Take That. Girl group Little Mix made history at the Brit Awards 2021, when they became the first female group to receive the award for Best Group at the ceremony after 43 years since it was first introduced.


title: Brit Awards

text: The first awards ceremony was in 1977, as "The BRITish Record Industry BRITannia Awards", to mark the Queen's Silver Jubilee and was televised by Thames Television. There has been an annual ceremony since 1982.


title: Brit Awards

text: The 1988 BPI Awards was the first of the ceremonies to be broadcast on live television. The BBC had previously broadcast the ceremony from 1985, with the shows from 1982 to 1984 not broadcast on television. The BBC continued to broadcast the renamed BRIT Awards, live in 1989 and pre-recorded from 1990 to 1992. ITV have broadcast the awards since 1993, pre-recorded until 2006 and live from 2007 onwards. BBC Radio 1 has provided backstage radio coverage since 2008.


title: Brit Awards

text: Since 2014, ITV have aired a launch show in January titled "The BRITs Are Coming", which reveals some of the artists who have been nominated at the upcoming ceremony. The first host was Nick Grimshaw, followed by Reggie Yates (2015) and Laura Whitmore in 2016. Emma Willis hosted "The BRITs Are Coming" in 2017 and again in 2018 when it was broadcast live for the first time. Clara Amfo hosted the 2019 launch show and Alice Levine hosted in 2020. Amfo later returned and was joined by Maya Jama as co-host in December 2021.


title: Brit Awards

text: The 2023 edition will take place on 11 February 2023 and it will be held for the first time on Saturday since its formation in 1977.


title: Brit Awards

text: The first ceremony in 1977 was broadcast by Thames Television. Ceremonies were not held from 1978 to 1981, and at first were not televised after resuming in 1982.


title: Brit Awards

text: From 1989 to 1992, the ceremonies were broadcast on the BBC. Since 1993, they have been broadcast on ITV.


title: Brit Awards

text: In 1987 the BPI Awards ceremony was held in the Great Room at the Grosvenor House Hotel. At the time there was a BBC electricians' strike in effect, and the organisers decided to use a non-TV events production company, called Upfront, to manage the show. Despite the show being picketed, the event was transmitted as intended. For a while, the outdoor broadcast scanner was rocked on its wheels by the protesters and they managed to shut off the power to one of the big GE video screen projectors. Upfront was then asked to organise the following year and persuaded the BPI to move the event to a larger venue, starting the trend that continues to this day, albeit at The O2, and with a different production company (MJK Productions).


title: Brit Awards

text: In 1989, the ceremony was broadcast live and presented by Fleetwood Mac's Mick Fleetwood and singer Samantha Fox. The inexperience of the hosts, an ineffective autocue, and little preparation combined to create an unprofessional show that was poorly received. The hosts continually got their lines mixed up, a pre-recorded message from Michael Jackson was never transmitted and several guest stars arrived late on stage or at the wrong time, such as Boy George in place of The Four Tops.


title: Brit Awards

text: In accepting the award for British Group from Boy George at the 1989 awards, Andy Bell of Erasure kissed George on stage to cheers from the crowd, with Bell stating it was an act in protest against Section 28 introduced by Margaret Thatcher's Conservative government that prohibited the "promotion" of homosexuality in schools.


title: Brit Awards

text: The 1990 awards ceremony saw the last public appearance of Queen frontman Freddie Mercury. Queen appeared at the ceremony to receive the Outstanding Contribution to Music. Mercury (who had been suffering from AIDS since 1987 but had not disclosed it to the public) did not make a speech, as Brian May did the talking on behalf of the other members, but his gaunt appearance was noticeable.


title: Brit Awards

text: In 1992, dance/art band The KLF was awarded Best British Group (shared with Simply Red) and were booked to open the show. In an attempt to hijack the event, the duo collaborated with grindcore metal band Extreme Noise Terror to perform a death metal version of the dance song "3 a.m. Eternal", a performance that prompted conductor Sir Georg Solti to walk out in disgust. The performance ended with Bill Drummond firing blanks from a vintage machine gun over the audience and KLF publicist/announcer Scott Piering stating "Ladies and gentlemen, The KLF have now left the music business". Producers of the show then refused to let a motorcycle courier collect the award on behalf of the band. Later that evening, the KLF dumped a dead sheep outside the venue of an after-show party, whilst their Brit Award was reportedly found buried in a field near Stonehenge in 1993.


title: Brit Awards

text: In 1996, Michael Jackson was given a special Artist of a Generation award. At the ceremony he accompanied his single "Earth Song" with a stage show, culminating with Jackson as a 'Christ-like figure' surrounded by children. Jarvis Cocker, of the band Pulp, mounted the stage in what he would later claim as a protest at this portion of the performance. Cocker ran across the stage, lifting his shirt and pointing his (clothed) backside in Jackson's direction. Cocker was subsequently questioned by the police but was told he would not be prosecuted.


title: Brit Awards

text: Regarding his actions, Cocker said, "My actions were a form of protest at the way Michael Jackson sees himself as some kind of Christ-like figure with the power of healing. I just ran on the stage. I didn't make any contact with anyone as far as I recall."


title: Brit Awards

text: 1996 saw the height of a well-documented feud between Oasis and fellow Britpop band Blur. The differing styles of the bands, coupled with their prominence within the Britpop movement, led the British media to seize upon the rivalry between the bands. Both factions played along, with the Gallaghers taunting Blur at the 1996 BRIT Awards by singing a rendition of "Parklife" when they collected their award for Best British Group (with Liam changing the lyrics to "Shite-life" and Noel changing them to "Marmite").


title: Brit Awards

text: In 1998, Danbert Nobacon of the politically active band Chumbawamba threw a bucket of iced water over then-Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott. Despite apologies on behalf of the band from EMI Europe, Chumbawamba were unrepentant, saying, "If John Prescott has the nerve to turn up at events like the Brit Awards in a vain attempt to make Labour seem cool and trendy, then he deserves all we can throw at him."


title: Brit Awards

text: Some controversy was caused by the host of the 2007 awards ceremony, comedian Russell Brand, who made several quips relating to news stories of the time including Robbie Williams entering rehab for addiction to prescription drugs, the Queen's 'naughty bits' and a fatal friendly fire incident involving a British soldier killed by American armed forces in Iraq. ITV received over 300 complaint calls from viewers. He would again instigate controversy the following year at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards.


title: Brit Awards

text: Adele won the British Album of the Year widely regarded as the most coveted award. Less than half a minute into her acceptance speech, host James Corden was forced to cut Adele off in order to introduce Blur who were due to perform an eleven-minute set as they had received the Outstanding Contribution to Music and the ceremony was running over its allotted time. Adele was visibly annoyed and proceeded to raise her middle finger and the producers of the show came under fire on Twitter for the decision. Following the incident Adele said "I got cut off during my speech for Best Album and I flung the middle finger. But that finger was to the suits at The BRIT Awards, not to my fans". Adele received an apology from the show's organisers, who stated; "We send our deepest apologies to Adele that her big moment was cut short. We don't want this to undermine her incredible achievement in winning our night's biggest award. It tops off what's been an incredible year for her." Due to the tight schedule, only three of the five songs Blur played were broadcast on ITV.


title: Brit Awards

text: At 67 years of age, the influential musician David Bowie became the oldest recipient of now defunct British Male Solo Artist. Bowie used his acceptance speech, delivered in his absence by Kate Moss, to urge Scotland to remain part of the UK in the September 2014 Scottish independence referendum. His speech read: "I'm completely delighted to have a Brit for being the best male – but I am, aren't I Kate? Yes. I think it's a great way to end the day. Thank you very, very much and Scotland stay with us." Bowie's unusual intervention in British politics garnered a significant reaction throughout the UK on social media.


title: Brit Awards

text: In 2021, Little Mix's win for British Group marked the first time a girl group had won that award since it was first introduced in 1977. Little Mix used their acceptance speech to call out white male dominance, misogyny, sexism and lack of diversity in the industry. Band member Leigh-Anne Pinnock stated “It’s not easy being a female in the U.K. pop industry. We’ve all seen the white male dominance, misogyny, sexism, and lack of diversity. We’re proud of how we’ve stuck together, stood for our group, surrounded ourselves with strong women, and are now using our voices more than ever." Little Mix also called out the awards ceremony for the lack of nominations and wins for female groups in the category while paying homage to "female bands" such as the Spice Girls, Sugababes, All Saints, and Girls Aloud etc, who all had made significant contributions to pop culture in the U.K, but were overlooked by the Brit Awards.


title: Brit Awards

text: Ginger Spice, Geri Halliwell, wore a Union Jack dress. Spicemania was at its height in the UK and the Spice Girls had just cracked the US as well, reaching number 1 with their debut single and album.


title: Brit Awards

text: Halliwell was originally going to wear an all-black dress, but she thought it was too boring so her sister sewed on a Union Jack tea towel, with a 'peace' sign on the back. The now iconic red, white and blue mini-dress was worn during the Spice Girls' performance of their number one song "Who Do You Think You Are". In 1998 she sold her dress in a charity auction to Hard Rock Cafe in Las Vegas for a record £41,320, giving Halliwell the Guinness World Record for the most expensive piece of pop star clothing ever sold. This performance won the Spice Girls the award for "BRITs Hits 30 – Best Live Performance at The BRIT Awards" at the 2010 BRIT Awards, with Samantha Fox presenting the award to Geri Halliwell and Mel B.


title: Brit Awards

text: Three years following the iconic Spice Girls performance, Halliwell, now a solo artist, performed her new single "Bag It Up" at the 2000 BRIT Awards. The performance featured Halliwell emerging, whilst dancing on with a pole, from a pair of large inflatable female legs. As the performance continued, her male backing dancers stripped to their pink briefs whilst dancing with the Union Jack flag. It is widely believed that Halliwell lip-synced her performance. In addition to all this, the performance is famous for being performed on the same night that the Spice Girls received the award for Outstanding Contribution to Music, which Halliwell declined to accept with her former bandmates.


title: Brit Awards

text: When it was announced that past Brit Award recipient Damon Albarn, and his project Gorillaz, would be taking the stage at the 2002 Brit Awards, no one knew what to expect. The four cartoon members of the band performed the song on giant life size screens (an early version of a 3D hologram) without the Blur frontman being present at all. The band performed their hit single "Clint Eastwood" alongside UK underground rap group Phi Life Cypher and a group of silhouetted female dancers mimicking the zombies from the band's music video. The performance received rapturous cheers and applause.


title: Brit Awards

text: English-Irish girl group Girls Aloud marked their first ever performance at the 2009 ceremony, by performing their single "The Promise". The performance saw the members, Cheryl Cole, Kimberley Walsh, Sarah Harding, Nicola Roberts and Nadine Coyle appear as though they were naked, with their modesty being covered by pink feather fans. This performance was nominated in the 2010 ceremony for the "BRITs Hits 30 – Best Live Performance at The BRIT Awards", alongside Oasis and The Who, which the Spice Girls eventually went on to win.


title: Brit Awards

text: Adele performed her song "Someone like You" at the 2011 BRITs with only a piano accompanying her. Her emotional performance was received with a standing ovation at the O2 Arena and the video has received 187 million views so far on YouTube. The performance launched "Someone Like You" 46 spots up the UK charts to number one, and in the process, made Adele the first artist in the UK since The Beatles to have two top five singles and two top five albums at the same time. The performance had all lights down and focused on Adele and her piano.


title: Brit Awards

text: Madonna's live return to BRIT Awards after 20 years was widely promoted in the media in the days leading up to the ceremony and during the show itself. During the performance of "Living for Love", she walked onstage wearing an oversized cape. When standing on stairs situated on the stage, the cape's cord failed to separate, so when Madonna's backing dancer pulled the cape behind her, she fell down the stairs and noticeably hit the stage hard. She paused momentarily as her backing music continued, before she managed to separate herself from the cape and then continued performing. In an interview on "The Jonathan Ross Show", Madonna blamed her fall on a wardrobe malfunction as her cape had been tied too tightly so it could not be unfastened in time, before adding: "I had a little bit of whiplash, I smacked the back of my head. And I had a man standing over me with a flashlight until about 3am to make sure I was compos mentis. I know how to fall, I have fallen off my horse many times."


title: Brit Awards

text: In the leadup to the 2016 U.S. presidential election, Katy Perry was a major endorsement for Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, performing at many of her rallies and speaking at public events. After Donald Trump won the election, Perry returned to recording her fifth studio album and in February 2017 released "Chained to the Rhythm". During the performance, she was joined onstage by two large skeletal puppets dressed as Trump and British Prime Minister Theresa May. The performance was also notable as a backing dancer fell offstage at the end of the performance whilst wearing a house costume.


title: Brit Awards

text: During Anne-Marie's performance of "Kiss My (Uh-Oh)", she stepped out of a giant model of a heart but while she was stepping down the stairs, she let go of one of her dancer's hands and tripped. People compared the scene to a "Madonna moment" and Anne-Marie herself joked about it on Twitter saying: "Didn't need my left ankle anyway."


title: Brit Awards

text: According to The BRIT Awards website, the list of eligible artists, albums, and singles is compiled by the Official Charts Company and submitted to the voting academy, which consists of over 1,000 members of the music industry, including the previous year's nominees and winners. The voters use a secure online website to vote, and the voting is scrutinized by Electoral Reform Services. The concept of fan voting was abolished after the 2019 Brit Awards.


title: Brit Awards

text: Coldplay is the act with most performances ever, with five opening presentations and eight overall, followed by Take That and band member Robbie Williams, who performed seven times each. Adele has performed at five ceremonies, the most amongst female artists.


title: Brit Awards

text: There have been numerous acts, both groups and individuals, that have won multiple awards. The table below shows those that have won four or more awards.


title: Park Yoo-chun

text: Park Yoo-chun (born June 4, 1986), formerly known as Micky Yoochun and better known by the mononym Yoochun, is a South Korean singer-songwriter and actor. He is a former member of the South Korean boy bands JYJ and TVXQ. He has starred in dramas "Sungkyunkwan Scandal" (2010), "Miss Ripley" (2011), "Rooftop Prince" (2012), "Missing You" (2012), "Three Days" (2014) and "The Girl Who Sees Smells" (2015).


title: Park Yoo-chun

text: Park was born on June 4, 1986 in Seoul, South Korea. His family moved to the United States in 1998. He lived in Fairfax, Virginia, where he attended Holmes Middle School, Rocky Run Middle School, and Chantilly High School.


title: Park Yoo-chun

text: In 2001, he won an award at the American Music Festival and then returned to Korea to prepare for his debut. After a relatively short training period of one year and five months, he made his debut as a member of the five-member male group TVXQ through SBS BoA & Britney Spears Special Stage on December 26, 2003.


title: Park Yoo-chun

text: Park Yoo-chun graduated Hanam High School in 2007 along with fellow members Kim Junsu and Kim Jaejoong. He attended Kyunghee Cyber University. His father, died on March 14, 2012. He has a younger brother, Park Yu-hwan, who is also an actor.


title: Park Yoo-chun

text: In 2003, Park returned to South Korea after he was scouted by Brothers Entertainment. He was later signed as an artist by S.M. Entertainment.


title: Park Yoo-chun

text: From 2003 to 2009, Park performed as a member of the best-selling K-pop boy band TVXQ. In July 2009, Park and two of his TVXQ bandmates, Jaejoong and Junsu, filed a lawsuit against their South Korean agency S.M. Entertainment. Through their lawyers, the members stated that the 13-year contract was excessively long, schedules were held out without the confirmation or permission of the members, contract terms have been extended and changed without their knowledge or consent and that the group's earnings were not fairly distributed to the members. After TVXQ's Japanese label announced a group hiatus in early 2010, they formed a new three-member group initially known as JUNSU/JAEJOONG/YUCHUN in Japan.


title: Park Yoo-chun

text: On November 28, 2012, the legal battle between JYJ and S.M. finally ended. Both sides agreed to retiring every judicial accusation against each other and not interfering in each other's actions.


title: Park Yoo-chun

text: In September 2010, JYJ released extended play The..., which debuted at number one on Japan's Oricon album charts. However, Avex had announced the suspension and when in Japan, the same month that year.


title: Park Yoo-chun

text: JYJ proceeded to release "The Beginning", a global album which was sung in English. JYJ promoted the new album via a worldwide showcase tour throughout October and November with dates in South Korea, Southeast Asia and the United States. On January 25, 2011, JYJ released Korean extended play Their Rooms "Our Story"." JYJ's second group album and first full-length Korean-language album "In Heaven" was released September 28, 2011.


title: Park Yoo-chun

text: Starting from April, Park toured Asia and North America for JYJ's first Worldwide Tour. The tour was then extended to Europe and South America, adding another four stops in Spain, Germany, Chile and Peru.


title: Park Yoo-chun

text: Park is featured in "Tokyo Lovelight" from DJ Makai's mini-album, Stars. He was also one of the featured rappers on the song "Heartquake", a track from Super Junior's third album, "Sorry, Sorry".


title: Park Yoo-chun

text: For "Miss Ripley", Park sang "너를 위한 빈자리 (The Empty Space for You)". It appeared in the ninth episode of the drama and was released on the "Miss Ripley" OST (Part 3).


title: Park Yoo-chun

text: Park has written and composed several songs that have appeared on TVXQ's Korean and Japanese albums. As a member of SM Town, he contributed to the 2007 winter album Only Love with his composition "Evergreen". Park also wrote and composed "사랑 안녕 사랑 (Love Bye Love)", featured on the group's fourth Korean studio album "Mirotic". For the Trick project, he wrote the lyrics to his solo "My Girlfriend", entirely in English.


title: Park Yoo-chun

text: "Kiss the Baby Sky", one of the A-side's for TVXQ's twenty-fifth Japanese single, marked the first time that one of the songs both written and composed by Park was released on a Japanese single.


title: Park Yoo-chun

text: With TVXQ members U-Know Yunho and Xiah Junsu, Park wrote the rap lyrics to "Love After Love", which appeared on their second Korean studio album, "Rising Sun". For the group's Japanese releases, Park wrote and co-composed with Hero Jaejoong (Kim Jaejoong) for "T", TVXQ's third Japanese album. In September 2009, he and Hero Jaejoong (Kim Jaejoong) released a self-written duet, "Colors (Melody and Harmony)/Shelter", which was used as the image song for Hello Kitty's 35th anniversary.


title: Park Yoo-chun

text: Park has also written songs for JYJ's albums. "I Love You", a track featured in JYJ's 2010 album "The Beginning", was penned by Park. In January 2011, Park was the lyricist/composer in JYJ's music essay called "Their Rooms "Our Story"" for the song "이름없는 노래 Part 1 (A Song Without A Name, Part 1)". In addition, he also composed the rap in bandmate Junsu's song, "Xiahtic". For "In Heaven", Park co-wrote "Get Out" with bandmate Kim Jaejoong.


title: Park Yoo-chun

text: Park confirmed to hold a fan meeting and mini concert titled "Reunion: Remember the Memories" on March 10 and 11, 2018 as his first public appearance after being discharged as a public service worker.


title: Park Yoo-chun

text: Park released his first studio album, "Slow Dance", on February 27, 2019. Park had his first solo concert in Seoul on March 2, 2019 called 'Slow Dance in Seoul'


title: Park Yoo-chun

text: He announced his retirement from the entertainment industry in April 2019, following his arrest on suspicion of illegal drug use and the termination of his contract with his agency.


title: Park Yoo-chun

text: Park held a charity fanmeeting for the LOVE ASIA foundation in Bangkok, Thailand on January 25, 2020.


title: Park Yoo-chun

text: On July 31, 2020, it was announced that Park was working on a new album, which would be followed by a fan signing and mini concert in Thailand. The album, RE:mind, was released on 19 November 2020 through various music sites. It contains seven tracks: "THE CRY", "Station", "Carousel", "WHAT U WAITING FOR", "SOMEBODY TO LOVE ME", recorded in English, and "SEE YOU AGAIN", recorded in Japanese and Thai.


title: Park Yoo-chun

text: After his departure from C-JeS Entertainment, Park Yoochun continued his solo activities through the agency The Number Nine which manages his activities in Thailand in cooperation with the label Re:Cielo and Yesperar which was granted exclusive management rights of the artist by Re:Cielo until July 2021. Since October 2021, Park is active under a new agency, Logbook Entertainment.


title: Park Yoo-chun

text: In June 2010 Park began his official acting career by appearing in the Japanese BeeTV mobile drama "Beautiful Love ～君がいれば～" (Beautiful Love ~If you were here ~) as Young-soo, the runaway heir of a conglomerate.


title: Park Yoo-chun

text: Two months later, Park made his Korean debut as an actor in the hit 2010 KBS drama "Sungkyunkwan Scandal" (성균관스캔들). He portrayed Lee Seon Joon, a wealthy, passionable and studious nobleman, who falls in love with his fellow schoolmate—a woman disguised as a man. He received the "Rookie of the Year" Award, "Netizen Award" and "Best Couple" Award at the 2010 KBS Drama Awards ceremony. He won "Best Newcomer Award" and "Most Popular Actor in a TV Drama" at The 47th Baeksang Arts Awards, the most prestigious entertainment awards in South Korea. Park also won "Best Actor" and "Most Popular Asian Actor" at the 6th Seoul International Drama Awards.


title: Park Yoo-chun

text: In 2011, he starred in the MBC drama "Miss Ripley" with Lee Da-hae, Kim Seung-woo, and Kang Hye-jung. His character as Song Yoo-hyun has him playing a half-Korean, half-Japanese second-generation director who will falls blindly in love with the antiheroine. At the 2011 MBC Drama Awards, Park won "Best Newcomer" for his role as lead male in "Miss Ripley."


title: Park Yoo-chun

text: In 2012, he starred in the SBS drama "Rooftop Prince" with Han Ji-min. Park's third role was Lee Gak, a Joseon era prince who time-travels 300 years to the present day, and also as Yong Tae-yong, third generation of conglomerate. The drama started airing on March 21, 2012. On August 30, Park won "Most Popular Actor in TV Drama" at the 48th Baeksang Arts Awards, crowning him as the most popular actor for two years in row.


title: Park Yoo-chun

text: On November 7, 2012, Park returned to television by participating in his fourth drama, MBC's "Missing You", in which he portrays homicide detective Han Jung-woo who, in the past when he was fourteen years old, was separated from his first love.


title: Park Yoo-chun

text: Having played the main character in a SBS and a MBC drama during 2012, Park attended both networks' drama award shows. At the MBC Drama Awards on December 30, the actor won the "Excellence Actor in a Mini-Series" Award for his role in "Missing You". At the SBS Drama Awards the following day on the 31st, he received four more awards--"Excellence Actor in a Drama Special", one of the "Top 10 Stars", "Best Couple" (shared with Han Ji-min), and the "Netizen Popularity" Award—at the SBS Drama Awards for his performance in popular drama "Rooftop Prince".


title: Park Yoo-chun

text: He has since achieved a so-called "Grand Slam" by having won trophies from each of South Korea's three major television channels, SBS, MBC, and KBS.


title: Park Yoo-chun

text: In 2014 and 2015 he won the title of "Best New Actor" for his performance in "Haemoo" at numerous entertainment awards, including the Baeksang Arts Awards, the Blue Dragon Awards, the Daejong Film Awards, the Busan International Film Festival and the SACF Beautiful Artists Awards.


title: Park Yoo-chun

text: In April 2017, it was confirmed by Park's agency that he was engaged to Hwang Ha-na. On May 15, 2018, the couple was reported to have ended their relationship.


title: Park Yoo-chun

text: In 2016 and 2017, Yoo-chun was accused by four different women of sexual assault, but was acquitted after the police ruled it was difficult to prove the use of force, making the charges invalid. The case was later forwarded to Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office and he was also cleared of all sexual assault charges. One of Yoo-chun's accusers was ruled to have falsified the charges, and was sentenced to two years in prison. In 2017, another one of Yoo-chun's accusers ("A") was found to be not guilty of false accusations and defamation. The prosecutor of this defamation case attempted to appeal this decision but the appeal was denied. In 2018, "A" filed for a civil suit for damages against Yoo-chun for 100 million won in compensation and requested for his officetel to be seized. The court has ordered to settle their suit through mandatory mediation with the Seoul Court Mediation Center ruling in July 2019 that Yoo-chun should pay "A" 50 million won instead. Because Park Yoo-Chun did not send his objection to the proposal within the given two weeks deadline the terms are accepted by default and solidified the amount he must compensate. Yoo-chun initially failed to pay the compensation, and was brought to a detention judgement trial in 2020. During the trial, Yoo-chun was given a "non-punishment" ruling, meaning "the punishment is unfair or that the debtor proved that he was meeting his obligations by the date of the trial". In February 2021, it was announced that Yoo-chun had paid the compensation in full.


title: Park Yoo-chun

text: On August 18, 2021, it was reported in a Japanese news article that Park had signed with a new agency due to his former agency (Re:Cielo) having "barely paid" him during his two years with the company, and claimed the company had embezzled funds. In response, Re:Cielo announced that Park's statements were entirely false and that they were preparing a civil damages lawsuit against him due to his breach of contract and defamation of the company. On August 27, 2021 another agency Yespera Co., Ltd revealed that Re:Cielo signed an exclusive contract that grants Yespera exclusive management rights of Park Yoochun with permission from the artist. For this reason, they filed an injuction against his broadcast and entertainment activities stating there was no reason to terminate his contract. On November 10, 2021, Park was temporarily banned from appearing on TV and continuing any activities in the entertainment industry (unless the activities were with Yespera but no mention of Re:Cielo) by the Seoul Central District Court.


title: Park Yoo-chun

text: On April 26, 2019, Park was arrested on suspicion of purchasing and using methamphetamine. He was also suspected of attempting to destroy evidence by dyeing and shaving the hair from his body before undergoing the drug test. Park's agency, C-JeS Entertainment, announced that his contract would be terminated and that he would retire from the industry. According to news reports, Park admitted the drug charges against him after initially having repeatedly denied the accusations. On July 2, 2019, Park was sentenced to ten months imprisonment, suspended for two years and a fine of 1.4 million won. He has since completed his probation without violations.


title: Royal Pavilion

text: The Royal Pavilion, and surrounding gardens, also known as the Brighton Pavilion, is a Grade I listed former royal residence located in Brighton, England. Beginning in 1787, it was built in three stages as a seaside retreat for George, Prince of Wales, who became the Prince Regent in 1811, and King George IV in 1820. It is built in the Indo-Saracenic style prevalent in India for most of the 19th century. The current appearance of the Pavilion, with its domes and minarets, is the work of architect John Nash, who extended the building starting in 1815. George IV's successors William IV, and Victoria, also used the Pavilion, but Queen Victoria decided that Osborne House should be the royal seaside retreat, and the Pavilion was sold to the city of Brighton in 1850.


title: Royal Pavilion

text: On 1 October 2020, management and operation of the Royal Pavilion & Museums' buildings and collections were transferred from Brighton & Hove City Council to a new charity: the Royal Pavilion & Museums Trust (RPMT).


title: Royal Pavilion

text: The Prince of Wales, who later became George IV, first visited Brighton in 1783, at the age of 21. The seaside town had become fashionable as a result of the residence of George's uncle, Prince Henry, Duke of Cumberland, whose tastes for fine cuisine, gambling, the theatre, and general fast living the young prince shared, and with whom he lodged in Brighton at Grove House. In addition, the Prince of Wales was advised by his physician that the seawater and fresh air would be beneficial for his gout. In 1786, under a financial cloud with investigation by Parliament for the extravagances incurred in building Carlton House, London, the Prince rented a modest, erstwhile farmhouse facing the Old Steine, a grassy area of Brighton used as a promenade by visitors. Remote from the Royal Court in London, the Pavilion was a discreet location for the Prince to enjoy private liaisons with his long-time companion, Maria Fitzherbert. The Prince had wished to marry her, and did so in secrecy as her Roman Catholic religion prohibited his marrying her under the Royal Marriages Act 1772.


title: Royal Pavilion

text: In 1787, the Prince commissioned the designer of Carlton House, Henry Holland, to enlarge the existing building. It became one wing of the Marine Pavilion, flanking a central rotunda, which contained three main rooms: a breakfast room, dining room, and library, fitted out in Holland's French-influenced neoclassical style, with decorative paintings by Biagio Rebecca. In 1801–02, the Pavilion was enlarged with a new dining room and conservatory, to designs of Peter Frederick Robinson, who worked in Holland's office. The Prince also purchased land surrounding the property, on which a grand riding school and stables were built in an Indian style in 1803–08, to designs by William Porden, along with a famous onion garden to feed the Prince's well-known addiction. These provided stabling for 60 horses and dwarfed the Marine Pavilion.


title: Royal Pavilion

text: Between 1815 and 1822, the designer John Nash redesigned and greatly extended the Pavilion, and it is his work that is still visible today. The palace is striking in the middle of Brighton, for its unique Indo-Islamic exterior. The fanciful interior design, primarily by Frederick Crace and the little-known decorative painter Robert Jones, was heavily influenced by both Chinese and Indian fashion (with Mughal and Islamic architectural elements). It is a prime example of the exoticism that was an alternative to more classicising mainstream taste in the Regency style.


title: Royal Pavilion

text: After the death of George IV in 1830, his successor King William IV also stayed in the Pavilion on his frequent visits to Brighton. Queen Victoria, however, disliked Brighton and the lack of privacy at the Pavilion. Brighton became accessible to Londoners by rail in 1841, increasing its popularity with the masses. In addition, the Pavilion was cramped for her growing family. Famously, Queen Victoria disliked the constant attention she attracted in Brighton, saying "the people here are very indiscreet and troublesome".


title: Royal Pavilion

text: She purchased an estate and land that was redeveloped for Osborne House in the Isle of Wight, which became the summer home of the royal family. After her last visit to Brighton in 1845, the Government planned to sell the building and grounds. The "Brighton Commissioners" and the "Brighton Vestry" successfully petitioned the Government to sell the Pavilion to the town for £53,000 in 1850 under the Brighton Improvement (Purchase of the Royal Pavilion and Grounds) Act 1850. The sale helped fund furnishing of Osborne House.


title: Royal Pavilion

text: In 1860, the adjacent royal stables were converted to a concert hall, now known as the Brighton Dome. The town used the building as assembly rooms. Many of the Pavilion's original fixtures and fittings were removed on the order of the royal household at the time of the sale, most ending up either in Buckingham Palace or Windsor Castle. In the late 1860s, Queen Victoria returned to Brighton large quantities of unused fittings. George V and Queen Mary returned more furnishings after the First World War.


title: Royal Pavilion

text: Since the end of the Second World War, the municipality of Brighton has worked to restore the Pavilion to its state at the time of King George IV. The city was encouraged in the 1950s by the permanent loan of over 100 items of furniture from Queen Elizabeth II. It has undertaken an extensive programme of restoring the rooms, reinstating stud walls, and creating replicas of some original fittings and occasionally pieces of furniture.


title: Royal Pavilion

text: During the First World War, the Pavilion, along with other sites in Brighton, was transformed into a military hospital. From December 1914 to January 1916, sick and wounded soldiers from the Indian Army were treated in the former palace. The Pavilion hospital also incorporated the adjacent Dome and Corn Exchange; these buildings had formerly been part of the large stable complex associated with the residence.


title: Royal Pavilion

text: The Pavilion hospital was set up with two operating theatres and over 720 beds. Over 2,300 men were treated at the hospital. Elaborate arrangements were made to cater for the patients' variety of religious and cultural needs. Nine different kitchens were set up in the grounds of the hospital, so that food could be cooked by the soldiers' fellow caste members and co-religionists. Muslims were given space on the eastern lawns to pray facing towards Mecca, while Sikhs were provided with a tented gurdwara in the grounds.


title: Royal Pavilion

text: The imperial government highlighted the Pavilion as showing that wounded countrymen of India were being well treated. With the official sanction of the state, a series of photographs were made to show the resplendent rooms converted into hospital wards. The soldiers were visited by Lord Kitchener in July 1915, and King George V in August of the same year, who presented several soldiers with military honours.


title: Royal Pavilion

text: The Indian hospital closed at the end of January 1916. Most of the Indian Army had been withdrawn from the Western Front and redeployed to the Middle East.


title: Royal Pavilion

text: The Pavilion reopened as a hospital in April 1916. It became a hospital for 'limbless men,' treating British soldiers who had lost arms and legs, usually from amputation. In addition to treating the men's physical needs, a great emphasis was placed on rehabilitating the men by training them in skills and trades. The Pavilion hospital operated until the summer of 1920, when the building was returned to Brighton Corporation.


title: Royal Pavilion

text: A new gateway in Indian style was unveiled in 1921 by the Maharajah of Patiala to commemorate the Pavilion's role during the war.


title: Royal Pavilion

text: The purchase of the Royal Pavilion from Queen Victoria, by Brighton, marked the beginnings of the site's attraction as a tourist destination. The Royal Pavilion has been changed from a private residence to a public attraction under civic ownership. Today, around 400,000 people visit the Royal Pavilion annually. General filming and photography are permitted inside the Royal Pavilion. Many of the items in the palace are on loan, in particular from HM The King.


title: Royal Pavilion

text: The Royal Pavilion is licensed as a venue for weddings. On 29 March 2014, the Royal Pavilion was host to one of a number of the first legal same-sex marriages to take place in the United Kingdom following the passage of the 2013 Same Sex Couples Act.


title: Royal Pavilion

text: The Royal Pavilion Garden, in the Pavilion's grounds, has a wide variety of plants, having been restored to Nash's original Regency vision. It is said to be the only fully restored Regency garden in the UK. The garden is maintained using only organic methods by the Trust's garden team led by a Head gardener and including volunteers.


title: Royal Pavilion

text: The garden is often used by street entertainers, especially in summer. There is also a café in the garden.


title: Royal Pavilion

text: The garden is Grade II listed in the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens. Historic England deemed the garden 'at risk' in October 2017 due to its original character being blighted and overshadowed by unsightly fencing, litter bins, signage and lighting etc. Brighton and Hove City Council opened a public consultation on the future of the gardens after they were put on Historic England's "At Risk" register. A list of over 20,000 crimes and anti-social behaviour incidents (including indecent sexual behaviour and drug abuse) that had taken place at the gardens had been reported to the city council in 2017, raising the possibility of fencing off the gardens and closing them at night.


title: Caisson (engineering)

text: In geotechnical engineering, a caisson ( ; borrowed from French "caisson", from Italian "cassone", meaning "large box", an augmentative of "cassa") is a watertight retaining structure used, for example, to work on the foundations of a bridge pier, for the construction of a concrete dam, or for the repair of ships. Caissons are constructed in such a way that the water can be pumped out, keeping the work environment dry. When piers are being built using an open caisson, and it is not practical to reach suitable soil, friction pilings may be driven to form a suitable sub-foundation. These piles are connected by a foundation pad upon which the column pier is erected. Caisson engineering has been used at least since the 18th century, and was notably used in the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge, which was completed in 1883.


title: Caisson (engineering)

text: To install a caisson in place, it is brought down through soft mud until a suitable foundation material is encountered. While bedrock is preferred, a stable, hard mud is sometimes used when bedrock is too deep. The four main types of caisson are "box caisson", "open caisson", "pneumatic caisson" and "monolithic caisson".


title: Caisson (engineering)

text: A box caisson is a prefabricated concrete box (with sides and a bottom); it is set down on prepared bases. Once in place, it is filled with concrete to become part of the permanent works, such as the foundation for a bridge pier. Hollow concrete structures are usually less dense than water so a box caisson must be ballasted or anchored to keep it from floating until it can be filled with concrete. Sometimes elaborate anchoring systems may be required, such as in tidal zones. Adjustable anchoring systems combined with a GPS survey enable engineers to position a box caisson with pinpoint accuracy.


title: Caisson (engineering)

text: An open caisson is similar to a box caisson, except that it does not have a bottom face. It is suitable for use in soft clays (e.g. in some river-beds), but not for where there may be large obstructions in the ground. An open caisson that is used in soft grounds or high water tables, where open trench excavations are impractical, can also be used to install deep manholes, pump stations and reception/launch pits for microtunnelling, pipe jacking and other operations.


title: Caisson (engineering)

text: A caisson is sunk by self-weight, concrete or water ballast placed on top, or by hydraulic jacks. The leading edge (or "cutting shoe") of the caisson is sloped out at a sharp angle to aid sinking in a vertical manner; it is usually made of steel. The shoe is generally wider than the caisson to reduce friction, and the leading edge may be supplied with pressurised bentonite slurry, which swells in water, stabilizing settlement by filling depressions and voids. An open caisson may fill with water during sinking. The material is excavated by clamshell excavator bucket on crane.


title: Caisson (engineering)

text: The formation level subsoil may still not be suitable for excavation or bearing capacity. The water in the caisson (due to a high water table) balances the upthrust forces of the soft soils underneath. If dewatered, the base may "pipe" or "boil", causing the caisson to sink. To combat this problem, piles may be driven from the surface to act as:


title: Caisson (engineering)

text: H-beam sections (typical column sections, due to resistance to bending in all axis) may be driven at angles "raked" to rock or other firmer soils; the H-beams are left extended above the base. A reinforced concrete plug may be placed under the water, a process known as tremie concrete placement. When the caisson is dewatered, this plug acts as a pile cap, resisting the upward forces of the subsoil.


title: Caisson (engineering)

text: A monolithic caisson (or simply a monolith) is larger than the other types of caisson, but similar to open caissons. Such caissons are often found in quay walls, where resistance to impact from ships is required.


title: Caisson (engineering)

text: Shallow caissons may be open to the air, whereas pneumatic caissons (sometimes called pressurized caissons), which penetrate soft mud, are bottomless boxes sealed at the top and filled with compressed air to keep water and mud out at depth. An airlock allows access to the chamber. Workers, called sandhogs, move mud and rock debris (called "muck") from the edge of the workspace to a water-filled pit, connected by a tube (called the "muck tube") to the surface. A crane at the surface removes the soil with a clamshell bucket. The water pressure in the tube balances the air pressure, with excess air escaping up the muck tube. The pressurized air flow must be constant to ensure regular air changes for the workers and prevent excessive inflow of mud or water at the base of the caisson. When the caisson hits bedrock, the sandhogs exit through the airlock and fill the box with concrete, forming a solid foundation pier.


title: Caisson (engineering)

text: A pneumatic (compressed-air) caisson has the advantage of providing dry working conditions, which is better for placing concrete. It is also well suited for foundations for which other methods might cause settlement of adjacent structures.


title: Caisson (engineering)

text: Construction workers who leave the pressurized environment of the caisson must decompress at a rate that allows symptom-free release of inert gases dissolved in the body tissues if they are to avoid decompression sickness, a condition first identified in caisson workers, and originally named "caisson disease" in recognition of the occupational hazard. Construction of the Brooklyn Bridge, which was built with the help of pressurised caissons, resulted in numerous workers being either killed or permanently injured by caisson disease during its construction. Barotrauma of the ears, sinus cavities and lungs and dysbaric osteonecrosis are other risks.


title: Mike Schmidt

text: Michael Jack Schmidt (born September 27, 1949) is an American former professional baseball third baseman who played his entire 18-season career in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies. Schmidt was a 12-time All-Star and a three-time winner of the National League (NL) Most Valuable Player award (MVP), and he was known for his combination of power hitting and strong defense. As a hitter, he compiled 548 home runs and 1,595 runs batted in (RBIs), and led the NL in home runs eight times and in RBIs four times. As a fielder, Schmidt won the National League Gold Glove Award for third basemen ten times. Schmidt was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1995 and is widely considered to be the greatest third baseman in baseball history.


title: Mike Schmidt

text: Having an unusual batting stance, Schmidt turned his back somewhat toward the pitcher and rocked his rear end back and forth while waiting for a pitch. By standing far back in the batter's box, he made it almost impossible to jam him by pitching inside. Schmidt was one of the best athletes of his era; teammate Pete Rose once said, "To have his body, I'd trade him mine and my wife's, and I'd throw in some cash."


title: Mike Schmidt

text: Schmidt's parents are Joseph Jack Schmidt and Lois Jane Philipps. They managed the Philipps Aquatic Club founded by Lois's great-grandfather Charles A. Philipps. Schmidt was a lifeguard at the club.


title: Mike Schmidt

text: Upon graduation from Fairview High School in Dayton, Ohio, in , Schmidt attended Ohio University in Athens, where he joined Beta Theta Pi fraternity. He led the Ohio Bobcats baseball team to the College World Series in and was selected as the shortstop for the 1970 College Baseball All-America Team. Schmidt was drafted by the Phillies in the second round (30th overall) of the 1971 Major League Baseball draft.


title: Mike Schmidt

text: On June 11, , Schmidt was signed by Phillies scout Tony Lucadello, who had followed him since he played Little League Baseball. Six days later, Schmidt made his professional debut in an exhibition game between the Phillies and their Double-A affiliate the Reading Phillies in Reading, Pennsylvania. Schmidt played the whole game at shortstop for the big-league Phillies, hitting a game-winning home run against his future Reading teammates. Schmidt stayed in Reading, spending the rest of the 1971 season at the Double-A level. In 1972, he was promoted to the Triple-A Eugene Emeralds of the Pacific Coast League. Along with shortstop and third base, Schmidt also played second base during his time in the minor leagues.


title: Mike Schmidt

text: Schmidt spent two seasons in the Phillies' farm system, where he batted .263 with 34 home runs and 122 runs batted in. After playing most of the season for Triple-A Eugene, he was called up to the Phillies in September and made his major league debut against the New York Mets on September 12. Four days later, in Philadelphia on September 16, Schmidt ended Montreal Expos pitcher Balor Moore's streak of 25 scoreless innings pitched with his first career home run.


title: Mike Schmidt

text: Following the 1972 season, the Phillies dealt third baseman Don Money to the Milwaukee Brewers to open a spot for Schmidt in their infield. While he batted only .196 with 136 strikeouts during his first full season in , Schmidt demonstrated his power potential by hitting 18 home runs.


title: Mike Schmidt

text: Schmidt had a breakout season in , increasing his batting average to .282 and receiving the first of his twelve All-Star nods. On June 10, in the Astrodome in Houston, Texas, Schmidt hit a ball off Houston Astros' pitcher Claude Osteen that looked like a sure home run. The ball hit a public address speaker suspended 117 feet above and 329 feet away from home plate, falling into center field. By the ground rules, it remained in play and Schmidt was held to just a single, with the runners on first and second each advancing just one base. It is believed that had the ball not hit the speaker, it would have traveled beyond 500 feet. For the season, Schmidt finished sixth in National League Most Valuable Player balloting as he batted .282 with 116 RBIs and a league-leading 36 home runs to help the Phillies avoid a last-place finish in the National League East for the first time since . His 404 assists in 1974 remains a record for third basemen.


title: Mike Schmidt

text: Schmidt's batting average hovered below .200 through May . Solid months of July and August saw his average rise to .249 by the end of the season as he led the league in home runs for the second year in a row, with 38. Schmidt started the season by hitting 12 home runs in Philadelphia's first 15 games, including four in one game on April 17, becoming the 10th player in major league history to accomplish that feat. For the season, Schmidt drove in 107 runs, led the league in home runs for the third year in a row (38), and won his first of ten Gold Gloves to lead the Phillies to their first division crown since division play started in .


title: Mike Schmidt

text: In 1977, Schmidt signed a contract with the Phillies that paid him $561,500 per year (), making him the highest-paid player in baseball history to that point and the first to surpass $500,000 annually.


title: Mike Schmidt

text: The Phillies captured the NL East crown three years in a row; however, they were swept by Cincinnati's "Big Red Machine" in 1976, and lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers in and . On December 5, 1978, the Phillies signed Pete Rose as a free agent, temporarily making Rose the highest-paid athlete in team sports with a four-year, $3.2-million contract. With Rose on board, the Phillies were early favorites to repeat as division winners in . Instead, the Phillies finished the season at 84–78, and in fourth place in NL East. For his part, Schmidt broke the club record for home runs in a season with 45, eclipsing Chuck Klein's 43 homers in .


title: Mike Schmidt

text: On October 3, , the Phillies went into Montreal tied with the Expos for first place in the NL East. With a sacrifice fly in the first, and a solo home run in the sixth, Schmidt led the Phillies to a 2–1 victory to capture first place. A day later, Schmidt hit his 48th home run of the season in the 11th inning to give the Phillies the 6–4 extra innings victory over the Expos, and clinch the division. His 48 home runs broke his own team record, and led the National League by a margin of 13 over his nearest competitor. Coupled with a league-leading 121 RBIs, his home runs made Schmidt a unanimous choice for the National League's Most Valuable Player Award.


title: Mike Schmidt

text: The Phillies defeated the Houston Astros in the 1980 National League Championship Series to reach the World Series for the third time in franchise history. Though Schmidt had just a career .191 post-season batting average with no home runs and five RBIs, his bat came alive in the 1980 World Series, hitting two homers and driving in seven runs against the Kansas City Royals. The Phillies beat the Royals in six games to win the first World Series in franchise history, and Schmidt won the World Series MVP Award. Following the World Series, Schmidt and four of his Phillies teammates appeared on "Family Feud" for one week in 1980. He, Larry Bowa, Garry Maddox, Dick Ruthven and Del Unser took on five members of the Kansas City Royals: Dennis Leonard, Dan Quisenberry, Paul Splittorff, John Wathan and Willie Wilson.


title: Mike Schmidt

text: Schmidt's best season may have been the strike-shortened season. His 31 home runs were seven more than anyone else in the league. He also led the NL in runs scored, RBIs, total bases and walks, and set personal highs in batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage. He won his second consecutive MVP award, this time with 96% of the vote.


title: Mike Schmidt

text: The Phillies led the NL East by 3.5 games when the 1981 Major League Baseball strike hit. As a result, the Phillies were named NL East champions for the first half of the season; however, they lost to the second-half champion Montreal Expos in the 1981 National League Division Series.


title: Mike Schmidt

text: In , in celebration of the team's 100th anniversary, Schmidt was voted by fans the greatest player in the history of the franchise. That year, he led the league in home runs for the sixth time in his career to lead the Phillies back to the postseason. Schmidt led his team with a .467 batting average and scored five runs as they defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1983 National League Championship Series. It was, however, a much different story against the Baltimore Orioles in the 1983 World Series. The Phillies were held to a .195 team batting average; Schmidt went just 1-for-20 with a single.


title: Mike Schmidt

text: Following the 1983 season, Schmidt was awarded the Lou Gehrig Memorial Award. That off-season, Pete Rose left the Phillies as a free agent and signed with the Montreal Expos. With a hole at first base, the Phillies played Tim Corcoran and Len Matuszek in a platoon system during the season. Neither player provided the offensive spark Rose did, and so a change was in order. Early in the season, Schmidt agreed to move to first base (starting from late May) through the end of the season with Rick Schu assuming third base duties. The Phillies finished with a record below .500 for the first time since 1974.


title: Mike Schmidt

text: In , the Phillies moved outfielder Von Hayes to first base and shifted Schmidt back to third base. He responded by winning his third MVP award, a record for third basemen, with a league-leading 37 home runs and 119 RBIs.


title: Mike Schmidt

text: Trailing the Pittsburgh Pirates 6–5 in the top of the ninth inning at Three Rivers Stadium on April 18, , Schmidt hit his 500th career home run, a three-run shot off of Don Robinson. It put the Phillies in front 8–6, and ended up being the game-winner.


title: Mike Schmidt

text: Injuries to Schmidt's rotator cuff caused him to miss the last month and a half of the season. He returned healthy for the season. However, after a poor start, Schmidt suddenly chose to announce his retirement in San Diego, on May 29. Although he typically demonstrated little emotion on the field (and was known as "Captain Cool" by many in Philadelphia sports circles), Schmidt surprised many with an emotional, and occasionally tearful, retirement speech. He said in his retirement press conference, <nowiki>"</nowiki>I left Dayton, Ohio, with two bad knees and a dream of becoming a baseball player; I thank God it came true." His last game was May 28, 1989, against the San Francisco Giants.


title: Mike Schmidt

text: Despite his own perceived subpar start and subsequent retirement on May 29, fans once again voted Schmidt to be the starting third baseman for the NL All-Star team. He decided not to play, but he did participate in the game's opening ceremony in uniform.


title: Mike Schmidt

text: Over his career, Schmidt set a vast array of hitting and fielding records. In addition to his MVP Awards, Schmidt won ten Gold Gloves, led the league in home runs eight times, in RBIs four times, OPS five times, and walks four times. He was named to 12 All-Star teams. He is the Phillies' all-time leader in games played, at-bats, plate appearances, runs scored, home runs, RBI, walks, strikeouts, total bases, runs created, sacrifice flies, outs, Adj. Batting Runs, Adj. Batting Wins, Extra Base Hits, Times On Base, and Power-Speed number. Schmidt's 548 home runs are the most ever hit by a player who spent his entire career with just one team.


title: Mike Schmidt

text: Schmidt is one of only three players (along with Willie Mays and Ken Griffey Jr.) to win 10 Gold Gloves and hit at least 500 home runs, and is the only infielder ever to do so.


title: Mike Schmidt

text: Schmidt opted, at first, to pursue a more private lifestyle after his career, rather than to become a manager or coach. He has written a number of articles on baseball for CBS and regularly participates in charity golf tournaments.


title: Mike Schmidt

text: The "Sporting News" named Schmidt "The Player of the Decade" of the 1980s in their January 29, 1990, issue.


title: Mike Schmidt

text: His uniform number 20 was retired by the Phillies before a game at Veterans Stadium on May 26, 1990. That same season, Mike was inducted as a member of the Philadelphia Baseball Wall of Fame (he had previously been inducted as the third baseman for the Phillies' Centennial Team in 1983).


title: Mike Schmidt

text: In 1991, he and Nolan Ryan were inducted into the Peter J. McGovern Little League Museum's Hall of Excellence (established in 1988), thereby becoming only the second and third MLB players inducted into the Hall.


title: Mike Schmidt

text: In 1995 (on his first ballot), Schmidt was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame with what was at the time the fourth highest voting percentage ever, 96.52%.


title: Mike Schmidt

text: In 1997, Schmidt was elected as the starting third-baseman by the Baseball Writers' Association of America to the Major League Baseball All-Time Team. The event was celebrated at the 1997 Major League Baseball All-Star Game in Cleveland, Ohio.


title: Mike Schmidt

text: In 1999, he ranked number 28 on "The Sporting News"'s list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, the highest-ranking third baseman, and the highest-ranking player whose career began after 1967. Later that year, he was elected to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team as the starting third-baseman. The event was celebrated at the 1999 Major League Baseball All-Star Game in Boston, Massachusetts.


title: Mike Schmidt

text: On September 27, 2006, Schmidt was announced as the Phillies representative for the DHL Hometown Heroes promotion, beating out Steve Carlton, Richie Ashburn, Robin Roberts and Chuck Klein as most outstanding player in the Phillies history.


title: Mike Schmidt

text: Schmidt returned to his alma mater, Ohio University, in October 2014 for the retirement of his number 10 by the Ohio University Baseball Team, which he led to the College World Series in 1970.


title: Mike Schmidt

text: On July 14, 2015, Schmidt was named one of the Phillies "Franchise Four" as voted by the fans, along with Steve Carlton, Richie Ashburn and Robin Roberts.


title: Mike Schmidt

text: Schmidt has publicly expressed his thoughts on various baseball controversies. He has been a vocal advocate for the reinstatement of Pete Rose to baseball. In July 2005, he appeared on Bob Costas's HBO show "Costas Now" to discuss steroids, and said, "Let me go out on a limb and say that if I had played during that era I would have taken steroids... We all have these things we deal with in life, and I'm surely not going to sit here and say to you guys, 'I wouldn't have done that.'" In his 2006 book, "Clearing the Bases: Juiced Players, Monster Salaries, Sham Records, and a Hall of Famer's Search for the Soul of Baseball", he somewhat recanted that statement, saying that he understood the desire to get a competitive advantage even though he could not condone breaking the rules to do so.


title: Mike Schmidt

text: Starting in 2002, Schmidt works with the Phillies as a hitting coach during each Spring training. In October 2003, Schmidt was named the manager of the Phillies' Single A Florida State League affiliate, the Clearwater Threshers. He managed them for just the 2004 season, then resigned. In 2009, he served as third-base coach for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic.


title: Mike Schmidt

text: In , Schmidt began sponsoring an annual fishing tournament known as the Mike Schmidt Winner's Circle Invitational at Old Bahama Bay in West End, Grand Bahama Island. The first event raised $27,000, and has since raised over $1.5 million for cystic fibrosis.


title: Mike Schmidt

text: In 2008, Schmidt released a wine called Mike Schmidt 548 Zinfandel, a reference to his 548 career home runs, with proceeds also going to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.


title: Mike Schmidt

text: NBC used Schmidt as a guest analyst (Marv Albert served as the host) for Game 1 of the 1989 NLCS. Schmidt subsequently, did on-field reporting throughout the series. Schmidt also provided periodic commentary (albeit, taped prior to the playoffs) for ABC during the 1988 NLCS.


title: Mike Schmidt

text: Schmidt spent the 1990 season as a color analyst with the Phillies broadcast team on the now-defunct PRISM network, where he was partnered with play-by-play announcer Jim Barniak, and was known to be very candid and honest with his commentary. From 2014 to 2019, he served as a color analyst for the Phillies. Starting in 2014, he provided commentary during Sunday home games on NBC Sports Philadelphia. In 2015, Schmidt also provided commentary during Saturday home games, creating a "Weekends with Schmidt" format. He returned to NBC Sports Philadelphia as a color commentator during Phillies games in 2022.


title: Mike Schmidt

text: On March 16, 2014, Schmidt disclosed that he had battled stage-3 melanoma cancer during the summer of 2013, but that he was now cancer-free.


title: Metropolitan Transportation Authority

text: The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is a public benefit corporation responsible for public transportation in the New York City metropolitan area of the U.S. state of New York. The MTA is the largest public transit authority in the United States, serving 12 counties in Downstate New York, along with two counties in southwestern Connecticut under contract to the Connecticut Department of Transportation, carrying over 11 million passengers on an average weekday systemwide, and over 850,000 vehicles on its seven toll bridges and two tunnels per weekday.


title: Metropolitan Transportation Authority

text: In February 1965, New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller suggested that the New York State Legislature create an authority to purchase, operate, and modernize the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR). The LIRR, then a subsidiary of the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR), had been operating under bankruptcy protection since 1949. The proposed authority would also have the power to make contracts or arrangements with other commuter railroad operators in the New York City area. On June 1, 1965, the legislature chartered the Metropolitan Commuter Transportation Authority (MCTA) to take over the operations of the LIRR. Governor Rockefeller appointed his top aide, Dr. William J. Ronan, as chairman and chief executive officer of the MCTA. In June 1965, the state finalized an agreement to buy the LIRR from the PRR for $65 million. The MCTA made a down payment of $10 million for the LIRR in December 1965, and it completed the rest of the payment the next month.


title: Metropolitan Transportation Authority

text: In February 1965, Rockefeller and Connecticut Governor John N. Dempsey jointly suggested that operations of the New Haven Line, the New Haven Railroad's struggling commuter rail operation, be transferred to the New York Central Railroad as part of a plan to prevent the New Haven Railroad from going bankrupt. If the operational merger occurred, the proposed MCTA and the existing Connecticut Transportation Authority would contract with New York Central to operate the New Haven Line to Grand Central Terminal. A joint report from both agencies, released in September of that year, recommended that the line be leased to New York Central for 99 years, with the MCTA and CTA acting as agents for both states. In October the same year, the MCTA found that the New Haven Line's stations and infrastructure were even more decrepit than those of the LIRR. The New Haven Railroad's trustees initially opposed New York Central's takeover of the New Haven Line, as they felt that the $140 million offer for the New Haven Line was too low. After some discussion, the trustees decided to continue operating the New Haven Line, but only until June 1967.


title: Metropolitan Transportation Authority

text: In January 1966, New York City Mayor John Lindsay proposed merging the New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA), which operated buses and subways in New York City, and the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority (TBTA), which operated toll bridges and tunnels within the city. Rockefeller offered his "complete support" for Lindsay's proposed unified transit agency, while longtime city planner and TBTA chair Robert Moses called the proposed merger "absurd" and "grotesque" for its unwieldiness. In June 1966, Rockefeller announced his plans to expand the MCTA's scope to create a new regional transit authority. The new authority would encompass the existing MCTA, as well as the NYCTA and TBTA. Lindsay disagreed, saying that the state and city should have operationally separate transit authorities that worked in tandem.


title: Metropolitan Transportation Authority

text: On May 3, 1967, Rockefeller signed a bill that allowed the MCTA to oversee the mass transit policies of New York City-area transit systems. The unification agreement would take place the following March, upon which the MCTA would take over the operations of the LIRR, NYCTA, TBTA, New Haven commuter services, New York Central commuter services, and the Staten Island Railway. Initially, the TBTA was resistant to the MCTA's efforts to acquire it. Moses was afraid that the enlarged MCTA would "undermine, destroy or tarnish" the integrity of the TBTA, One source of contention was Rockefeller's proposal to use TBTA tolls in order to subsidize the cheap fares of the NYCTA, since Moses strongly opposed any use of TBTA tolls by outside agencies. In February 1968, Moses finally acquiesced to the MCTA's merger proposal. New York Central and the PRR also merged in February 1968, forming the Penn Central Transportation Company.


title: Metropolitan Transportation Authority

text: On February 29, 1968, the MCTA published a 56-page report for Governor Rockefeller, and in it, proposed several subway and railroad improvements under the name "Metropolitan Transportation, a Program for Action" (alternatively called the "Grand Design"). The city had already intended to build subway extensions in all four boroughs so that most riders would need at most one transfer to get to their destination. The Program for Action also called for upgrades to the Penn Central railroads as well as to area airports. The Program for Action was put forward simultaneously with other development and transportation plans under the administration of Mayor Lindsay. This included Lindsay's Linear City plan for housing and educational facilities, and the projected construction of several Interstate Highways, many of which had originally been proposed by Robert Moses.


title: Metropolitan Transportation Authority

text: On March 1, 1968, the day after the release of the Program for Action, the MCTA dropped the word "Commuter" from its name and became the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). The MTA took over the operations of the other New York City-area transit systems. Moses was let go from his job as chairman of the TBTA, although he was retained as a consultant. The construction of two proposed bridges over the Long Island Sound was put under the jurisdiction of the MTA. Moses stated that TBTA construction projects would reduce the MTA's budget surplus through 1970. Chairman Ronan pushed for the MTA to pursue the Program for Action, saying, "We're making up for 30 years of do-nothingism".


title: Metropolitan Transportation Authority

text: Ronan also proposed that the MTA take over the Staten Island Railway from the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and commence a $25 million modernization project on the railway, The city's Board of Estimate approved this purchase in December 1969. The MTA did not actually take ownership of the Staten Island Railway until January 1971.


title: Metropolitan Transportation Authority

text: The agency entered into a long-term lease of Penn Central's Hudson, Harlem, and New Haven Lines. Before 1968, the Hudson and Harlem lines had been operated by the New York Central Railroad, while the New Haven Line had been part of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad. Penn Central continued to operate the lines under contract to the MTA. In April 1970, Rockefeller proposed that the state take over the Hudson and Harlem Lines, and the next month, he signed a bond issue that provided $44.4 million in funding to these lines. Penn Central's operations were folded into Conrail in 1976. The MTA took over full operations in 1983, and merged the lines into the Metro-North Commuter Railroad. In 1994, the MTA rebranded its five subsidiaries with simpler names to convey that the different agencies were part of one agency.


title: Metropolitan Transportation Authority

text: The MTA has the responsibility for developing and implementing a unified mass transportation policy for the New York metropolitan area, including all five boroughs of New York City and the suburban counties of Dutchess, Nassau, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Suffolk and Westchester. This twelve-county area make up the "Metropolitan Commuter Transportation District" (MCTD), within which the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance levies a "metropolitan commuter transportation mobility tax". On April 1, 2019, Patrick J. Foye was appointed chairman and CEO.


title: Metropolitan Transportation Authority

text: The MTA's immediate past chairpersons were. William J. Ronan (1965–1974), David Yunich (1974–1975), Harold L. Fisher (1975–1979), Richard Ravitch (1979–1983), Robert Kiley (1983–1991), Peter Stangl (1991–1995), Virgil Conway (1995–2001), Peter S. Kalikow (2001–2007), H. Dale Hemmerdinger (2007–2009), Jay Walder (2009–2011), Joseph Lhota (2012), Thomas F. Prendergast (2013–2017), and Joseph Lhota (2017–2018). Lhota was re-appointed in 2017 and resigned on November 9, 2018.


title: Metropolitan Transportation Authority

text: The MTA considers itself to be the largest regional public transportation provider in the Western Hemisphere. , its agencies serve a region of approximately 15.3 million people spread over in 12 counties in New York and two in Connecticut. MTA agencies now move about 8.6 million customers per day (translating to 2.65 billion rail and bus customers a year) and employ about 74,000 people. The MTA's systems carry over 11 million passengers on an average weekday systemwide, and over 850,000 vehicles on its seven toll bridges and two tunnels per weekday.


title: Metropolitan Transportation Authority

text: MTA carries out these planning and other responsibilities both directly and through its subsidiaries and affiliates, and provides oversight to these subordinate agencies, known collectively as "The Related Entities". The Related Entities represent a number of previously existing agencies which have come under the MTA umbrella. In turn, these previously existing agencies were (with the exception of MTA Bridges and Tunnels and MTA Construction and Development) successors to the property of private companies that provided substantially the same services.


title: Metropolitan Transportation Authority

text: In 1994, the MTA spent $3 million rebranding its five subsidiaries with simpler names to convey that the different agencies were part of one agency. Surveys found that a majority of riders did not know that the MTA owned the Long Island Rail Road or the Metro-North Railroad. As part of the changes, the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority was renamed MTA Bridges and Tunnels; Staten Island Rapid Transit was renamed MTA Staten Island Railway; Metropolitan Suburban Bus Authority was renamed MTA Long Island Bus. In addition, New York City Transit Authority was renamed MTA New York City Transit to seem less authoritarian, Metro–North Commuter Railroad was renamed MTA Metro-North Railroad to recognize the increase in non-commuter ridership. The MTA logo was changed from a two-toned "M" logo to a blue circle with the MTA initials written in perspective like they were rushing by like a train. The large "M" logos on trains and buses were replaced with decals that state MTA New York City Bus, MTA New York City Subway or MTA Staten Island Railway, eliminating inconsistencies in signage. Today, the older "M" logos survive on existing cube-shaped lamps on station lampposts dating to the 1980s, though such lamps have been updated with more modern spherical lamps over time.


title: Metropolitan Transportation Authority

text: Today, each of these Related Entities has a "popular name" and in some cases, a former "legal name". Since 1994, the legal name has only been used for legal documents, such as contracts, and have not been used publicly. However, since the mid-2000s, the popular name has also been used for legal documents related to contract procurements where the legal name was used heretofore. Both are listed below.


title: Metropolitan Transportation Authority

text: The Office of the MTA Inspector General (OIG), founded in 1983, is the independent Office of Inspector General specific to the MTA that is responsible for conducting monitoring and oversight of MTA activities, programs, and employees.


title: Metropolitan Transportation Authority

text: The MTA is governed by a 21-member board representing the 5 boroughs of New York City, each of the counties in its New York State service area, and worker and rider interest groups. Of these, there are 14 voting members, broken down into 13 board members who cast individual votes, 4 board members who cast a single collective vote, and 6 group representatives who do not vote. The chairman position was split off of the existing CEO position in 2017. However, the chairman and CEO positions were merged back into one position in 2019 when Foye was appointed.


title: Metropolitan Transportation Authority

text: Four members as well as the chairman and the CEO are directly nominated by the Governor of New York, while four are recommended by New York City's mayor. The county executives of Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester counties nominate one member each. Each of these members has one vote. The county executives of Dutchess, Orange, Rockland, and Putnam counties also nominate one member each, but these members cast one collective vote. The Board also has six rotating nonvoting seats held by representatives of MTA employee organized labor and the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee, which represent customers of MTA transit and commuter facilities. Board members are confirmed by the New York State Senate.


title: Metropolitan Transportation Authority

text: In 2017, the MTA had operating expenses of $16.85 billion, an outstanding debt of $38.083 billion, and a level of staffing of 79,832 people (staff compensation totaled $6.762 billion). It collects revenue from passenger fees and from a Metropolitan Commuter Transportation Mobility Tax, a payroll tax levied on employers in the 12-county area served by the MTA.


title: Metropolitan Transportation Authority

text: The MTA has developed several official web and mobile apps for its subway and bus services, and also provides data to private app developers to create their own unofficial MTA apps. In 2012, the MTA officially released the Subway Time app, which uses subway countdown clock data to determine the next-train arrival times on seven services. Real-time station information for the "mainline" A Division (numbered routes), comprising all numbered services except the 7 train, was made available to third-party developers via an API. This was achieved through both the Subway Time mobile app and as open data. In early 2014, data for the L train were also given to developers. When Bluetooth-enabled countdown clocks were installed in the B Division (lettered services) in 2016 and 2017, they were also configured to feed data to the Subway Time app as well as in an open-data format.


title: Metropolitan Transportation Authority

text: MTA's Bus Time app originated as a pilot program to install bus countdown clocks along the M16 and M34 routes in August 2009. At the same time, many new buses were retrofitted with GPS-enabled automatic vehicle location systems. In October 2010, the developers of the buses' GPS devices implemented the MTA system's first bus-tracking app, which monitored buses along the M16 and M34 routes. This evolved into the current web app, which originally tracked buses along the route in Brooklyn when it started in February 2011. By January 2012, every local and express bus in Staten Island was equipped with the system. The M34 corridor began using the system on April 6, 2012 with nearly every Bronx bus route using the system by the end of 2012. All five boroughs of the city used the system by March 2014, and a mobile app was released in 2015.


title: Metropolitan Transportation Authority

text: In 2011, the MTA began to look at ways of displaying service disruptions due to weekend engineering works in a visual format. On September 16, 2011, the MTA introduced a Vignelli-style interactive subway map, "The Weekender", to its website. The web app provided a way for riders to get information about any planned work, from late Friday night to early Monday morning, that is going on either on a service(s) or station(s) of the subway during the weekends. On June 11, 2012, the MTA duplicated "The Weekender" site as a free mobile app download for iOS. On November 29, 2012, an Android version of the app was released.


title: Metropolitan Transportation Authority

text: The MTA announced plans to integrate all three apps in 2017. The combined app, which was scheduled for release in 2018, would include real-time arrival information for all subway and bus routes, as well as weekend service changes and travel planners. In April 2018, the MTA started testing MYmta, which provides arrival information for MTA railroad, subway, and bus routes; escalator and elevator outage information; and real-time service changes. The app also includes an improved version of the MTA's Trip Planner; whereas the existing Trip Planner can only plan trips along MTA-operated modes of transportation, MYmta's Trip Planner can also suggest routes via other operators such as the Staten Island Ferry, NYC Ferry, PATH, and NJ Transit. A beta version of MYmta was released to the general public in July of that year. In future versions of the MYmta app, the MTA planned to integrate the eTix functionality, as well as make it easier for Access-A-Ride customers to view when their vehicle will arrive at a certain point.


title: Metropolitan Transportation Authority

text: In October 2020, the MTA unveiled a new digital map providing real-time arrival estimates and service updates. It was developed pro bono by technology and design company Work & Co.


title: Metropolitan Transportation Authority

text: The subway, buses, and Staten Island Railway charge a single flat fare for each trip, regardless of time or distance traveled. From the MTA's inception until 2003, the agency collected subway and bus fares via a series of small metal tokens. The MTA cycled through several series of tokens throughout the late 20th century. In 1993, MTA started testing the MetroCard, a magnetic stripe card that would replace the tokens used to pay fares. By 1997, the entire bus and subway system accepted MetroCard, and tokens were no longer accepted for fare payment in 2003.


title: Metropolitan Transportation Authority

text: A different fare payment system is used on the LIRR and Metro-North. Both railroads sell tickets based on geographical "zones" and time of day, charging peak and off-peak fares. Tickets may be bought from a ticket office at stations, ticket vending machines (TVMs), online through the "WebTicket" program, or through apps for iOS and Android devices.


title: Metropolitan Transportation Authority

text: In 2017 it was announced that the MetroCard would be phased out and replaced by OMNY, a contactless fare payment system, with fare payment being made using Apple Pay, Google Wallet, debit/credit cards with near-field communication enabled, or radio-frequency identification cards. As of December 31, 2020, the entire bus and subway system is OMNY-enabled. However, support of the MetroCard is slated to remain until 2023. MTA also plans to use OMNY in the LIRR and Metro-North.


title: Metropolitan Transportation Authority

text: The budget deficit of the MTA is a growing crisis for the organization as well as for New York City and State residents and governments. The MTA held $31 billion in debt in 2010 and it also suffered from a $900 million gap in its operating budget for 2011. The capital budget, which covers repairs, technological upgrades, new trains, and expansions, is currently $15 billion short of what the MTA states it needs. If this is not funded, the MTA will fund the repairs with debt and raise fares to cover repayments.


title: Metropolitan Transportation Authority

text: The MTA has consistently run on a deficit, but increased spending in 2000–04 coupled with the economic downturn led to a severe increase in the financial burden that the MTA bore. The budget problems stem from multiple sources. The MTA cannot be supported solely by rider fares and road tolls. In the preliminary 2011 budget, MTA forecasted operating revenue totaled at $6.5 billion, amount to only 50% of the $13 billion operating expenses. Therefore, the MTA must rely on other sources of funding to remain operational. Revenue collected from real estate taxes for transportation purposes helped to contain the deficit. However, due to the weak economy and unstable real estate market, money from these taxes severely decreased; in 2010, tax revenue fell at least 20% short of the projected value. Beyond this, steadily reducing support from city and state governments led to borrowing money by issuing bonds, which contributed heavily to the debt.


title: Metropolitan Transportation Authority

text: This budget deficit has resulted in various problems, mainly concentrated in New York City. New York City Subway fares have been increased four times since 2008, with the most recent occurring March 22, 2015, raising single-ride fares from $2.50 to $2.75, express service from $6 to $6.50 and the monthly MetroCard fare from $112 to $116. Each fare raise was met with increasing resistance by MTA customers, and many are beginning to find the fare increases prohibitive. 2010 also saw heavy service cuts for many MTA subsidiaries. Fewer trains spaced farther between resulted in heavy overcrowding beyond normal rush hours, leading to frustration for many subway and bus riders. In 2013, the subway had the highest ridership since 1947. MTA employees also suffered due to the budget issues. By mid-July 2010, MTA layoffs had reached over 1,000, and many of those affected were low-level employees who made less than $55,000 annually.


title: Metropolitan Transportation Authority

text: , the MTA was running a $15 billion deficit in its $32 billion 2015–2019 Capital Plan. Without extra funding, many necessary construction and renovation projects would not be performed. In October 2015, the MTA passed the $29 billion 2015–2019 Capital Plan, the largest capital plan in MTA's history; it will be funded by federal, state and city government as well as riders' fares and tolls. Three months later, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and MTA chairman Thomas Prendergast unveiled their plan to spend $26 billion to modernize the subway network, which includes adding Wi-Fi and cellphone services throughout all 278 underground stations by the end of 2016. Other plans call for making extensive renovations to 30 subway stations, allowing mobile ticketing by cellphone or bank cards, and adding security cameras on buses, charging stations for electronics, and more countdown clocks. Roughly $3 billion will be spent to improve bridges and tunnels.


title: Metropolitan Transportation Authority

text: During the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City, following a 50% to 90% drop in ridership on all of the MTA's systems, the agency requested $4 billion in federal funds, since the decreased fare revenue left the already-struggling agency in a financially tenuous position. After the subway was temporarily shuttered at night starting in May 2020, trains and stations were cleaned more than usual. Over 132 employees died of COVID-19 .


title: Metropolitan Transportation Authority

text: On November 18, 2017, "The New York Times" published an investigation into the problems underlying the MTA. It found that politicians from both the Democratic and Republican parties, at the mayoral and gubernatorial levels, had gradually removed $1.5 billion of MTA funding. Other actions by city and state politicians, according to the "Times", included overspending; overpaying unions and interest groups; advertising superficial improvement projects while ignoring more important infrastructure; and agreeing to high-interest loans that would have been unnecessary without their other interventions. The "Times" stressed that no single event directly caused the crisis; rather, it was an accumulation of small cutbacks and maintenance deferments. The MTA funds were described as a "piggy bank" for the state, with the issuance of MTA bonds benefiting the state at the MTA's expense. By 2017, a sixth of the MTA's budget was allocated to paying off debt, a threefold increase from the proportion in 1997. The city's $250 million annual contribution to the MTA budget in 2017 was a quarter of the contribution in 1990. David L. Gunn, who helped end a transit crisis when he led the NYCTA in the mid-1980s, described the 2017 crisis as "heartbreaking".


title: Metropolitan Transportation Authority

text: In December of the same year, the "Times" reported that the $12 billion East Side Access project, which would extend the LIRR to Grand Central Terminal upon its completion, was the most expensive of its kind in the world, with a projected price of $3.5 billion per mile of track. Over the years, the projected cost of East Side Access had risen by billions of dollars due to unnecessary expenses. In addition to overpaying workers and overspending, politicians and trade unions had forced the MTA to hire more workers than was needed. In 2010, an accountant found that the project was hiring 200 extra workers, at a cost of $1,000 per worker per day, for no apparent reason. The bidding process for MTA construction contracts also raised costs because, in some cases, only one or two contractors would bid on a project. Similar construction projects in New York City, such as the Second Avenue Subway and 7 Subway Extension, had been more expensive than comparable projects elsewhere for the same reasons, even though other cities' transit systems faced similar, or greater, problems compared to the MTA. In March 2018, the federal Government Accountability Office ordered an audit of the United States' transit costs, which were generally higher than in any other developed country in the world. The GAO planned to devote special attention to the MTA's transit costs.


title: Metropolitan Transportation Authority

text: The MTA collected $707 million from advertising on its trains and buses in 2018. In June 1992, the MTA banned tobacco advertising on subways, buses and commuter rail, costing the agency $4.5 million in annual advertising revenue. The tobacco advertisements were removed once the advertising contracts expired. They were removed from subways, buses, and bus shelters by the start of 1993, from the commuter rail lines by the start of 1994, and from Long Island Bus vehicles by the start of 1997.


title: Metropolitan Transportation Authority

text: The MTA refused to display an ad in the New York City Subway system in 2012, which read: "In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man. Support Israel. Defeat Jihad." The authority's decision was overturned in July 2012 when Judge Paul A. Engelmayer of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled that the ad of the American Freedom Defense Initiative is protected speech under the First Amendment, and that the MTA's actions were unconstitutional. The judge held in a 35-page opinion that the rejected ad was "not only protected speech — it is core political speech ... [which as such] is afforded the highest level of protection under the First Amendment." The MTA had received $116.4 million in revenue in 2011 from advertising sold throughout its subway, commuter rail, and bus systems.


title: Metropolitan Transportation Authority

text: In April 2015, another ad became the subject of controversy when the MTA refused to display it, the refusal was again challenged in court, and the MTA again lost in court and was ordered by a federal judge to display the ad. The ad, paid for by the American Freedom Defense Initiative, showed a man with a scarf covering his face, with the caption "Killing Jews is Worship that draws us close to Allah", which was attributed to "Hamas MTV," and then stated: "That's His Jihad. What's yours?" The ad included a disclaimer that the display of the ad did not reflect the opinion of the MTA. U.S. District Judge John Koeltl of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York in Manhattan said the ad was protected speech under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, and rejected the MTA's argument that the ad might endorse terrorism or violence. Pamela Geller, president of the group that sued the MTA in order to run the ads, lauded the decision, and a lawyer for the organization said the same decision had been made in Washington and Philadelphia.


title: Metropolitan Transportation Authority

text: A week afterward, the MTA's board in a 9–2 vote banned all political, religious, and opinion advertisements on subways and buses, limiting any ads to commercial ones. Specifically, it banned advertisements that "prominently or predominately advocate or express a political message" about "disputed economic, political, moral, religious or social issues," and any ad that "promotes or opposes" a political party, ballot referendum, and "the election of any candidate". The board estimated that the ads that the board was banning made up less than $1 million of the MTA's advertising revenue of $138 million in 2014. Nevertheless, lawyers for the American Freedom Defense Initiative called the MTA's action a "disingenuous attempt to circumvent" the judge's order.


title: Metropolitan Transportation Authority

text: Another controversy regarding MTA ads arose in 2018. After initially rejecting proposed advertisements from Unbound, a sex-toy retailer, the MTA allowed the ads. Previous advertisement proposals from companies, such as female-hygiene retailer Thinx's ad proposal in 2015, had been rejected and later approved due to "dissemination of indecent material to minors" and "public display[s] of offensive sexual material."