If you’re looking for this weekend’s service advisories, feel free to skip to the listings. Otherwise, check out the rest of this post for an update on the MTA’s plans to cut service this summer.
The poor, poor V train is not long for this world. A child of 2001, the V runs only during the week and only for around 18 hours on a lonely local run between 2nd Ave. and Forest Hills. All of its stops are serviced by other trains, and in a few short months, it will become a part of subway history, doomed to be forgotten until the MTA has money to expand service.
For those who have followed the MTA’s latest proposal to slash service in order to save millions, the death of the V is a surprise. Early reports indicated that the M would be the designation to go. The V, running via the Chrystie St. Cut, would run from Forest Hill to Middle Village during the day and from Myrtle Ave. to Middle Village during late nights and weekends. Late on Friday, though, the MTA announced a handful of revisions to their service cuts, and while no subway cuts were spared, the M has been saved while the V will be axed.
Why the semantic change? According to the MTA, history and tradition were on the M’s side. “Rather than using the V designation for the revised service between Forest Hills-71st Avenue to Metropolitan Avenue,” the report — available here as a PDF — said, “the service would be designated the M. To conform to NYCT’s standard route designation system, which assigns the color of the route based on its Manhattan trunk line, the M would be orange rather than brown, since it would be a 6th Avenue route in Manhattan. While some members of the community were supportive of the service pattern change, many people expressed objection to the elimination of the M designation.”
Subway history, it seems, runs deep. “People were more comfortable with the M designation, being an older and more historic train designation than the V,” Transit spokesman Charles Seaton said to Michael Grynbaum of The Times. This color change, noted Grynbaum, will be the MTA’s first since the Q was rerouted from the orange 6th Ave. lines to the yellow Broadway lines.
In addition to this subway service change, Transit also announced a series of changes to the bus service cuts. The MTA has reduced the proposed cuts by $5.9 million, and certain routes including the Bx18 and Bx33 in the Bronx, the B4 and B13 in Brooklyn, the M22 in Manhattan, the Q14 and Q42 in Queens and the S42/52 and S60 in Staten Island along with some express bus lines will be saved. Many of these routes will still be scaled back from their current service levels but to a lesser extent than the MTA originally proposed.
“The enormous public reaction to the proposed cuts reminds everyone how fundamental the transit system is to New Yorkers and how painful any cut can be,” MTA Chairman Jay H. Walder said. “While our budget deficit forces us to move ahead with most of the cuts, we were able to take a number of the most painful cuts off the table based on what we heard from our customers.”
Despite this spin on the cuts, the simple truth is that the MTA is still cutting service. “Millions of subway riders will still suffer increased waits and greater crowding – as the subway cuts are totally unchanged and remain in effect,” Gene Russianoff of the Straphangers Campaign said in a statement. “And while a few thousand riders have obtained reprieves from very harsh cuts, tens of thousands of other bus riders around the city will suffer longer out-of-the-way trips and longer waits with more packed buses.”
For more on how the new proposal impacts the MTA’s other agencies, check out the authority’s website. Now on to the service advisories.
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Below are the service advisories for the weekend. As always, these come to me via the MTA and are subject to change without notice. Listen carefully to on-board announcements and check signs in your local station. For a map of this weekend’s changes, check out Subway Weekender.
Please note: From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, March 20 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 22, there are no transfers between 23, and J shuttle trains at Fulton Street/Broadway-Nassau. A trains skip Fulton Street/Broadway-Nassau in both directions. There are no 4 trains between Utica Avenue and Brooklyn Bridge. There are no 5 trains between 42nd Street-Grand Central and Bowling Green. A special J shuttle will operate between Delancey Street-Essex Street F and the Prospect Park Q station in Brooklyn as an alternate.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, March 20 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 22, uptown 1 and 2 trains skip 50th, 59th, 66th, 79th and 86th Streets due to station rehabilitation at 96th and 59th Streets.
From 12:01 a.m. to 6:30 a.m. Saturday, March 20 and Sunday, March 21 and from 12:01 a.m. to 5 a.m. Monday, March 22, 3 train service is extended to/from New Lots Avenue due to work on the Fulton Street Transit Center and a cable pull south of Nevins Street.
From 11 p.m. Friday, March 19 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 22, Manhattan-bound 4 trains run express from Burnside Avenue to 125th Street due to a concrete pour at 149th Street-Grand Concourse.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, March 20 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 22, 4 trains run local between 125th Street and Brooklyn Bridge due to work on the Fulton Street Transit Center and a cable pull south of Nevins Street.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, March 20 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 22, there are no 4 trains between Utica Avenue and Brooklyn Bridge. For Utica Avenue, Franklin Avenue and Atlantic Avenue, customers may take the 3. For Nevins Street, Borough Hall, Bowling Green, Wall Street, Fulton Street and Brooklyn Bridge, customers may take the special J shuttle. These changes are due to construction of the Fulton Street Transit Center.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, March 20 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 22, there are no 5 trains between 42nd Street-Grand Central and Bowling Green due to work at the Fulton Street Transit Center. Customers should take the 4 or special J shuttle instead.
From 10:30 p.m. Friday, March 19 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 22, free shuttle buses replace A trains between Far Rockaway and Beach 90th Street due to station rehabilitations at Beach 67th, Beach 44th and Beach 25th Streets.
From 5:30 a.m. Saturday, March 20 to 10 p.m. Sunday, March 21, free shuttle buses replace trains between 80th Street and Lefferts Blvd. due to track panel installation. Customers may transfer between the shuttle bus and the A train at 80th Street, 88th Street or Rockaway Blvd.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, March 20 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 22, 207th Street-bound A trains run express from Canal Street to 59th Street, then local to 145th Street due to station rehabilitation at 59th Street-Columbus Circle.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, March 20 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 22, Brooklyn-bound A trains run local from 59th Street to Canal Street due to a track chip out at West 4th Street.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, March 20 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 22, A trains skip Broadway-Nassau Street in both directions due to work on the Fulton Street Transit Center.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, March 20 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 22, there is no C train service due to a track chip out at West 4th Street. Customers may take the A or D instead. Note: D trains run local between 145th Street and 59th Street. A trains run local with exceptions.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, March 20 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 22, D trains run local between 145th Street and 59th Street due to a track chip out at West 4th Street.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, March 20 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 22, E trains are rerouted on the F line between West 4th Street and 2nd Avenue due to Chambers Street Signal Modernization project. For service to Spring Street, Canal Street, and World Trade Center/Chambers Street, customers should take the A instead. Note: Uptown A trains skip Spring Street.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, March 20 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 22, Manhattan-bound E trains run express from Forest Hills-71st Avenue to Roosevelt Avenue due to power cable work.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, March 20 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 22, uptown F trains skip 14th and 23rd Streets due to a substation rehabilitation.
From 8:30 p.m. Friday, March 19 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 22, there are no G trains between Forest Hills-71st Avenue and Court Square due to track maintenance. Customers may take the E or R instead.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, March 20 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 22, there is a special J shuttle operating between Delancey Street F and Prospect Park Q as an alternative to 4 service between Chambers Street-Brooklyn Bridge and Atlantic Avenue due to work on the Fulton Street Transit Center.
From 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, March 20 and Sunday, March 21, Jamaica Center-bound J trains run express from Myrtle Avenue to Broadway Junction due to track maintenance.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, March 20 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 22, the last stop for some downtown N trains is Whitehall Street due to track maintenance. Customers continuing to Brooklyn may transfer to a Brooklyn-bound N during the day at Canal Street and overnight at Whitehall Street.
From 11 p.m. Friday, March 19 to 7 a.m. Saturday, March 20, from 11 p.m. Saturday, March 20 to 8 a.m. Sunday, March 21 and from 11 p.m. Sunday, March 21 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 22, uptown Q trains run local from Times Square-42nd Street to 57th Street/7th Avenue due to a track dig-out north of 42nd Street-Times Square.
From 6:30 a.m. to midnight, Saturday, March 20 and Sunday, March 21, Manhattan-bound R trains run express from Forest Hills-71st Avenue to Roosevelt Avenue due to power cable work.
From 12:01 a.m. to 5 a.m. Saturday, March 20, R shuttle trains run local from 59th Street to 36th Street in Brooklyn due to track cleaning.
From 10:30 p.m. Friday, March 19 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 22, A trains replace S trains between Broad Channel and Rockaway Park due to station rehabilitation at Beach 67th Street, Beach 44th Street, and Beach 25th Street.
27 comments
The V train runs weekdays from forest hills to second ave…
Yup. That’s what I wrote.
No, you wrote “between Second Ave. and Forest Hills” 🙂
Does it matter?
Of course not. I was being “witty”.
Makes sense. The V designation was just a riff on the F, and they probably want the namespace less cluttered.
I’m still trying to digest all the subway changes – let alone the buses. The only significant subway cut seems to be the rush-hour M. Guess they can finally close off those lonely entrances in front of the NYSE. Plus the Queens G but that never ran anyway. I like the idea of eliminating weird routes like the V and W (simplification?) but I’m a bit worried about the effect on my R. Yeah, I’m selfish.
Those lonely entrances in front of the NYSE will still be served by the J and Z train.
Bear in mind that those “weird routes” you referred to will now have less service. It is not merely simplification; it’s a service cut.
You’re right, of course. I had the “downtown” entrances in mind. I walk by them all the time and they’re almost hidden by all the fencing around there; I was thinking “well now they can finally simplify the fencing and just block ’em off entirely”. But of course they have to keep them open for passengers alighting at the last stop.
Darn it, you’re right about that too. My apologies!
I should also recognize the significant cuts on all lines off-peak and on weekends, even though they’re really just a way to bring the published schedules more in line with actual service.
You know what would be neat? A map of the entire system pointing out exactly where the (non-timetable related) service reductions are. I think the public would benefit from that.
Whenever stuff like this is done, I always wonder a little bit about the cost of repainting all of the signage and everything like that, especially if they’ll just change it back and restore M service to Brooklyn as soon as the economy improves. Not that it makes much of a dent in terms of the relative costs of no service to Bay Parkway, but still, how many signs in the system do you think mention either the M or the V?
Was thinking the same thing. Brown “M” or orange “V”, what’s the big deal? As long as a train runs somewhere, I’m good. Luckily they use newer model trains on the “M”, so no major change will be needed as far as on-board route signs. Older model R-44s on the “V” will probably go to other 6th Ave line trains. Gonna cost a pretty penny to change all those station signs on the “V” and to remove the current ones in Brooklyn where the “M” will no longer go. As for me, I’m still waiting for the “RR” train to come down B’way.
The N hasn’t served Lower Manhattan in years but it’s still plainly visible where they covered over all the ‘N’ decals with black sticky tape at all the station entrances. I guess when the N comes back to Wall Street it’s just a matter of peeling the tape off again 🙂
“N” actually goes below Canal St to Brooklyn via Whitehall St late nights when the “R” and “W” are not running. Never quite understood why they covered up all the “N” logos when the train does run there off-hours.
I guess the street-level station logos reflect only daytime service?
But yeah, on a related note, one of my biggest pet peeves with our subway system is its ridiculously overcomplicated nature. Stuff like “the N runs this way during these hours and this completely other way during these other hours” just drives me nuts. I’d almost rather see a London-style “Broadway” line or Chicago-style “Yellow” line that hides all these complexities that result from the various routings.
That’s not totally practical though because of the way the lines diverge after the trunk areas in Manhattan. You could say the Yellow line or the Broadway line, but the N and R follow different routes with different terminals in both Queens and Brooklyn. That too is very confusing.
The London lines are a big clusterfuck, with multiple branches and divergences. The Northern Line doesn’t even have a unified central branch – it has two central branches and two northern branches, with a junction in between.
About the only thing that keeps New York from being a total mess is that the IRT and IND/BMT are incompatible. This simplifies matters somewhat. The IRT plus the L could possibly go for one designation per trunk line. The rest of the system just couldn’t. The original IND lettering made it look slightly less of a mad hatter party, but nowadays with the IND-BMT connections and the local-in-Brooklyn-express-in-Manhattan designations, it’s not workable.
Hah! Back in the early 80s they actually had an asterisk note in the route section of the subway map to explain the 8th Ave local: at various times it could be called the A, AA, CC, or KK.
Look at other maps from the 60s through 80s and you’ll see some real confusion. Gunn decided it was better to have fewer lines and vary the terminus. Frankly I think he was right – how do you explain a QJ vs QB to a tourist?
You should have taken the tour of the sign shop (deep in Brooklyn) the Transit Musuem did a few years ago. The signs aren’t painted, they are vinyl stickers on metal backing, or (for larger volumes) a silk screening printing process. Route symbols are stickers made en mass. Since they will have to redo the text on the signs regarding destinations, changing the route marker isn’t a big deal. If the text doesn’t change it’s just putting on a sticker.
I don’t think this change would be reversed if there is more money. Currently, the Myrtle line, and western part of the Jamaica line, only have service to downtown Manhattan/Brooklyn. With this change Myrtle riders get an uptown option (with lots of transfers available), with easy transfer to the downtown routing, while riders on the inner Jamaica line have a choice of uptown or downtown routings.
I always imagined that the Chrystie St. Cut was intended for the 2nd Ave. Subway itself, if it ever got that far.
I don’t think there was ever a proposed route where it would have been physically possible for Second Avenue trains to use the Chrystie Street cut.
That was the plan in 1967.
among the changes in this document are a variety of other bus routes being reinstated in some form or another. about a month ago when the first version of the cuts were released i made a comment here about the M22 being cut west of city hall, and how i generally failed at reading but also thought that it was an extremely good cut, since Chambers St is a horrible street to run a bus down, and when I went to stuyvesant HS i would usually walk that entire route down to the 6 train rather than bother riding an unreasonably slow bus on an overcrowded street.
the M22 might make sense if it were instead sent down vesey st towards city hall, but this cut struck me as exactly the kind of cut that makes perfect sense in a budget crisis. with a price tag of $1M, and along with all of the other revisions to service cuts and increasingly bleak financial picture of the MTA, i have a hard time seeing how ends will meet without a fare increase.
Removing $6 million from the proposed cuts means that money has to be cut somewhere else. Where? It seems that the MTA started job cuts at 1,000 and now it’s quoted at 1,100. It would not be a surprise to hear that layoffs are 1200 or even 1300 jobs now that another $6 million has to be found.
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Brown M, orange M, doesn’t matter – the M’s are all red on the front of the new R160s.
Will be interesting having F and M trains running down 6th Avenue.
I, for one, am eagerly awaiting the FML stop at 14th St. and 6th Ave.
Nice!