The N train’s Sea Beach Line is among the oldest rights-of-way in the city, and the current iteration dates from nearly 100 years ago. The stations themselves are in a sorry state, and the MTA has recently unveiled a 9-stop, $500-million repair effort that is going to take four years. This is all about the MTA’s efforts at reaching the elusive State of Good Repair, and a recent Citizens Budget Commission report highlighted the ins and outs and ups and downs of this effort. I’ll have more on what the CBC called a Sisyphean effort on Monday night after the three-day weekend. For now, ponder the Brooklyn Eagle’s coverage of the work and wonder about timelines and scope. The price tag — over $55 million per open-air station — seems steep, but the finished product sounds much nicer than what N train riders experience today.
Meanwhile, as the unofficial end of summer arrives, weekend subway work keeps on chugging along, albeit at a slower pace. Leave extra time for travel, and enjoy the long weekend.
From 11:30 p.m. Friday, September 4 to 5:00 a.m. Tuesday, September 8, 1 trains are suspended in both directions between 14 St and South Ferry. 2 and 3 trains run local in both directions between 34 St-Penn Station and Chambers St. Free shuttle buses provide alternate service between Chambers St and South Ferry.
From 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Monday, September 7, 2, 3 and 4 trains skip Eastern Pkwy-Brooklyn Museum. Use the nearby Grand Army Plaza or Franklin Av stations instead.
From 11:30 p.m. Friday, September 4 to 5:00 a.m. Monday, September 7, 2 trains are suspended in both directions between E 180 St and 149 St-Grand Concourse.
Free shuttle buses operate along two routes:
- Express shuttle buses run between E 180 St and 149 St-Grand Concourse, stopping at the Hunts Point Av 6 station and 3 Av-149 St.
- Local shuttle buses make all stops between E 180 St and 149 St-Grand Concourse. Transfer between trains and free shuttle buses at E 180 St, Hunts Point Av, and/or 149 St-Grand Concourse.
From 11:30 p.m. Friday, September 4 to 5:00 a.m. Tuesday, September 8, 2 trains run local in both directions between Chambers St and 34 St-Penn Station.
From 1:00 a.m. to 4:00 a.m. Monday, September 7, 2 trains skip Church Av in both directions.
From 6:30 a.m. to 12 midnight, Saturday to Monday, September 5 to September 7, 3 trains run local in both directions between Chambers St and 34 St-Penn Station.
From 11:45 p.m. Friday, September 4 to 7:30 a.m. Sunday, September 6, and from 11:45 p.m. Sunday, September 6 to 5:00 a.m. Monday, September 7, Crown Hts-Utica Av bound 4 trains run express from 14 St-Union Sq to Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall.
From 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Monday, September 7, 4 trains run local in Brooklyn, skipping the Eastern Pkwy-Brooklyn Museum station.
From 6:00 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. Saturday, September 5, and from 8:00 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. Sunday, September 6, 5 trains are suspended in both directions between E 180 St and Bowling Green. Take the 4 and free shuttle buses instead. 5 shuttle service operates between Eastchester-Dyre Av and E 180 St.
Free shuttle buses operate along two routes:
- Express shuttle buses run between E 180 St and 3 Av-149 St, stopping at the Hunts Point Av 6 station.
- Local shuttle buses make all station stops between E 180 St and 3 Av-149 St.
From 11:45 p.m. Friday, September 4 to 5:00 a.m. Monday, September 7, Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall bound 6 trains run express from 14 St-Union Sq to Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall.
Beginning 12:01 a.m. Tuesday, September 8 until Winter 2016, Far Rockaway/Lefferts Blvd-bound A trains skip 80 St.
- For Service To this station, take the Far Rockaway or Lefferts Blvd-bound A to 88 St and transfer to a Brooklyn-bound A.
Beginning 12:01 a.m. Tuesday, September 8 until Winter 2016, Far Rockaway/Lefferts Blvd-bound A trains skip 111 St.
- For Service To this station, take the Lefferts Blvd-bound A to Lefferts Blvd and transfer to a Brooklyn-bound A.
- For Service From this station, use the Q112 bus, days and evenings. Or, take a Brooklyn-bound A to 104 St and transfer to a Lefferts Blvd-bound A.
From 11:45 p.m. Friday, September 4 to 6:30 a.m. Monday, September 7, and from 11:45 p.m. Monday, September 7 to 5:00 a.m. Tuesday, September 8, Downtown A trains run express from 59 St-Columbus Circle to Canal St.
From 11:45 p.m. Friday, September 4 to 6:30 a.m. Monday, September 7, and from 11:45 p.m. Monday, September 7 to 5:00 a.m. Tuesday, September 8, Inwood-207 St bound A trains run express from 125 St to 168 St.
From 6:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. Saturday, September 5 to Monday, September 7, Downtown C trains run express from 59 St-Columbus Circle to Canal St.
From 6:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. Saturday, September 5 to Monday, September 7, 168 St-bound C trains run express from 125 St to 168 St.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, September 5 to 5:00 a.m. Tuesday, September 8, E trains run local in both directions between Queens Plaza and Forest Hills-71 Av.
From 11:45 p.m. Friday, September 4 to 5:00 a.m. Tuesday, September 8, Jamaica-179 St bound F trains run express from Neptune Av to Smith-9Sts.
From 11:45 p.m. Friday September 4 to 5:00 a.m. Tuesday, September 8, Coney Island-Stillwell Av bound F trains are rerouted via the E line from Roosevelt Av.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, September 5 to 5:00 a.m. Monday, September 8, F trains run local in both directions in Queens.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, September 5 to 5:00 a.m. Monday, September 7, J trains run every 20 minutes. The last stop for some J trains headed toward Jamaica Center-Parsons/Archer is 111 St.
From 11:15 p.m. Friday, September 4 to 5:00 a.m. Monday, September 8, Manhattan-bound Q trains run express from Kings Hwy to Prospect Park.
16 comments
If J trains run every 20 minutes and some J trains terminate at 111 St, that means that there are 40 minute headways on the J to Jamaica Center. That’s obviously (hopefully) false. Why don’t people proofread?
The J trains are running every 20 minutes between 111 Street and Jamaica Center. Service between 111 Street and Broad St is running on or close to schedule.
That’s what I figured, but that’s not what the press release says.
Well contact the MTA!
All Ben does (and he has said this several times) is just cut and paste the MTAs press release. So they are responsible for any errors.
I know Ben’s got nothing to do with the mistakes, he just copy-pastes what he’s given. Regarding contacting MTA – has anyone actually ever done so and gotten a response?
Well if YOU contact them you’ll have a data point.
Re routing the F & Q to express tracks EVERY weekend is annoying. I need to take the B6 bus home. Both Bay Pwky (f) & Ave J (q) are bypassed & it’s really annoying
One weekend, the F & Q ran express and the N ran on the D, I had to take the B68 to the 6 & it took forever.
What would help on the Q is to run all the Northbound express trains on the Southbound express tracks. People can transfer cross platform to backtrack & not miss trains
or just cross over on the stairs at Newkirk, cause y’know, that doesnt take much effort
When you sometimes have heavy items on you, an achy knee and been on your feet fo a few hours, it’s an effort.
The southbound express track does not have signals to allow any reasonable northbound service. Such operation would either need to run at 15mph throughout (line-of-sight) or have one train at a time between Kings Highway* and Prospect Park (in this case, the locations of the nearby switches).
Agreed, having two parallel lines run express in the same direction is terrible coordination.
*Actually in this case for a northbound train to run on the southbound express track it would need to skip Neck Road and Avenue U as well. nycsubway.org has track maps that explain further.
The MTA’s curious idea that it can renovate 9 stations and make only 2 of them accessible is contrary to the letter and spirit of the ADA. I really wonder what their lawyers are thinking.
The law is rather clear on this – any substantial renovation in witch elements of a station are aultered, those elements must meet ADA compliance. Thatt is unless the MTA can prove that such compliance would present undue hardship or such costs are greater than 20% of the total of the entire project.
If MTA has proven either I haven’t seen a report about it; has anyone tried taking the issue to court? They’re doing an awful lot of rehabs with no accessibility improvements.
On the other hand, given the money that they have, if they need to put in an elevator at each stop they’ll just have less money left to rehab more stations. Eliminating just a bit of the corruption would probably more than compensate for that, but I digress.
Elevators were not added to most stations during the recent West End and Brighton rehab efforts either.
At only $88 million in total for 7 stations (12.5 million per station), the West End rehab probably couldn’t have gotten ADA access at all those stations with that money. Just 1 sounds about right. However, $161 million for the 5 Brighton Line stations ($32 million per station) should have produced at least 3, not merely 1.5 ADA stations.
But 9 stations for $500 million ($55 million per station) on the Sea Beach Line, and only 2 will be ADA compliant?! Compare this to two comparable rehab projects from the CTA in Chicago:
Douglas branch of Blue Line (now Pink Line) rehabilitation:
Originally 11 stations, 3 of which were ADA to begin with and not significantly modified, totaling $482 million ($44 million per station, $60 million per non-ADA station). All 11 stations are now ADA compliant.
Brown Line station reconstruction:
18 stations total for $530 million, only 2 of which were ADA; those 2 just received small platform extensions. The remaining 16 stations (3 of which are at grade level and did not need elevators) were rebuilt at a price tag of roughly $32 million per station, closer to $40 million/station for the 13 elevated ones. All are now ADA compliant.
If the MTA can only make 2 of these 9 Sea Beach line stations ADA complaint, they’re either hopelessly incompetent or don’t think the law applies to them. Hope someone sues the crap out of them and some people lose their jobs as a result.
The current iteration of the N line IS 100 years old; service began on June 22, 1915.