Second Ave. Sagas

NYC survives the Pope as weekend work claims 13 subway lines

Written by

Benjamin Kabak

in

Congrats, New York! We survived the Pope-inspired transit-maggedon! But in reality, it was fine. New York City showed what would happen with fewer cars as streets were empty and life went on. The Pope himself recently had some insightful words on prioritizing spending that our city’s and state’s leaders should heed.

So as the week ends, we’ve now had two weeks of the 7 line extension, and coverage of early ridership figures has missed the long game. Ridership has been only around 7000 per day, and as some papers have noted, that’s well below the forecasts of 32,000 per day. Of course, that 32,000 figure is a future projection when the Hudson Yards development is open. Today, no one lives there. For now, the 7 line extension is a train to a developing area, and it will encourage growth. By the end of the decade, ridership should be right where the MTA expects it to be.

Meanwhile, as the first fall weekend dawns, there’s work to be done and weekend service to change. As always, these come to me from the MTA. Plan accordingly.


From 11:30 p.m. Friday, September 25 to 5:00 a.m. Monday, September 28, 1 trains are suspended in both directions between 14 St and South Ferry. Take the 2345R trains and free shuttle buses. 23 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 11:30 p.m. Friday, September 25 to 5:00 a.m. Monday, September 28, 2 trains run local in both directions between Chambers St and 34 St-Penn Station.


From 6:30 a.m. to 12 Midnight Saturday, September 26 and Sunday, September 27, 3 trains run local in both directions between Chambers St and 34 St-Penn Station.


From 11:45 p.m. Friday, September 25 to 7:30 a.m. Sunday, September 27, and from 11:45 p.m. Sunday, September 27 to 5:00 a.m. Monday, September 28, Crown Hts-Utica Av bound 4 trains run express from 125 St to Grand Central-42 St.


From 11:45 p.m. Friday, September 25, to 5:00 a.m. Monday, September 28, 5 trains are suspended in both directions between Eastchester-Dyre Av and E 180 St. 5 service operates every 20 minutes between E 180 St and Bowling Green. Free shuttle buses operate all weekend between Eastchester-Dyre Av and E 180 St, stopping at Baychester Av, Gun Hill Rd, Pelham Pkwy, and Morris Park. Transfer between trains and shuttle buses at E 180 St.


From 11:45 p.m. Friday, September 25 to 5:00 a.m. Monday, September 28, Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall bound 6 trains run express from 125 St to Grand Central-42 St.


From 5:45 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Saturday, September 26 and Sunday September 27, Flushing-Main St bound 7 trains run express from Queensboro Plaza to 74 St-Broadway.

  • To 33 St, 40 St, 46 St, 52 St, and 69 St, take the Flushing-Main St-bound 7 to 61 St-Woodside or 74 St- Broadway and transfer to a Hudson Yards-bound 7.
  • From these stations, take a Hudson Yards-bound 7 to 61 St-Woodside or Queensboro Plaza and transfer to a Flushing-Main St bound 7.


From 11:45 p.m. Friday, September 25 to 5:00 a.m. Monday, September 28, A trains are rerouted via the F line in both directions between W 4 St-Wash Sq and Jay St-MetroTech.


From 11:45 p.m. Friday, September 25 to 5:00 a.m. Monday, September 28, A trains run local in both directions between W 4 St-Wash Sq and 59 St-Columbus Circle.


From 11:45 p.m. Friday, September 25 to 5:00 a.m. Monday, September 28, Brooklyn-bound A trains run express from 168 St to 125 St.


From 11:45 p.m. Friday, September 25 to 5:00 a.m. Monday, September 28, Lefferts Blvd-bound A trains skip 104 St.


From 6:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. Saturday, September 26 and Sunday, September 27, C trains are rerouted via the F line in both directions between Jay St-MetroTech and W 4 St-Wash Sq.


From 6:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. Saturday, September 26 and Sunday, September 27, Brooklyn-bound C trains run express from 168 St to 125 St.


From 9:45 p.m. Friday, September 25, to 5:00 a.m. Monday, September 28, Jamaica-179 St bound F trains are rerouted via the M line from 47-50 Sts to Roosevelt Av.


From 11:30 p.m. Friday, September 25 to 5:00 a.m. Monday, September 28, F trains are suspended in both directions between Coney Island-Stillwell Av and Church Av. Free shuttle buses operate between Coney Island-Stillwell Av and Church Av, making all station stops. Transfer between F trains and free shuttle buses at Church Av. Customers who use the Coney Island-Stillwell Av terminal should consider the DNQ to/from Manhattan.


From 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Sunday, September 27, L service operates in two sections.

  • Between 8 Av and Broadway Junction.
  • Between Broadway Junction and Rockaway Pkwy, every 24 minutes.


From 7:45 a.m. 6:00 p.m. Saturday, September 26, Queens-bound Q trains skip Neck Rd and Avenue U.


From 11:45 p.m. Friday, September 25 to 5:00 a.m. Monday, September 28, the Rockaway Park Shuttle is suspended. Free shuttle buses provide alternate service between Rockaway Park and Beach 67 St A station, stopping at Beach 105 St, Beach 98 St, and Beach 90 St. Transfer between free shuttle buses and A trains at Beach 67 St.

Comments

29 responses to “NYC survives the Pope as weekend work claims 13 subway lines”

  1. nobody_important

    “Queens-bound Q” was an error in the press release. The Weekender correctly has it as “57 St/7 Av-bound.”

    Reply
  2. Duke

    I imagine 34-Hudson will see some decent usage when there are events at Javits, such as during comic con in a couple weeks. But otherwise, yeah, won’t be much demand for the station until buildings in its namesake development start opening up. So the low numbers are no cause for concern.

    Also, whenever any new form of transportation infrastructure opens up it is always underutilized at first because it takes time for people to figure out how to incorporate it into their travel patterns. This can take months and even years. So, two weeks in, there are still plenty of people who could be using the station but aren’t because they are still following their routines which were established before it opened.

    Reply
  3. alek

    The Hudson yards station also is very helpful for those people needing to get to the long distance buses on 11th/12th avenue. I got off from the megabus at 34th street and the Hudson yards station was a great saver. I didn’t have to lug my luggage for the long walk or wait for the M34. It shaved off 20 minutes of walking, lugging down on the stairs at Penn and then Times Square for the 7. 1 seat ride to Flushing Main St

    I agree about Javits Center events that it will be useful and helping to reduce the crowding on M34.

    Reply
    1. Kai B

      Yes. I was surprised how busy that quasi-open street bus terminal is. There were hundreds of people waiting during my most-recent visit last Saturday. I’m sure many didn’t even (yet) know that they can take the subway out there now.

      Reply
  4. Phantom

    I traveled through the new 7 station yesterday. It looks nice. A number of people, like me, were checking it out.

    Boy is that funicular elevator slow. A fellow passenger from Chile was amazed at how slow. Better to take the slower than they should be escalators.

    Reply
    1. Brooklynite

      I think the entire point is that they be slower than the escalators, so only people who actually need an elevator will use them. Otherwise they could get overcrowded.

      Reply
      1. Phantom

        B

        I doubt that is correct

        Both the escalators and the funicular are too slow, probably out of fear of the broken US liability lawsuit industry.

        But the escalator should normally be faster since it’s always there, unlike an elevator that you’re likely to wait for

        Reply
        1. tacony

          The “tour” of the station “with its achitect” posted on Curbed repeats the line that the incline elevator is intentionally slow “to mitigate joyriding and leave the elevators for people that need them.” That’s as close to an “official” statement that I’ve found.

          http://ny.curbed.com/archives/…..hitect.php

          I think it’s terrible to punish people who need elevators to prevent the able-bodied from using them too much. It implies that wheelchair users can’t possibly ever be in a hurry, but it sounds like typical MTA logic: screw customers to reduce their responsibilities. (Akin to the official response on adding “exit strategy”-style signage to stations: we have to keep information from our customers to prevent overcrowding!)

          Reply
          1. Phantom

            tacony

            I stand corrected

            Holy God, is the MTA run by a pack of idiots or what?

            Can you imagine any other world city where they intentionally make elevators run slow for a reason like that?

            Reply
            1. Nyland8

              There’s a double irony here. The fact that the elevator walls are clear glass makes riding them an “attraction” as, unlike in most elevators, you get to watch the ascent and descent through its tunnel. This means that the speed will not discourage people who want the experience, so many subway patrons who simply don’t have to are going to be riding it anyway.

              The evening I went down it, there were a pair of cops riding up the other side. They’d have made their trip quicker by not waiting for the elevator and grabbing the escalator, but they seemed fascinated by the cavern.

              If they black out the windows, it will very quickly become just like any other incredibly boring elevator ride used only by those who need it … after which they could speed it and reenter the world of sanity.

              Reply
  5. Nyland8

    I had the great delight/dismay to visit the new 7 Line station, and was just as impressed with the scale and scope of the work as I was disappointed with what was already quite obviously its inevitable march toward deterioration. As you ride down the escalators, you can already see the many rust spots on the perforated metalwork overhead, and all you can think about is what that will look like in a few short years.

    I noted that the exit was at the south end of the train, that it was east-facing, and wondered why the design would channel people into the middle of the block instead of toward the Javits Center, 11th Avenue and the High Line. This may give the station the distinction of being the only train stop in Manhattan whose entrances are in the middle of an East-West street, rather than on a corner. I wonder about the design judgements that led to this distinction.

    While above ground, I also noted that the park the station is built in is bisected by W. 34th Street, and what seems like another entrance is either being built, or being dismantled, near W. 35th Street, at what would be the north end of the train. But when I reentered the station later that night, I didn’t see the comparable archway at the north end of the mezzanine – which means that despite all the time that has passed since Bloomberg’s opening photo-op, this station is actually no where near complete.

    The illuminated fountains make the area seem inviting and well lit, but it’s obvious that once winter is upon us, and the fountains long shut down, that the frozen and vacant park will seem much less inviting, and perhaps even sinister, without so much as the presence of corner traffic to make it seem safer. So the overall impression of the new station is a curious balance of joy at its opening, dread at its long-term future, and wonder at the decisions that led to its ultimate design.

    Time will tell.

    Reply
    1. Brooklynite

      There is provision for the second entrance.
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzMFXg0mwQ8
      jump to 1:55.

      Reply
      1. Kai B

        It’s also on the station status screen in the station agent booth. There is no rush to open it with these numbers.

        Reply
    2. Riverduckexpress

      The station entrances open up toward a new street that runs through the park called Hudson Blvd. Though Hudson Blvd is not finished yet, so you may not have noticed it. If I had to guess the reason the entrances open up at Hudson Blvd and not 11 Av,with the Amtrak/LIRR/NJT tracks above the 7 line at 11 Av, the MTA probably found it easier to have the entrances lead to somewhere separate.

      Reply
  6. Kai B

    The MTA said the lower ridership may be due to an entrance being closed at the popular nearby High Line park. -amNY

    People also don’t know this station exist yet. It’s not in any tour guide maps yet, for example.

    Reply
    1. Chris C

      There is a bar I frequent when I visit NYC.

      They have a slash on their website stating that the station is open and it’s only a short walk to it – so easier to get to us and for you to get home in the early hours!

      Printed tour guides are notorious for having out of date information. Even the 2015 editions are generally printed in 2014 and so are immediately out of date.

      Reply
  7. Kai B

    Interesting article about the planned renovations of 7th Av on the F&G: https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20150922/park-slope/mta-park-slope-if-you-want-subway-elevators-find-15-million

    I thought we were done closing mezzanines, but I guess not…

    Reply
    1. Tower18

      “I’m sure the community would be up in arms if we kept the passageways open and we started to see a rash of crimes,” Inglesby said.

      Uh, okay but the mezzanine is open now. Has there been a rash of crime? No? Okay then. The only possible reason for this is that the mezzanine is relatively lightly used and they don’t want to clean/maintain it.

      Reply
  8. Victor

    It’s not true that no one lives there. Several large apartment towers as well as some row housing is currently in the area. There are also some offices in the area. Of course ridership will only be increasing once the area is fully developed.

    Reply
  9. JEG

    Anyone know what work the MTA is doing on the Lexington Avenue line between 42nd Street-Grand Central and 125th Street? Seems like every weekend service is being disrupted.

    Reply
  10. Alek

    103rd street station rehab.

    Reply
  11. Walter Daum

    Out of curiosity, what’s with indigestible designations like “Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall bound 6 trains”? Why not just “downtown 6 trains”?

    Reply
    1. tacony

      Over time it seems the MTA has started to slowly move away from using “downtown/uptown” designations. It’s really a relic of the original subway, which always used them, vs. international standards for metros around the world, which seem to list the destination with little regard for cardinal direction. Obviously Manhattan is unique in having a very clear uptown/downtown grid. I hate having to memorize the locations of the terminii to figure out which direction I need to travel on the DC metro. They could label them as “eastbound” or “westbound” where the train is moving in a clear general cardinal direction, but it seems they never do. Just incredibly long station names…

      Reply
      1. Tower18

        I’ve noticed this as well. In my experience, only the manually-announced IRT trains still reliably use “uptown/downtown” in their announcements. Everyone else uses the destination. I still think in Manhattan, uptown/downtown is easier, even for those unfamiliar. If I’m a tourist, who the hell knows or cares where New Lots is.

        Reply
        1. AMH

          Even the automated announcements indicate direction with “Bronx-bound”, “Brooklyn-bound”, “Manhattan-bound”, etc. until they arrive in the borough where the terminal is, at which point they use the exact destination. Definitely easier to remember that you need to take a “downtown 4 5 or 6” than a “Utica Av-bound 4, Flatbush Av-bound 5, or Brooklyn Bridge-bound 6” particularly as terminals change throughout the day.

          Reply
      2. Stephen

        A couple of years ago, I saw an alert for the #7 and it said that the uptown (or maybe it was the downtown) #7 was having a problem. I replied to the MTA asking for clarification since the #7 is basically an east / west traveling train. The answer is that all trains are noted with an uptown or downtown designation regardless of the compass direction. As noted, now the alerts indicate the terminal location.

        Reply
        1. AMH

          Interesting, I know that all trains (including the 7 and L) use railroad north/south designations (which I can understand), but I’ve never heard them referred to as uptown/downtown (which makes no sense).

          Reply
    2. Michael

      While directions such as “uptown and downtown” might be useful as direction guides in Manhattan, they also fail for Brooklyn and Queens. “Downtown Brooklyn” is the area closer to Manhattan and about Brooklyn Heights/Jay Street/Barclay Center sections. A train leaving from Coney Island headed to “downtown Brooklyn” is heading “north”, while a train from the Bronx headed to “downtown Manhattan” is traveling “south”. That could be very confusing to those new to NYC.

      In addition several subway lines travel in combinations of north, south, east and west on their way to downtown Manhattan. For example both the L-train, and the G-train lines would be very difficult to explain if limited to the words, “uptown” and “downtown”. Not everyone would just “know what you mean” when one attempts to simplify our very complicated transit systems.

      Often there is the tendency to assume that Manhattan is the destination for the huge majority of trips, and that trips outside of Manhattan simply do not matter. Such thinking leads to the idea that only Manhattan-based directions matter. While it is true that many work/shopping/learning/recreation and entertainment trips and activities take place in Manhattan, many trips also do not.

      NYC is a complicated place where it helps to have some idea just where one is traveling, and the alternative methods to get there. No one bit of information or method of presentation will solve every one’s needs, and there’s only so much information that can be given out at each moment. The conductor’s announcements are long enough.

      Mike

      Reply
  12. AMH

    The new C train cars say “via Delancey-Essex” when running via the F, which is nice.

    Reply

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