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7 Line Extension

Passing judgment on Hudson Yards years too soon

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on April 26, 2013

The lack of development around the 7 line in Queens shortly after it opened did not condemn the subway extension to failure.

In the annals of New York City history, the construction of subway lines has regularly spurred on the development and growth of the city. The elevateds brought people north in Manhattan, and the famous photo above shows Queens at the time the 7 line started to snake eastward. Development, though, can take years, but eventually, it will come. Patience is a virtue.

A recent study commissioned by City Council member Dan Garodnick and released this week by the city’s Independent Budget Office makes me think we’ve forgotten about patience. The study assesses the amount of money the city has so far received from Hudson Yards development against the amount it has invested in the project. With subway construction not yet completed, the city still rebounding from a deep recession and no completed development at the site, as you can imagine, the study found that, so far, taxpayers have invested far more than they’ve gotten out of it. Should we condemn the project? Throw in the towel? Not quite yet.

The report [pdf] is heavy on numbers as IBO reports are wont to be. Its origins grew out of the Bloomberg Administration’s plan to rezone Midtown East. Garodnick worried that such a rezoning would lead Midtown East to compete with the Hudson Yards for development opportunities and dollars. If the city had too much taxpayer money riding on Hudson Yards, Midtown East may not enjoy the same benefits until Hudson Yards becomes self-sufficient.

As astute observers may have already guessed, the report found that Hudson Yards has a long way to go before it repays the city expenditures and infrastructure investments. The short of it is that initial city estimates predicated $283 million in tax and fee revenues through 2012 but the total actually collected has hit just $170 million. The city is on the hook for the increased costs of the 7 line extension, and the IBO highlights the need to cut the key station at 41st St. and 10th Ave. Ultimately, TEPs, PILOT revenue and taxes will begin to increase, but the IBO doesn’t expect serious jumps in revenue until late this decade or early next when the high rises go up.

Garodnick didn’t have too much to say about the report, but he commented for a Wall Street Journal article on the study. “It’s clear that Hudson Yards is moving slower than anticipated.” he said. “The city is on the hook there, which is a point of concern as we consider other development issues”

But should it be? How can we pass judgment on a project that isn’t close to completion yet and in fact has barely passed the point of commencement? The subway doesn’t start running to the Hudson Yards for another 14 months, and buildings are starting to go up in the area albeit slowly. Were we in this much of a hurry to judge new development throughout the city’s past, extending the grid into what is now the Upper East and West Sides would have come under heavy criticism far too early in time to pass real judgment.

At this point, the city is still investing in development of the Far West Side. A collapse of the New York real estate market five years ago and a slower-than-expected recovery means that the city won’t recoup its costs quite as quickly, but in 15 years, we won’t even remember this discussion. The pace of work at Hudson Yards shouldn’t be a concern quite yet, and it shouldn’t slow down the Midtown East rezoning effort. While time may not be on the side of elected officials constantly running for office, the Hudson Yards area has all the time in the world, and it will one day meet those economic expectations.

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Second Avenue Subway

Judge threatens to sanction Yorkshire Towers attorney

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on April 25, 2013

When the residents of Yorkshire Towers again filed suit against the MTA a few weeks ago, I cast a skeptical eye on their actions. The suit was remarkably similar to one that had been dismissed a few years ago. Only this time, the fact pattern hit upon subsequent meetings, and the provisions cited in the filing were from a different subparagraph of the law in question. The federal judge hearing the case is not amused by the similarities.

As Law360.com’s Richard Vanderford reported today (subscription only), U.S. District Judge Jesse M. Furman has threatened Joseph Ceccarelli, the residents’ attorney, with sanctions for potentially filing a “totally frivolous” lawsuit. Vanderford wrote:

Ceccarelli, who represents tenants, says the entrance has not gone through the proper environmental approval process. Another federal judge, U.S. District Judge Thomas Griesa, threw out similar claims in late 2011. Ceccarelli sued again in March, checking off a box on the cover page that said that he had never filed a similar suit, which meant the new case went to a new judge. Judge Furman said similar cases are supposed to go to the same judge, to prevent judge shopping.

“I am seriously contemplating the imposition of sanctions here on the grounds that the answer to that question was just false,” Judge Furman said. “Can you look at me in the eye and say this is not similar to the case filed before Judge Griesa?”

Ceccarelli said the new suit differed because his claim was based on a different subparagraph of the environmental law at issue.

Wednesday’s hearing was supposed to be about whether the judge would issue a court order blocking construction from going forward, but Judge Furman said he would consider the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s request to throw out the suit before handling any injunction request. If Ceccarelli loses again and the case is dismissed, the sanctions process will start and Ceccarelli will have to explain why he does not deserve that penalty, the judge said. “We don’t have to get there yet,” the judge said. “I’m just warning you that’s coming down the pike if I grant the motion.”

Sanctions would be a fitting end for this saga as Yorkshire Towers has now twice tried to stop subway construction over concerns surrounding their curb-cut driveway that fronts East 86th Street. It’s a direct NIMBY attack on a transit benefit that will provide great benefits to the neighborhood, and the second suit, coming two years after the first was dismissed, should be found of no merit.

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Subway Cell Service

WiFi, cell services comes to 30 more stations as Verizon, Sprint hop aboard

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on April 25, 2013

These 36 stations are now fully equipped with cell and WiFi service. (Photo via Second Ave. Sagas on Instagram)

Services from all four major cell phone carriers will soon be available underground, and 30 new stations are now cell and WiFi equipped, Transit Wireless and the MTA announced today. With this unveiling, a total of 36 underground subway stations are now wired, and another 40 will join them by the end of the first quarter in 2014.

During a press conference this morning at Times Square — one of the newly equipped stations — and in a subsequent press release, agency and cell provider officials stressed how this wireless access can be a boost to subway safety and help New Yorkers remain plugged in while on the go. “This goes beyond providing cell service underground. It brings our customers a new level of security –with the ability to dial 911 in an emergency,” said Governor Cuomo. “Customers now know that when they see something, they can now say something using their device to call 911. And now with all the major carriers on board, the vast majority of MTA customers will have the ability to do so.”

Echoing an AT&T official who noted “tremendous demand for wireless services underground,” the CEO of Transit Wireless touted the technological advances as well. “The New York City subway system is one of the most heavily trafficked systems in the world and now riders have wireless service,” William A. Bayne Jr. said. “This network benefits not only riders, but city workers and first responders, and it will be the backbone for future technology and safety improvements to the city’s subway stations.”

For a few years now, AT&T and T-Mobile had been available at the Phase 1 stations, but today, Verizon and Sprint announced that they too would be offering cellular LTE service underground at all 36 stations currently equipped. Furthermore, Boingo, a public WiFi provider, revealed its free, ad-supporter network as well. HTC is the current sponsor, and WiFi Internet access is now free following a 15-second video ad. For smartphone and tablet users waiting for a train, the digital connection is a welcome distraction.

For now, the full list of stations — shown above — all focus around Midtown, but that will change over the next year. The Phase 3 rollout, which will wrap by the end of the first quarter of 2014, will include Grand Central, Bryant Park, Herald Square, Flushing-Main St. and numerous other Queens stations. MTA Executive Director Tom Prendergast explained that the roll-out had been chosen based on both passenger volume and ease of installation, and the 36 stations currently with service see an average of 7 million riders per year.

During the press conference, Transit Wireless and MTA officials stressed the costs as well. Transit Wireless is picking up the full cost of installation, estimated between $200-$250 million, and the MTA is paying nothing. In fact, the agency will realize increased revenue through a split of the occupancy fees paid by the wireless carriers and sublicense fees. The MTA estimates around $3.3 million annually once all 277 underground stations are wired.

After the jump, a full list of all stations currently with cellular and wireless Internet service.

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MTA Economics

Debating what to do with that extra $40 million

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on April 25, 2013

Toward the end of March, with a general increase in state tax revenue and a slightly rosier financial picture emerging, the MTA revealed a surplus of $40 million that would make its way into the perennially strained budget. Since then, everyone and their mothers has tried to lay claim to these dollars, but the MTA is playing coy. The agency hasn’t determined how to spend or who gets it, and the race is on for the big bucks.

The money itself comes from Andrew Cuomo’s budget. Despite the obvious lessons of Superstorm Sandy, our car-lovin’ governor hasn’t quite seen the transit light yet. Rather, as the overall state economy picks up, there are more dollars to go around, and the MTA will get to benefit. That said, when Cuomo announced the new funding, he called upon the MTA to better serve as the “circulatory system” for the region’s economy. How best to accomplish that is the latest debate.

The loudest calls have been for more service. Over the weekend, the Riders Alliance (of which I’m a board member) held a rally with various MTA Board Members and local politicians urging the agency to reinvest in long lost services. Restoring lost buses, reducing off-peak subway headways and expanding the CityTicket were all on the agenda. “Any budget surplus should and must go toward restoring and improving the transit services on which our city relies — especially in the wake of yet another fare increase,” State Senator Daniel Squadron said.

Others echoed this call. “The MTA must realize that now more than ever the loss of service continues to impact our community and the MTA must do everything it can to restore and expand service for riders who all depend on it,” Assembly representative Nily Rozic, a rising star from Eastern Queens, said.

At various MTA Board and Committee meetings this week, Board members, especially those from Staten Island, argued to use the money to restore services lost in the 2010 cuts. Increasing bus service would be a big help to the city, and reducing subway headways is seemingly a no-brainer. The MTA though remained non-committal, and others have called for the money.

On the labor front, TWU President John Samuelsen has called upon the MTA to use the money to up his union members’ wages. At the Board meeting yesterday, Tom Prendergast, future Chairman and CEO, discussed using the dollars to steep avoid a 2015 fare hike. No one, meanwhile, has mentioned applying the money to the MTA’s crushing debt load and paying off some loans ahead of schedule. In a sane fiscal world, that’s likely the wisest solution and the one that would help the MTA and its riders most in the long run.

But we live in the here and now, and New Yorkers, still adjusting to the new MetroCard prices, want more bang for their bucks. Service should be increased, and the $40 million could go a long way. “I’ve asked the staff of all the agencies to look at service proposals in terms of either restoration of services or enhancement of new services,” Prendergast said yesterday. In July, the MTA must release its annual budget, and we’ll know then how we all will enjoy the fruits of an additional $40 million in spoils. My money is on increased service, and that’s OK.

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MTA Economics

Is the MTA CEO paid enough?

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on April 24, 2013

While overseeing an annual budget of $13 billion and employments rolls in the tens of thousands, the MTA CEO and Chairman earns $350,000 a year and a housing bonus, but by many accounts — particularly that of the TWU — that compensation is far more than he deserves. Even though a mid-six-figure salary sounds good, there’s an argument to ebe made that New York State is under-compensating the MTA head, and that’s just what Josh Barro put forth on Bloomberg News yesterday.

As Barro argues, we as a society should be willing to pay top government officials far more than we do, in part in order to entice them to stick around and in part in order to entice them to do a good job. As he notes, in the private realm, someone tasked with leading a $13 billion organization would be compensated much better than the MTA head is, and as we saw with Jay Walder, when the right opportunity — notably at triple the salary — comes around, jumping ship is on the table. As Barro argues of recent MTA departures:

Unlike presidents and governors, it’s hard to say that MTA executives are compensated in prestige: As Lhota’s poll numbers make clear, the public generally doesn’t know who runs the MTA, and if they do, they’re predisposed to think he’s doing a bad job. So Walder left for a job that … pays more and Lhota to seek one that would bring greater non-monetary benefits…

Voters expect a lot from top public officials. We want them to be talented managers who run the government well. We want them to stay in their jobs long enough to see projects to completion. We want them not to be corrupt. And we want them to work for a lot less than they could make elsewhere. Dropping the last goal would make it easier to achieve the first three, which is a reason to give Prendergast a big raise.

Over the last few years, we’ve tried to figure out how to get transit executives to stay in place for longer than a year or two. Absent employment restrictions in contracts — which aren’t legally permissible — a higher salary may be the only way to go. It’s a tough argument for the public to swallow, but how else can we retain top talent anyway?

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International SubwaysMBTA

Naming rights again rear their less-than-lucrative heads

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on April 24, 2013

Even with a corporate name, the intricate Atlantic Ave. tiling remains on the Brooklyn station’s walls. (Photo via Second Ave. Sagas on Instagram)

As my Brighton Beach-bound B train departed DeKalb Avenue last night, the conductor mangled the next stop. “Barclays Center, Atlantic-Pacific,” he said, promoting the corporate sponsorship while restoring the station complex’s former name to what many consider it to be the rightful position. I chuckled at the name and realized that $200,000 a year doesn’t go that far. It is but a drop in the bucket as far as the MTA’s bottom line is concerned, and yet it seems to represent the pinnacle of subway corporate sponsorship in New York City.

Now, in this age of transit austerity, naming rights and creative corporate partnerships seem to be the ideas that just won’t die. Every now and then some state legislature is urging his or her local transit agency to go out and find some corporate sponsors. They wonder how hard it can really be. After all, sports teams and non-profits do this all the time.

If only life and the advertising industry were that easy. Transit agencies though do not carry positive connotations as sports stadiums do. People scorn the subways and look down upon the MTA. Thus, transit naming rights are a delicate matter for any corporation, and the executives in charge know it. Barclays was willing to pony up the bucks because the arena is a destination atop the old Atlantic Ave./Pacific St. station. For everyone else, the equation tilts toward no investment.

That said, the effort to secure these dollars goes ever onward. Yesterday, the Madrid Metro announced a three-year, €3 million deal to rename an entire subway line for Vodafone, the European cell phone carrier. As part of the agreement, all signs and maps in the system’s 272 stations and 2311 cars will include the Vodafone logo along with the Line 2 and Sol station names. Recorded announcements will include the name, and Vodafone will earn some display advertising rights in stations as well.

For Madrid, this figure represents a 10 percent bump in advertising income, but it’s a modest amount at best. In U.S. dollars, the investment is $1.3 million a year for an entire line that sees 122,000 passengers a day. Still, Ignacio González, president of the Community of Madrid, boasted of the deal, “Naming rights are an enormous source of income for the metro. We have another 11 lines and many more stations to offer.” Enormous is all relative.

Closer to home, the Massachusetts Senate wants the MBTA to sell station naming rights, and these politicians seem to think they can out-do Madrid. Their off-the-cuff estimates believe the MBTA can generate $20 million in revenue. It’s unclear over what time period the MBTA would realize should revenue, but this isn’t the first time Massachusetts has pondered such an arrangement. So far, though, no naming rights deals have materialized in Boston, but the politicians press on, undeterred by the fiscal reality.

The promise of naming rights revenue, I’ve long maintained, is a false one that allows politicians to shirk on their responsibilities to transit agencies. Instead of finding long-term, sustainable funding sources, politicians point fingers at transit agencies that simply cannot sell undesirable or less-than-lucrative naming rights to their transit assets. Thus, transit systems do not get paid, and transit agencies do not enjoy progressive policies or true investments. Madrid’s $3.9-million, three-year deal should be a warning: The money for transformative transit investments won’t be found in naming rights, and the sooner politicians who control the purse strings come to grips with that reality, the better off the transit riding public will be.

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MTA Technology

Coming Soon: MTA App Quest 2013

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on April 23, 2013

It is to the MTA’s credit that the agency has been very generous with their data while not releasing too many of their own apps. As the clunky Subway Time interface without momentum scrolling shows, in-house app design is hardly an agency specialty. But with the data and BusTime and Subway Time APIs out there for public consumption, plenty of other developers can pick up the slack, and for the second year in a row, the MTA is attaching a monetary reward to those who design the best apps.

The MTA’s second App Quest competition will kick off May 4 with a weekend-long hackathon. Sponsored by AT&T, the contest features two prizes: a $10,000 award for the best app to emerge from the weekend session and a $40,000 reward for the winner of the long-term challenge. As a prompt, the MTA is seeking apps with some of the following criteria:

  • Provide transit visualizations of timetables, service alerts, real-time feeds, and information about capital projects, operations and other vital MTA programs
  • Augment in-station way-finding, particularly for people with disabilities
  • Integrate MTA services into other application workflows (calendars, e-mail programs, etc.)
  • Illuminate, score and personalize the carbon-footprint reductions gained by using buses, subways, regional rail and combinations of those modes
  • Leverage the increasing availability of cellular phone service on the MTA network to create data-driven models of train and bus performance and customer flow
  • Are creative, functional, and engaging

Already, over 250 developers have signed up, and the event’s organizers are happy with the early turn-out. “The response we have seen from New York City’s tech community to create the next generation of transit apps has been overwhelming,” Marissa Shorenstein, the president of AT&T New York, said. “We can’t wait to see how participants envision riders using their mobile devices to improve their daily commute.”

At the least, New Yorkers are likely to gain access to a wide array of useful transit apps. This is how a transit agency in 2013 should use its open data feeds.

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Capital Program 2015-2019MTA Politics

Without champions, what future capital expansion?

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on April 23, 2013

Over the past few weeks, as I’ve looked ahead to a new MTA Chair, a new Mayor of New York City and a new future for the MTA’s capital programs, I’ve often mentioned the need for a champion for each ongoing expansion project. The current slate of capital programs all had their vocal and forceful proponents, but right now we’re not seeing too many voices for transit expansion. What happens then when those voices fall silent?

During the current age of MTA expansion, each capital project has come with a powerful funding partner. The new South Ferry, currently in post-Sandy limbo, came about due to the largesse of the federal government. It was a post-9/11 recovery project that allowed the MTA to expand and straighten a platform that served as both a tourist connection to Battery Park and a lifeline to the subway for Staten Island ferry riders. It wasn’t absolutely necessary, but the money was essentially free.

Elsewhere, we’ve seen similar stories with a varying group of supporters. The East Side Access — arguably the least bang for the city’s buck — had then-Senator Alfonse D’Amato pushing for it until he was blue in the face. He eventually secured considerable federal funding and, of course, a 20-year construction and planning timeline. We could debate the merits of that one forever.

More immediately, the two ongoing subway extension projects have local boosters. Mayor Michael Bloomberg incorporated the 7 line extension into his grand plan to attract the 2012 Olympics to New York City. When that bid fell through, he maintained some of the subway plan in order to bring development to the Far West Side, Manhattan’s so-called Final Frontier. It is, in essence, his lasting gift to the isle of Manhattan. For the Second Ave. Subway, New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver served as cheerleader-in-chief.

In each case, New Yorkers — taxpayers — are paying a lot and not getting enough for their dollars. The MTA’s construction costs remain higher than just about any other transit agency or country throughout the world. But still, these projects march on because some politician or another wanted them at the right moment in time. The MTA has conducted the environmental impact studies and bid out the actual work, but the politicians have led the charge.

We’re quickly reaching a point in city history where these efforts will wrap and nothing will take its place. Christine Quinn, as Nicole Gelinas noted, had no grand expansion plans despite her call for mayoral control of the MTA. John Liu may not know what a subway is; Bill de Blasio wants more and more federal money; and Sal Albanese, a long-shot candidate with the best transportation plan around, has yet to call for any specific expansion project. Meanwhile, in Albany, Silver hasn’t made any noise about future Second Ave. Subway phases, and the Governor is more concerned with realizing the Tappan Zee Bridge boondoggle than with any transportation projects that would improve interconnectedness to and throughout New York City.

Now, subway expansion failures are not for lack of trying. The MTA and RPA have pushed the Triboro RX plan on and off for nearly two decades (though more on than off), and Diane Savino seems to think she can get a Staten Island subway just by throwing a fit about it. Meanwhile, Bloomberg wants his 7 train to Secaucus but time is fast running out on his term. Other ideas — a Rockaway Beach Branch line reactivation, a Nostrand Ave. extension, future Second Ave. phases — are out there awaiting a movement.

But no one is taking this bull by the horns, and until someone does, we’ll be left with nothing. Over the next year, the MTA will request funding for its next five-year capital plan, and it might just be the least ambitious one yet with a focus instead on behind-the-scenes maintenance and upgrades. Without a champion or a voice in Albany, City Hall or D.C., the subway system will remain as it is once Phase 1 of the Second Ave. subway opens, and New Yorkers will be left wanting someone to raise a stink about it.

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View from Underground

Gearing up for the RPA’s new long-term look ahead

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on April 22, 2013

The RPA’s Third Regional Plan featured a call for the Triboro RX line that the MTA presented in 2008.

In 1996, the RPA published its Third Regional Plan, and it became the report that launched a thousand fantasy maps. In that massive tome arguing for more transportation investment for the city and region, the RPA set forth the Triboro RX plan. Embraced by then-MTA Executive Director Lee Sander in his 2008 State of the MTA address, this circumferential subway line would utilize preexisting track and right-of-way to connect through outer portions of Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx. It hasn’t, obviously, come to pass.

The Triboro RX’s existence as a fantasy subway line rather than reality isn’t for lack of trying. The MTA knows the plans are out there, as do transit advocates, amateur cartographers and research institutions. But there’s no political champion, and without a political champion, nothing will happen. The 7 line extension will see the light of day because Mayor Bloomberg lined up financing, and the Second Ave. Subway is well on its way to some sort of completion due to a bond vote and guaranteed money from Chuck Schumer and the feds. No such effort materialized in the aftermath of the Third Regional Plan.

Stil, thinking big and thinking long term are two key elements of sustaining and encouraging growth in New York City. Although the next MTA five-year capital plan is likely to be short on expansion efforts and long on systems maintenance and modernization, New York must keep looking long. Sander hoped to see the Triboro RX realized within 40 years, and it could still happen.

Meanwhile, the RPA announced on Friday a fourth regional plan. With a focus on both the overall economy and climate change and the impact shifting weather patterns and ocean levels will have on the region, the RPA will study “growth and sustainability” in New York. Here’s how the Regional Plan Associate describes this effort:

The Fourth Regional Plan for the greater New York region will examine our most pressing challenges, including climate change, fiscal uncertainty and declining economic opportunity for too many residents of the region. The plan will propose policies and investments to ensure our prosperity and quality of life for the coming decades…

RPA believes that the metropolitan region has reached another critical juncture. On the one hand, we have made tremendous advances in the last 20 years. Instead of fleeing our urban areas, residents and businesses are flocking to city centers. Crime has dropped dramatically throughout the region, and we are making key investments in infrastructure after decades of neglect. Abandoned industrial waterfronts have been turned into thriving parks, and threatened open spaces have been preserved.

Yet there is much that threatens our progress. Despite our efforts to curb pollution, we haven’t done nearly enough to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions and address the risk posed by climate change. A growing number of the region’s residents can’t find housing they can afford, and many are struggling under growing financial pressure. Much of our infrastructure is deteriorating, and increasingly we lag behind our global peers in implementing new ideas and technology. Our public institutions, plagued by high levels of debt and outdated structures, often fail to address our most pressing long-term needs.

In praising the effort, Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy hit the nail on the head. “A strong economic future requires us to make smart decisions now – to connect transportation, commerce, and housing with an eye on affordability, sustainability and livability,” he said. Those three factors needs to be more closely integrated in major planning efforts in New York City and in the surrounding region.

We don’t yet know plans and proposals will emerge from the Fourth Regional Plan, but it should be grand. The MTA, by virtue of its budgetary constraints, won’t be thinking grand, and politicians can’t see past their own reelection campaigns these days. Maybe something inspiring will come out of the RPA’s efforts. The challenge after that, though, is realizing this dream. After all, Triboro RX is no closer to reality today than it was 17 years ago.

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Service Advisories

A FASTRACK and weekend work on 12 other lines

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on April 19, 2013
The first weekend FASTRACK impacts Coney Island service.

The first weekend FASTRACK impacts Coney Island service.

The latest FASTRACK treatment arrives on a weekend this time around. By shutting down service near Coney Island, the MTA can blitz the area before summer. Here are the details:


From 5:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., Saturday, April 20 and Sunday, April 21, there is no service between Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue and Bay Parkway on the D and between Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue and 86th Street on the N due to weekend FASTRACK inspection, testing and maintenance of signal equipment. Customers may use the F or Q trains instead.

D customers may use:

  • B64 bus at Stillwell Avenue and Bay 50th Street/Harway Avenue
  • B82 bus at Bay Parkway
  • B1 at 25th Avenue

N customers may use B1 and B4 buses:

  • to Avenue X for F train service
  • to Ocean Parkway or Sheepshead Bay for Q train service

And here’s everything else. With Smith/9th Sts. set to reopen next Friday, the F and G have quite a few changes this weekend.


From 9:45 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, April 20, downtown (South Ferry-bound) 1 trains skip 238th Street due to staircase repair at 238th Street.


From 11:45 p.m. Friday, April 19 to 6:30 a.m. Saturday, April 20, and from 11:45 p.m. Saturday, April 20 to 6:30 a.m. Sunday, April 21 and from 11:45 p.m. Sunday, April 21 to 5 a.m. Monday, April 22, uptown 4 trains run express from 14th Street-Union Square to Grand Central-42nd Street due to tie block renewal at 14th Street-Union Square.


From 11:45 p.m. Friday, April 19 to 6:30 a.m. Saturday, April 20, and from 11:45 p.m. Saturday, April 20 to 6:30 a.m. Sunday, April 21 and from 11:45 p.m. Sunday, April 21 to 5 a.m. Monday, April 22, downtown 4 trains run express from 125th Street to Grand Central-42nd Street due to tie block work near 96th Street and 103rd Street.


From 11:45 p.m. Friday, April 19 to 5 a.m. Monday, April 22, downtown 6 trains run express from 125th Street to Grand Central-42nd Street due to tie block work near 96th Street and 103rd Street.


From 11:45 p.m. Friday, April 19 to 5 a.m. Monday, April 22, uptown 6 trains run express from 14th Street-Union Square to Grand Central-42nd Street due to tie block renewal at 14th Street-Union Square.


From 7:45 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday, April 20 and Sunday, April 21, downtown (Manhattan-bound) 6 trains run express from Parkchester to Hunts Point Avenue due to rail repair south of Parkchester.


From 11:45 p.m. Friday, April 19 to 5 a.m. Monday, April 22, there is no A train service between 168th Street and 207th Street due to station painting at 175th Street. A service operates between 168th Street and Lefferts Blvd and between 168th Street and Howard Beach-JFK Airport. Free shuttle buses operate in two segments:

  • Between 168th Street and 207th Street, making stops on Broadway at 175th, 181st , 190th and Dyckman Street
  • Between 168th Street and 190th Street, making stops on Fort Washington Avenue at 175th Street and 181st Street only


From 11:15 p.m. Friday, April 19 to 5 a.m. Monday, April 22, Manhattan-bound A trains run express from Euclid Avenue to Broadway Junction due to tie block renewal at Euclid Avenue.


From 6:30 a.m. to 11 p.m., Saturday, April 20 and Sunday, April 21, there are no C trains between 145th Street and 168th Street due to station painting at 175th Street. Customers should take the A instead. A trains run local between 145th Street and 168th Street.


From 6:30 a.m. to 11 p.m., Saturday, April 20 and Sunday, April 21, uptown trains run express from Canal Street to 59th Street due to cable work north of Jay Street-MetroTech.


From 6:30 a.m. to 11 p.m., Saturday, April 20 and Sunday, April 21, Manhattan-bound C trains run express from Euclid Avenue to Broadway Junction due to tie block renewal at Euclid Avenue.


From 12:30 a.m. Saturday, April 20 to 5 a.m. Monday, April 22, Jamaica Center-bound E trains run local from Roosevelt Avenue to Forest Hills-71st Avenue due to ADA work at Forest Hills-71st Avenue.


From 11:45 p.m. Friday, April 19 to 5 a.m. Monday, April 22, Jamaica-bound F trains are rerouted via the A line from Jay Street-MetroTech to West 4th Street due to cable work north of Jay Street-MetroTech.


From 12:30 a.m. Saturday, April 20 to 5 a.m. Monday, April 22, Jamaica-bound F trains run local from Roosevelt Avenue to Forest Hills-71st Avenue due to ADA work at Forest Hills-71st Avenue.


From 11:45 p.m. Friday, April 19 to 5 a.m. Monday, April 22, Coney Island-bound F trains skip 4th Avenue-9th Street, 15th Street-Prospect Park and Fort Hamilton Parkway due to signal work south of 4th Avenue-9th Street.


From 11:45 p.m. Friday, April 19 to 5 a.m. Monday, April 22, Church Avenue-bound G trains skip 4th Avenue-9th Street, 15th Street-Prospect Park and Fort Hamilton Parkway due to signal work south of 4th Avenue-9th Street.


From 5 a.m. to 11:59 p.m., Saturday, April 20 and Sunday, April 22, the last stop for some G trains headed toward Court Square is Bedford-Nostrand Avs due to asbestos abatement north of Nassau Avenue (runs every 20 minutes).


From 5:30 a.m. Saturday, April 20 to 10 p.m. Sunday, April 21, there is no J train service between Crescent Street and Jamaica Center due to structural rehabilitation between Cypress Hills and 130th Street. J service operates between Chambers Street and Crescent Street. Free shuttle buses operate between Crescent Street and 121st Street and connect with the E at Jamaica-Van Wyck, where service to and from Sutphin Blvd and Jamaica Center is available.


From 11:45 p.m. Friday, April 19 to 5 a.m. Monday, April 22, M service is suspended due to station renewal projects between Fresh Pond Road and Central Avenue. Free shuttle buses operate between Metropolitan and Myrtle Avenues, making all station stops. (Also note that until August 2013, M trains will bypass Central Avenue in both directions due to station rehabilitation work at Central Avenue.)


From 10:45 p.m. Friday, April 19 to 5 a.m. Monday, April 22, Manhattan-bound Q trains run express from Kings Highway to Prospect Park due to NYC DOT work south of Parkside Avenue station.

(Franklin Avenue Shuttle)
From 11:45 p.m. Friday, April 19 to 5 a.m. Monday, April 22, the Franklin Avenue Shuttle is suspended due to track work between Park Place and Franklin Avenue. Free shuttle buses provide alternate service making station stops at Franklin Avenue, Park Place, Botanic Garden and Prospect Park.

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