MTA Politics

Drilling down on Bloomberg’s transit record

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on October 28, 2009

BloombergHeadshot Unintentionally, it’s turned into Mayor Bloomberg Day here on SAS. This morning, I examined Bloomberg’s claims about the 7 line extension and questioned whether or not this project represents a needed expansion and a good use of dollars. This afternoon, let’s look at this overall transit record.

Yesterday, Graham Beck of the Gotham Gazette offered up his take on Bloomberg’s transportation record. Generally, says Beck, Bloomberg has a strong transportation record for pedestrians and bicyclists. His Department of Transportation under Janette Sadik-Kahn has reclaimed public spaces and streets for pedestrians, and he has put a strong emphasis on making New York City more bike-friendly. Although congestion pricing failed, non-auto modes account for all of the transportation growth in the city, and New York, a walker’s heaven, is far more friendly to pedestrians than it has been since the advent of the automobile.

Yet, Bloomberg’s record on the MTA is far from stellar. In fact, as Beck says, the MTA’s financial straits have come about “at least in part because of funding choices made by the mayor.” The most visible public transportation moment of Bloomberg’s first eight years came in 2005 when the city faced a transit workers strike. As Beck reports, “Fifty-one percent [of city residents] said his handling of the situation was not so good or poor, while 45 percent said it was great or good.”

Although Bloomberg controls just four of the 17 seats on the MTA Board and four of its 13 votes, his record on public transit is decided mixed. Beck’s overall analysis of Bloomberg’s direct contributions to the MTA bears repeating:

During [the] long-gone good years, Bloomberg cut the city’s contribution to the MTA. It is now about $60 million a year, or just 1 percent of the authority’s capital budget. Previously, the city’s contribution equaled about 10 percent of the MTA’s capital budget. The cut has inspired some advocates, like John Petro of the Drum Major Institute, to claim that Bloomberg is “shortchanging mass transit” and others like Veronica Vanterpool of the Tri-State Transportation Campaign to call for the city to increase its aid to the MTA.

Certainly, Bloomberg has campaigned as though the decrease hadn’t happened. In August he released Moving NYC, a populist, voter-friendly, MTA-dependant transit platform that suggests a slew of new proposals, like free cross-town buses, that are either inspired ideas or empty promises.

If the voters re-elect Bloomberg in November, we’ll have four more years to find out if he is really the MetroCard Mayor or merely another politician in a big black SUV.

Bloomberg is basing much of his campaign on that Moving NYC proposal, and I’ve already questioned the originality of his place. He is basically repacking ideas that are already out there and supported by transit advocates as a campaign proposal. Many of the ideas — such as the F express plan — are already on the MTA’s “to do” list, and others require something — money — with which the mayor has been seemingly loathe to provide the MTA.

That, as Beck notes, is the rub. If Bloomberg is serious about transit, if he wants to be that MetroCard Mayor, he will find a way to deliver the bucks to the MTA. If not, then he is all talk and little action, concerned more with a 7 line extension that benefits his real estate developer plans than any true overhaul that improves transit in New York City. Only time will tell.

Tomorrow, we’ll talk a look at William Thompson, currently comptroller and Democratic mayoral hopeful, and his plan for transit. Although it is not nearly as extensive as Bloomberg’s, he too is putting transportation reform on his agenda.

13 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
7 Line Extension

Fact-checking Bloomberg on the 7 line extension

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on October 28, 2009

As the city gears up to vote in next week’s mayoral election, Michael Bloomberg has hit the campaign trail hard. He’s spending his billions and touting his record in search of a third term made possible, of course, by some underhanded term limit dealings.

On Monday, Bloomberg’s five-borough tour took him to NYU where he delivered a speech envisioning 2013, the supposed end of what would be his then-12-year turn as head of the city. During the speech, he spoke briefly about the 7 line extension, a subway line to nowhere and Bloomberg’s favorite MTA pet project. His excerpt on this city-funded extension was brief:

And Queens residents who work at the Javits Center, or elsewhere on the Far West Side, will begin riding the Number 7 Train past Times Square to 11th Avenue and down to 34th Street.

It’s the first new subway track the City has built in more than four decades – and we’re on schedule to complete it on time and on budget in 2013.

With an assist from the history of the New York City subway system and the Citizens Budget Commission, let’s fact-check the mayor. We start with a history lesson. Although the 7 line extension may be the first Manhattan-based subway expansion in decades, another line in Queens is less than four decades old. In 1975, the city began work on the Archer Ave. extension, a remnant of the Second System. Although work was slowed due to a lack of funds, that line opened in 1988.

Technically, the mayor is correct in saying that the 7 line extension is the first new subway track the City has built in more than four decades, but the 7 line isn’t the first new subway extension in that time. In 1988, the Archer Ave. Line, a remnant of the famous Second System, opened, and work on that subway extension had started in the 1970s and continued through the 1980s. The line itself opened in 1988.

One year later, the MTA completed work on a Tunnel to Nowhere. In 1989, the 63rd St. tunnel opened. At the time, it connected the East Side with, well, nowhere. The 6th Ave. line extended north past 57th St. to 63rd St. and Lexington and then under the East River with a stop at Roosevelt Island and then a terminus at 21st St./Queensbridge. Until 2001, when a connector to the IND Queens Boulevard line finally opened, this stump sat but 1500 feet away from the bustling Queens plaza. All of those projects have happened in the time during which Bloomberg claimed the city did not construct any new subway tracks.

And now we turn to the CBC’s report on the state of MTA construction. The report devotes three paragraphs to the 7 line extension, and it reminds us that the tunnel was to be completed in September 2012 with the new station operational by June 2013. Although the tunnel should still be finished by September 2012, the MTA estimates an on-time completion date for the entire project of November 2014.

Furthermore, the city reneged on its promise to fund a station — or even a shell of a station — at 41st and 10th Ave. As it stands, the 7 line extension will run from Times Square, through a neighborhood badly in need of a train stop to 34th St. and 11th Ave. to find only a run-down convention center and a train yard that may one day be developed into a mixed-use property. It truly is the new Subway to Nowhere.

Bloomberg can tout his transit record all he wants. When the best part of his opponent Bill Thompson’s transit plan is a promise to “object when when the MTA tries to cut service,” it’s clear that Bloomberg is running against someone unprepared for the job. But that doesn’t mean we should give our incumbent a free pass. The 7 line extension is not the only new subway in four decades; it isn’t on time; and it isn’t as originally promised. It’s arguably a bad use of money, and it will result in a subway line with few passengers that won’t alleviate overcrowding at a time when trains stuffed to the gills dominate the system.

28 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
AsidesNew York City Transit

Under new metric, Transit finds more trains late

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on October 27, 2009

In an effort to improve its internal metrics, New York City Transit recently reevaluated the way it judges on-time train performance. Now that the agency is counting delays brought about by service changes or construction and maintenance disruptions, the numbers look ugly. According to a report released today, Transit’s on-time rate has plummeted to 50 percent on the weekends and 75 percent during the week. “I actually have a couple of horror stories here with respect to the different lines that have particularly low absolute on-time performance,” NYC Transit President Howard Roberts said, referring to the 1 line which had been slowed due to the ceiling collapse at 181st St.

While I understand the need to measure on-time train performance, I have to wonder if this is the right metric. New Yorkers don’t really expect subway trains to run “on time” because the schedules, while available, are rarely used and aren’t considered gospel. The better indication of on-time performance involves train wait times. If I just miss a B train during the day, I expect to wait 8-10 minutes for the next one. If I’m waiting longer than that — no matter what time the schedule comes — I consider the next train to be late. I also come prepared for longer headways on the weekends considering the extent of the service changes. My approach, though, is simple: If the trains run on time, great; just don’t make me wait longer than I ought to for the next one.

2 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
MTA Economics

Walder vows to end cost overruns, but at what price?

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on October 27, 2009

For the last few weeks, Jay Walder has been preaching responsible investment and an increased attention toward improving surface transit. He knows that the agency he heads has long been plagued by an inability to manage its capital projects, and a CBC report issued last week confirmed a history of cost overruns and missed deadlines.

Today, in a short piece in The Post, Walder talks about his new approach toward cost overruns: They will not be tolerated. The first thing to go is a $2 million overrun for a public plaza at South Ferry. Tom Namako reports:

Hands off straphangers’ wallets! That was the message new MTA chief Jay Walder had for agency and city officials yesterday when he vetoed any move to spend an additional $2 million in cost overruns at the new South Ferry station.

Walder said he would rather scale down the last part of the project — an outdoor plaza connecting Staten Island Ferry service to the subway station — than lay out any more dough. “If we need to reduce the scope to stay within the budget, then we should reduce the scope to stay within the budget. But there is no more money,” Walder told the MTA’s head of construction at a public meeting.

Allan Cappelli, one of the board members from Staten Island, worried that ferry riders would be stranded “out in the rain.” That seems to be a bit of a stretch. But as Walder threatened to downsize other costly projects, I have to wonder if this is the right approach.

Currently, the MTA is facing capital funding gaps in the billions of dollars. The agency is facing cost overruns of the same magnitude along Second Ave. and at Fulton St. Does skimping on a public plaza for a mere fraction of the savings make sense?

The MTA needs to take a good hard look at the funding for its major billion-dollar projects and figure out ways to save. It makes sense to put forward a consistent approach to cost overruns, and for that, $2 million will be cut from the South Ferry project. This is but small beans compared to the MTA’s true fiscal problems.

15 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Subway Advertising

Not finding much of anything in subway ads

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on October 27, 2009

AtheistAd Let’s talk for a minute about God. Or maybe I should say: Let’s talk for a minute about those who don’t believe God, a god, any gods exist. Now, I’m not going to get all religious on you, but a recent advertisement in the subways has raised the ire of, well, anyone religious who does not respond well to people with beliefs that may differ from their own.

The brouhaha over the ad at right started last week when Jennifer 8. Lee of The Times first reported on the impending atheist ads. An anonymous donor paid the $25,000 in order for the Big Apple Coalition of Reason to place this pro-atheism ad in 12 subway stations systemwide for one month. Deemed the cheapest advertising solution — a subway car costs $70,000 for a month and Times Square billboards go for $45-$50,000 — the ad will appear at the three 14th St. stations on the West Side; 23rd St. on the 8th Ave. line; Penn Station in three locations; 86th and 96th Sts. on Lexington; 42nd St. at Bryant Park; Lincoln Center, 72nd and 86th Sts. along Central Park West; and W. 4th St.

Of course, whenever religion is involved, people tend to grow a little hot under the collar. Jason Fink of amNew York tracked down some disgruntled straphangers. “I teach my children to believe in God and lead a life faithful to Him,” Aime Roberts of the Bronx said of the ads. “If my children see these ads that say there is no God, they’ll think their mother is lying.”

Another woman — obviously ill-informed of the Constitution — used the ad to bash the MTA. “The MTA can just do whatever it wants and get away with it,” Charlene McNair-Lawery of Brooklyn said to Fink. Of course, since the MTA is a government entity, freedom of religions and various sundry First Amendment concerns practically guarantee that this ad will appear, and an agency spokesman said that only nudity and vulgar language are prohibited in advertisements shown on MTA property.

The real fun began when Sean Hannity jumped into the fray. In one clip, the Fox News commentator posed a question, “Can you imagine the outrage if a Christian group put pro-God ads in the New York City subways? What outrage.” But as Subway Sights noted, Christians have been plastering the 41st St. walkway at Times Square with pro-Christianity placards for years, and other religious-themed materials abound underground.

So 400 words into this post, where does that leave us? With a big to do about nothing. The MTA has to place the ad, and for $25,000, they certainly will. Meanwhile, I have to wonder if subway advertising is really this insidious. Do we look at the ads we see every day? Clyde Haberman accused the Train of Thought program of being too gloomy last week, but outside of MTA PSAs and Doctor Zizmor, can anyone name something hawked in the subway?

For most of us, the subway is a chance to escape. We read our books; we do our crossword puzzles; we zone out to music on our iPods. If someone wants to preach, go for it. It’s nothing we haven’t heard before, and most of us won’t even notice it’s there anyway.

19 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
CTA

In Chicago, private money to renovate a station

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on October 26, 2009

A few months ago, the MTA unveiled the details of its first subway station naming rights contract. For $200,000 a year over 20 years, Barclays will attach its name to the Atlantic Ave./Pacific St. stop. Once — or if — the new Nets arena opens at that location, the station will become Barclays Center/Atlantic Ave./Pacific St. It is geographically accurate, if a bit unwieldy, and we all know that the MTA needs the cash.

Additionally, we’ve often discussed expanding the MTA’s economic horizons by instituting an Adopt-a-Station program. Similar to the Adopt-a-Highway program in place across the nation, local businesses would pay to get their names on the station. These businesses could then be responsible for ensuring the cleanliness of subway stations or the money could go toward renovation and rehabilitation projects at that station. It is an unorthodox call, to be sure, but not out of the realm of the ordinary.

In fact, that is just what the Chicago Transit Authority may do. According to a CTA spokesperson, Apple and the Windy City’s transit authority are in talks to have the computer giant sponsor a station rehab. Lewis Lazare of the Chicago Sun-Times reports:

A CTA spokeswoman confirmed that the transit authority is in talks with the computer and iPhone behemoth about a deal that could net the cash-strapped CTA as much as $4 million in funding from Apple to pay for an upgrade of the run-down subway station at North and Clybourn, which is adjacent to an Apple retail store now under construction and expected to open next year.

In exchange for its millions, Apple would receive first dibs on any and all advertising that eventually goes up at the rehabbed subway stop, which would allow Apple to create what is known as a “station domination” advertising effect at the North and Clybourn station.

According to Lazare’s report, the funding deal would not include naming rights. Chicago is not yet ready to turn over the names of their El stops to private corporations.

For Chicago, a deal of this nature makes perfect sense. The CTA is in worse financial straits than the MTA and has recently proposed massive service cuts and a 30 percent fare hike. They desperately need any money they can get.

So again, though, I propose this idea for New York. At some point, the MTA should seriously considering looking at local business investment in subway stations. The agency’s new modular approach to station rehabilitation and component replacement is a bid step in the right direction and helps alleviate the nearly unattainable State of Good Repair for the system’s stations. With a little bit of creativity, the money though is out there, and we need not look further than Chicago and to Apple for proof.

21 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
AsidesMTA Economics

Paterson: Schools to be reimbursed for MTA tax

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on October 26, 2009

When the state legislature passed the MTA bailout this spring, numerous organizations cried foul over the 0.33 percent payroll tax. Schools and non-profits led the charge, but small businesses weren’t silent either. Earlier this year, Gov. David Paterson announced that, despite a $3 billion budget gap, New York State would reimburse schools for the payroll tax, but last year, he put a scare into education officials when he said the state would not be able to deliver all promised funds to schools this year. This week, after Republican representatives cried foul, Paterson reiterated his stance that schools will be reimbursed. Opposition remains to the payroll tax, however, and the state would be wise to look into congestion pricing or East River Bridge tools as a more viable and equitable solution to the MTA’s fiscal woes.

2 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
New York City Transit

In undercover effort, MTA rates station clerks

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on October 26, 2009

The MTA’s station agents have made the headlines lately. Over the summer and into September, the stories concerned the MTA’s plans to eliminate a few hundred agents and the potential impact unstaffed stations would have on the system. A few weeks into the great Station Agent Elimination Project, nothing much has changed underground.

Meanwhile, at the same time as efforts to cut the station agents gained headlines, the MTA was engaged in something of a sting operation. Using college interns to pose as subway riders, the line general manager on the Number 4 line graded his station clerks. Eitan Gavish and Pete Donohue have a little bit more about this story:

Subway managers on the No. 4 line used college interns posing as straphangers to rate clerks in terms of how helpful and courteous they were when approached. “It’s like a mystery shopper program,” NYC Transit Charles Seaton said Friday, referring to storeowners’ use of fake shoppers to review staff and other retail workers. The young subway sleuths in Operation Courtesy made their rounds on the Lexington Ave. line during the summer.

Results are still being compiled, but some workers behind the glass apparently needed immediate polishing. “Some have been spoken to on an informal basis,” Seaton said, stressing the reviews will not lead to disciplinary charges. “You get all kinds. You get nice people, some not so nice at all,” said a clerk, who also did not want to be named.

William Henderson, executive director of the MTA’s Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee, said he believed the vast majority of clerks were professional. “There are people who are very good, friendly and adept at dealing with the public, and some who may need to be coached a little bit on how to do a better job,” Henderson said.

That is, word for word, the Daily News’ entire story. Considering the implications of the eventual report and the ways in which Transit went about assessing their workers, that’s a rather short piece.

So without having the report in front of me, I can make a few educated guess about what we’ll find out and what it means for the station clerks. I think we’ll find out, as Henderson said, that some are better than others at their jobs, but I think we’ll find out that far more of the station clerks are either apathetic or disrespectful toward straphangers in need. I say that not out of malice for the station clerks but from first-hand experience underground. Some station clerks are very friendly; others can’t be bothered for the time of day and wouldn’t know their ways around the neighborhoods in which they work.

The real impact of this report though will be twofold. First, how will the MTA work to correct the problem of poor customer relationships? In the end, station clerks, while they serve a job, are the faces of the MTA. They are what many New Yorkers consider to be the epitome of the MTA. If the station clerks are rude, straphangers think poorly of the entire system. If the experiences at the booths are bad, riders are bound to consider the agency inept in its hiring and personnel decisions. A better training program for station clerks will be a must.

On the other hand, how will station clerks — union employees, at that — respond to the MTA’s backhanded attempts at judging them? At a time when Transit is trying to eliminate station clerks to save jobs, the clerks are being undermined in a sense by their bosses. Instead of an open review process, the MTA has employed an undercover system to judge first hand just how these employees are doing in their jobs. At a time when labor relations are tense, this move might not go over too well.

The commenters on the Daily News aren’t too sympathetic to the station clerks, and stories of rudeness abounds. I’ll pass final judgment when the report is released, but in this area, the MTA can show improvement.

17 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Service Advisories

A map with the weekend service advisories

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on October 23, 2009

As Second Ave. Sagas nears its third birthday, I’m always looking for ways to expand my offerings to my readers. The site started out as a one-a-day blog back in 2006, and I’ve expanded it to feature at least three posts per day. I’ve brought on some guest columnists, and I’ve encouraged readers to interact with me via a Twitter account and a Facebook page.

Today, I’d like to introduce a new weekend feature for the site. Every Friday, when I post the Weekend Service Advisories, I’m going to include a map courtesy of Subway Weekender that shows just how the subway changes impact travel. Shawn Lynch, the founder of Subway Weekender and the man behind the map, has been kind enough to supply me with his PDF of weekend service changes, and I will include it every Friday in the post. You can find this week’s by clicking on the image below or downloading it from here.

Remember: These weekend service changes come to me from the MTA and are subject to change without notice. Check signs in your local station and listen for on-board announcements for up-to-the minute changes. Click the image below to download the weekend service map in PDF format. The service alerts follow.


From 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, October 25, uptown 1 trains skip 103rd, 110th, 116th, and 125th Streets due to rail replacement.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, October 24 to 5 a.m. Monday, October 26, downtown 1/2 trains skip 86th, 79th, 66th, 59th, and 50th Streets due to station rehab work at 96th Street and 59th Street and tunnel lighting installation.


From 12:01 a.m. to 6:30 a.m. Saturday, October 24 and Sunday, October 25, and from 12:01 a.m. to 5 a.m. Monday, October 26, 3 train service is extended to/from 34th Street (instead of Times Square-42nd Street) due to station rehab work at 96th Street and 59th Street and tunnel lighting installation.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, October 24 to 5 a.m. Monday, October 26, downtown 4 trains run local from 125th Street to Brooklyn Bridge due to Broadway-Lafayette Street to Bleecker Street transfer construction.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, October 24 to 5 a.m. Monday, October 26, uptown 4 trains run express from Brooklyn Bridge to 14th Street, then local to 125th Street due to Broadway-Lafayette Street to Bleecker Street transfer construction.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, October 24 to 5 a.m. Monday, October 26, there are no 5 trains between Bowling Green and Grand Central-42nd Street due to Broadway-Lafayette Street to Bleecker Street transfer construction. Customers should take the 4 instead.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, October 24 to 5 a.m. Monday, October 26, uptown 6 trains run express from Brooklyn Bridge to 14th Street due to Broadway-Lafayette Street to Bleecker Street transfer construction.


From 4 a.m. Saturday, October 24 to 10 p.m. Sunday, October 25, Manhattan-bound 7 trains skip 111th, 103rd, 90th, 82nd, 74th, 69th, 52nd, 46th, 40th, and 33rd Streets due to track panel installation.


From 11:30 p.m. Friday, October 23 to 5 a.m. Monday, October 26, free shuttle buses replace A trains between 207th Street and 168th Street due to tunnel and lighting rehabilitation. Customers may transfer between the Broadway or Fort Washington Avenue shuttle buses and the A trains at 168th Street.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, October 24 to 5 a.m. Monday, October 26, A trains run local between 168th Street and 145th Street due to tunnel and lighting rehabilitation.


From 10:30 p.m. Friday, October 23 to 5 a.m. Monday, October 26, free shuttle buses replace the A between Far Rockaway and Beach 98th Street. There are no Rockaway Shuttle S trains to Rockaway Park due to station rehabilitation at Beach 67th Street, Beach 44th Street and Beach 25th Street.


At all times until December 21, 2009, Manhattan-bound A platforms at Beach 90th and Beach 105th Streets are closed for rehabilitation. At all times until January 18, 2010, Far Rockaway-bound S platforms at Beach 67th, Beach 44th, and Beach 25 Streets are closed for rehabilitation.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, October 24 to 5 a.m. Monday, October 26, downtown A trains skip 50th, 23rd, and Spring Streets due to the Chambers Street Signal Modernization project.


From 6:30 a.m. to midnight, Saturday, October 24 and Sunday, October 25, downtown C trains skip 50th, 23rd, and Spring Streets due to the Chambers Street Signal Modernization project.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, October 24 to 5 a.m. Monday, October 26, there are no C trains between 168th and 145th Streets due to tunnel and lighting rehabilitation. Customers should take the A instead.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, October 24 to 5 a.m. Monday, October 26, D trains run local between 34th Street-Herald Square and West 4th Street due to the 5th Avenue Interlocking Signal System Modernization.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, October 24 to 5 a.m. Monday, October 26, D trains run local between DeKalb Avenue and 36th Street due to the Culver Viaduct Reconstruction.


From 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., Sunday, October 25, Manhattan-bound D trains run on the N line from Stillwell Avenue to 36th Street (Brooklyn) due to switch repairs at Bay 50th Street.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, October 24 to 5 a.m. Monday, October 26, E trains are rerouted on the F line between Manhattan and Queens due to the 5th Avenue Interlocking Signal System Modernization:

  • There are no E trains between 34th Street and World Trade Center.
  • Queens-bound E trains run on the F from 34th Street-Herald Square to 21st Street-Queensbridge; trains resume normal E service from Roosevelt Avenue to Jamaica Center.
  • Manhattan-bound E trains run on the F line from 47th-50th Streets to 34th Street/Herald Square.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, October 24 to 5 a.m. Monday, October 26, Queens-bound E platforms at Queens Plaza, 23rd Street-Ely Avenue, Lexington Avenue-53rd Street and 5th Avenue stations are closed due to the 5th Avenue Interlocking Signal System Modernization: Customers may take the R, G or 6 instead. Note: Free shuttle buses connect the Court Square G/23rd Street-Ely Avenue, Queens Plaza, and 21st Street-Queensbridge F stations.


From 12:01 a.m. to 6:30 a.m. Saturday, October 24, Manhattan-bound E trains run express from Roosevelt Avenue to Queens Plaza due to track repairs.


From 11:30 p.m. Friday, October 23 to 5 a.m. Monday, October 26, there are no F trains between Jay Street and Church Avenue due to the Culver Viaduct Reconstruction. Free shuttle buses provide alternate service.


From 12:01 a.m. to 12 noon, Saturday, October 24, Brooklyn-bound G trains run express from Roosevelt Avenue to Queens Plaza due to track repairs.


From 11:30 p.m. Friday, October 23 to 5 a.m. Monday, October 26, free shuttle buses replace G trains between Bergen Street and Church Avenue due to the Culver Viaduct Reconstruction.


From 8:30 p.m. to midnight Friday, October 23, and from 6:30 a.m. to midnight Saturday, October 24 and Sunday, October 25, there are no G trains between Forest Hills-71st Avenue and Court Square due to the 5th Avenue Interlocking Signal System Modernization. Brooklyn-bound G customers may take the R to Queens Plaza and transfer to a shuttle bus connecting to Court Square. Queens-bound G customers may take the R instead.


From 11:30 p.m. Friday, October 23 to 5 a.m. Monday, October 26, free shuttle buses replace L trains between Lorimer Street and Myrtle-Wyckoff Avenues due to a track chip-out at Jefferson Street station.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, October 24 to 5 a.m. Monday, October 26, N trains run local between DeKalb Avenue and 59th Street (Brooklyn) due to the Culver Viaduct Reconstruction.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, October 24 to 5 a.m. Monday, October 26, N trains are rerouted over the Manhattan Bridge between DeKalb Avenue and Canal Street in both directions due to general maintenance.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, October 24 to 5 a.m. Monday, October 26, Coney Island-bound Q trains skip Avenue J due to station rehabilitation.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, October 24 to 5 a.m. Monday, October 26, Q trains run local between 57th Street-7th Avenue and Canal Street due to general maintenance.


From 6:30 a.m. to 12 Noon, Saturday, October 24, Manhattan-bound R trains run express from Roosevelt Avenue to Queens Plaza due to track repairs.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, October 24 to 5 a.m. Monday, October 26, shuttle trains will operate all weekend between 36th Street-Brooklyn and Bay Ridge-95th Street due to general maintenance.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, October 24 to 5 a.m. Monday, October 26, there are no R trains between 34th Street-Herald Square and 36th Street (Brooklyn) due to general maintenance. Customers should take the N or 4 instead.

3 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
AsidesManhattan

Quiz: Name the subway stations in Manhattan

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on October 23, 2009

Try this one on for size if you’re looking to kill some time on Friday afternoon. Someone has written an online quiz at Sporcle challenging users to name all 127 Manhattan subway stops in 15 minutes or less. It took me seven minutes, and the last one was a C-only stop that I’ve probably been to twice in my life. If you take the quiz, let me know how you do in the comments. [Sporcle: Can you name the subway stations of Manhattan?]

30 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Load More Posts