G Train Faces Summer Shutdown
Friday, April 04, 2014 - 02:41 PM
MTA workers repairing Sandy damage on the G train's Greenpoint tube in August, 2013
(Marc A. Hermann / MTA New York City Transit/flickr)
G train service will be disrupted again this summer.
Starting on July 26, the G won't run between Brooklyn and Queens for five weeks so the MTA can make heavy-duty structural repairs to the Greenpoint tube, which carries the train under the Newtown Creek. The transit agency says the work should be completed by September 1.
During that period, the G will continue to operate in Brooklyn; its northernmost stop will be Nassau Avenue. To bring G train riders to Queens, the MTA will operate shuttle buses along two separate routes (Manhattan Avenue and McGuinness Boulevard).
Like almost every other New York City subway tunnel, the Greenpoint tube flooded during Sandy and sustained serious damage. It had previously undergone storm-related repairs last year, but more work is needed.
That's a pattern becoming familiar to subway riders: the R train tunnel between Brooklyn and Manhattan is currently shuttered for Sandy repairs.
A spokesman for the MTA said summer is the least disruptive time to take a subway tunnel out of service.
"We're doing this work during a stretch when ridership on the G is typically 20 percent lower than other times of the year,” said Kevin Ortiz.
At a town hall in Greenpoint Thursday night, locals tried to figure out a Plan B for the coming G train closure.
"I do believe those shuttle buses are going to be so crowded that you won't be able to get on the bus and I will always be late for work," worried Dorothy Gorby, "so I'll probably get my sneakers on and do a lot more walking."
Another Greenpoint resident, Richard Mazur, tried to find the silver lining. "I will be walking over the Pulaski Bridge, which essentially a half-mile walk, and going to the 7 train to go into Manhattan," he said. "So for me it's summertime, it's actually an opportunity to lose weight."
Starting on July 26, the G won't run between Brooklyn and Queens for five weeks so the MTA can make heavy-duty structural repairs to the Greenpoint tube, which carries the train under the Newtown Creek. The transit agency says the work should be completed by September 1.
During that period, the G will continue to operate in Brooklyn; its northernmost stop will be Nassau Avenue. To bring G train riders to Queens, the MTA will operate shuttle buses along two separate routes (Manhattan Avenue and McGuinness Boulevard).
Like almost every other New York City subway tunnel, the Greenpoint tube flooded during Sandy and sustained serious damage. It had previously undergone storm-related repairs last year, but more work is needed.
That's a pattern becoming familiar to subway riders: the R train tunnel between Brooklyn and Manhattan is currently shuttered for Sandy repairs.
A spokesman for the MTA said summer is the least disruptive time to take a subway tunnel out of service.
"We're doing this work during a stretch when ridership on the G is typically 20 percent lower than other times of the year,” said Kevin Ortiz.
At a town hall in Greenpoint Thursday night, locals tried to figure out a Plan B for the coming G train closure.
"I do believe those shuttle buses are going to be so crowded that you won't be able to get on the bus and I will always be late for work," worried Dorothy Gorby, "so I'll probably get my sneakers on and do a lot more walking."
Another Greenpoint resident, Richard Mazur, tried to find the silver lining. "I will be walking over the Pulaski Bridge, which essentially a half-mile walk, and going to the 7 train to go into Manhattan," he said. "So for me it's summertime, it's actually an opportunity to lose weight."
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Kate Hinds
Kate Hinds is an Associate Producer for WNYC News. She also reports for WNYC and Transportation Nation, a public radio reporting project that combines the work of multiple newsrooms to provide coverage of how we build, rebuild and get around the nation.
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