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November 26, 2007
G Route, Smith-9th Renovation Getting Extended
Good news, worse news on the G/F service improvement fronts. On the sunny side, the Brooklyn Paper reports that the G's route will be permanently extended to Church Avenue in Kensington after the Fourth Avenue Station gets a $250 million revamp. (Does this mean that the line's "culture of victimhood" will reach even farther? Guess we'll have to wait 'til rider report cards are released next decade to find out.) As for the G, the MTA previously said that its stops at Fourth Avenue, Seventh Avenue, 15th Street, Fort Hamilton Parkway and Church Avenue would only be added to the line while track work to the elevated Culver Viaduct shut down the Smith-9th Street station for nine months in 2010. And then there’s the not-so-good news, which’ll no doubt add to angst about repair work on the Smith-9th station: Aside from being completely shut down for 9 months, the station won’t be fully operational for a year and a half afterwards, with construction alternating between north- and south-bound platforms. Straphangers who rely on these stations and trains think all the hassle will be worth it?
Renovated Fourth Avenue F Station Rendering [Gowanus Lounge]
Fix for Fourth Avenue station looks F’ing great [Brooklyn Paper]
For Riders of a Stepchild Line, Even an ‘F’ Looks Good [NY Times]
Graphic from the Brooklyn Paper.
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Comments
Fourth Avenue gets better and better. I'm sure this will piss off the usual haters who want to keep it sleazy.
Posted by: guest at November 26, 2007 10:15 AM
not sure how this makes 4th ave better but im happy about this.
Posted by: guest at November 26, 2007 10:16 AM
The alternative is that the via duct fall down, so yeah, I think it is worth it. Plus 4th ave will be a shiny new station. Plus the MTA has agreed to look into having a shuttle bus that goes from Red Hook to Wall Street through the battery tunnel. Seems like a pretty great deal and long overdue alternative transportation route for Red Hook.
Posted by: guest at November 26, 2007 10:40 AM
They need to express the F into Manhattan and make the G a local then.
Posted by: guest at November 26, 2007 10:44 AM
The stations are in dire need of rehab, so whether the hassle will be worth it is irrelevant. I don't like the fact that my daily commute will be seriously impacted for who knows how long, but there's really no other option. The decay is too far gone and must be remedied. The history of shuttle bus service in CG during past (albeit minor) F train disruptions is laughable, so I'll probably end up walking to Borough Hall and taking the No. 4 into the city.
Posted by: guest at November 26, 2007 10:47 AM
the g is the future! as the bk waterfront grows, the g will improve--the mta will have no choice but to make it good. go ahead g haters...laugh, but you'll see...
Posted by: guest at November 26, 2007 11:03 AM
Here's a cool video on the subject...http://www.facialrama.com/movies/13oops/movie1.wmv
Posted by: guest at November 26, 2007 11:13 AM
i like the G! i think this is great news for parents - can hop on and off the G and take your kids to more programs, shops, etc..
also, great news for foodies in brooklyn. explore 5th ave in PS to Williamsburg.
Posted by: guest at November 26, 2007 11:28 AM
I often take the G (if it pulls in before the F) from Bergen St. to 53rd/Lexington Ave.
with admittedly bad transfer in LIC.
But for most of my ride I have a seat - G train runs fast compared to the F/V crawl thru midtown at rush hour.
Same thing going home. May take a couple more minutes - but much more comfortable than standing in crowded train that seems to move very slowly as goes down 6th Avenue.
Posted by: guest at November 26, 2007 11:38 AM
Thrilled that Park Slope will be better connected to Greenpoint. Once that priority's been accomplished how 'bout better connecting Park Slope with Manhattan with the F Express.
Posted by: Johnny at November 26, 2007 11:43 AM
This was one of the worst written bstoner posts I've read. Gabby... what gives?
Posted by: guest at November 26, 2007 12:09 PM
It's necessary and will be good in the long run. The shutdown of Smith St. doesn't affect me, but I have a lot of sympathy for those it does. I love that the G will get extended to the current F stops I use (4th and 9th Aves). But what would really be excellent would be to extend the V into Brooklyn as a local, turn the B back into a local in Manhattan, and run the F express along its whole route.
Posted by: ProfRobert at November 26, 2007 1:09 PM
No, no, no. What's needed is not a G train extension but an extension of the largely useless V train to Brooklyn and an F express. What the $@%# is wrong with the folks in the MTA? Come look at the damn trains! The G is for the most part fine as it is, since it's running below capacity 4 car trains most of the day and night (although it could do without that terrible transfer at the end in Queens). The F, on the other hand, is SRO most of the time, with a real serious crush on rush hour trains caused in part by less frequent than possible service, because the V has to end at 2nd Ave. for some unfathomable reason.
Posted by: guest at November 26, 2007 1:46 PM
"The F, on the other hand, is SRO most of the time, with a real serious crush on rush hour trains caused in part by less frequent than possible service, because the V has to end at 2nd Ave. for some unfathomable reason."
I agree wholeheartedly...the evening rush on the F train is impossible, and the problems began shortly after the V train was put in service a few years ago. After all, the MTA had to pull trains from somewhere, so wouldn't those trains have come from the F line? I take the F train quite early in the morning, so I haven't encountered any problems getting to work...knock on wood...
Posted by: guest at November 26, 2007 2:00 PM
I encounter the dreaded SRO F train every morning and evening. At night I wait at Bleeker/B-way Laff stop and watch the empty V trains mosey by while I wait for an F train I can actually get on.
Still, the V must be a nice train for the half dozen or so Manhattanites that use it.
Posted by: Johnny at November 26, 2007 2:40 PM
RE: Johnny's comment, I used to live off the 2nd Ave stop and it was so sweet to take an empty V train while everyone else had to wait for the F. Now I live in Brooklyn and have to crowd in with everyone else. Sigh. They really should extend the V to Brooklyn.
Posted by: guest at November 26, 2007 3:01 PM
The evil IKEA empire must be pissed that it's favored station will be closed so long... so where do you suppose the promised shuttles will appear? Which neighborhood will be subjected to that horror?
Posted by: guest at November 26, 2007 4:12 PM
1:46 agree with your idea about the V, but I think that the G connecting all of these neighborhoods is really going to matter. lots of people have friends from greenpoint to park slope and will use this. also, it'll allow people to explore brooklyn shops and restaurants so much more easily now.
i do think that the post about this being great from families is so true. you'll have the option of different schools if you don't have a car, ie: the magnet school, 34 in Greenpoint, or the Talented and Gifted program at 282 in PS.
Posted by: guest at November 26, 2007 4:32 PM
This is 1:46 and what you say is true, as fr as it goes. I have friends in Willimasburg, Greenpoint, etc. who I visit using the G. But the present G service works just fine most of the time for that sort of thing, and for pretty much everything else it does for most of the day.
But for the overwhelming majority of riders the subway isn't primarily about visiting friends or exploring cute shops, it's about getting to/from work. And for most people that means getting to/from Manhattan. People want to do it as quickly and comfortably as possible, and the present F service falls short on both accounts. One of the main reasons for this is the shared track capacity taken up by the V train that ends at 2nd Ave., and thereby limits the frequency of F trains, and inhibits the use of the existing express tracks on the F line from Jay St. to Church St.
Running a G train further down that line again (it ran there back in the '60s and '70s) may increase the frequency of service in Brooklyn stations, and make the MTA look a little better on paper at almost no cost, but it will do little or nothing to increase USEFUL service to these neighborhoods.
Posted by: guest at November 26, 2007 5:05 PM
connect the G train to Atlantic Terminal and the future will arrive.
Posted by: guest at November 26, 2007 6:37 PM
This is great news for people on the R train. We Sunset Parkers have had no direct G access (wait for the F to take it ONE STOP to the G, then switch again? Go to Pacific and exit the station to walk several blocks to get the G?), which has meant slower and more difficult access to north Brooklyn and Queens. Which means we rarely get up there, even though we'd like to.
Posted by: guest at November 26, 2007 8:16 PM
if i lived near the G, i'd go to wmsburg a lot more.
I hear it's hip.
Posted by: slick at November 27, 2007 2:49 AM
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