Man on the Street: Ready for Smith-9th to Close?

We asked regular straphangers at the Smith-9th Street subway stop what they thought of the recent news that the station's going to be shuttered in the near-ish future for nine months to a year. Shockingly, no one was thrilled.

"Well, it'd make me late for school. I live in Red Hook and don't have the money to be taking cabs, so it's going to be a real problem." -Dominaisha (right)

"This station needs to be repaired, but it's typical of the MTA to hit us with surprise news like this. I don't trust them to get anything done, but they keep raising the fares." -Rachel

"The community, which has a lot of old people in it, really needs this train. I use it every day, and I don't know what I'm going to do when they close the station." -Julio (right)

"That's more walking." -Catherine(right)

"This area is cut off enough from the rest of Brooklyn. The city better have a good plan for keeping us connected when this goes down--but I'm not holding my breath." -Bill

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"NYC Transit could give no specific dates for the closures because the contract has not yet been awarded. Rough estimates, based on a previously stated 2012 deadline for the end of the project, suggest that Smith-9th could be shuttered for most of 2010, after 15 months of work on switches and tracks."

lets just make it through the problems we have facing us in 2007! :)

Posted by: bren at November 6, 2007 10:46 AM

does this mean redhook real estate is going to tank?

Posted by: guest at November 6, 2007 10:58 AM

Seriously, this is over 2 years away from beginning.

Posted by: guest at November 6, 2007 11:09 AM

While they have the station closed, will they be doing anything useful like installing escalators? It takes ages to walk from the lowest level up to the top outside level.

Posted by: guest at November 6, 2007 12:31 PM

um... aren't there already escalators installed? An elevator connection would be nice - just don't give me an MTA 6 feet per minute elevator.

Posted by: guest at November 6, 2007 12:52 PM

it's funny you mention the elevators. I've long suspected there is something fishy w/ the relationship between the MTA and elevator supplier.

The elevators look expensive, and they always have 2 doors even when 1 would have sufficed. It seems like they are just padding the contract for no reason.

Posted by: slick at November 6, 2007 1:14 PM

Not escalators for all the levels see http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/stations?207:2659

This station is the highest elevated station in the system, at 91 feet.
The mezzanine is reached by two flights of stairs to the cross under and then two long escalators with an intermediate level between the escalators. The cross under has closed windows and a closed center exit. When we finally reach the fare control we are at street level.
Elevators are too inefficient for moving large amounts of people, and they are smelly ('cuz they get used as a bathroom) and dangerous during off hours.

Posted by: guest at November 6, 2007 1:40 PM

Didn't Red Hook already jump the shark two years ago?

Posted by: guest at November 6, 2007 1:56 PM

Re: transit from Red Hook, I'd think that the B-77 bus would be re-routed to go to another subway station if Smith & 9th is closed.

Posted by: Bob Marvin at November 6, 2007 2:05 PM

For anyone interested in the subway station closing or the lengthening of the B61 and B77 bus routes to Ikea (but with no additional service), you can attend the Community Board 6 meeting on this subject. It's 6:30pm on Thursday, November 15, 2007. Call the board for the location (it was tbd as of a few days ago): 718.643.3027.

Posted by: guest at November 6, 2007 3:10 PM

In addition to being late for school and not havin no money to be takin cabs, her biggest problem will be her name. Why the f**k would her mother name her DOMINAISHA!

Posted by: guest at November 6, 2007 9:56 PM

I am glad I am not the only one who thought that Dominaisha was an odd name.

Posted by: guest at November 7, 2007 10:11 AM

Wow, that astonishing outburst of racism really contributes to an interesting dialogue about transportation issues.

Posted by: guest at November 7, 2007 10:13 AM

« Correction: Michelle Williams NOT Leaving Brooklyn Foreclosures of the Week »

November 6, 2007

Man on the Street: Ready for Smith-9th to Close?

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