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June 30, 2009

Closing Bell: Signs of the G Train Extension

This photo was just submitted by a tipster along with the comment, "Evidence that they may actually finally be extending the G train to Church." In fact, service to Church Avenue is scheduled to start July 5. For more background on the track work and reroutings can be found here.

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please please please F Express.

Posted by: Deda at June 30, 2009 4:19 PM

This is so awesome! Where are there cheap happy hour specials in G'point? I need to spend more time there.

Posted by: infinitejester at June 30, 2009 4:24 PM

This really is going to be great.

No more going into Manhattan to get to Williamsburg.

Posted by: 11217 at June 30, 2009 4:26 PM

What? Going into Manhattan to get to Williamsburg? Are you daft?

Posted by: LimestoneKid at June 30, 2009 4:33 PM

Funny I got on the G at Broadway on Saturday and was totally confused about which platform was the right one, because it said Church Ave not Smith & 9th.

I had no idea they were extending, nor do I really understand why.

Posted by: phreerose at June 30, 2009 4:39 PM

great news! can't wait to take the G to 4th avenue and be able to visit my friends in south brooklyn so much easier...

Posted by: janelle at June 30, 2009 4:39 PM

From where I live, the Q at 7th Avenue to Union Square and then the L is actually the quickest way to Williamsburg via subway, if you can believe it.

While my walk to the F is substantially longer than it is to the Q, this would certainly make things a little easier, I'd think...

Posted by: 11217 at June 30, 2009 4:39 PM

ugh do people really use the word "daft" in person? i sincerely hope not. also how DOES get to williamsburg easily from park slope anyway?

*rob*

Posted by: PitbullNYC at June 30, 2009 4:40 PM

Just want to clarify that Limestone kid is not my offspring. :)

Im happy there is another train stopping at 15th Street now but I just know Im going to get on it by accident one day on the way to work.

Posted by: Mrs. Limestone at June 30, 2009 4:41 PM

cool - no more going into manhattan to get to park slope!

Posted by: dirty_hipster at June 30, 2009 4:41 PM

Any excuse not to have to go into Manhattan for me.

Work is plenty. As each day passes, I'm more and more over Manhattan and so happy I live in Brooklyn.

The High Line is cool, though.

Posted by: 11217 at June 30, 2009 4:44 PM

What else they should do:

Create an express F (Church, 7 Ave, Jay, Bway Lafayette etc.)
Extend the V to Jay Street

Posted by: MR at June 30, 2009 4:56 PM

Rob, "daft" is standard British English. I use it often. I'm sure you'd be horrified to hear me speak.

Posted by: dittoburg at June 30, 2009 4:59 PM

God, I love a good British accent.

Posted by: 11217 at June 30, 2009 5:02 PM

Finally, an MTA move that makes sense!

Posted by: west1 at June 30, 2009 5:04 PM

Please don't refer to me as God.

Posted by: dittoburg at June 30, 2009 5:04 PM

"From where I live, the Q at 7th Avenue to Union Square and then the L is actually the quickest way to Williamsburg via subway, if you can believe it."

I also felt that way but now use the Fulton G and transfer at Metropolitan. I often come home from W'burg via that route.

However this extension is much better as I can simply go when leaving work, as I work in South Slope.

Posted by: infinitejester at June 30, 2009 5:04 PM

At a office holiday party I once said "this chicken is divine." I couldn't believe I had actually said it, but hey, there it was.

Posted by: infinitejester at June 30, 2009 5:05 PM

Where you supine on the divan when you said that?

Posted by: dittoburg at June 30, 2009 5:08 PM

Wish I was! Hot coworker!

Posted by: infinitejester at June 30, 2009 5:10 PM

Great. Why the G stopped one short of connecting to R/M/F was always a mystery. Now if they'd only run more frequently...

Posted by: cmu at June 30, 2009 5:13 PM

"At a office holiday party I once said "this chicken is divine." "

Certain posters might get the wrong idea if you said that at a B'stoner party.

Posted by: etson at June 30, 2009 5:14 PM

Rob, what are your feelings on the word "smashing" as a term of approval?

Posted by: dittoburg at June 30, 2009 5:16 PM

Great - now people will be hanging out around the Metro G stop instead of Bedford L. Now my fav bars will prolly be more crowded :(

Posted by: dirty_hipster at June 30, 2009 5:28 PM

You don't think they're all going to be hanging out at Bar Reis now, DH...?

;)

Posted by: 11217 at June 30, 2009 5:32 PM

I'd also like to know why they don't start running an F express in Brooklyn. Heck, I'd run it express in Manhattan, too, and turn the B back into a local between West 4th and 34th St. Hey, is anyone here old enough to remember when the locals had double letters (AA, CC, etc.)? I used to love the way those old rattan seats felt.

Posted by: ProfRobert at June 30, 2009 5:44 PM

haha 11217 - and for all you slopers who will be getting off the G at metro - i highly recommend "Subway Bar" right outside the train. (not)

Posted by: dirty_hipster at June 30, 2009 5:52 PM

ProfRobert- you'll love the Transit Museum on Schermerhorn then.

Aren't they going to dig a tunnel to connect the Jay St. station to the 4/5 Boro Hall one?

Posted by: bxgrl at June 30, 2009 6:05 PM

Glad to see the G extended...long overdue. Should also extend the V to Church Ave. Nice idea, ProfRobert, on returning the B to local and running the F express. The 4th Ave. station should be included in any F express route, otherwise defeats the R connection. And, yes, I fondly remember the rattan seats, the overhead propeller fans, and each car's open access conductor's cabin where kids could pretend they were driving the train.

Posted by: vinca at June 30, 2009 6:12 PM

I want the JMZs running back to Brooklyn both ways. But did they get rid of the Z? It was rumored for a while that the M would resume full-time service from south Brooklyn, through Manhattan and then back into Williamsburg... but I think this has been shelved. Anyone know?

Posted by: Heather at June 30, 2009 6:18 PM

Transit Museum is one of my favorites, Bxgrl. A couple of years ago, my now-wife and I took the Nostalgia Train ride they run each month during the summer. The looks we got from the platforms as we rolled by were priceless.

Posted by: ProfRobert at June 30, 2009 6:20 PM

what is a rattan seat? sounds fun! :)

also, on the r back today, in the closed courtland station there are tiles, old, that say Hudson Tubes with an arrow. were there originally plans to make the subway go into jersey, or is that just an old Path route? i love the subway, it's fascinating.

bxgirl, i have to make it to the transit museum.. worth it?
*rob*

Posted by: PitbullNYC at June 30, 2009 6:22 PM

How about extending the 2 and the 5 to Ave U and Flatbush? The outer reaches of Brooklyn have by far the worst mass transit options in the city. Besides, then you could take the subway to go camping in Floyd Bennett Field.

Posted by: Joe from Brooklyn at June 30, 2009 6:28 PM

"But did they get rid of the Z?"

Yeah - the Z is doneski. They had it's mock funeral during that whole MTA Doomsday fare hike fiasco.

Posted by: dirty_hipster at June 30, 2009 6:43 PM

Rob: Here's a picture of one style of old subway car with rattan seats, overhead fans and porcelain handholds. If you like the subway, there's more information you'll enjoy at same website: http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?1966

Posted by: vinca at June 30, 2009 6:57 PM

Hallelujah! This is exactly what I always wanted them to do. So annoying when I need to go to Cobble Hill and Carrol Gardens and I have to take the C to the G.

Posted by: wasder at June 30, 2009 7:01 PM

There are F express tracks but they don't do much good. South of Church Ave. there is only a single express track, so you can only run an express train in one direction. North of Church there are two express tracks, stopping at 7th, Bergen (lower level, now closed but I saw it once when they had route changes on a weekend), and Jay. I'm not sure how much time an F express would actually save, given the complicated logistics of running it, which the MTA is sure to screw up. The 4th Avenue platforms would have to be entirely rebuilt if you wanted to make an express stop there.

That said, I do love the direct trip from Kensington to Williamsburg and Greenpoint and even (shudder) Queens.

Posted by: sixyearsandcounting at June 30, 2009 7:14 PM

Sorry if I'm misreading your comment, but there are express tracks that run under Carroll and Bergen. Indeed they don't stop at the platform at 4th Ave so that connection couldn't work.

Posted by: MR at June 30, 2009 8:05 PM

Rob, the Hudson Tubes are the old name for what's now called the PATH Tubes. The original train (which started service 100 years ago) was operated by the Hudson & Manhattan Railroad.

Posted by: ProfRobert at June 30, 2009 9:34 PM

rob- I'll also post on the open thread but yes- the transit museum is a lot of fun. Definitely go! I used to live up he block and took my niece and nephew there when they were growing up. They loved it!

ProfRobert- then you know! You sound like a subway buff! I love looking for bits and pieces of the old stations when I'm on the train.I was always so curious about the Hudson Tubes sign.

Posted by: bxgrl at July 1, 2009 9:30 AM

Joe, extending the 2 and 5 is a GREAT idea. I often have wished the same. Flatbush is the main thoroughfare for the borough (arguably) and subway service runs only halfway. WTF??

Posted by: infinitejester at July 1, 2009 10:31 AM

Just wanted clarification - if I understand the referenced article correctly the extension of the G is in response to forthcoming construction. So it seems like although this extension will bring about many good things, it also signals the beginning to other headaches for commuters as the F line is disrupted. Does it also mean that after the construction/repair is finished that this G train extension will then be discontinued? That would be unfortunate.

Posted by: BedStuyCarrot at July 1, 2009 1:37 PM

The #5 train is also being extended to Brooklyn middays, as of this week.

Posted by: zinka at July 1, 2009 2:35 PM

Bxgrl, "buff" is probably too strong -- I don't collect things, for example -- but I do love New York history, and the subways are a huge part of that. I took the City Hall station tour a few years back, which wasn't as much fun as the Nostalgia Train, but I'm glad I did it anyway. I do get a kick out of knowing about the Money Train gate at Jay St., the abandoned stations (such as Worth St. on the 6 and 91st St. on the 1), and the old track beds that lead from the 4-5-6 tracks to where the Shuttle stops now.

Crap. I'm not a subway buff; I'm a subway nerd, aren't I?

Posted by: ProfRobert at July 1, 2009 6:33 PM

"Yeah - the Z is doneski. They had it's mock funeral during that whole MTA Doomsday fare hike fiasco."

This is incorrect. There are no current plans to remove the Z train from active service.

Posted by: Son of Spam at July 1, 2009 8:01 PM

« Development Watch: 499 Vanderbilt Avenue Tuesday Blogwrap »

June 30, 2009

Closing Bell: Signs of the G Train Extension

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