AMNY Subway Tracker

(via flickr's Part-Time Lover)

L riders largely agree that their train is best when it comes to cleanliness and coming on-time, but in the same breath they add that there’s always room for improvement.

“It’s pretty convenient, and it always seems to be on-time,” said L veteran Mark Villanueva, 21, of Park Slope, giving extra praise to the message boards and announcements on the line. “You look up [at the board] and they say how long it’s going to take.”

While many riders agreed with a Straphangers Campaign survey that said the L’s trains rank better than other subway lines, some said the line isn’t perfect.

“I purposefully time my way in and out of the city so I don’t have to deal with it in rush hour—so I don’t have to wait for three or four trains,” said Mickie Quinn, 36, of Greenpoint. “It’s so packed and some trains will skip your stop, and you’ll have to wait for the next one and the platform gets more crowded.”

And some riders like Carlos Sanchez, 19, of Bushwick, living 13 stops outside of Manhattan means a crawling trek into the city no matter how on-time trains are.

“The only bad thing about it is it’s pretty slow,” he said. “It stops at every stop. It’s not like an Express train.”

Yet some riders will take the G, which scored worst in the survey for cleanliness and breakdowns, over the L any day.

“Many times there are delays and there are a lot of people fainting on the train..it’s so crowded,” said Justine Najea, 27, of Maspeth. “I was late for my work a few times because I had to wait 20, 15 minutes.”

Dear MTA,

I didn’t complain two weeks ago when I spent the weekend in Brooklyn, declining all offers to go into Manhattan for social engagements, because I knew I’d have to take two L trains and a shuttle bus for an hour-long debacle to get there, not to mention that if I wanted to stay in town late, it would take me even longer to get home. I get it, construction needs to be done.

I did get a little upset, though, when after the construction was over, I was an hour late to work because of you. I have to admit, I said some pretty harsh things about you keeping me stuck under the East River for a half hour.

My bosses were understanding because, hey, we cover the MTA and we know of your history. It’s like having an alcoholic uncle who’s in recovery … my bosses know there will be relapses.

But this morning, MTA, I left my house early to go to a doctor’s appointment, an appointment I spent over a month on a waiting list to get. I allowed an hour for me to get there, (it should have taken around 40 minutes), but when the train stalled and we were told that it wasn’t running into Manhattan — that we’d have to take the G train and transfer to get into town — I knew I was going to miss my appointment. And because of the two transfers, I was also late to work.

Again.

Photo from Gowanus Lounge
Some 1000 L train passengers had to be rescued when their train's emergency brake was tripped west of the Bedford Avenue station around 5:30 a.m. Monday, transit officials said.

The emergency brake was activated when a hanging cable came into contact with the third rail, a spokesman said. A rescue train was dispatched at 6:29 a.m. to bring passengers back to Bedford Avenue and arrived at the scene of the shut down train eight minutes later. Transit could not say how long the passengers were stuck because the latest report on the incident was a "draft." No injuries were reported, officials said. Deirdre Parker, a transit spokesperson, said the service disruption began at 5:31 a.m and lasted until full service was restored at 10:30 a.m. At the height of the disruption there was no L service between Eighth Avenue in Manhattan and Broadway Junction in Brooklyn.

L trains are running late this morning on the 8th Avenue bound track due to signal problems, according to the MTA.

They are running REALLY late, confirmed by this L train commuter. Be prepared to get to work at least 30 minutes late. Cars are packed, crowds at the Bedford platform are about 10 people deep ... go to www.mta.info for updates.

-- Lauren Johnston

L riders who can't get into or out of the Bedford Avenue stop fast enough will soon get some relief.
Transit officials announced yesterday that they are installing a new High Entrance/Exit Turnstile (aka HEET) and exit wheel near the Driggs Avenue entrance. Transit is also considering adding another MetroCard Vending Machine.

Construction work will hamper the commute on the L line this weekend, transit officials announced yesterday.
L trains will not go beyond Union Square and will skip the 3rd Avenue stop in Manhattan in both directions. Trains also will run in two sections on the line this weekend, between Union Square and Bedford Avenue and then between Bedford Avenue and Rockaway Parkway.
Trains to and from Union Square will run every 16 minutes. Trains from Bedford Avenue to Rockaway Parkway will run every eight minutes.
Normal service will resume at 5 a.m. Monday.
For more information, check www.mta.info.

A tipster said a hot, packed L train from Brooklyn may have caused two women to faint this morning.
The woman said MTA police and firefighters responded to the ill riders. A New York City Transit spokeswoman said that three women at the Union Square L station complained of feeling sick after they got of a train there just after 9 a.m.
Two women refused treatment and one was taken to St. Vincent's Hospital, but the spokeswoman did not know why.
Transit officials checked their morning reports, but found no malfunctioning heating equipment on any trains.
"The system was working as designed," said spokeswoman Deidre Parker. "I don’t know if it was too crowded or what the issue was."
Transit has boosted service around rush hour on the L to deal with crowding issues. The L also recently received a general manager charged with improving service and stations on the line.
Feel free to post any commute issues on that line or on any of the others.

Midday L train commutes in Northeastern Brooklyn will be snagged by repair work for six days starting today.

Trains between Broadway Junction and Rockaway Parkway will run every 24 minutes today through Friday and Jan. 16 through 18. Commutes will be delayed from 10 a.m. until 3:15 p.m, transit officials announced at noon today.

Work crews will be repairing switches on the tracks.

After being stranded on a Brooklyn-bound L train under the East River for almost 2 hours, passengers exit a rescue train that returned them to the First Avenue station. (Jefferson Siegel)

L train stalls for a long stretch under East River during rush hour. Our latest story here from Jefferson Siegel, our photog on the scene.

Emergency personnel at the First Avenue Station Thursday night. (Jefferson Siegel)

L train commuters were unpleasantly surprised during last night's commute when announcements told them the train wasn't going past Bedford Ave. Platforms along the line were stuffed to the brim with Brooklynites. New York City Transit said the L was suspended between Myrtle and Atlantic Avenues for about three hours, while some passengers said the outage and resulting delays were broader than that. The reason, from a Transit spokesman:

We had a damaged third rail protector board (covers third rail) that in turn damaged the current collectors (shoes that draw current from third rail to power train) on two separate trains, causing them to go Brakes In Emergency. Power had to be removed to make repairs. Incident took place south of Morgan Ave.

After New York City Transit finished collecting rider report cards for the No. 7 line, and just beginning doling out cards for the L line, Transit opened up grading for all lines on the MTA Web site. Straphangers are invited to grade their line in English, Spanish, Chinese or a selection of 10 other languages. Transit has only officially opened two lines for grading--one is now closed--but they'll hold your vote on the other 20 until voting for those lines begins.

--Marlene Naanes

The MTA proposed a fare hike today with a side of extra train service.
Some of the most congested and late trains in the system will be supercharged in the 2008 budget. Additional evening service will be added to the No. 4, 5 and 6 lines. Transit will also boost L line’s rush hour, weekday off-peak and weekend service.
The No. 7 will increase weekend service on top of recently-added express service after Mets games.
Even a train that recently scored high marks with advocacy group the Straphangers Campaign will see an overhaul. Riders on the No. 1 line will enjoy additional evening and weekend service.
In the proposed budget, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority will fund additional service in all of its agencies with $30 million in 2008 and $60 million afterward.

Queens District Attorney Richard Brown announced today that three people have been charged with defacing an "L" train subway tunnel with graffiti. The release follows:

Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown announced today that three alleged members of a major graffiti crew have been indicted on charges of causing more than $10,000 in damage by vandalizing one of the L line subway tunnels and emergency exits with spray paint. Two of the alleged crew members are also charged with spray painting their tags on two Long Island City buildings a month earlier.

District Attorney Brown said, "Graffiti is a symptom of criminality and negatively affects the quality of life of all citizens through decreased property values, increased taxes and a financial burden on affected businesses and homes. City officials and anti-graffiti activists have done a remarkable job over the years in cleaning up New York City’s image as a graffiti-scarred city. We cannot allow individuals to mar the beauty of our City and threaten to return us to the days when our transit system and our highways and buildings were covered with graffiti."

The District Attorney identified the defendants as Miles Wickham, 22, (a/k/a RESKEW, RSKW and RW), of 404 5th Street; Michael Baca, 22, (a/k/a 2ESAE - pronounced Too Easy), of 545 Meeker Avenue; and Raul Mendez, 35 (a/k/a DRO), of 1738 East New York Avenue, all of Brooklyn.

The three defendants, who are alleged members of ACC (which stands for All City Crew and Another Crime Committed) are variously charged in a 43-count indictment with second- and fourth-degree criminal mischief, making graffiti and third-degree criminal trespass. If convicted, each of the defendants faces up to seven years in prison.

The District Attorney said that, according to the charges, the three defendants illegally entered the "L" line subway tunnel between the Halsey and Wilson Streets station, which borders both Queens and Kings Counties, in June 2006 and videotaped themselves defacing the tunnel walls and emergency exit # 197 by spray painting their personal tags and the tag ACC. As a result, it is alleged their actions caused more than $10,000 in damage to the property. It is further alleged that, a month earlier, the defendants Baca and Mendez caused more than $500 in damage to each of two Long Island City buildings by spray painting their tags on a Pathmark Supermarket located at 42-02 Northern Boulevard and on a warehouse located at 38-30 43rd Street.

The videotape was recovered from the vehicle of one of the defendants when Wickham and Mendez were arrested in Brooklyn on July 3, 2006 on criminal mischief charges.

The three defendants are scheduled to be arraigned on the indictment on May 2, 2007, in Queens County Supreme Court in Kew Gardens.

The investigation was conducted by Police Officer Paul Appleton and Sergeant Robert Colon, of the Transit Bureau Citywide Vandals Task Force, under the supervision of Captain Elwood Selover, Commanding Officer, and by Detective Anthony Navarro and Sergeant Kevin Cooper, of the Transit Bureau Special Investigations Unit, under the supervision of Lieutenant Paul Murphy, Commanding Officer.

Senior Assistant District Attorney Michael Brovner of the District Attorney’s Gang Violence and Hate Crimes Bureau is prosecuting the three cases under the supervision of Mariela Palomino Herring, Bureau Chief, and Michele E. Goldstein, Deputy Bureau Chief, and the overall supervision of Senior Executive Assistant District Attorney for Trials James Clark Quinn and Deputy Executive Assistant District Attorneys for Trials John H. Larsen and Robert Masters

It should be noted that an indictment is merely an accusation and that the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

After a year of almost routine weekend service disruptions, the L train's new real-time information system was unveiled with little fanfare this weeked.

Subway Blogger points out that is still in the testing phase: "Unfortunately, the information displayed isn’t necessarily accurate yet."

But, on the whole, the new system seems to be warmly received. Even if it was more than six months late.

-- Chuck Bennett

From hero to victim: A strange, sad twist in the case of two firefighters hurt by a cab: One had just helped save a man who had fallen on subway tracks. [New York Post]

The L as lifeline: With all that nasty L train news recently, here's a piece that'll tug the heart strings. [Daily News via Observer's The Real Estate]  And L is, of course, also for love.

Critical showdown: Next Friday is Critical Mass, so you'll have your monthly tussle between cyclists and cops. But with the NYPD floating the idea of a rule to require groups of 20 or more cyclists to get a permit, things could get interesting. [New York Post]

Take note on the R: A nicely told tale of a subway artist, who, if you ride the R in Manhattan and have a face full of character, may just present you with your portrait. [The Village Voice] 

-- Rolando Pujol

Photo: Charles Eckert

o and behold! Ridership on the L train has become so crushing that the TA has to supplement those 4-year-old R143s with trains of an earlier vintage to help carry the load, the Daily News reports. (Anyone care to guess which cars will return?) The questions are, what took so long to acknowledge the overcrowding, and why wasn't it clear back when the new trains were brought online that 212 cars, however swanky, simply wouldn't be enough to handle the obviously rapidly growing load? Indeed, ridership has almost doubled since 1995, back when Williamsburg was just waiting to be discovered. And of course, there will likely be more pain before help arrives in the way of signal work (read: service suspensions) that will be needed to upgrade (or is it downgrade?) the tracks to accommodate the older trains.

Here's discussion on the Straphangers Campaign's Rider Diaries on the L train decision. And just to make matters worse, the computerization of the L is behind schedule and over budget, reports NY1. Here's an amNY update on plans to offer screens with real-time information on lines other than the L. (Work for that project was under way at the Cathedral Parkway station when Thursday's power-saw attack happened.)

-- Rolando Pujol

Uptown buzzsaw subway massacre: Early this morning some psycho grabs two electric saws from MTA construction workers or contractors, chases passengers around 110th St. / Broadway station on the No. 1 line and stabs some poor 64-year-old man in the back. The victim is in serious condition. Worst, the man hasn’t been caught yet. [amNY]

More problems on the LIRR: A train carry electrical equipment derails in Penn Station this morning causing big headaches during the morning commute. Meanwhile, out in Smithtown a train hit a person. No info on the condition of the victim but there were delays up to 90 minutes. [Newsday via amNY]

Problem on the LIRR: Train stalls in tunnel under East River standing 1,200 passengers yesterday for an hour yesterday afternoon. [Daily News]

Counterterrorism dollars for transit: Sure, New York is getting screwed out of Homeland Security dollars -- just ask the mayor. But, the Bush Administration is expected to announce today plans to give the city an additional $10 million for transit security. [Newsday via amNY]

Summer school for all: ATU Local 1181 didn’t strike after all. And 37,000 happy kids don’t need emergency taxi trips or MetroCards to get to summer school. [Newsday via amNY]

No work on downtown transit hub: Crane operator strike halts work on downtown transit hub. [amNY]

Not a bad buy: Fitch rates the latest $475 million in MTA bonds for use in the capital plan “stable.” But, those analysts are still a little concerned:

“The MTA ended 2005 with a $1.2 billion cash surplus and is expected to have a $625 million ending balance in 2006. While better than expected real estate tax collections so far this year may indicate the 2006 surplus could come in higher than estimated, the authority reports that fare revenues, operating expenses and certain subsidy sources are tracking slightly worse than budget. In addition, there remains some uncertainty in the MTA's expense profile until a settlement is reached with the Transport Workers Union.” [BusinessWire]

-- Chuck Bennett

For those of you stuck on the L last night between Union Square and Bedford Ave., here’s why:

According NYC Transit spokeswoman Deirdre Parker the vacuum train was scheduled to clear the tracks around 11 p.m. At that time, service would only run over one track in the tunnel. But in a perfect storm of unlucky events, there was also a signal problem leaving riders stuck from 11:10 p.m. to 12:15 a.m.

One rider complaining to the Tracker said he could take the wait if he just had more information. Instead, the conductor just kept repeating, “We apologize for the temporary delay.”

-- Chuck Bennett

Suffering G and L train riders will get a chance to speak their minds tonight.
Brooklyn’s Community Board One in Greenpoint and Willamsburg is inviting G riders to vent their frustrations and offer suggestions this evening.

Now is the chance to complain about proposed cuts to the G, computer-controlled trains, crowding on the platforms, and all that weekend construction on the L.

TONIGHT, April 18
6:30 p.m.
Harry Van Arsdale High School Auditorium
257 North 6th Street (off Roebling St.)
Brooklyn
MAP

The MTA suffered a bit of trash talkin’ from the City Council over the weekend. Apparently the MTA is allowing properties it is responsible for to turn into dumping grounds for discarded furniture, dirty diapers, graffiti and rubbish of all kinds, according to a council report.

But, top MTA spokesman Tom Kelly retorted, “Both council members know the efforts that we take to try to be good neighbors, but this is strong rhetoric to get them headlines on a Sunday afternoon.”

While the MTA is an easy punching bag, I think most New Yorkers know that the shadowy areas under the elevated lines trestles can downright nasty and even a little intimidating. Who’s ultimately to blame the city or the MTA? Even Counilman Eric Gioia, who presented the report, admitted the law is “murky.”

In other news, the New York Post reports that NYC Transit began testing new “robo-train” technology on the L line. Trains running between Third and Eighth Aves. will be in the hands of the computers -- part of CBTC or “communications-based train control.”

And the Daily News said transit workers should expect a lighter pay check next week as the MTA begins docking them three days pay for their “illegal” December strike. The MTA said workers should give up any hope that the penalties be waived.

-- Chuck Bennett

Long suffering L riders suffered will suffer some more. A Manhattan-bound L train derailed 45 minutes ago. L riders can expect a tough commute home.
No passengers were on board when the train derailed as it left the Canarasie yards at 4:44 p.m. New York City Transit said the motorman and conductor were uninjured.
Service was knocked out between Rockaway Parkway and Broadway Junction.
There was no weekend service on the L for the past two weeks because of construction work converting the line to computer-based control. More work-related service disruptions are expected throughout the year as the "robo-train" project continues.

UPDATE : TA said expect "residual" delays between 8th Ave. and Broadway Junction into evening. Shuttle service now available at Broadway Junction to Rockaway Parkway.

-- Chuck Bennett

The Blizzard of '06, which is dumping much more snow than had been forecast, is snarling service on several lines, with suspensions or difficulties on portions of the No. 5 in the Bronx, the E and F in Queens and the L in Brooklyn. And factor in more time to get to your destination on lines that are elevated for even a part of their runs. Buses are running with delays of at least 15 minutes. Check in with amNY.com throughout the day for continued coverage, and here's the latest from the MTA.

--Rolando Pujol

I live in Hell’s Kitchen. He lives in Williamsburg. It’s hardly a long-distance relationship – except when the MTA shuts down L train service like it did last weekend.

And like it plans to do on a lot more weekends over the next couple months.

A few months ago, the L was voted the ‘love train’ in a newspaper survey – best place to hook up with a straphanging hottie.

But just in time for Valentine’s Day, the MTA has totally wrecked that rep -- at least in my book.

Instead, the lack of an L train puts love to the test – and I found out mine wasn’t quite strong enough (sorry!) to commit to a time-consuming tangle of underground transfers.

Faced with a solitary Saturday night of SNL, or the three-train transfer from the A to the JMZ to the whatever, PLUS a shuttle bus commute I’d have to endure to get to Brooklyn -- I’m sad to say I chose Tina Fey over my boyfriend.

And unless I figure out some way to part the East River and walk to Williamsburg -- thanks to the MTA, I'll be seeing a lot more ‘Weekend Update’ in 2006.

-- Lauren Johnston