(M) Train Riders See Silver Lining

[Sea Beach]

Train Riders See Silver Lining

 

By: John Mancini

 

 

While millions of New Yorkers are still grappling with the MTA's elimination of 38 bus routes and two subway lines, a group of lucky riders in Brooklyn and Queens say the budget crisis has actually made their ride smoother. NY1's John Mancini filed the following report.

 

Who says service cuts can't make you happy? Call them the few, the proud, and the giddy -- the riders of the M.

 

"I live in Ridgewood, Queens, I work here in Greenwich Village. And basically now for the first time I have a one-seat ride to work. It's taken probably 10 to 15 minutes off of my commute. I used to have to take the M to the F, which you could never get on at rush hour. So I'd have to take it down to Chambers Street and get on the 6. It took forever," said M train rider Christopher Crowe.

 

Millions of other New Yorkers feel like it's taking them forever to get around this summer. But changes wrought by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's service cuts actually have made things easier for a select group in Brooklyn and Queens. The new M took over the old V route in Manhattan and is now a direct ride to the Village and Midtown. Those trips had meant at least one change for riders from Middle Village to Williamsburg.

 

"So it's just one way, and one way back. Which I think is very efficient and it saves time. And I think it's been wonderful," said M train rider Lisa Guzman.

 

Such unbridled joy may not have been what first came to mind at the MTA when millions in state funding disappeared. But the agency takes happiness where it can get it. So planners used the dire moment to reshape the M into a more efficient line. Now it's one more reason hot neighborhoods like South Williamsburg and Bushwick will probably get hotter.

 

But not everyone's happy about making the ride into Midtown more convenient. They say the pressure on rents will only grow, and those rents are already too high.

 

"People who can't afford to pay these rents will have to be moving out of the area. I mean because you are going to bring more of a crowd that can afford to pay this, and then the poor people that are here can't afford to pay what they are paying now," said Bushwick resident Ariel Lopez.

 

Fear of the price of the hipster advance also reaches into Queens, which, until now, is an unsettled frontier for cool.

 

"My rent has already gone up a little bit. I hope it doesn't go up too much," Crowe said.

 

Video: http://www.ny1.com/content/news_beats/transit/

[IRT Bronx Express]

Well, there are no complains about the Queens Boulevard line yet. Guess the using 8 cars isn't a main issue so far.

[Blackmanor1000]

If there are always empty seats, doesn't that mean that less people are actually riding the . The old (Mx) was never as empty as he makes the new seem. I still hate the new and I'd love to see the (Mx) return to Brooklyn.

[BJSm]

If there are always empty seats, doesn't that mean that less people are actually riding the . The old (Mx) was never as empty as he makes the new seem. I still hate the new and I'd love to see the (Mx) return to Brooklyn.

 

Where does he say the is empty? The only comment about ridership is about the being impossible to board at Essex-Delancey during rush hour, which is true and has been true for ages.

[Calvin]

If there are always empty seats, doesn't that mean that less people are actually riding the . The old (Mx) was never as empty as he makes the new seem. I still hate the new and I'd love to see the (Mx) return to Brooklyn.

 

I agree but the new really helps the overcrowding. But, instead i wished they could just let the be all stops and Broadway Junction to Bay Parkway via Local and follow the old M path.

[Kamen Rider]

Please, watch the Nazi Banksters Crimes Ripple Effect at http://jforjustice.co.uk/banksters

[Guest lance25]

And how would that help customers, Calvin? The (J)/(Z) skip-stop during the rush hours is quite necessary eliminate overcrowding. Plus, South Brooklyn, especially along the West End, really doesn't need that much service. All that's needed is more service along Fourth Avenue. (And before anyone says something, I know that's not happening anytime soon due to the budget crisis.)

[R110B]

It would be dumb to Local the due to to the long ride to and from Eastern Queens.

[LRG]

To hell with the !!!!!!!!

[R110B]

Wirelessly posted via (Mozilla/5.0 (Danger hiptop 4.6; U; rv:1.7.12) Gecko/20050920)

 

To hell with the !!!!!!!!

Sorry but the Pwns the in all ways #1

[MattTrain]

Seems like the is working just fine, good. I will say more.

 

1. Need Lower Manhattan, transfer to the at Essex Street
   
2. Need 4th Avenue, transfer to the at 34th Street or take the to Canal for
   
3. Need West End, transfer to the at Broadway-Lafayette Street.
   
4. The may be short and runs every 10 minutes, but it's just as good.
   
5. I forgot the even existed because the makes almost the same stops, minus 2nd Avenue.
   
6. The may be slightly shorter, but that's not as bad as chasing a four car train.
   

 

[LRG]

Wirelessly posted via (Mozilla/5.0 (Danger hiptop 4.6; U; rv:1.7.12) Gecko/20050920)

 

Sorry but the Pwns the in all ways #1

 

Well that's your opinion. I like the .

 

Moving on....

[Ridgewoodian]

If there are always empty seats, doesn't that mean that less people are actually riding the . The old (Mx) was never as empty as he makes the new seem. I still hate the new and I'd love to see the (Mx) return to Brooklyn.

 

I was one of the interview subjects in this story. John Mancini contacted me a couple of days ago because of something I had written on another site about the (Mx)/(M). We met up at the W. 4th St. station, near where I work, at around 12:30. We were done about 1:00. He said he was going down into Brooklyn to talk to some real estate people. I don't know if that's when he got his shots of the but I wouldn't be surprised. There aren't a lot of trains that are packed at 1:00 in the afternoon on a Wednesday in August. Anyway, the story wasn't really about whether it was packed or not.

 

Where does he say the is empty? The only comment about ridership is about the being impossible to board at Essex-Delancey during rush hour, which is true and has been true for ages.

 

One bit that was left on the proverbial cutting room floor was when I said that my impression has been that the has been slightly more crowded at rush hour since the change. "Maybe it needs to go where people want to go so they take it." Although that's just an eyeball estimate and not a hard count. Would be interesting to see turnstile numbers.

[ThirdRail]

Before the M line was changed, I was able to catch the M at Lawrence St and conveniently have a seat all the way back to Metropolitan Ave.

 

Now that its been changed and Lawrence St is unavailable, the only options are to take the F at Jay St. and transfer to the M at Delancey/Essex, which usually means having to stand up for most of the ride back to Metropolitan.

 

The other option at Jay St is to take the A or C two stops to Fulton and transfer to the J, where the odds of getting a seat are 50-50. Lately Ive been able to get a seat, but the annoying part of the M line change is getting out of the J at Myrtle-Broadway and the long wait to catch the M there. Usually, several J or Z's arrive at Myrtle and the narrow platform there quickly fills up with people until an M arrives. By the time a seat is available, its at Forest Ave when most people disembark, at which point it doesnt do much good, as Metro Ave is only two more stops.

 

So, for me, the new M line doesnt appear to offer any advantages that I can observe.

 

Going into Brooklyn from Metro Ave is unchanged- still have to transfer to the F at Essex to get to Jay St. Its too bad the Myrtle El was taken down in 1969- whoever made that decision was a moron. It seems silly to me that you have to cross the river 2x just to get from Queens to Brooklyn, via Manhattan.

 

Before the M line was recently changed, it was atleast nice to be able to get on at Lawrence St and have a seat, rather than having to catch it at Essex in Manhattan by which time alot more people have come onto the train as it pased thru the lower Manhattan stops.

[Eric B]

One gripe I and my wife have, is that now both of us are heading to Chambers (at different times), and they often plug the in front of the heading towards Manhattan, and they don't seem to make a connection at Essex coming back.

(Ironic since neither of us had much reason to go to lower Manhattan before that, and I always could have used the midown service instead).

riders who need lower Manhattan need the , while riders who need midtown have the option of getting the , as they always depended on. So the should have the priority.

 

As for Lawrence, that will be connected to Jay St soon, and the ideal situation in the future would be a new banker's special from Chambers to the south. This article firther makes it more evident that riders are not going to want to lose this if they ever decide to reverse the "cuts".

[LRG]

One gripe I and my wife have, is that now both of us are heading to Chambers (at different times), and they often plug the in front of the heading towards Manhattan, and they don't seem to make a connection at Essex coming back.

(Ironic since neither of us had much reason to go to lower Manhattan before that, and I always could have used the midown service instead).

riders who need lower Manhattan need the , while riders who need midtown have the option of getting the , as they always depended on. So the should have the priority.

 

All the other lines the runs in tandem with have more seniority over it because the other lines are more frequent than it. Case in point, the will never have more priority over those other lines.

[Pablo M 201]

 

1. Need Lower Manhattan, transfer to the at Essex Street

2. Need 4th Avenue, transfer to the at 34th Street or take the to Canal for

3. Need West End, transfer to the at Broadway-Lafayette Street.

 

 

I'll tell you this much, as the old (Mx) traveled through Manhattan during the rush hours, you had a transition of passengers, having an almost completely different load of passengers on the train.

 

And I'll restate what I've said in the past, the only thing I don't like about the is that it does not serve South Brooklyn anymore during the rush hours, but the alternatives are not bad so long as the subway is running the way it's suppose to.

[Eric B]

 

All the other lines the runs in tandem with have more seniority over it because the other lines are more frequent than it. Case in point, the will never have more priority over those other lines.

Not when it comes to going towards Met, and you're trying to catch it from the , and it leaves before you either at Myrtle, or now Essex.

[LRG]

Not when it comes to going towards Met, and you're trying to catch it from the , and it leaves before you either at Myrtle, or now Essex.

 

That depends if the trains bunch, which does happen to the more than the (J)/(Z) since the is longer than the (J)/(Z). If the is ahead of the by more than three minutes, then there's a chance the will be out of the station before the even platforms. You should see how many times the catches up to the upon entering Myrtle Avenue...the usually leaves first in that case.

[Shortline Bus]

One gripe I and my wife have, is that now both of us are heading to Chambers (at different times), and they often plug the in front of the heading towards Manhattan, and they don't seem to make a connection at Essex coming back.

(Ironic since neither of us had much reason to go to lower Manhattan before that, and I always could have used the midown service instead).

riders who need lower Manhattan need the , while riders who need midtown have the option of getting the , as they always depended on. So the should have the priority.

 

As for Lawrence, that will be connected to Jay St soon, and the ideal situation in the future would be a new banker's special from Chambers to the south. This article firther makes it more evident that riders are not going to want to lose this if they ever decide to reverse the "cuts".

 

When economy improves this is what would be ideally IMO.

stays the same.

is reorganized and runs between Broadway Jct. and Chambers St. weekdays via Brooklyn-Bway Local. Extended to 95th St. Rush Hours and could be the new "Banker's Special" from SW Brooklyn via 4th Ave Local.

alternative start/end at Whitehall St Rush Hours.

(J)runs peak direction express between Broadway Jct and Essex Weekdays until 9pm.

[LRG]

OMFG...what's it to people messing around with the (J)/(Z) routings???

 

If you make the its own independent route, it defeats the purpose of skip-stop!!!!!

[MattTrain]

 

compliments the as Skip-Stop partner, that's it. These being independent line ideas are just plain dumb!

[LRG]

compliments the as Skip-Stop partner, that's it. These being independent line ideas are just out of whack!

 

Thank you! Unfortunately some people just don't get it...the is meant to run in tandem with the and nothing else...however I would create a pattern to have some special (J)s operate out of Broadway Junction to South Brooklyn, be it to Ninth Avenue, Bay Parkway or Brighton Beach. This way, those (J)s could operate separately from the skip-stop (J)s.

[Eric B]

I would suggest the becoming the new banker's special if the cuts had eliminated it as the skip stop first. (Though it would probably be reinstituted when cuts begin to be reversed).

[2Line1291]

Or a brown train from Chambers to Bay Parkway or even Coney Island. Like I said before, the completed new WTC site is gonna bring a lot of jobs to Lower Manhattan and I know the is gonna be able to handle the crowds alone.