No. 7 line short for Lunar New Year

[Kamen Rider]

There's no point to cancel the GO over something going on in Flushing, the 7 will still be running.

 

The Flushing politicians are being idiots. Ether they can't comprehend what the project entails or they are outright slandering the MTA.

[peacemak3r]

I don't see what the fuss is about. It's not like they are shutting down Main Street-Flushing station. Also to get to Chinatown, Manhattan; taking the is ideal anyway. Or the to the to Grand Street.

 

Another note, if you think Lunar New Year isn't really looked upon, it's true. You don't see me getting the day off or class's cancelled. I don't complain, I just either don't go to class or call in sick and bullshit.

[Kamen Rider]

I never got off for st Patrick's day and you don't see me raising a high holy fit...

 

......

New iPhone, but of a learning curve

[Amtrak7]

I don't think they should cancel the GO. But they should consider supplanting service east of 74th, as the runs much less often when it terminates at QBP.

[CenSin]

I wonder what the traffic patterns are on Chinese New Year. There are about 4 Chinatowns:

• "Chinatown" in Flushing, Queens
  
• Chinatown in Manhattan
  
• "Chinatown" along the length of the Sea Beach line from 8 Avenue to Avenue U (which overlaps with some West End segments that are also heavily Chinese)
  
• "Chinatown" at Avenue U on the Brighton line
  

 

These parades will definitely show up at the first two Chinatowns and maybe along 8 Avenue between the West End and Sea Beach lines.

[Snowblock]

Yeah, and guess what commute those riders are gonna do - the or to the ! And odds are they'll be transferring at Queensboro Plaza! So what's the problem???

[realizm]

Yeah, and guess what commute those riders are gonna do - the or to the ! And odds are they'll be transferring at Queensboro Plaza! So what's the problem???

 

 

From the article Snowblock:

 

 

Merchants associations were also left wondering if the city was spitting in the face of a community they said has remained solvent and booming during a time of otherwise fiscal uncertainty.

 

And...

 

The Lunar New Year is the most important holiday in many East Asian cultures, a relatively tame bacchanal that in Flushing includes cultural events and a parade. Organizers said the neighborhood enjoys a flood of visitors, reaching out to family and coming to celebrate in an Asian hub on the east coast.

 

Community Board 7 District Manager Marilyn Bitterman said the MTA’s plans would be different, had it been a western holiday.

 

“This holiday would be the same as working on Christmas or New Year’s,” she said.

 

That's the problem. I think the community leaders do have a very valid point, they should be sick and tired of this trend. It's not about complaining. Many Asians and non-Asians alike I'm sure are rightfully pissed because of the MTA's reluctance to be more sensitive to public relation issues such as this. Actions like this really I think is actually tarnishing the image of New York as a city of prosperity and multicultural diversity.

 

Again it's not about a GO in itself. It's about principle here.

[realizm]

There's no point to cancel the GO over something going on in Flushing, the 7 will still be running.

 

The Flushing politicians are being idiots. Ether they can't comprehend what the project entails or they are outright slandering the MTA.

 

 

Disregarding the second statement, I very much doubt that canceling one GO will throw off the entire CBTC project.

[bobtehpanda]

Yeah, and guess what commute those riders are gonna do - the or to the ! And odds are they'll be transferring at Queensboro Plaza! So what's the problem???

 

 

I'm just going to provide some transit context for this.

 

On a normal day, Flushing is one of the major bus hubs of Queens. There are local routes from Queens and the Bronx, the Chinese "dollar" vans (which haven't been a dollar during the time I've been alive), the 7, and the LIRR. However, on Chinese New Year, there will be no bus or van service into Flushing. The main streets everyone uses to get to Downtown Flushing, Main St and Kissena Blvd, will be closed to traffic. Specifically, the Chinese vans, which normally go between other Chinatowns and Flushing, will not be running, so the regular riders of these vans will be taking the subway.

 

Now, you could say that all these people could take the LIRR, but there are some issues with that.

 

1. Price.

For a lot of these people, taking the LIRR is not an option. Not every Asian person lives in a 2000 sq ft house in Bayside or Fresh Meadows, and even $3.75 is a bit much. They might pay $2.75 to take a van from Chinatown to Flushing, but that's about as much as they can afford. On the other hand, these people probably already have Metrocards, so they're not required to buy additional fare media.

 

2. Convenience.

Penn Station is not a convenient place to get to for riders from the other Chinatowns - the closest their trains might pass to Penn would be Herald Square. If they're unfamiliar with transit detours, why would they take two trains and an hourly LIRR service to Flushing?

The Flushing LIRR station isn't convenient either - if you weren't using it on a regular basis, you could probably mistake the entrances as insignificant alleyways. In addition, the entrances are on different side streets for different platforms, so if you happen to be prevented from going over to the other side by a police barricade, tough luck.

 

3. The language barrier.

This is actually probably the biggest reason why the LIRR would be an unreasonable proposition for many riders. There is a fairly sizable amount of Asian people who can't speak English, and an equally sizable amount who also can't read or write it. Now, I have never seen a LIRR service announcement printed in Chinese, or English. The MTA at least tries (although their service notices look like they went through Google Translate, but that's a different story). If they can't read or write English, how are they going to be able to tell if the Port Washington train is a Great Neck Express, or isn't stopping in Flushing vs. the 7 which always stops at Main St.?

 

Now before we let emotional arguments get the best of us, let's take a look at some statistics.

Flushing is a hub with many transit options, and is served by the tenth-busiest subway station in the city.

During the Lunar New Year, there are only going to be two transit options to Flushing, and one of them isn't particularly friendly for first time users and is out of the way.

Not everyone is well-versed in the subway's routings and transfers, so we need to accommodate them.

 

They probably don't need to cancel the GO, but the very least they could do is put up service notices in neighborhoods most likely affected by this change and run additional service between QBP and Main St. If you can't understand English, the spoken service announcements won't help you, and QBP was never really meant to handle all of the people coming off a 7 train from Main St. Just my two cents.

[Kamen Rider]

Queensboro plaza WAS really ment to handle them, and more. Back when it was new it was as big as Stillwell ave.

 

Then there is also the transfer to the IND at 74th. To make it sound like the mta is ignoring them outright is outrageous and unfair.

[CDTA]

Queensboro plaza WAS really ment to handle them, and more. Back when it was new it was as big as Stillwell ave.

 

Then there is also the transfer to the IND at 74th. To make it sound like the mta is ignoring them outright is outrageous and unfair.

 

 

 

The are crowded enough as it is, and there will be reduced service on the in general because QBP can't handle all of the trains.

[Snowblock]

Wait, so how much of this complaining is coming from the Chinese community, and how much from Long Island City - a neighborhood which was DEAD up until a couple years ago when they started building condos, and then started demanding that LIRR shut down their yard there because it was too noisy for their yuppie tastes? And now they're not getting their 5 minute commute into Manhattan they were promised?

[IntExp]

The are crowded enough as it is, and there will be reduced service on the in general because QBP can't handle all of the trains.

 

 

Goddamn it, Roosevelt isn't as crowded on the weekends as it is on Rush Hours Weekdays...and yes, the switches at QBP can handle the flow of 7 trains...trains just move at slower speeds going through. In short, this isn't Armageddon And like someone said earlier in this thread, this is the price we pay for improved service in the long run - we must go through pain in order to see better days - in this case, the pain is these annoying G.O.'s, and better days are the days of CBTC and R188's.

 

And trust me, there will be even more extreme G.O.'s then this before the CBTC project wraps up in 2016/2017...just saying. For a hint, look at when the was suspended between Canarsie and B'way Junction...and apply that same rationale to the ....

[CenSin]

I have taken the (N)/(Q) to transfer to the (7)/<7> at Queensboro Plaza. I don't know any Chinese person who would take that long trek to transfer at Time Square–42 Street to a line that takes longer to reach Queensboro Plaza than staying on the Broadway line.

[CDTA]

Goddamn it, Roosevelt isn't as crowded on the weekends as it is on Rush Hours Weekdays...and yes, the switches at QBP can handle the flow of 7 trains...trains just move at slower speeds going through. In short, this isn't Armageddon And like someone said earlier in this thread, this is the price we pay for improved service in the long run - we must go through pain in order to see better days - in this case, the pain is these annoying G.O.'s, and better days are the days of CBTC and R188's.

 

And trust me, there will be even more extreme G.O.'s then this before the CBTC project wraps up in 2016/2017...just saying. For a hint, look at when the was suspended between Canarsie and B'way Junction...and apply that same rationale to the ....

 

 

I took the very late at night, and that station was PACKED.

[tvega961]

The are crowded enough as it is, and there will be reduced service on the in general because QBP can't handle all of the trains.

 

 

I took the today to Roosevelt at 12PM and it was not that crowded at all. The behind it was literally empty.

[Amtrak7]

I took the today to Roosevelt at 12PM and it was not that crowded at all. The behind it was literally empty.

 

 

Then I guess the were overcrowded.

[cotb16]

I took the today to Roosevelt at 12PM and it was not that crowded at all. The behind it was literally empty.

 

 

Two hours later, I took a pretty packed where half of the car got off at Roosevelt to change for the .

 

As for the Lunar New Year thing, I understand the feelings of the Asian merchants on the sense that the MTA cancels GOs during the Puerto Rican Parade, Gay Pride Parade and other major holidays or ethnic parades that draw large crowds to Manhattan. The Flushing merchants feel that the MTA should treat them the same way since the Flushing Lunar New Year draws a huge crowd.

 

On the other hand, the 74th Street and Queensboro Plaza transfers are pretty good. But I agree with a previous post on adding service between Flushing and 74th Street to handle the crowds coming from Flushing and Corona.

[FamousNYLover]

Sometimes doing NY Mets, Concern at CitiField, Queensboro Plaza and 74th St-Broadway could get extreme overcrowded, including Lunar New Years. Even in overcrowded cars, people will still try to push them into cars, so it's not good transfer, so need to run during Chinese New Year.

 

Also, if they cannot, they should also extend shuttle bus to Times Sq/Penn Station via Queens Midtown Tunnel and Grand Central/5th Av.

 

LIRR Pt. Washington should also cross honor train passengers at Penn Station, Woodside and Flushing have 30 minutes headway.

[Kamen Rider]

Two words; Platform staff.

 

This has happened in the past, so it's not like this is out of the blue. Hell, they took the freaking time to install that extra X-over just outside QBP to make operating a truncated line easier. It's not like they don't care, but Yupiee run businesses and Chinese people are not their only customers on that line. They have other people with other problems. Guess what's also on a weekend with no 7 past QBP this year? St Patrick's day. And i have yet to see anyone raise a stink over that. If people feel the need to complain for the folks in flushing, then I'll just fuss for my fellow sons of Eire in Sunnyside. If the full line gets to be run for the lunar new year, then it should be run on my cultural background's major holiday as well. Seems only fair to me.

[MichalkaManiac]

"Because we have such a limited opportunity to perform Flushing line work during baseball season, these general orders for work must move forward during the remainder of the year"

-- Kevin Ortiz spokesman.

 

 

Couldn't they also do this work even on weekends when the Mets aren't playing, like they did in 2011?

 

And also just like how there was no service from Woodlawn to Yankee Stadium on a couple of weekends last summer; both weekends the Yanks were away.

[Kamen Rider]

The 4 has the IND to back it up.

[MichalkaManiac]

The 4 has the IND to back it up.

 

True. But I'm referring to the fact that they could still do work on the line anytime, including any weekend during Spring and Summer (like it actually did in 2011). If the IND Concourse / IRT Jerome line could do this work diring summer months, then so can the Flushing Line, as long as the Mets are on the road that weekend, or when the U.S. Open is in session. Otherwise, what's the difference between doing this work on the now, instead of some scattered select weekends during the season, when the weather's actually warmer to walk outdoors?

[Guest Lance]

The idea is to get a large chunk of the necessary work done *before* the baseball season starts so it doesn't have to be broken up whenever the Mets are in town.

[cotb16]

"Because we have such a limited opportunity to perform Flushing line work during baseball season, these general orders for work must move forward during the remainder of the year"

-- Kevin Ortiz spokesman.

 

 

Couldn't they also do this work even on weekends when the Mets aren't playing, like they did in 2011?

 

And also just like how there was no service from Woodlawn to Yankee Stadium on a couple of weekends last summer; both weekends the Yanks were away.

 

And even when the Yankees played, I remember trains running local in Manhattan, much to the chagrin of Yankee fans coming from the Upper East Side.