Abandon The G-Make it into a Bike Lane

Published on: February 2nd, 2010 | Last updated: May 20, 2016 | Written by: Bad Guy Joe

---

Epic Photoshop work by Sir McVeigh Lance

There is no hope for the G train. NYC’s lonely ‘crosstown local’ has been the subject of MTA neglect for decades. Originally planned as a feeder connecting various large trunk lines heading into Manhattan, 2 of which were never built (despite provisions for them having been constructed) – The G gets no respect. There’s an entire blog dedicated to trying to save it. Well I for one give up. To Hell with the G!

The G is *supposed* to run from Church Ave in Brooklyn to 71st Ave in Queens. This never happens. The train routinely terminates at Courthouse Square. Why it still appears on any MTA schedules as running through Queens is beyond me.

It is also *supposed* to run every 6-8 minutes during rush hour. This NEVER happens, either. In reality it runs every 24 minutes, with a train running 6 minutes behind that one to maybe clear up the huge crowd that couldn’t fit in the first train.

It is also the only non-shuttle subway line to run in NYC with just 4 cars. 3, assuming one of the now ancient R46 cars has a problem causing it to be locked up and out of service. The excuse was always that there were never enough subway cars to run full length trains on this line – yet in the last few years the MTA has sank hundreds of subway cars to the bottom of the ocean for artificial reefs instead of – you know, maybe fixing a few up to run normal length trains on the G. The present day operation of 4 cars trains are often not enough to contain all the passengers who kid themselves into thinking that they might actually get to work on time trying to utilize this twisted joke of a train.

It’s time to put the joke to an end.

As everyone knows, The G has been shut down the last few weekends. I wouldn’t be surprised if this is an MTA experiment to see if they can get away with shutting the entire line down permanently.

Then the MTA can wash its hands of ever having to maintain what is left of the G line’s stations and tunnels – both of which are crumbling. They could rip out the tracks and signals – creating a huge inventory of both for their other subway lines – and hand over ownership to the NYC DOT – where I can assure you Commissioner Khan is already wetting herself at the prospect of converting the length of the line into one huge bicycle highway.

Think about it – Instead of actual service improvements to make the G a line worth commuting on, they have instead given Brooklyn nothing but bike lanes. Who needs to spend money running a decent subway line when you can shut the whole thing down (or have it perform so shoddily that it may as well not run at all) and instead throw up a few bike lanes?

It’s high time for the MTA and NYC Government to either pull the plug already or invest some real cash and create reliable service on this subway line.

2016 Update: Since this sarcastic piece was written, G trains have been slightly lengthened, and the route has been modified to permanently end at Court Square (removing it from the queens blvd route), and lengthened to Church Ave in Brooklyn. Real Estate developers are now clamoring for the “BQX” streetcar, which will more or less mirror the G train route. Only it will be placed along the shore, and on the surface streets, where it will crawl even slower than the often shoddy G train. One must wonder though – will BQX be made to replace the G so the MTA can abandon this route that they have neglected for decades?

Comments

NOTE: It sometimes takes a short while for comments to be approved - unfortunately there's a lot of spam comments that come in. I absolutely love when y'all share personal stories of friends relatives etc who worked in these places. It really helps capture what these places were like before they closed up shop.

If you're feeling salty, argumentative comments completely devoid of facts (supply links to support your argument) will not be published. Got a case to state? come with the details.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.