photo credit: wikipedia
Culver Viaduct

Argggghhhhh! Get ready for more F and G train week-end service disruption, due to the Culver Viaduct Rehab project. On the dates below, F and G train service between Jay Street and Church Avenue will be suspended and will be replaced by shuttle buses.
You know the drill....

Below is a note from the Metropolitan Transit Authority:

Below, please find the weekends in 2010 when MTA NYC Transit will need to suspend F and G service between Jay Street and Church Avenue, due to the ongoing Culver Viaduct rehabilitation project.
A shuttle bus will be replacing F & G service between Jay Street and Church Avenue and will operate both local and express. Hours of operation for each weekend are 12:01 a.m. Saturdays through 5:00 a.m. Mondays.

February 20-22
February 27-March 1
May 8-10
May 15-17
May 22-24
November 13-15
November 20-22

More dates for 2011 will be announced later

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A Moment Back In History: The Building Of The Subway Along Smith Street

Here I was, standing in the center of Smith Street, during a momentary lull in the traffic. You see, dear reader, I wanted to stand at the exact location from which the black-and-white photo above was taken on May 1st, 1930.

At that time, the construction of the subway tunnel along Smith Street was in full swing. However, rather than to tunnel deeper underground to cross underneath the Gowanus Canal, the Culver Viaduct, that monolithic steel structure, was built. The train makes its above ground appearance shortly after leaving the Carroll Street Station.
What you see on the left in this wonderful old photo, is the construction of the brick support wall for the above-ground tracks between 3rd and 4th Street. The elevated steel structure starts on 5th Street.
Obviously, lovely rows of brownstones had to be demolished on that side of Smith Street all the way to Union Street. Fortunately, those on the other side were spared.



Click on the links below for more old photos of Smith Street:
Aerial View Of Smith Street Circa 1938
The Very Fashionable Corner Of Smith And President Streets Early 1900's
Where Have All The Pretty Brownstones Gone On Smith?
When The Corner Of President And Smith Street Had Style!

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At F Train Town Hall, MTA Promises Improvements

(photo credit: Senator Squadron's office)
From left to right:
Assemblywoman Joan Millman, Councilman-elect Brad Lander
and State Senator Daniel Squadron

Shortly after taking office in early 2009, State Senator Daniel Squadron was flooded with telephone calls from constituents, who complained about the spotty F train service. In response, Squadron asked the MTA to undertake a top-to-bottom review of the F line.

Last week, on Thursday, December 10 at PS 58, Senator Squadron held an "F Train Town Hall."
Andy Inglesby and Glenn Lunden of the M.T.A. were in attendance to explain the recently completed report about the line's performance and to discuss proposals for improving service.
Also on hand were Assemblywoman Joan Millman and Councilman-elect Brad Lander.

In their presentation, Inglesby and Lunden acknowledged that the F significantly lacked behind other lines in the system in on-time performance. Amongst the issues facing the line are:

- the F is the 2nd longest route (27 miles)
-has a complex track sharing between the G, E and V line.
-Has a busy schedule with 15 trains per hour at peak.
-Has a large ridership
-Has an aging car fleet
-And an aging infrastructure (82.5% of the route dates before 1940 or earlier with 16% constructed in 1919-1920)

Currently, some improvements are being implemented. New subway cars have been replacing older ones and some stations are being renovated.

-The Jay Street station rehabilitation will be completed by the end of 2010. A new underground transfer to the M and R lines at Lawrence Street/ Metro Tech will be provided at the J Street station by the first quarter of 2011.

-The Culver Viaduct rehabilitation is underway right now and will be completed by 2013. The work will unfortunately mean some additional interruption in service on some week-ends.
The Viaduct work will include the full renovation of the 9th Street station, which will need to be closed for approximately 9 months.
An express service on the F line will not be possible until this work is completed. The MTA will look at that possibility after 2013.

As for Carroll Gardens' main subway plaza at 2nd Place and Smith Street, which was closed for safety concerns during the construction of the 360 Smith Street building, it will remain closed until October 2010.

Lets hope that some of this work will improve the less-than-average performance of the F.

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State Senator Squadron To Host Town Hall Meeting About The F Train

F Stands for...

If you think the F train service leaves lots to be desired, you are not alone. Overcrowding, re-routing and outages are a constant annoyance for local commuters. When State Senator Daniel Squadron took office in January 2009, he promised to work on the problem and asked the MTA to review the F line. The results were made public in October. Now, the senator is inviting the community to a town hall meeting on the subject. Below is more info from the senator's office:

This past summer, State Senator Squadron called on the MTA to conduct a full line review of the F Train in response to the many constituent complaints he received regarding ongoing service problems. In October, the MTA released the findings from this review in a comprehensive report (which you can find on Senator Squadron's website at: www.squadron.nysenate.gov).

To make this report even more accessible to the public, Senator Daniel Squadron and Community Boards 2 & 6 invite you to attend a Town Hall Meeting about the F train. MTA representatives will discuss the recent report about F train performance, and discuss proposals for improving service.

F Train Town Hall
Hosted by State Senator Daniel Squadron


WHEN: Thursday, December 10
6:30 pm

WHERE: PS 58 Auditorium

330 Smith Street, Brooklyn NY

(Corner of Smith and Carroll streets, at Carroll Street stop on the F line)

If you have any questions about this event or would like to receive a copy of the F train report, please don't hesitate to contact me. I am available by phone at (718) 802-3818 or by e-mail at ellen at danielsquadron dot org.

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Monday Morning F Train Fiasco. Were You Late,Too?

Waiting For The Damn F

Around 9 AM on Monday at the Carroll Street Station

Oh, boy! Were you one of the poor stranded commuters on the Carroll Street platform on Monday morning? I was. I was on my way to an important meeting in downtown Manhattan.
What a scene. With no announcement from the M.T.A., no one knew what was going on.

Only found out later that there was a signal problem between Church Avenue and Borough Hall.

Fun, wasn't it? Were you late for work, dear Reader?





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When Carroll Gardens Commuters Come Home Tonight, The 2nd Place F Train Plaza Will Be Closed

photo credit: wikipedia

Arrrgggg!

Some more F train inconvenience, but this time, it has to do with the rehabilitation of the Culver Viaduct, the elevated tracts over the Gowanus Canal at the Smith and 9th Street station and not with the closure of the 2nd Place entrance. Work on the the steel viaduct, which is currently wrapped Christo-style in black protective netting, is to continue through 2012.

To accommodate the repair, F train service between Jay Street-Borough Hall and Church Avenue will be suspended for the following weekends:

October 10-12,

October 17-19,

October 24-26

and November 14-16,

from 12:01 am Saturdays through 5:00 am Mondays.

There will be shuttle buses provided to transport travelers from Jay Street-Borough Hall along the F train route.

Sounds like a traffic nightmare to me.


Related reading:

When Carroll Gardens Commuters Come Home Tonight, The 2nd Place F Train Plaza Will Be Closed

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Second Place Subway Station Closure Delayed Till Wednesday

Just recently, the M.T.A. had announced that the main F & G train station at 2nd Place in Carroll Gardens was going to be closed starting on September 15th, due to the construction at 360 Smith Street. The MTA, however, has agreed to keep the station open for one more day because of Tuesday's primaries.
Below are details from Ellen Whelan-Wuest, Brooklyn Office Director for State Senator Daniel Squadron .

I wanted to let everyone know that the MTA has delayed their closing of the 2nd place entrance to the Carroll Street station along the F and G train lines. The entrance was scheduled to close beginning tomorrow morning, but to accommodate voters for Primary Day the MTA has decided to close the entrance beginning Wednesday morning at 10:00 am (September 16, 2009).

Please also note that the 2nd Street entrance across Smith Street will remain open for the duration of the 2nd Place closure. The MTA has also installed 2 additional turnstiles to facilitate easier access at this entrance.

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Nasty Stubbles: Funny Subway Ad Tampering At Carroll Street Station

At the Carroll Street F train station, Manhattan bound side.
The idea that someone took the time to take out a Sharpie to draw in these thick leg stubbles on a subway ad for a depilatory product, made me chuckle. I especially like the garter.
Please excuse me, but its a rainy Friday, and we all need some fun.



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Thanks To State Senator Squadron, MTA To Review F Train

State Senator Squadron's letter to MTA

State Senator Daniel Squadron certainly deserves thanks for urging the MTA to address the many problems plaguing the F train. The ridership on this line has exploded in recent years. Then there is the problem with deteriorating stations. (9th Street in particular is a nightmare.)
Most importantly, some of the elevated tracks look disastrous.
In an email, Ellen Whelan-Wurst, the Senator's Brooklyn Office Director, writes:

I wanted to let everyone know that thanks to a request made by Senator Daniel Squadron, the MTA has begun a full-scale, comprehensive review of the F train. Senator Squadron reached out to the MTA on this matter after having heard from many constituents about the increasing problems facing F train riders, including delays, crowded trains and poor station conditions. We are happy that the MTA has begun this review, and of course we will share the conclusions as soon as they are released.

Sounds great to me.
And for those who missed it last week, our State Senator got special mention in an editorial in the New York Times.

It is worth noting that the befuddled Democratic majority was nothing to wave the flag about. In many ways, it turned out to be almost as bad as the Republicans who ran the Senate for more than 40 years until January. But some Democrats, like Senator Daniel Squadron of Manhattan, were pushing for real changes that would, for example, have started to clean up the campaign finance system.

Thanks, Senator Squadron!
For related reading go to The Brooklyn Paper

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Gilbert, Carroll Gardens Wheelchair-Bound Resident Makes It Onto 'You Tube'

(This video has no sound)


Imagine my surprise, dear reader, when I stumbled onto this 'You Tube' video featuring none other than Gilbert, the wheelchair-bound Carroll Gardener who has been spending his days sitting at the 2nd Place subway station for as long as I can remember.
In the last few months, poor Gilbert has had to sit in Developer Stein's blue plywood labyrinth.
I bet he misses the subway plaza and the trees as much as everyone else here in Carroll Gardens.

The video was uploaded onto You Tube by Peter Neddo



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It's Raining Rats In The Carroll Gardens F Train Station

Photo Credit: ericskiff on flickr

Last night during dinner:
My Son:
"Hey, I forgot to tell you. This morning in the subway station, a rat fell from the ceiling right onto the platform, flipped over and ran off!"

So what do I do with that information? Do I have to stare up as well as down when I stand waiting for the train from now on?
Oh why did he not forget to tell me?

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A Further Bird's Eye View of 131 Second Place/ 360 Smith Street

About a year ago, the M.T.A. informed the Carroll Gardens' community that the 2nd Place F train subway entrance will have to be closed for about 6 to 8 months ( +/-) as part of developer Bill Stein's Oliver House construction at 131 Second Place /360 Smith Street.
On July 28th, the subway plaza will officially be closed.
In preparation, construction crews have bridged the sidewalk along Smith and 2nd Place and have created a plywood pathway from the station entrance to the street. It sort of looks like a labyrinth.
Councilperson Bill DeBlasio's District Director Tom Gray issued this statement on the Carroll Gardens' list server.

Please note this is only an entrance closure, and the station will be
open for business at all times. Customers will be asked to use the two
other station entrances at 2nd Street and President Street. We have
installed two additional high-wheel entrances/exits for customer usage
at 2nd Street, and a station agent will be on duty at all times at the
2nd Street entrance. We will be posting signs at the station in short
time which will notify our customers about the entrance closure and
alternate entrances.

NYC Transit will have an engineer on site at all times during this
construction project in order to ensure the structural integrity of the
station and the safety of our customers. We will be happy to provide
you with periodic updates on the station-entrance reopening schedule as
more information becomes available. In the meantime, you can always
contact me via e-mail or by calling me if you have any questions or
concerns regarding his project.

Below is a photo of the 2nd Street entrance across the street from the Plaza. It will most certainly be very difficult to accommodate a large number of F train riders as the entrance is much, much smaller.
In addition, after going down a narrow staircase, riders have to walk along a narrow passageway to get to the turnstiles. The last time I exited the station through there, my way was blocked by a drugged-out guy who had dragged his bicycle down there with him. See the picture below.
At least the M.T.A has already installed new turnstiles at that end of the station.
That should help.










Related Reading:

A Further Bird's Eye View of 131 Second Place/ 360 Smith Street

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MTA Maintenance Workers Really Knock Themselves Out Painting Carroll Gardens F Train Station At President Street

As I made my way out of the Carroll Gardens F train station at President street yesterday, I was greeted by "wet paint" signs. Great! I thought to myself. This station needs to be spruced up a bit. My eyes searched the yellow hand rail. Had it received a new layer of paint while I had been in Manhattan? No, it looked as chipped as before. How about the bluish fence surrounding the entrance? Nope, it was as rusted as before. So what, you may ask, dear reader, got a fresh coat? You see that black square there on the side wall, right over the tiles? That's it, that's the extend of the paint job. WELL, BRAVO!
At this rate, the station should be totally repainted by, oh, 2020. Now, isn't that something to look forward too?

Links To This Post:

On 2nd Avenue Saga: Subway news and views from around the Internet

On Brownstoner: Wednesday Blogwrap



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