And the Award for Worst Commute Goes to...

courtesy TheWorldAccordingtoHarp

East Flatbush, where on average commuters spent 48 minutes getting to work in 2008! That's nearly ten minutes longer than the citywide mean, 39.4 minutes, reports the Post. Other deep Brooklyn locales offered nearly-as-grueling journeys: Brownsville residents spent 47.4 minutes door-to-door. As for East New York, the winner in a previous survey, its average commute of 63.3 minutes fell considerably to 46 minutes. Researchers say that's because people gave up on public transportation and decided to drive.

Still, those figures pale in comparison to horror stories like a $26 commute undertaken by one Brooklyn student who took a dollar van, a city bus, the subway, two Long Island Rail Road trains and a Suffolk County bus, clocking in at four hours for a trip just over thirty miles. We'll take a breakneck, 100-block bike commute over that any day.

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By Sabrina Jaszi in News on March 30, 2010 1:40 PM

Comments [rss]

newyorkdoll

What about Riverdale? I love living here, but my commute to Columbus Circle is an hour and 15 mins one way, and that's even if I transfer to the A.

nicemarmot

I know someone who commutes from Canarsie to midtown. 90 minutes is her average. I guess most people who live out there must work in the area.

duineaosta

Not necessarily. When I was growing up in Canarsie almost everyone's parents worked in Manhattan. And every single family owned a car.

Wunderama

I'm wondering if Staten Island was included in these stats.

xgeyiph772

Probably not. Your average Staten Islander would give his left kidney for a 48 minute commute, either by bus/ferry/subway or by driving. I often do both, and either way it's at least an hour from midtown to my house.

matty

I seem to remember the subway from the LES to 179th street/Jamaica as taking like 90 minutes or something. But I think that's because I had to take a local train.

FergsKU

My position was moved to Stamford from midtown. Now this is a shitty commute.

Cannibal

I would be willing to bet the people "deciding to drive" in East New York are just all the new rich white transplants.

Cannibal

I guess you haven't noticed all the condos. East New York has been gentrifying for a minute now.

goteamdagger

Oh yes, because the number one place you'd want to drive if you're rich and white is East New York.

theevilone

And drive very slowly. And leave the car unlocked and the keys in the ignition.

jackie treehorn

on a note unrelated to this story, i have a special place in my heart for east new york because of the movie 'death wish 3'.

NattyB

Rich + White = East New York? Creo que no.

Kevin Walsh

There will be more drivers as the MTA raises fares and cuts service ad infinitum. By 2016, you'll have just the A/C/E on the west side and the 4/5/6 on the east side for $5 a ride. All local.

www.forgotten-ny.com

longacre

How is 48 minutes the longest commute? There are parts of Queens and Brooklyn from which it takes 90 minutes or longer to get to Manhattan.

NattyB

Average longest commute.

For every person riding 90 mins from Jamaica Queens to the UWS, there's a person who walks down the street for their commute.

Stevennnn

Sad, but true how some of the people in the suburbs have faster commuters than the city since LIRR and Metro-North run much faster than the subway.