F Train Hell Begins for Windsor Terrace, Smith Street Stops

Betty Blade's Flickr

The MTA is entering the next phase of its highly dreaded renovation of the Culver Viaduct, which the F and G trains use as they ascend to the highest subway stop in NYC, at Smith-9th Street in Carroll Gardens. The necessary rehabilitation work will seriously inconvenience residents in this part of Brooklyn for months if not years, starting next Monday with the discontinuation of Manhattan-bound F and G service at Smith-9th Street, 15th Street Prospect Park, and Ft. Hamilton Parkway stations. This phase will last until May (or so they say!), and people are pissed. What follows is an excerpt from one of the many irate e-mails we've received in the past couple of days:

We're new to Windsor Terrace (2 months) and fairly new to New York (6 months). I'm absolutely livid that this is happening with a week's notice, especially in the winter. This is the first we're hearing of this and is part of a chain of the F train messing with us (shuttles this weekend...again...whoo-hoo!).
I've lived in cities for the past 10 years and I can tell you this level of fuckery wouldn't fly in LA or Boston. I'm not so worried about me but my gf is 90lbs. soaking wet and now will have to either have to trudge through the snow an extra 20 minutes to 7th Ave. or go 20 / 30 minutes in the wrong direction to get a train going to Manhattan. And what happens when they spend 6 months fixing trains on the other side and she has to walk home in the dark (we work drastically different hours)?

Well, there are shuttle buses, which some G riders have actually found to be faster than the subway. (Give them a try this weekend, when there will be no F service between Jay Street and Stillwell Avenue!) But in the words of Clancy Wiggum, this is gonna to get worse before it gets better, because in late May, the Smith-9th Street station will close completely for rehabilitation and remain closed through Spring 2012. And when it reopens, there will be NO Coney Island-bound F trains at the Smith-9th Street station until the Fall of 2012! PLEASE BE PATIENT!

Also: from the late Fall of 2011 to the Spring of 2012, there will be NO Coney Island-bound F or Church Avenue-bound G trains at 15th Street-Prospect Park and Ft. Hamilton Parkway stations. And in the summer of 2012, there will be NO hope for the firstborn sons of local residents, who must make human sacrifices to the MTA to make the trains return.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By John Del Signore in News on January 4, 2011 2:06 PM

Comments [rss]

Eric Sanchez

as is this one

Eric Sanchez

so um i'm not from NY but I frequent this site alot cause it gives me a good glimpse of the city that I've always wanted to visit, and in fact might do so in Feb. so yeah my homie that used to live out here moved to NY like 15 years ago. so now he's one of you guys. anyhow, he said I could stay with him anytime if I don't want to drop cash on a hotel. so yeah, he lives in Corona, NY. is that a ghetto ass spot or is it nice? would you guys recommend staying there for a first time visitor? and yes thanks for all the tips on how to not piss you nerds off (sorry keep saying that you guys come across like that in your arguments sometimes, but it's def. entertaining. I mean not really "nerd" but use a lot of big word grammar correcting freaks) but yeah don't stand on the sidewalk gawking at my map, don't talk to or associate with "hipsters," don't ride a bike on the streets, anything else?

handsomedevil

STAY HOME THIS PLACE IS HORIBLE

Guest

i'm rather content that you've enjoyed it, especially my dodging chris' points. i'll admit that my lack of knowledge in this area has made me jump at conclusions before i'd realized that i'm against the MTA on its use of money, and i'm really not against the fact that the MTA is going to have to fix this old structure. what can i say? angers clash often without reasons.

so how's the alternate service? i'm assuming the alternate service will suck a dead donkey's ass, as usual, as it has been for the past 25 years or so, as far as i can remember. my major complain is how the MTA would handle its alternate service. i'm all about how the MTA manages its money. based on my past experiences, i already know how it's going to be.

by the way, what's with this "newbie" complex? some (and maybe not you, "coltermac") who are writing against complainers seem to only write because "newbies are complaining." being a new yorker is like... being a human being. and nothing else. i'd never known that i'd have such a "privilege" of having grown up here, gone to bronx science, etc, until i met a few friends who told me, "wow, you're like the true 1% of new york! oh, people from such and such places don't want to associate with one another." sure, we have made fun of "newbies" since the 1800's -- can we move the fuck on already? there's a lot more to a human being than "where they are from." and a lot of my childhood friends have moved out of here because they can't stand it. i'm almost on the same boat as them, except i don't know where to go since i've never learned how to drive, and i really don't want to. i never had to.

and if any of you who were born in new york are standing behind the MTA purely for its sake (meaning, you're not here to bash the "newbies" and you looooooooove the MTA to the point of defending it) you must have been smoking some shit until it rotted your brain. yeah, just admit it already, you're not a fan of the MTA either -- you just hate "newly transplants." and i bet half of those (writing against complainers) weren't even born here and have "transplanted" here since their college years; and the other half are just those sad sad people from new york whom i've learned to dodge since my early childhood years.

getting puffed up just because you're from new york will give you high blood pressure -- trust me. and looking down on complainers who has recently moved here will make you even sicker -- why die before your time?

sundanceuiuc

1. Resident of the area, and am irritated by the inconvenience of it. However, if the repairs are necessary, so be it.

2. This notice issue may have been public, but I haven't seen it. I read the news and keep up with the world around me, but I didn't hear about it. I would counsel those who are criticizing people who are crying foul about the notice to understand that (a) keeping up with all the issues with the MTA is facing has been challenging, and (b) lots of things are discussed and announced by the MTA - 2nd Ave line for example - and aren't followed up on. I hadn't heard it and I do live in the area (between 15th and Ft Hamilton, closer to Ft Hamilton).

3. That being said, in most cases, notice would have fairly useless (I do feel for the lease holder, obviously). I wasn't moving, so I'll take my lumps.

4. Having said this, the MTA could do more to help those of us in the area to deal with the issues. Shuttle buses would be a huge help. I'd say my complaint is less to do with necessary repairs and more to do with the fact that I don't feel adequate steps are being taken to help those affected.

5. Park Slope's primary stops are 7th Ave and 4th Ave / 9th St. Both are unaffected. The Windsor Terrace area is much more middle class, we're not the rich guys, lol. Comparing people who live by the Smith - 9th stop (gowanus) to Park Slope residents is laughable.

6. While the Cortlandt situation did indeed suck, there are multiple lines in the area within a much closer walk. My nearest stop to walk to (Church or the nearest Q train) are both over a mile. The Cordlandt stop has lots of other trains near it to pick up the slack. Windsor Terrace is a one line area, and that one line will be crippled.

... the beat goes on. The worst part? This will take longer than estimates say. Construction works that way...

[/off soapbox]

Eric Sanchez

you guys are all nerds. real fucking nerds.

Guest

and here i thought i'm young and ignorant.

...a young, ignorant nerd -- cool.

Eric Sanchez

you guys are all nerds. big fucking nerds.

migstradamus

15th St. is my stop, and while this is yet more F train fuckery, it only takes a few minutes to walk from the furthest 15th St entrance (Windsor Place and Howard St., which I use) to the closest 7th St station entrance on 8th Ave bet. 9th and 10th. That's one long block and five short, not exactly the Park Slope Death March, even in winter.

SeasTooFarToReach

Oh, the whinnying of this person!

I remember you posting about this about a year ago, granted I did not know it would be in effect until 2 days ago. This affects me directly, but crying is not going to do anything.

TheRealCannibal

WAHHHHHHHH cry baby cry!!!!

WELCOME TO BROOKLYN

soxinthecity

Considering how long it took for subway service to be fully restored on the Manhattan Bridge, the Culver Viaduct repairs should be completed right before the Olympics comes to NYC.

5w30

Does this guy quoted way up top have a beard and use the word "artisinal" a lot? Big waaah to you, whining outlander, you.

smorrebrod

And real always-informed New Yorkers never irrationally bitch about the MTA.

Guest

now i am a proud irrational bx science grad '96 b*tcher of the MTA.

or PIBSGBOTM -- just call me "pig's bottom" for short.

handsomedevil

Yeah! And I bet he wears skinny jeans and listens to Blitzen Trapper. And he doesn't know how to dance! Yeaheahah...

We sure showed him who the real new yorkers are. That was awesome.

xsquatchx

these plans have been well-known since 2008 and talked about since 2007. why is this a surprise? i don't live near these stations and i knew about it.

stop blaming others for being lazy and not paying attention.