Catch You on the Flipside, My G

Delighted Commuters Comfortably Waiting on the Small Portion of the Union Sq. Platform that is Not Encumbered by Construction Barricades.

The G Train in an interesting animal. While it can be said that each NYC Subway line has it’s own personality, The G is unique in the fact that it is the only line in the MTA that does not go through Manhattan. It runs the length of western Kings County and terminates just north of Newtown Creek in Long Island City. Before I became to rely on it, I used to joke that the G Train didn’t actually go anywhere. When B and I moved to Greenpoint during the mid-twenty-tens, the G became the most efficient way for me to commute to midtown. At the time, it was only running 4-5 cars (abnormally short) and the frequency was only every 8-12 minutes. I was also catching it at the third to last stop, so it was often totally loaded to capacity by the time it arrived in Greenpoint. After elbowing my way onto the train, then back off again at the Court Sq. terminal, I would need to walk a half mile underground to the E/M train for the final stretch under the East River and into the canyon of skyscrapers that is midtown. Despite all of its shortcomings (pun intended), when I was able to hit the timing right, I could be at my desk in midtown in under 20 minutes from the time I walked out of my apartment door. The converse of this was seeing a stubby little train pull away just as I arrived at the platform. On those days, my commute time would be closer to 45 minutes.

Fast forward to the “return to office” phase of the post-COVID era. The G Train had remained comically short, and stubbornly clung to its legacy of having super low frequency, but at some point during the COVID years, the MTA developed an app that I could now consult in order know when a train would be arriving at my stop. This new app, coupled with the fact that ridership had still not fully reached its pre-COVID numbers (especially prior to 8:00 AM) improved the quality of my commute by a considerable amount. I’m guessing that the influx of new Greenpointers who inhabit the copious amounts of recently developed waterfront/superfund-site multifamily in the north end of the neighborhood may not agree. Even if the train were totally empty, 4 cars would not have enough capacity for people riding from the Greenpoint Ave. stop. But that is a discussion for another day.

An Example of Some Subway Art at the Bedford Avenue L Stop

Just when you thought this post could not be any more boring, in June of this year the MTA took the G Train offline for the remainder of the summer in order to implement ‘signal upgrades.’ From what have read, these upgrades will allow the MTA to safely increase the number of cars per train, and possible increase frequency. I’ll believe it when I see it.

Some Slightly Less Edgy Subway Art Seen at the Lorimer L Stop

Buuuut, in the meantime while the MTA is futzing around with the signals, I have been challenged with the task of finding the second most efficient way to midtown from my house. One of my colleagues who lives in the north end of the neighborhood rides a CitiBike over the Pulaski to Court Sq. and jumps on the E/M after being searched by the cops every morning on his way through the turnstile. He regularly brags to me about how his commute has actually gotten faster by not having to wait around for a G train to show up. It sounds like if he could some how avoid being searched by the cops one day, he could probably have a sub-15 minute commute! From my location, the Bedford Ave. L train is closer than hoofing it to Court Sq. (plus no bridges to ride over). So, like my colleague, I now begin my commute on a CitiBike. Unlike my colleague, I am still taking two separate trains after parking the bike.

Early AM L Trains are Decidedly Less Crowded Than the Early AM G at Nassau

The upside- The L has super high frequency (when it is working) and there is cell service through the entire tunnel under the East River allowing me to get a jump on email while I ride in, hooray! Additionally, when I switch to the NRQW at Union Sq. I can literally take which ever train rolls up first since all four lines stop at 57th. Even though it now takes me about 35 minutes to ride in, I have almost forgotten what it is like to wait on the platform so long in hellishly hot temps that drops of sweat stream down my back forming a small river upon reaching the confluence at the top of my derrière. Am I even a real New Yorker anymore? Was I ever?

 

 

Posted in News and tagged , , , , , , .