________________________________________________________________
There is light at the end of the subway tunnel.
The MTA is expecting to have train service between Brooklyn and Manhattan on Saturday - with the No. 2, 3, 4 and 5 lines running under the East River and the D, N, Q and J traveling across the Manhattan and Williamsburg bridges.
The MTA is expecting to have train service between Brooklyn and Manhattan on Saturday - with the No. 2, 3, 4 and 5 lines running under the East River and the D, N, Q and J traveling across the Manhattan and Williamsburg bridges.
But exactly how much service returns and when hinges on Con Edison restoring power to lower Manhattan. Lines will kick in one by one to avoid overwhelming the battered grid.
The juice wasn’t back on in time to help the city’s weary commuters on Friday - who had to cope with another day of no trains below 34th St. or through the East River tunnels for the morning and evening rush hours.
Many of them again packed into the MTA “bus bridge” shuttles to travel between the two boroughs, suffering long lines and gridlock.
“Commuting went better today than yesterday,” Mayor Bloomberg said at a midday briefing where he announced HOV restrictions requiring Manhattan-bound vehicles to have three passengers expired at 5 p.m.
Despite the crippling power outage, New York City’s lifeline - its massive public transportation system - was getting longer by the hour.
-- The Staten Island ferry began crossing the harbor at noon to cheers
-- The No. 7 line was rolling from Main St., Flushing, to 74th St./Broadway in Queens
-- M trains were ferrying riders between Jamaica, Queens, and 34th St./Herald Square in Manhattan
-- In the Bronx, riders could catch No. 5 trains between Eastchester/ Dyre Ave. and E. 180th St. At E. 180th St., riders can take the No. 2 train to Manhattan
-- The four busiest Long Island Rail Road branches to Penn Station were running: Port Washington as far as Great Neck, Port Jefferson from Huntington, and Ronkonkoma and Babylon.
-- Metro-North will have all main-branch service back Saturday, good news for the 140,000 people who ride the Hudson, Harlem and New Haven lines every day.
The railroad, which has been ramping up service as it gets power and clears tracks, will also restore service to small branches off the main lines that carry about 8,000 riders a day.
West of the Hudson River, Metro-North's Port Jervis and Pascack Valley lines in Orange and Rockland counties can't come back until NJ Transit restores service to tracks Metro-North uses.
-- One tube of the Holland Tunnel opened for buses and commercial vehicles only. The midtown tunnels remain closed.
Residents of the hammered Rockaways will have the longest wait for subway service to return because the bridge over Jamaica Bay south of the Howard Beach station was decimated, officials said. It will take a month at least to repair the crossing, and at least 15,000 riders use the affected stations.
"It's a big deal," said firefighter Bradach Walsh, who lives in Rockaway Beach. "Without the train, people can't get to work" because countless cars were destroyed when the streets became an ocean.
The MTA took all trains off the Rockaway peninsula and shut down the whole system Sunday night to prevent damage as Hurricane Sandy zeroed in on New York.
But those precautions proved to be no match for the fury of the storm's surge, which flooded all seven tubes that run under the East River.
Limited subway service above 34th St. began Thursday morning, but commuters who wanted to travel between Brooklyn and Manhattan had to take MTA “bus bridges."
There were immense lines again as thousands waited Friday morning at "commuter hubs" -- Jay St./ Metro Tech, Barclays Center and Hewes St. – to be carried over the Manhattan and Williamsburg bridges, to 54th St. and Lexington Ave.
Waits were 30 to 45 minutes at times and there was some chaos.
At 54th St. and Lexington Ave, lines wrapped city blocks and back again with MTA workers unsure which shuttles to put people on.
"People are angry,” said Gabrielle Alexander, 25, a home-health aide from Flatbush. “There are a lot of angry people on line. It took me three hours to get home last night ... I have to work all weekend, so it will be a lot better once the subways are running."
Terence Watson, 48, of Flatbush, noted the free ride of the past two days would be over in a few hours.
“I pray to God it's working soon, but they are still talking about raising the fare, " he said. "I missed three days of work already.”
As buses from Manhattan disgorged people at Adams St. in Downtown Brooklyn, riders said they were anxious to swipe through a turnstile again.
"Especially Brooklyn people, we need the subway," said John Stockford, 26, who was hoofing it from the bus to his Clinton Hill home.
Eric Davis, 18, said the stop-and-go ride through streets clogged with cars made him yearn for underground travel -- but he was not as optimistic as the MTA.
"I hope it's back, but I don't think it will be," he said.
The big bright spot Friday was the Staten Island ferry, which began running on a half-hour schedule at noon. The first boat out of St. George held about 100, the second one about 150 and the third more than 400.
Many were tourists who had come from the Manhattan side were simply heading back. But Curtis Toye, 37, lives on Staten Island and bolted for the terminal when he heard the ferries were back in operation.
"We heard the ferry restarted on the radio," said Toye, who lives in the St. George section of the storm-battered island and had no power or heat at home.
"It helps. I just want to get away for a while. I'm heading to Midtown at last to get my life back to normal," he said. "I needed to get out.
The juice wasn’t back on in time to help the city’s weary commuters on Friday - who had to cope with another day of no trains below 34th St. or through the East River tunnels for the morning and evening rush hours.
Many of them again packed into the MTA “bus bridge” shuttles to travel between the two boroughs, suffering long lines and gridlock.
“Commuting went better today than yesterday,” Mayor Bloomberg said at a midday briefing where he announced HOV restrictions requiring Manhattan-bound vehicles to have three passengers expired at 5 p.m.
Despite the crippling power outage, New York City’s lifeline - its massive public transportation system - was getting longer by the hour.
-- The Staten Island ferry began crossing the harbor at noon to cheers
-- The No. 7 line was rolling from Main St., Flushing, to 74th St./Broadway in Queens
-- M trains were ferrying riders between Jamaica, Queens, and 34th St./Herald Square in Manhattan
-- In the Bronx, riders could catch No. 5 trains between Eastchester/ Dyre Ave. and E. 180th St. At E. 180th St., riders can take the No. 2 train to Manhattan
-- The four busiest Long Island Rail Road branches to Penn Station were running: Port Washington as far as Great Neck, Port Jefferson from Huntington, and Ronkonkoma and Babylon.
-- Metro-North will have all main-branch service back Saturday, good news for the 140,000 people who ride the Hudson, Harlem and New Haven lines every day.
The railroad, which has been ramping up service as it gets power and clears tracks, will also restore service to small branches off the main lines that carry about 8,000 riders a day.
West of the Hudson River, Metro-North's Port Jervis and Pascack Valley lines in Orange and Rockland counties can't come back until NJ Transit restores service to tracks Metro-North uses.
-- One tube of the Holland Tunnel opened for buses and commercial vehicles only. The midtown tunnels remain closed.
Residents of the hammered Rockaways will have the longest wait for subway service to return because the bridge over Jamaica Bay south of the Howard Beach station was decimated, officials said. It will take a month at least to repair the crossing, and at least 15,000 riders use the affected stations.
"It's a big deal," said firefighter Bradach Walsh, who lives in Rockaway Beach. "Without the train, people can't get to work" because countless cars were destroyed when the streets became an ocean.
The MTA took all trains off the Rockaway peninsula and shut down the whole system Sunday night to prevent damage as Hurricane Sandy zeroed in on New York.
But those precautions proved to be no match for the fury of the storm's surge, which flooded all seven tubes that run under the East River.
Limited subway service above 34th St. began Thursday morning, but commuters who wanted to travel between Brooklyn and Manhattan had to take MTA “bus bridges."
There were immense lines again as thousands waited Friday morning at "commuter hubs" -- Jay St./ Metro Tech, Barclays Center and Hewes St. – to be carried over the Manhattan and Williamsburg bridges, to 54th St. and Lexington Ave.
Waits were 30 to 45 minutes at times and there was some chaos.
At 54th St. and Lexington Ave, lines wrapped city blocks and back again with MTA workers unsure which shuttles to put people on.
"People are angry,” said Gabrielle Alexander, 25, a home-health aide from Flatbush. “There are a lot of angry people on line. It took me three hours to get home last night ... I have to work all weekend, so it will be a lot better once the subways are running."
Terence Watson, 48, of Flatbush, noted the free ride of the past two days would be over in a few hours.
“I pray to God it's working soon, but they are still talking about raising the fare, " he said. "I missed three days of work already.”
As buses from Manhattan disgorged people at Adams St. in Downtown Brooklyn, riders said they were anxious to swipe through a turnstile again.
"Especially Brooklyn people, we need the subway," said John Stockford, 26, who was hoofing it from the bus to his Clinton Hill home.
Eric Davis, 18, said the stop-and-go ride through streets clogged with cars made him yearn for underground travel -- but he was not as optimistic as the MTA.
"I hope it's back, but I don't think it will be," he said.
The big bright spot Friday was the Staten Island ferry, which began running on a half-hour schedule at noon. The first boat out of St. George held about 100, the second one about 150 and the third more than 400.
Many were tourists who had come from the Manhattan side were simply heading back. But Curtis Toye, 37, lives on Staten Island and bolted for the terminal when he heard the ferries were back in operation.
"We heard the ferry restarted on the radio," said Toye, who lives in the St. George section of the storm-battered island and had no power or heat at home.
"It helps. I just want to get away for a while. I'm heading to Midtown at last to get my life back to normal," he said. "I needed to get out.
We were just stuck and couldn't do anything. We had no communication with the outside world."
Adam Gonzalez, 58, who lives in St. George and teaches at a charter school, said he had been stranded on Staten Island because his car was damaged -- so he took the ferry to get medicine from a Manhattan pharmacy.
"I've been trapped there," he said. “I've been locked up in my apartment for how many days now? A week? At least I had hot water. I feel like a ghost, like I'm not really here.”
The terminal on the Manhattan side of the harbor was also eerily quiet, running on generators.
Adam Gonzalez, 58, who lives in St. George and teaches at a charter school, said he had been stranded on Staten Island because his car was damaged -- so he took the ferry to get medicine from a Manhattan pharmacy.
"I've been trapped there," he said. “I've been locked up in my apartment for how many days now? A week? At least I had hot water. I feel like a ghost, like I'm not really here.”
The terminal on the Manhattan side of the harbor was also eerily quiet, running on generators.
"It was scary at first," said Megan Vasquez, 20, who took the first boat out of Staten Island.
"There weren't a lot of people, and everyone seemed nervous waiting at the terminal, but when they opened the doors people cheered."
"There weren't a lot of people, and everyone seemed nervous waiting at the terminal, but when they opened the doors people cheered."
Service expected Saturday
1 - 242nd St. - Times Square
2 - Full service
3 - Full service
4 - Full service
5 - Full service
6 - Full service
7 - Full service
Times Square Shuttle - full
A - Lefferts Blvd - Penn Station local
C - No service
D - Full service
E - No service
F - Full service
G - No service
J - Full service
L - Broadway Junction - Rockaway Parkway
M -Middle Village - Myrtle Ave.
N - Full service
Q - Full service
R - Jay St./MetroTech - 95th St.
S - Franklin Ave. and Rockaway Park shuttled - no service.
Metro-North - Full main branch service on the Hudson, Harlem and New
Haven Lines.
Long Island Rail Road.
Full or partial service on four busiest branches: Port Washington,
Port Jefferson, Babylon and Ronkonkoma.
Bridges
Verrazano - open
Tappan Zee - open
Marine Parkway - open
Throgs Neck - open
Henry Hudson - open
Bx-Whitestone - open
RFK - open
Cross Bay - open
Holland Tunnel - open for buses
Lincoln Tunnel - open
Tunnels
Hugh Carey - closed
Queens-Midtown - closed
1 - 242nd St. - Times Square
2 - Full service
3 - Full service
4 - Full service
5 - Full service
6 - Full service
7 - Full service
Times Square Shuttle - full
A - Lefferts Blvd - Penn Station local
C - No service
D - Full service
E - No service
F - Full service
G - No service
J - Full service
L - Broadway Junction - Rockaway Parkway
M -Middle Village - Myrtle Ave.
N - Full service
Q - Full service
R - Jay St./MetroTech - 95th St.
S - Franklin Ave. and Rockaway Park shuttled - no service.
Metro-North - Full main branch service on the Hudson, Harlem and New
Haven Lines.
Long Island Rail Road.
Full or partial service on four busiest branches: Port Washington,
Port Jefferson, Babylon and Ronkonkoma.
Bridges
Verrazano - open
Tappan Zee - open
Marine Parkway - open
Throgs Neck - open
Henry Hudson - open
Bx-Whitestone - open
RFK - open
Cross Bay - open
Holland Tunnel - open for buses
Lincoln Tunnel - open
Tunnels
Hugh Carey - closed
Queens-Midtown - closed
