MTA expects to restore Brooklyn-Manhattan subway service Saturday

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.

JEFFERSON SIEGEL FOR NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

People crowd onto a packed bus near Penn Station on Thursday, November 1, 2012.

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.

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.

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.

"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."

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

At last some good news for New Yorkers: Thousands of RATS may have drowned in superstorm as water swept into city's tunnels

At last some good news for New Yorkers: Thousands of RATS may have drowned in superstorm as water swept into city's tunnels

• Water rushed into tunnels so fast that most rats would have drowned
• Any survivors will be treated to a garbage feast once things dry out
• Health risks now depend on how quickly subway tunnels can be cleared

In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, fears were rife that the streets would be overrun with rats escaping the flooded tunnels and subways.

But it now looks as if those fears may have been groundless as there have not, as yet, been any reports of rodents roaming the streets.

Experts are saying the water likely rushed into tunnels so fast that the rats - despite being strong swimmers - had no time to escape and died.

Casualties: A family of rats drowned on the FDR Drive as they were trying to escape the flood waters

Sam Miller, a spokesman for the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, told Forbes the city has not seen an increase in rats above ground caused by Sandy, adding that while flooding normally does drive them to the streets, it 'also drowns young rats in their burrows and can reduce the rat population'.

Rodentologist Robert Corrigan, who works with the city on keeping populations under control, told LiveScience that baby rats will likely die unless they are carried to safety by their mothers.

Vermin: Fears of a rat influx on New York's streets have so far proven unfounded (stock picture)

Another expert, Herwig Leirs, a rodentologist at the University of Antwerp in Belgium, confirmed that most would drown.

'Rats will be carried away by the current and won't be strong enough to swim to the surface and breathe, or they'll be pushed to grates, they will get stuck there and they won't be strong enough to swim against the current,' he said.

However, the rats that are able to survive the floodwaters will be treated to a surge of garbage and food to feast on once things have dried out.

Brazilian glamour model becomes global laughing-stock after posing for photoshoot

A Brazilian glamour model has been slammed for posing against the trail of destruction left by superstorm Sandy.

Nana Gouvea, 30, who has reportedly graced the pages of Playboy, posted a series of images to her Facebook page showing her leaning against fallen trees and standing on top of wrecked cars in the streets of New York.

The photographs instantly sparked outcry, and Gawker mocked: ‘The turmoil following a devastating natural disaster is a great opportunity to get out there and try poses, angles, and wardrobe choices you normally wouldn’t.

Provocative: Brazilian model Nana Gouvea has been criticised for posing for photographs in storm-hit New York

Tasteless: Nana Gouvea leans against a fallen tree in a photo-shoot that has been widely condemned

They show pictures of her superimposed onto a number of tragic scenes, including the sinking of the Titanic, the Hindenburg disaster and the death of Mufasa in The Lion King.

Ms Gouvea’s husband, Carlos Keyes, was responsible for capturing the original images of her, which she proudly displayed on her Facebook account.

Stopping traffic: Nana Gouvea, from Brazil, has reportedly graced the pages of Playboy

Shot: Nana Gouvea has her picture taken in front of a tree and a bin brought down by Superstorm Sandy

Disastrous: Undeterred by the storm damage, the 30-year-old leans against a car next to a fallen tree

Ill-conceived: The model poses next to another fallen tree in a tight-fitting black outfit and boots

Photo-shoot: The controversial pictures of Nana Gouvea were taken by her husband, Carlos Keyes

Girl on film: A photographer wearing a cycling helmet takes pictures as the model balances precariously on a career bonnet

She told Spanish magazine, EGO, that the storm has bought them closer together and ‘we actually spent most of the time in bed’, adding that ‘today I will open a bottle of wine’.

According to the publication this is the second hurricane the duo have experienced, as they first met when Hurricane Irene hit the East Coast last August.

‘It was my first trip to New York,’ Ms Gouvea exclaimed, ‘we were in his apartment, watching movies, cooking.’

More than 50 people are known to have died in the storm, thousands of homes are underwater and millions remain without power.

Ms Gouvea goes to Japan: The tactless model is seen photoshopped into scenes from from the devastating 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan

Mocked: Critics have poked fun at the brunette model, superimposing her image on to other inappropriate photographs such as this one of racing driver Ayrton Senna's fatal crash

Added: The model's figure appears as a silhouette in this photograph of a fire

Fake: Nana Gouvea's image is included in this doctored photograph of another flooding incident

Devastation: One of the photographs to which the model's picture was added showed Hiroshima, Japan, in the aftermath of a nuclear bomb attack in 1945

Under fire: In this photo-shopped image, the model is shown witnessing the self-immolation of Buddhist monk Thich Quang Duc in Vietnam in 1963

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Queens Man Pulls Gun, Cuts Fuel Station Line

Queens, NY – Patience is waning on the coast post-Sandy, and while many have stepped up and stood out as heroes, there’s also a darker side to being a post-crisis American, and darker stories of desperation coming on the heels of the super-storm. Case in point: A Queens man who was arrested for pulling a gun as tempers flared over fuel shortages.

The few gas stations left open in the city are patrolled by police and New Yorkers wait in line for hours to fill up, reports MSN. Indeed, things seem dire in The Big Apple.The fight for fuel in New York is growing frightening, even violent. As many without homes, heat, and food desperately scramble for precious fuel to keep their generators running, demand dramatically spikes while supply struggles to meet it.

To wit, 35-year-old Sean Bailey of Queens seemed to reach his breaking point, cutting in line at a gas station on Thursday, and then pulling a gun on the person who called him out for it.

Bailey was arrested on charges of menacing and criminal possession of a weapon, reports The Kennebec Journal.

If Bailey is convicted, he will face 15 years in prison.

Our sympathies continually pour out to victims of Hurricane Sandy, and our hearts are with those involved in such sad stories. Meanwhile, praise is to be heaped upon those who have stepped up in the aftermath of Sandy, particularly our politicians who have largely laid aside partisan politics to come together as Americans.

No matter how desperate things are, nothing is worth the violence or 15 years in prison. Regardless, our hopes are with all those affected by Hurricane Sandy.