In an 8-page memo, the MTA announced its 7-Train weekend closures to the powers that be. While these closures are a regular annual event in LIC, mostly occurring in the winter, the 2014 edition will be spread more evenly throughout the year. Ironically, the lengthy memo is both very descriptive about all the specific work that needs to be done, and profusely apologetic. The MTA is expected to officially announce the closures later in the week. If not, we’ll be sure to print the full memo.
Nevertheless, it probably won’t lead to a cessation of all the griping that comes with the closures, and it will definitely lead to local pols issuing stinging remarks. But there may also be a silver lining: because the announcement comes across as so onerous and severe, the MTA may be forced to capitulate and allow a shuttle bus to operate directly to Grand Central. We shall see…
Weekend Closures:
March 1, 8, 15, 22, 29
April 12
May 3, 17, 30
June 7 (open Sunday the 8th), 21, 28
July 18
October 18, 25
November 8, 15, 22
22 Weekends of Closures to the 7-Line – only 18 of which will affect LIC
Ally says
January 16, 2014 at 7:35 amI think I prefer having it spread out over the year, as opposed to the dead of winter when I’m stuck standing in the freezing cold on Vernon having just missed the shuttle bus.
Harrumph! says
January 16, 2014 at 8:28 amI cannot believe this! Every year the number of weekends the 7 train is down gets bigger and bigger. It’s a big downside of living in Long Island City.
Adios says
January 16, 2014 at 9:04 amThis is the final straw. I’m outta here!
Paul says
January 16, 2014 at 9:16 amThere is going to be a press conference about this w/ all the local politicians on Friday at 11am.
Queens Kidd says
January 16, 2014 at 10:40 amOh who cares about those useless press conferences. They’ve been going on for as long as the shutdowns and nothing gets done. People need to close all the bridges and tunnels by using their bodies to block all transportation into and out of the city for a few weeks and that’ll do something to get attention. The same handful of people at the Vernon-Jackson station complaining has proven to not affect this in any way, shape or form.
Anonymous says
January 16, 2014 at 10:41 amAnd what will those politicans say, Paul? This has been going on year after year after year, and the gathering of outraged politicians giving their news conferences on the corner of Vernon and 50th is LIC’s equivalent of the swallows returning to Capistrano. But once the TV lights get turned off and their outrage dissipates, it’s business as usual and nothing happens.
If De Blasio or anyone else wants to know why living in this city is increasingly sucking so much, he need look no further than the shithole in the ground that is the 7 train.
The Wizard of LIC says
January 16, 2014 at 1:43 pmThis is a very, very old system and I fear the alternative to track repair and restoration is a complete replacement. Which means the 7-line would be shutdown for months, maybe more, for both weekends and weekdays. If you have a better solution than the current fix, speak up.
Anonymous says
January 16, 2014 at 2:14 pmHey, Wiz, the main issue is not just the repair of the tracks, which none of us has any control over. But I have to question why shuttle buses can’t be provided into Manhattan. This is a public transit organization after all.
Why must commuters from Queens be the ones always taking it on the chin? They used to run shuttles years ago, in the late 1980s, and it worked great. Why can’t the cost of this service be budgeted into this project? Instead, we get contempt from the MTA and a bunch of pushover local pols who do squat.
Logic says
January 16, 2014 at 4:59 pmThe press conference tomorrow is going to be held at the Vernon Jackson station, in front of the diner. There has also been a protest planned by local merchants worrying that the closings will hurt business. Yet doesn’t the inability to get into Manhattan create a captive audience here in LIC?
Anonymous says
January 17, 2014 at 10:20 amI assume MTA isn’t closing station down for laughs or political payback?
Perhaps all the whiners can suggest a solution?
anonymous says
January 17, 2014 at 10:55 amFuck you. If you haven’t dealt with this, shut the fuck up.
Clueless Joe says
January 17, 2014 at 2:30 pmWhat, they shut the 7-train down on the weekends every year in order to do maintenance? I did not know that!