The wait is over for residents on Manhattan's Upper East Side. Governor Cuomo visited the new 86th Street Station on the Second Avenue subway line today to detail the schedule for the first few days of service. After the inaugural ride for elected officials on New Year's Eve, straphangers can take the Q train starting on Sunday from noon until 10 p.m. On Monday, the stops at 96th Street, 86th Street, 72nd Street, and 63rd Street will be open from six a.m. until 10 p.m. before 24-hour service begins January 9th. The announcement comes the day after the Straphangers Campaign unveiled its year-end report on the best and worst subway lines in the system. The 1, 7, and L tied for the best and the 5 and A were the worst. The report concluded that subway riders are hoping for "short waits, trains that arrive regularly, a little elbow room, a clean car, and understandable announcements that tell them what they need to know" in 2017. What improvements are you hoping for from the MTA next year? What were the best and worst subway lines in the system in 2016? What ideas do you have to improve mass transit in New York City? How soon after the Second Avenue subway opens will you take a ride? Do you welcome the use of 4.5 billion tax dollars on these new stations?
John Schiumo's Thoughts
I will use this space to say happy new year! Time is flying and I'm happy you've joined us for the ride.
Your Thoughts
I'm glad the wait for Second Avenue subway service is over, and am actually eager to ride the new line, even though I never have any business that takes me into that part of the city. The line was first planned when my great-great-grandparents were still alive, and it's about time it's up and running! I am surprised to hear that the 7 train rates so highly in reliability -- not that I ride the 7 anymore, but it seemed to me that throughout the previous year, at least once or twice a week there were service problems on the 7 train somewhere on its route, owing to signal problems, if your Rail and Road Report is to be believed. On a related matter that hasn't been widely reported, in a few days, the MTA will institute a major change on the M-5 bus line, which currently serves Manhattan's West Side along 12 miles, from South Ferry to the George Washington Bridge. Instead, starting in January, the 5 bus will terminate at 31st Street on its downtown run, with a new M-55 bus taking passengers the rest of the way to South Ferry -- the two routes will overlap from 31st Street to 44th Street in both directions, on 5th and 6th Avenues, respectively. It will require some passengers to change buses to keep the same destinations they've always had, but it is expected to improve on-time performance and reliability for most of the 11.500 daily riders who use the M-5 line.
Bruce, Upper West Side, Manhattan
Phase 1 of the 2nd Ave. subway is pure, unadulterated MTA: an insanely expensive, horribly mismanaged capital project fiasco that's consumed 35 of the agency's 49 years of existence, and has yielded just 1.5 additional miles of track and 3 stations, without any manager being held accountable for the endless screwups, and without the MTAIG or any watchdog conducting even a cursory investigation. When MTA becomes acronyms for Might Take Awhile, Money Thrown Away, and More Trouble Ahead, it's proof that this bloated, insular agency can't be trusted, and needs to be legislated out of existence.
PETE FROM MANHATTAN
My name is Sam and I live off the 36th street (M,R) stop in Long Island City. One major question I have is: why doesn't the M train run from forest hills 71st street to Manhattan on the weekends? I'm very frustrated that I have to transfer multiple times to get to Greenpoint to see my best friend on the weekends. During the week the M goes right to Court Square and it's an east one transfer. It just doesn't make sense. Remember the good old days when the G train ran all the way to forest hills? How great would that be for that to return? Thanks for the time!
Best, most common-sense, suggestion to save money: STOP heating the subway cars in winter, when everyone is dressed for winter cold.
Rob, east village
I live in the Rockaways right by the A and the A is the best line in the city. The L is terrible. The 5 is super fast. Seriously! The straphanger report is THE OPPOSITE of last year with the exception of the 7 which happens to be a good line.
Olivia B J, Rockaways
More subway service is vital. 3 new stops is a small start, after taking about 100 years, for people who already have a subway. But this is a big city and a bigger state. How does Gov Cuomo have time to spend a week or 2 visiting the new stations? Doesn't he have any other work to do?
nyc voter
Just get rid of the subwayz. We all use Via, Lyft, Uber, Gett, Juno, Way2Ride, Carro, Sidecar, etc Ive lived in the city for 10 years and havent been below ground level (on the subway) in 3 years. I take Uber or Lyft to work, daily. Its cheaper sometimes. An Uber pool from downtown to uptown is $3!!!! cmon bro the mta is in over they heads!!
Dr Rock, FiDi
Does anyone on the MTA board or in the MTA administrative group have any experience or training or even a passing interest in railroading? If not, what are they doing running a railroad?
Michael in Greenpoint
As a student, the worst trains for me are the A, 1, C, N,Q,R. I wait 10 minutes for a 1 train and I wake up as early as possible just to get 10 minutes late to school. There are so many delays, don't even mention some of the conductors! I always have trouble hearing announcements and I know it's not me only because of the facial expressions others have around me! A happy new year to all viewers and to you, have a good one.
Leonardo, uptown Inwood
I feel like late trains, crowded trains may be more bearable if the stations were kept up better, especially the ones who are in the outer fringes of NYC. Happy New Year.
Kidan , forest hills, ny.
Fastest L train decent R Q F E 1 Worst A C 4 5 J M 7 All 3 areas need to be improved More commuter elevators installed Most over crowded and slow J M 7 Service isn't up to par or worth $3 per ride disgusting stations most are in serious need of repairs and renovations and timeliness of service
Jennifer, Ridgewood
I Live on Lower East Side The F is the worst. In the last few years because of all the people moving to Brooklyn the trains are overcrowded it's hard to get a seat. The wait for a train is long even on a weekday morning. They are constantly being rerouted over the weekend and I don't see any improvement
Hilary
It's finally finished, I welcome the use of the 4.5 billion dollars that it took to make a dream come true for everyone on the East Side... This project is long overdue... I was looking at NY1 today, the stations look so beautiful, i'm so proud of my friends that work at the MTA...I will be riding the Q train tomorrow to Times Square to see the ball fall for the new year, I just hope the stations and trains stay clean... The improvements that I want to see next year are..... Get to work on Phase 2 of the Second ave. Subway, instead of the last stop being 125 st extend it to 149 st and grand Concourse in the Bronx so the customers that are coming from the North Bronx of another line on the East Side... Phase 3 the T train last stop can be 125 and Lexington that can travel down second ave to South Ferry instead of Hanover Square.. The Q train will continue to Coney Island making a stop at 63 st and Lexington and then 57 and 7 ave.. The Q and N should be express on Broadway while the R and W go local, people will get to work, school or where ever they're going faster...
Herman, Upper West Side
Need countdown clocks on the letter lines in BROOKLYN, QUEENS, and BRONX. The non-Manhattan boroughs should get priority because Manhattan gets more frequent service; it's more important for us in the "outer boroughs" to know how long it will be before the next train.
Faye from Brooklyn
I live a block from the 2 Av subway, i wont object. i go to school in hells kitchen and my family is a block from ave j station in midwood. what do all those locations have in common? they all are traveled to via the Q Train. The Q will half my commute to school and cut the commute to midwood by a good 20. In general the 2 ave subway is a line made in heaven. after the UES stops it will discharge passengers who work in midtown at 57/7, travel to Times Sq, 34th st where MSG and Penn are, Union square, Chinatown, then barcalays and travel local in brooklyn all the way to Coney Island. The q also connects to every subway line in Manhattan which is every line except the G. The 4/5 connect to only a couple of lines but the heavily traveled lines like the 7,B,d,f,m,e,1 never connect! The 4/5 use fairly modern cars but the Q uses R160s which are not even ten years old! The 4/5 are cattle cars in the morning and given the crowdM86 from York until lex where it empties out in the AM rush, you can see how many east side peeps will take the new Q, also based on how many ppl take the 4/5 to the shuttle. As for other lines ive noticed the lines that travel through the well known and wealthy residential areas like UWS and SoHo get a ton of maitenence new trains etc and the lines like the J and M that travel through central queens are terrible. Dont forget about the staten island railway and i bet there are viewers who have never evenheard of it!! The lines in my opinion that need help most: 3 4 5 B C F G L M N and J. Those lines have very infrequent schedules and dirty and old cars. Lastly- dont forget about BUSES! The 3 ave's M101,102,103 never come for literally 40 minutes then 5 in a row come. i waited yestarday at 68 and 3 for the m102 or m103 for literally 35 min then 3 buses showed up it would have been faster to just walk to 93rd. Have a happy and a healthy new year and john i hope I get to see more great program in 2017!
Alex in East harlem