Hey, 15th Street: You're Gettin' Yer Trains Back!

Just as the shitty weather is starting to die down (*insert angered heavens and great floods here*), 15th Street and Fort Hamilton pals, your F and G train service is a-comin' back. And there goes the last few months of getting a seat, 7th Ave.

Many thanks to our buds, The Windsor Terrace Blog, for noticing and allowing us to gratutiously swipe their photo.

UPDATE: The MTA Is Like, Fixing the Turnstiles or Something! Or Something.

On Monday, I bitched about the turnstiles at the 7th Avenue F/G stop being an inconsistent piece of crap. And wheee! You agreed that there's an ish here that's not just in my whacked-out head. So, FIPS reader Steve (you go, Steve!) decided to take action and write the Ye Olde MTA about the sitch:

Customer (Steve Pav) - 02/16/2011 02:32 PM

Why are the 2 turnstiles (they are the big ones that are like human cages) always problematic when it comes to swiping? The lines back up and everyone gets frustrated because they do not read cards well at all - can something be done about this? I have seen the cleaner there, but it rarely improves the swipe. C'mon, I now pay 104 bucks a month, last thing I want is to have more delays because of poor equipment.

Thanks

And lo! Behold! The MTA wrote Steve back in fewer than 24 hours. (You get points for this, MTA!).

Click to read more ...

What's the Deal With the 7th Avenue F/G Stop Turnstiles?

OK, seriously, what the hell is going on with the turnstiles at the 7th Avenue stop?

I don't know about you people who enter on the 8th Ave side, but nearly every freaking morning for the last few months I--and every other commuter trying to get on a train at nine A.M. at the 7th Avenue entrance--encounter a ridiculous queue to swipe in, like thirty people deep at each gate. Some mornings the thing won't take anyone's effing MetroCard, and like 95% of us have to walk around. (Tragic, I know, save it.)

Listen, I know how to swipe a MetroCard (and before you run your mouth, you know your I-Live-Here selves get really embarrassed when you're prompted to swiped again, so save that, too), and while I know that there are some seriously turnstile-challenged residents of our humble neighborhood, this shit isn't our fault.

MTA WHAT IS THE DEAL. THE DEAL. WHAT IS IT. ANSWERS. I NEEDS THEM.

Photo: Park Slope Lens

Your Disappearing F/G Train: Despair, Postponed!

On Monday, I brought you, kind patrons of the 15th St-Prospect Park station, the unfortunate news that your train service was about to be majorly fucked up for the next year-plus. We laughed! (Not really. Or at all.) We cried! We wanted to hurl things at the MTA/complaining yuppies, depending which side you were on! Today I come with a ray of hope--OK, a week of stalled despair.

Anarchy was supposed to start Monday, but because of possible snow this weekend, they're being pushed off until the following Monday, January 17th. So, we've got allegedly normal service this weekend, then shuttle busses next weekend, then the no service shit next Monday. Got it? K.

Also from WNYC, here's why, according to an NYC Transit spokesman, why you peeps didn't know jack about this in advance:

"We have found that if you put it up too early, people lose sight of it," Seaton said. "It's better to keep it fresh in people’s minds." That is also why, he said, there was no advance notice of the work on the agency's website under "planned service changes" for the F and G. Still, he didn't know why signs hadn't appeared only days before a major phase of the four-year project. Signs to announce the latest disruption will go up at the stations and in subway cars by this Saturday. He said there should also be "public announcements in the system."

So, he doesn't know. Cool. Anyway, I'm sick of talking about trains and the cold. I'm going to move to Dubai and buy a fucking Mercedes or something. In other news, here's an F train sushi thing to distract you.

Photo: Face Food

15th St-Prospect Park Station: Say Goodbye to Your Trains [NO SHIT]

So, uhhhh, if you're at the 15th St-Prospect Park Station on the F/G, you might wanna be sitting down if you've been ignoring service signs lately. Thanks to our buds at Neighborhoodr, we've just learned that as of next Monday, Jan 10, you've got no Manhattan-bound F service (nor Queens G service) until May.

One more time for the cheap seats at the Windsor Terrace border: Your trains don't exist until it gets warm again.

From the MTA's site:

Beginning 5 AM Mon, Jan 10 until May 2011

15 St-Prospect Park and Fort Hamilton Pkwy stations

No Manhattan-bound F or Queens-bound G service

From these stations, take a Coney Island-bound G or Church Av-bound G train to Church Av and transfer to a Manhattan-bound F or Queens-bound G train.

To these stations, take a Manhattan-bound F or Queens-bound G to 7 Av and transfer to a Church Av-bound F or Coney Island-bound F train.

Rage blackout, aynone? In the interest of dodging a hail of bullets, I won't gloat about how glad I am that I've moved stops, but Jesus fucking Christ, I'm so sorry if this is you. Like, legitimately no FIPS snark BS sorry. Commence open thread/MTA death threats/etc.

P.S. For the rest of us F-trainers, that means busses in train costumes this weekend, too, but I feel like a dick even mentioning, let alone bitching about it.