Five weeks ago, we all bemoaned the G Train closure and the anxious questions that came along with it: How are we going to get around? Will that damn Ferry be up and running? Where the hell did I put the air pump for my bike tires? After an August of shuttle buses, long lines, and traffic, all the bitching has come to an end. The G train is finally restored.
When Sandy hit we all knew it was going to be bad for our subway tunnels. Millions of salt water and copper wires made fore a corrosive mess; our G line was one of the hardest hit tunnels in the system. So while we were being shepherded over the Pulsaki Bridge and down Manhattan Ave in air-conditioned shuttle buses, which some seemed to prefer,  crews of MTA workers repaired tracks and switches. The whopping total for fast track repairs in a post-Sandy NYC came out $80 million dollars.
So while we welcome the return of the our green G, those who got used to the free transfers to JMZ might want to link up the transportation activist group, the Riders Alliance. and urge elected officials to keep the transfers free. Keeping walking transfers free like the one used on F line at 63rd St Street would allow Greenpointers to gain better access to the city on a single fare. As it stands now, G train commuters make twice as many transfers than most New Yorkers. The free transfer is backed by Senator Squadron who says, “When you add up the case for G train, [a free transfer] it was good enough for the MTA over these five weeks and I think it should be good enough permanently.”