MTA bans booze, plans hellish commute for St. Patrick’s Day crowds
Photo by Yaffa Phillips via Flickr
The MTA is blessing this St. Patrick’s Day weekend with “Many Extra Trains” on the railroads (sorry, straphangers) but also an alcohol ban on Metro-North and LIRR trains. The subway’s permanent alcohol ban will not be changed on this occasion, unsurprisingly and only somewhat disappointingly (based on SantaCon, it’s probably for the best).
In response to the large turnout expected for the parade on Saturday, some staircases at the 77 Street station on the 6 will be designated as either entry or exit only for the sake of crowd control. Judging by how hellish the system was last weekend, the MTA would also appear to have cut down somewhat on the service changes this weekend – although there are still quite a lot, especially for 4 and A train riders.
South Ferry-bound 1 trains skip 238, 231, 225, 215 and 207 Streets.
2 trains replace weekend 5 service between Dyre Av and E 180 St. There is no service at Park Place, Wall St, Clark St and Hoyt St. Neither 2 nor 3 trains run between Brooklyn and Manhattan.
New Lots Av-bound 4 and Flatbush Av-bound 5 trains skip Bergen St, Grand Army Plaza and Eastern Pkway. New Lots Av-bound 4 trains skip 116, 110, 103, 96, 77, 68 and 51 Sts from midnight Sunday to 5am Monday morning. 4 train service operates every 16 minutes between 125 St and Woodlawn. Woodlawn-bound 4 trains skip 161 St, 167 St, 170 St, Mt Eden Av and 176 St.
5 trains replace weekend 2 service between Wakefield-241 St and E 180 St.
Pelham Bay Park-bound 6 trains run express from 3 Av-138 St to Parkchester. Brooklyn Bridge-bound 6 trains skip 116, 110, 103, 96, 77, 68 and 51 Sts. There will be no 6 express service.
There will be no 7 train express service.
There will be no A trains between 181 St and 207 St. Free shuttle buses provide alternate service. 163 St-Amsterdam Av is closed in both directions. Uptown A trains skip 72, 81, 86, 96, 103, 110, 116, 135 and 155 Sts.
168 St-bound C trains skip 72, 81, 86, 96, 103, 110, 116, 135 and 155 Sts.
B train service ends early – at 9pm Friday.
Coney Island-bound D trains skip 155 St.
Brooklyn-bound F trains skip 23 and 14 St. No F trains between Church Av and Stillwell Av.
No M trains between Myrtle-Wyckoff Av and Myrtle Av (Broadway) – free shuttle buses provide alternate service at all times. No M trains between Broadway Junction and Essex St.
No N trains between Times Sq-42 St and Ditmars Blvd.
R trains skip 5 Av/59 St, Lexington Av/59 St and Queens Plaza in both directions.
No J trains between Hewes St and Broad St.
Per the whims of the MTA, there will probably be other problems, and the problems stated above are subject to change and worsen.
