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July 19, 2004
Hoyted
According to VJB, "hoyted" is the process by which the MTA reroutes every known Brooklynite to Hoyt-Schermerhorn. I didn’t really get it until this weekend, whereupon I learned a valuable lesson in train chaos. It can be summed up by the following word problem, soon to be printed in the 2005 GRE Test Prep Book.
Consider the following:
IF:
F rerouted to Hoyt-Schermerhorn Sts
G replaces F between Hoyt-Schermerhorn Sts and Stillwell Av
Weekend, 12:01 AM Sat to 5 AM Mon, Jul 17 - 19 & 24 – 26
No trains running
Weekend, 12:01 AM Sat to 5 AM Mon, Jul 17 - 19 & 24 – 26
No weekend service.
THEN:
How does Corie get from 7th Avenue/Park Slope to West 86th Street on a Saturday afternoon and how long will it take?
Answer (broken down into problem solving steps):
- At 7th Avenue, take the G (which takes the place of the F) to Hoyt-Schermerhorn Street.
- Change platforms to the uptown F (which has been rerouted to Hoyt-Schermerhorn and will run locally from there into Manhattan) and A (which will take the place of the C and run locally).
- Take the Manhattan bound A (which will take 20 minutes to arrive and pause for ten minutes per stop, during which time you will witness two people clipping their fingernails and flicking them onto the floor).
- At 42nd Street, board the D (which never seemed to stop there before, but it is there so you take it).
- At 59th Street, get off of the D and look to the C/B platform (keeping in mind that there is no C or B service) to find a train that will run locally to West 86th Street.
- Board the other D that arrives on the other side of the platform (now there are two D trains on either side of the platform).
- Nurse a throbbing toe after two Chilean tourists dressed in down jackets accidentally drop their suitcase on your foot.
- Wait fifteen minutes while the conductor tries to figure out whether his train is running local or express.
- Sit at each station between 59th Street and 86th Street for five minutes.
- Arrive at West 86th Street, carefully taking note that there is no downtown service at this station, or any other unless you travel up to 125th Street.
- Net travel time: 1 hour and 43 minutes.
What kind of crack is the MTA smoking? How could they consciously cause so much travel upheaval on a Saturday, smack in the middle of tourist season? Why in the world would they be working on so many subway lines at the same time? I could have flown to another state in the same amount of time that it took me to travel from one borough to another.
They’d better get this all fixed before the RNC. If my life is inconvenienced further than it already has to be by the Republican Invasion, something’s going to have to give.
Posted by callalillie at July 19, 2004 4:05 PM | City Life
you know, i think i've come up with a solution. take g (which you shouldn't have problems catching on the weekend) all the way to court square in queens. then hop on the 7 to the west side. and take whatever train you needed.
of course, it all depends on what time of day you do this. can't do it late night because of crappy g service. but there would probably be a train at courthouse square if it wasn't too late.
Posted by: tien at July 19, 2004 8:54 AM
True. Or I could take the flatbush LIRR to Ronkonkoma, board a plane, fly the circumference of the world, and parachute down at the precise coordinates of West 90th Street and Central Park West. I wonder which would be faster?
Posted by: corie at July 19, 2004 9:16 AM
just bring your folding bike on the train and get out and ride when you get it gets too surreal underground. if my bike didn't weird 300 pounds i'd do that all the time. however, the train thing worked for me this weekend, as i had to get to the east village a lot and for once it was only a 1-train ride.
Posted by: ChrisG at July 19, 2004 10:57 AM
So, is it really an invasion if they were invited? :)
Posted by: ccs178 (Chris) at July 19, 2004 11:51 AM
Well, there was the Beatles Invasion, and they were invited. They were far more articulate, as well.
Posted by: corie at July 19, 2004 11:52 AM
I know you won't like this, buy I for one was grateful for this. I live in Greenpoint and needed to get to Coney Island this weekend, normally this would mean taking the G to the F or the G to Fulton and walking to the Q. Now, it was just a nice hour long nap on the G - the worst line in the world. At least when the G replaces the F, weekend service is better than normal - usually you have to wait 30-45 minutes for a G on the weekend or nights.
Posted by: plemeljr at July 19, 2004 12:08 PM
Oh, I like the G running the whole way, just not when it replaces the F! They should just route the G through the old lower Bergen again....it would be so helpful to have both trains running. The F could be an express, the G a local.
Posted by: corie at July 19, 2004 12:54 PM
I dealt with the same things this weekend. Actually, getting home from Chinatown (A to Hoyt-Schermerhorm, then G) was slow but peaceful. Getting to Harlem (normally F to A) was not. For some reason, I didn't think of taking the G to the A; instead we took the R, then changed for the D at DeKalb.
Except that the D doesn't stop at DeKalb.
So... Q to 34th, D, which now runs local to Harlem.
My mind is full of old and new train routes. The D used to stop at DeKalb, before passing the Masstransitscope, and that's how I always remember it.
I think we're being hoyed again this weekend. Argh.
Posted by: VJB at July 19, 2004 3:41 PM
sadly, i think we'll be hoyted for the rest of the month.
Posted by: corie at July 19, 2004 3:50 PM
Not to be overly radical, but the best-success solution is to take the 7th Avenue bus to Grand Army Plaza or Bergen Street, and then take the West Side IRT right up there. Express to 72nd, change for the local to 86th; or, if you'd like a bit of a summer jaunt, express to 96th and then walk back down (in which case you'll want the back of the train).
The F has been under continuous repair in one direction or the other for over 6 years; I spend a lot of time in the East Village, so it's a real pain in the neck. Brooklyn does get much easier to handle once you get a few of the bus lines figured out.
Posted by: Linus at July 19, 2004 5:06 PM
yes, but i was going to W90th and CPW...so technically, the C/B was much closer than the IRT on broadway. i'm not an overly lazy person and don't mind walking-- i should have considered it before i'd left. i'm not far from the IRT and don't need to take a bus-- i just have a natural aversion to the 2/3 from back in my W96th street to Christopher St. travel days, which inevitably sucked.
Posted by: corie at July 19, 2004 5:11 PM
Posted by: Mike at July 19, 2004 5:27 PM
Ditto Linus on the bus option. Summertime is bus weather, because you can wait above ground and avoid those nasty-ass subway platforms. The the only potential weekend pitfall is a street fair.
Did you consider taking the 4 to 86th Street and getting the M86 bus across the park? The subway's an express, and the bus drops you off right there at 86th/CPW.
Posted by: LOD at July 19, 2004 5:55 PM
I think that the best best would have been the 2/3 to the 1/9...or 2/3 to 96th and then walking.
I actually love the bus. The crosstowns used to be a favorite of mine when I lived on the UES, though not during rush hour, which was when I generally had to take them.
Posted by: corie at July 25, 2004 1:18 PM
