http://brokelyn.com Food, restaurants, shopping and cheap fun on a budget in Brooklyn NYC Fri, 17 May 2013 21:08:19 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 http://brokelyn.com/shut-up-the-g-train-isnt-killing-your-love-life/ http://brokelyn.com/shut-up-the-g-train-isnt-killing-your-love-life/#comments Mon, 29 Apr 2013 14:52:14 +0000 David Colon http://brokelyn.com/?p=43379 Read More]]>
Try doing this on any other line. via The Brooklyn Paper Look, we all like to goof on the G train and how the approximate wait time for one is “eons” and how it’s always split into two because the MTA hates it and Brooklyn. You can’t blame the G train for everything though, like getting in the way of your lousy romantic choices, yet that’s exactly what a bunch of people whining to DNAInfo did this morning. Shut up, you babies, the G train isn’t killing your love life. Riding the G train is “punishing,” one delusional and presumably healthy human being said. “If you live off the G, you’re not for me,” declared another one. The G takes sooo long, according to these poor souls, that it just doesn’t make dating someone who lives off of it worth the trouble. What would these people be blaming their north Brooklyn/south Brooklyn… Read More]]> http://brokelyn.com/shut-up-the-g-train-isnt-killing-your-love-life/feed/ 6 http://brokelyn.com/good-news-everyone-smith-9th-street-station-opens-next-friday/ http://brokelyn.com/good-news-everyone-smith-9th-street-station-opens-next-friday/#comments Fri, 19 Apr 2013 19:05:47 +0000 David Colon http://brokelyn.com/?p=43165 Read More]]>
It WILL exist. via Brooklyn Pix Well, OK, we admit it, we were Skeptical Sallys about the Smith-9th Street station ever re-opening. Can you blame us? Oh really, you can? Because we all know the MTA just moves sooo fast on things. Well, whatever, let’s stop fighting and just focus on the good news: the Smith-9th Street has an official opening date, Friday, April 26 at 10:30am. We will reopen the Smith-9th Streets station next Friday at 10:30am. #MTA — Kevin Ortiz (@MTA_NYCT_Vocero) April 19, 2013   So, which transit nerd is gonna be the first one through the turnstile? … Read More]]> http://brokelyn.com/good-news-everyone-smith-9th-street-station-opens-next-friday/feed/ 0 http://brokelyn.com/g-train-ranked-number-one-in-something-other-than-frustration/ http://brokelyn.com/g-train-ranked-number-one-in-something-other-than-frustration/#comments Thu, 11 Apr 2013 18:43:08 +0000 David Colon http://brokelyn.com/?p=42975 Read More]]>
Everyone wants a piece of it. via Flickr user gmpicket Transit nerds across the city rejoiced today, because the MTA released 2012′s ridership figures today. Data, precious data! What are some things we should care about here? Weekday ridership went up 1.8% from 2011, which is why you struggled to find a seat two out of every seven days you rode the train. Also, Atlantic Av-Pacific Street (nope, not calling it Barclays) was the busiest station in all of Brooklyn, moving an astounding 11.5 million people through its turnstiles. And last but not least, the G train had the biggest increase in ridership out of all the lines in the system. Suck on that, 2 train! Weekday ridership of the G train increased by 4.2%, or almost 2,000 more people every weekday. Why though? More people working at the Court Steeet Trader Joe’s? A population explosion in the neighborhoods served by the… Read More]]> http://brokelyn.com/g-train-ranked-number-one-in-something-other-than-frustration/feed/ 2 http://brokelyn.com/smith-9th-street-station-finally-finally-to-open-in-april/ http://brokelyn.com/smith-9th-street-station-finally-finally-to-open-in-april/#comments Fri, 22 Mar 2013 17:11:46 +0000 David Colon http://brokelyn.com/?p=42566 Read More]]>
It DOES exist. via Brooklyn Pix It’s always weird to report on good news about the G train. In part because no matter what the good news is, it’s never “The MTA has decided waiting six years for a G train might be too long.” But, you take what you can get we suppose, and we will certainly take this news. After an endless era of construction, the Smith-9th Street station will finally be ready for you to stand around and crane your neck down the tracks. Even more places to go on the G train now! The Wall Street Journal reports that the MTA told undoubtedly pissed off residents of Gowanus and Red Hook that yes, the mythical station will be reopening on April 22. What do users of the highest subway station in the world get after that interminable wait? Some nice art touches like a 14-foot mosaic, a couple anti-crime… Read More]]> http://brokelyn.com/smith-9th-street-station-finally-finally-to-open-in-april/feed/ 1 http://brokelyn.com/mta-to-study-if-g-train-is-in-fact-slow-overcrowded/ http://brokelyn.com/mta-to-study-if-g-train-is-in-fact-slow-overcrowded/#comments Fri, 22 Feb 2013 15:52:47 +0000 David Colon http://brokelyn.com/?p=41927 Read More]]>
Study hard, guys, study hard. via Flickr user The Eyes of New York The Riders Alliance has been working tirelessly to publicize the plight of the humble G train rider, from the lack of reasonable transfers to insane service disruptions to waiting for 100 days and 100 nights for the train to show up on a weekend. According to the Daily News, the MTA finally heard your cries and has promised action. Are they going to increase service? Give you a transfer between the G and the J? Even better: they’ve commissioned a study! We are skeptical, but that’s because there’s nothing more useless in this world than a government study, commission or panel (see: President’s very serious panel on the deficit problem). And the MTA is going to be thorough, or at least appear to be thorough, because they study isn’t supposed to be finished until this June. But, as the Daily… Read More]]> http://brokelyn.com/mta-to-study-if-g-train-is-in-fact-slow-overcrowded/feed/ 3 http://brokelyn.com/subway-service-improves-except-for-the-g-train/ http://brokelyn.com/subway-service-improves-except-for-the-g-train/#comments Fri, 15 Feb 2013 20:30:45 +0000 Katrina Casino http://brokelyn.com/?p=41790 Read More]]>
Wait for it…wait for it… via Flickr user Stephen Rees The Helvetica-laden notes from the MTA’s January Transit & Bus Committee meeting are out, and boy, are they scintillating. Besides discussing cash deficits, ridership statistics, and something called the “obsolescence reserve,” they also released some handy charts detailing wait times that subway riders have been subjected to in the last two years. So if you felt like G train service was especially crappy last year, well, you might be right. Statistics show that the infamously absent train was late  more often in 2012 than 2011, dropping from a 93.8% on time performance to 71.7% on weekdays, and a 97.4% on-time performance to 77.6% on the weekend. The service decrease was (surprise) by far the worst of any line. However, the G was in fact not the slowest train in New York this past year, with the 2 line taking the metaphorical transportation cake at… Read More]]> http://brokelyn.com/subway-service-improves-except-for-the-g-train/feed/ 0 http://brokelyn.com/this-weekend-rally-around-the-g/ http://brokelyn.com/this-weekend-rally-around-the-g/#comments Fri, 25 Jan 2013 20:00:34 +0000 David Colon http://brokelyn.com/?p=41330 Read More]]>
It’s a noble train, yes it is. via Flickr user gmpicket We’ve got to hand it to the Riders Alliance: they want better service on the G train just like you and I do, but instead of drunkenly bitching about it on the platform late at night, they’ve been out on the streets fighting for it. It looks like their push is gaining momentum, because after holding a meeting and petitioning about it, they’re taking the next, funnest step in public advocacy: they’re holding a rally, what with the chants and the signs and the feeling of bonhomie, this Sunday. The group will be rallying for the things they’ve been fighting and petitioning for previously: increased service, transfers from the Hewes J to the Broadway G and Fulton G to Atlantic Terminal and better communication from the MTA when things get all screwy. And they aren’t on their own out there: joining… Read More]]> http://brokelyn.com/this-weekend-rally-around-the-g/feed/ 0 http://brokelyn.com/what-are-your-2013-brooklyn-resolutions/ http://brokelyn.com/what-are-your-2013-brooklyn-resolutions/#comments Thu, 03 Jan 2013 13:19:40 +0000 David Colon http://brokelyn.com/?p=40858 Read More]]>
That’s gonna be me up front. via Flickr user Se Mo When it comes to New Year’s resolutions, I try to avoid them. Just not that big on self-improvement. Yet there’s still so many things I haven’t done in Brooklyn, or haven’t done enough that I’m willing to try to commit to making them happen. Like, say, staying on the Cyclone after riding once and sitting up front the second time. Eating more vegan comfort food. Going to the Rockaways more than just one or two times this summer. Drinking at every dive bar. I’m gonna determine once and for all whether or not East Williamsburg is a neighborhood and bite the bullet and go to a Nets’ game (and boo the crap out of them). Help rebuild. Stand up for the G train. Actually go to brunch sometimes, weekend or weekday. See more than one movie outdoors this summer, since you never… Read More]]> http://brokelyn.com/what-are-your-2013-brooklyn-resolutions/feed/ 5 http://brokelyn.com/petition-for-a-better-cheaper-g-train-this-saturday/ http://brokelyn.com/petition-for-a-better-cheaper-g-train-this-saturday/#comments Wed, 02 Jan 2013 14:01:24 +0000 David Colon http://brokelyn.com/?p=40836 Read More]]>
You don’t have to resort to anything this desperate…yet. Photo via Flickr user deltacbravo If you’ve spent any time standing on a G train platform and staring down the tunnel, wondering where the hell the train is, we’ve got a way for you to make a dent in the waiting game. Fresh off their meeting to sketch out plans for getting better G service, the Riders Alliance is taking things to the streets this weekend with a petition drive. The petition is asking for more frequent G train service and free out of system transfers between the Broadway stop and either the Hewes or Lorimer J stops and between the Fulton stop and the Atlantic Terminal subway hub. The fact that you have to pay to go between the Broadway G and the J train is insanity, given that the J is only feet away, so this would have out support even… Read More]]> http://brokelyn.com/petition-for-a-better-cheaper-g-train-this-saturday/feed/ 1 http://brokelyn.com/straphangers-meeting-tonight-for-a-better-g-train/ http://brokelyn.com/straphangers-meeting-tonight-for-a-better-g-train/#comments Tue, 27 Nov 2012 15:01:50 +0000 Rachel DeLetto http://brokelyn.com/?p=40150 Read More]]>
Skipping down the platform? More like sprinting. Photo by mili005 on Instagram. Ah the G Train, the line that we love, except when we hate it. Did you notice it was normal, full platform, length for a hot minute last week, quickly become comfortable with the reasonableness of that, and then miss the train after wildly sprinting a half mile when it resumed short bus service just as suddenly? If are one of the flailing fools dependent on the G Train you can attend a meeting of the Riders Alliance–a grassroots NYC transit improvement advocacy group–for a G Train Planning Meeting tonight, Nov. 27, at 6:30pm (El Puente Che Institute, 289 Grand St., RSVP). Riders Alliance is a new organization with a mission to rally NYC Subway and bus riders into a political force for better transit policy and service. ”We believe that lawmakers respond best to their own constituents, and that an organized… Read More]]> http://brokelyn.com/straphangers-meeting-tonight-for-a-better-g-train/feed/ 1