BY ROSE ADAMS
What the F!
The Metropolitan Transportation
Authority will halt
F train service to Coney Island
weekends beginning in March
— for the rest of the year!
In an effort to upgrade the
line’s aging signaling system,
the Metropolitan Transportation
Authority will suspend
train service between Church
Avenue and Stillwell Avenue
from March 21 into 2021, a
transit rep said.
“Work on the F train will
continue in 2021. Right now, we
are sharing service changes
through 2020 so customers can
plan ahead,” said Kayla Shuts,
an MTA rep.
In the interim, free shuttle
buses will transport riders
from Church Avenue to Stillwell
Avenue, Shuts added.
COURIER L 14 IFE, MARCH 6-12, 2020
The improvement scheme
is part of a $253 million project
to install technology, known as
Communications-Based Train
Control (CBTC) along the F
Line, which, when completed,
will allow for seamless updates
on train positions, distances,
and travel speeds, according to
the rep.
F train service will resume
in 2021, and trains will
operate normally on Easter
weekend, Fourth of July weekend,
Thanksgiving weekend,
Christmas weekend, and select
weekends in October.
The N train, which has been
suspended between 86th Street
and Stillwell Avenue, will resume
full service at the end of
April, meaning that neither
train will travel to the People’s
Playground on weekends between
March 20 and April 27.
The MTA will shut down F train service between Church Avenue and Stillwell Avenue on weekends this summer.
MTA
Community leaders say that
the construction will reduce
visitors to Coney Island during
the neighborhood’s peak season
— and say they are working
with the MTA to change its
plans.
“We’re trying to negotiate,”
said Community Board 13 district
manager Eddie Mark.
“It’s usually practiced where
they do it on a weekend to have
less of an impact on the community,
but our community is
a summer destination.”
Coney Island’s fl agging
commercial strip, which has
witnessed ongoing construction
for years, may also suffer
because of the project, local
business advocates said.
“As a beachfront and amusement
destination and community
of many small businesses
who rely on visitorship during
the summer season to make
ends meet, this will be incredibly
disruptive to our economy
and livelihoods,” said Alexandra
Silversmith, the executive
director of the Alliance
for Coney Island, a business
advocacy group. “We urge the
MTA to reconsider these plans
and schedule these system upgrades
at a more appropriate
time.”
Business owners echoed
Silversmith’s concerns and
added that ongoing construction
across the peninsula has
already dealt local shops a
tough blow.
“There are restaurants on
Surf Avenue that weren’t able
to make it through the construction,”
said Dick Zigun,
the founder of Coney Island
USA, a non-profi t that runs
an arts center, museum, and
theater program. “We were
promised all of it would fi nally
wrap up on Memorial Day this
year.”
F that!
MTA to suspend weekend F
train service to Coney Island
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