F UP
SPEEDING THE
MTA divides straphangers with new express service
INSIDE
WWW.BROOKLYNPDAPILEYR.C.COOMM 1 METROTECH CENTER NORTH • 10TH FLOOR • BROOKLYN, NY 11201
Training day: A series of vintage trains from
the early 20th century will set off from the
Brighton Beach station on Sept. 28 and 29.
James Giovan courtesy of the New York Transit Museum
All aboard!
Vintage train exhibit chugs into Brighton Beach
By Rose Adams Take a ride down memory train!
Antique subway cars will
transport riders to the early
20th century later this month, shuttling
passengers on round-trip rides from
Brighton Beach Station for the swipe
of a MetroCard. The New York Transit
Museum’s “Parade of Trains” event,
coming to Brighton Beach for its fifth year
on Sept. 28 and 29, will showcase four
trains spanning six decades of New York
City history.
One of the featured antiques, the
Brooklyn Rapid Transit elevated car,
is among the oldest in the Museum’s
collection — the 1903 train was the
first motorized subway in the borough,
and carried passengers in wooden cars
equipped with metal gates, with then-newfangled
electric lights hanging overhead..
The elevated transport is not only
among the oldest in the city — it is one
of the oldest in the country, said the
Museum’s director.
“We are extremely fortunate to have
some of the oldest rolling stock in the
U.S. that still rolls,” said Concetta
Bencivenga. “And what better way to
ensure that remains the case than to
bring the heart of the Museum to the
rails in Brighton Beach?”
Three other trains will join the 1903
train cars in transporting visitors to
different eras in the subway’s history, from
1910 to 1960.
One of the four trains will set off every
few minutes from the Brighton Beach
Station, either making a short round trip
to Ocean Parkway and back (one station
away), or taking a longer trip to Kings
Highway (four stations away) — although
the doors will only open at Brighton Beach.
The event will be a sort of
homecoming for the locomotives, many
of which originally rode along Brighton
Beach’s shoreline.
In 1877, a local transit company built
elevated train lines in Coney Island and
Brighton Beach, shuttling visitors to and
from the island’s resorts, according to
subway historians. The original Brighton
Beach Station, built in 1878, was one of the
steam train stops, and remains one of the
borough’s oldest subway terminals.
Between rides, history buffs will be
able to visit the Transit Museum’s stand
inside the Brighton Beach Station, where
they can get information on the trains,
as well as free temporary tattoos, which
will depict vintage trains, buses , and
conductors ’ badges.
“Parade of Trains” at Brighton Beach
Station on Brighton Beach Avenue
between Brighton Sixth and Brighton
Seventh streets. (718) 694–1600. www.
nytransitmuseum.org. Sept. 28 and 29; 11
a.m.–4 p.m. $2.75.
Your entertainment
guide Page 43
Police Blotter ..........................8
Wellness ................................. 35
Letters .................................... 32
HOW TO REACH US
COURIER L 2 IFE, SEPT. 20-26, 2019
BY KEVIN DUGGAN
Now the F train will skip your
stop — for a reason!
The Metropolitan Transportation
Authority debuted
a controversial express version
of the F train Monday
morning, which promises
to shorten commutes for
long-suffering Coney Island
straphangers, while leaving
their brownstone Brooklyn
counterparts in the lurch.
Two Manhattan-bound
express F trains are now
scheduled to depart from
Coney Island on weekdays
at 7:07 a.m. and 7:29 a.m.,
while Coney-bound express
F trains will depart the Big
Apple’s Lexington Avenue-
63rd Street station at 4:57
p.m. and 5:28 p.m. throughout
the work week.
Those trains will skip six
stations between Jay Street-
MetroTech and Church avenue,
including:
• Fort Hamilton Parkway
• 15 Street-Prospect Park
• Fourth Avenue-Ninth
Street
• Smith-Ninth Streets
• Carroll Street
• Bergen Street
The express service was
enacted to shorten commute
times for southern Brooklyn
straphangers who rely
on the F, but suffer the longest
stretch of purely local
service in the city — 26 uninterrupted
stops between
Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue
and Broadway-Lafayette
Street, where straphangers
can transfer to express B
and D trains.
A 2016 analysis of the F
express conducted by the
Metropolitan Transportation
Authority found that express
riders would shave between
six to seven minutes
off their commutes, while
riders along the skipped
stops would suffer an average
five-minute delay.
F THIS: Councilman Brad Lander delivered a petition to the MTA with more than 650 signatures opposing the
transit agency’s plan to run express F trains through brownstone Brooklyn. Photo by Aidan Graham
That’s because the Transit
Authority isn’t adding
trains to the line, but rather
repurposing four local
trains to benefit some riders
at the expense of others, according
to Park Slope Councilman
Brad Lander.
“The MTA chose to pit
riders against each other
rather than improve service,
add capacity, and modernize
the signal system,”
Lander said.
The study also found
that evening peak-hour express
service could lead to
“significant congestion” at
Bergen Street and Carroll
Street stops, which should
come as no surprise to local
commuters, according
to Cobble Hill Assemblywoman
Jo Anne Simon, who
said service there is already
lousy.
“We’re already having
to wait two or three trains
to get on the train, because
they’re crowded,” said Assemblywoman
Jo Anne Simon
(D—Cobble Hill).
Naturally, southern
Brooklyn pols celebrated the
new express service, and argued
that the four speedier
trains should be a first step
to a larger plan to increase
public transit to the far side
of Kings County.
“This was a long time
coming,” said Councilman
Mark Treyger (D–Coney
Island), who rode the first
official express F train on
Monday morning. “This is
a first step, but by no means
is the work over.”
And city subway tzar
Andy Byford stood by the
Transit Authority’s F-express
scheme, saying Coney
Island commuters have suffered
enough and deservie a
place one the fast track.
“It will benefit thousands
of commuters by getting
them to their destinations
faster instead of sitting waiting
as their train makes all
local stops,” said Byford.
— Additional reporting by
Rose Adams
Mail:
Courier Life
1 Metrotech Center North
10th Floor, Brooklyn,
N.Y. 11201
General Phone:
(718) 260-2500
News Fax:
(718) 260-2592
News E-Mail:
editorial@cnglocal.com
Display Ad Phone:
(718) 260-8302
Display Ad E-Mail:
jstern@cnglocal.com
Display Ad Fax:
(718) 260-2579
Classified Phone:
(718) 260-2555
Classified Fax:
(718) 260-2549
Classified E-Mail:
classified@cnglocal.com
BROOKLYN GRAPHIC (ISSN 0740-2260) Copyright © 2019 by the Brooklyn Courier Life LLC is published weekly by Brooklyn Courier Life LLC, One Metrotech North, 10th floor Brooklyn, NY 11201. 52 times a year. Business and
Editorial Offices: One Metrotech North, 10th floor Brooklyn, NY 11201. Accounting and Circulation Offices: Brooklyn Courier Life LLC, One Metrotech North, 3rd floor, Brooklyn, NY 11201. Call 718-260-2500 to subscribe. Periodicals
postage prices is paid at Brooklyn, N.Y. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Brooklyn Graphic, One Metrotech North, 10th floor Brooklyn, NY 11201. This newspaper is not responsible for typographical errors in ads
beyond the cost of the space occupied by the error. All rights reserved. Copyright © 2019 by Brooklyn Courier Life LLC. The content of this newspaper is protected by Federal copyright law. This newspaper, its advertisements,
articles and photographs may not be reproduced, either in whole or part, without permission in writing from the publisher except brief portions for purposes of review or commentary consistent with the law.
/WWW.BROOKLYNPDAPILEYR.C.COOMM
link
link
link
/www.nytransitmuseum.org
/nytransitmuseum.org
link
link
link