Storm Does Number On Brooklyn's "L" Train
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Subway service is inching back closer to normal, but above-ground sections of the system in Brooklyn are still having a tough time digging out. NY1's John Mancini filed the following report.If you depend on the L train in Brooklyn you could depend on it not running this week. And taking the bus? Not an option.
"You want to get there, you have to walk it. Which I walked like six miles already today and still didn't make it to work yet," said transit rider Mildred Marquez.
With the L shut down completely because of the storm and the wait for buses lasting for hours, Livery vans loaded up. But it was all too much for one cab company with an official sounding name.
"We are not making any money because the street is not clean. And drivers, cars are stuck in the snow. Nobody come to work. Only a few drivers," said Transit Car Service Dispatcher Muhammad Saleem.
Rockaway Parkway is as far as you can go on the L train. And it seems as much snow fell there as anywhere in the city.
Drifts were up to the signals in some places. That's at least six feet high. And snow covered switches and the third rail, not only in the station but in the train yard next door. That knocked the L out well before what would have been Monday morning's rush hour. The pain lingered into Tuesday.
"I gotta go for a checkup. Waiting here. Not getting nowhere," said transit rider Laasia Derrick.
Two days after the first snow fell, seven L trains were stuck. Even as service was restored on most other subway lines, crews were still working to get the L back on track. The moment they all had been waiting for came at 1:23 p.m., when the first shuttle to Broadway Junction pulled out. Riders weren't the only happy ones.
"I was on the train when the snow hit. I just stayed, you know. And it was no problem," said subway motorman Ritch Goluch.
"At least the public is going to be able to get there. They got a little teed off at the transit system," said subway track worker Kenny Schock.
Some transit workers have been sleeping in MTA facilities between shifts lasting up to 15 hours. That means they also have some civilian snow clearing ahead.