Brian Abbott’s Blog

Rarely are those with fame and fortune seen on public transportation, for the claim cannot be made that riding the subway will be a pleasant, comfortable journey. Rather, the subway is dirty, loud, and one is likely to encounter obnoxious people; it is generally an assault on the senses.

News is made though when someone we all know does take the train. Mostly politicians, they are obligated to take public transportation to maintain their “common man” image. Us “commoners” then have a laugh when they have a bad experience.

This was the subject of yesterday’s New York Times article, “The Mayor Loves the Subway, Even at a Standstill,” by Winnie Hu.

For all his faults, our mayor, Michael Bloomberg, does take the subway to work most days. The accomplished millionaire and founder of financial giant Bloomberg LP, Bloomberg Television, Bloomberg Radio, etc. sees the wisdom in taking the train rather than sitting in traffic.

Leaving from his Upper East Side townhouse, he takes the Lexington Avenue line to City Hall, accompanied by his bodyguards of course. Yesterday, as he was en route to a reception at the Four Seasons, the mayor had some unexpected quality time with his fellow New Yorkers as his number 4 express train came to a standstill in the tunnel just below Union Square. All service was suspended on the Lex line from Bowling Green to Grand Central while a suspicious package was inspected at 28th Street. For 40 minutes, the mayor sat in the tunnel, making small talk with people after running out of things to read.

This followed an incident earlier in the day when he went downstairs (three levels down) at 59th Street to catch the express train, only to hear that it was not running. He hiked back up to the local platform, at which time an announcement indicated that the express was back in service, so he ran back down to the express platform.

For me, it was refreshing to hear that the Mayor takes the subway, and, more importantly, has no power to move them.

On this three-year anniversary of the attack on the World Trade Center, I feel I should post something to the blog. As this is a subway blog, I suppose it should relate to the subway, but I find myself tempted to stray from this topic. It was nice seeing the memorial lights stretching to the zenith tonight. Part of me would like to see them more often.

The subway maps changed quickly in the months following the attack. On the day of the attack, all subways were shut down. Within a day or two, limited service was back up. Within a week, a new subway configuration was in place with many trains temporarily discontinued, many express trains became local trains, and downtown remained a void on the west side.

Initially, Manhattan was shut down below 14th Street. Anyone entering this part of town needed to show photo ID and provide reason for going into the work zone. Gradually, this line moved south to Houston, then Canal, then Chambers, and finally became a small perimeter around the site. I didn’t go down to the site until November; the smaller surrounding buildings were still standing, barely. WTC 4 and 5 were shells, destroyed by fire and falling debris. The fires burned underground until late November. Through all of this, the MTA worked to get service back up in lower Manhattan. These maps show their progress, from July 2001 and the months following the attack, to September 2002, a year later.

July 2001 The normal subway map for that time. Notice the temporary shuttle from Grand Street to Broadway-Lafayette and the lack of B/D service to Brooklyn. these are both due to the Manhattan Bridge construction.

19 September 2001 One week after the attack, the system is back up with no service to South Ferry and many trains shifted to other lines. The 1 Train replaces the 3 south of 14 St, the E replaces the C, and there is no N/R service. Changes are felt system-wide.

28 October 2001 Over a month later and things are quickly returning to normal. The N/R service is back, except for Cortlandt Street, and the C train returns with the E terminating at Canal Street. However, the 7 Avenue line remains closed south of Chambers Street and the 3 still terminates at 14th Street.

December 2001 Similar to the map above. Cortlandt Street on the N/R remains closed and the IRT 7th Avenue line remains closed from Chamber Street to South Ferry.

September 2002 One year later and everything is back to normal except for the closed Cortlandt Street station on the 1 Train. Even the World Trade Center stop on the E Train has reopened.

The hardest hit train was the 1/9 line. The Cortlandt Street station was crushed by the collapse. This station remains closed today and it took a year to repair, enabling the train to continue on to South Ferry. The Cortlandt Street station on the N/R line was also closed for some time, as was the World Trade Center stop on the E Train.

I continue to be amazed at the speed with which the system was back up and running. With the destruction of the WTC comes rebirth. Soon, ground will be broken for the new transit hub in lower Manhattan, linking the subway to the PATH trains that travel to New Jersey and possibly a train to JFK airport. I hope this new station provides New Yorkers and commuters with a breathtaking space as Pennsylvania Station once did before they razed it in the early 60s.