No. 7 line weekend suspensions

The only thing worse than standing out on a subway platform waiting for a train with the wind whipping and temperatures in the single digits, is waiting for a train that is not coming.
Riders of the No. 7 line be warned - starting on the weekend of Saturday, February 17 and continuing for six weeks, commuters will have to take a different route when traveling between the 74th Street-Broadway stop in Queens and Times Square in Manhattan.
No trains will run on the weekends between those stops in order for the MTA NYC Transit to perform switch replacement and signal work between the 33rd Street-Rawson Avenue and Queensboro Plaza stations, according to Transportation Authority spokesperson Deirdre Parker.
City Councilmember Eric Gioia, who represents areas in Long Island City and Woodside where residents will be affected, has often criticized the MTA’s handling of maintenance work on the No. 7 line, and said the latest disruptions are just another example.
“I’m very upset,” Gioia said. “The 7 train is a lifeline to people of Queens. For too long we have had to put up with shoddy service and weekend shutdowns.”
During the weekends when there is no service, the city will provide free shuttle buses at the local No. 7 train stops that will take customers to either the 74th Street station or Queensboro Plaza where they can transfer to other subway lines that will take them into Manhattan.
Jason Francis, who rides the No. 7 train into Manhattan on weekends, said that the inconvenience is unfair.
“This is our main mode of transportation,” he said. “Not everyone knows how to take the bus. If I have no train, I have no way of getting into Manhattan.”
However, Parker said that the work is necessary to make sure that the system is reliable, and doing it on the weekends will inconvenience less people than during the workweek.
“We don’t want to shut down the entire line,” Parker said.
Gioia said Queens residents should not have to choose safety or convenience.
“Obviously we want the tracks to be prepared and safe, but it shouldn’t be a question of safe rails or intermittent service,” he said. “The MTA needs to do all it can to mitigate the inconveniences and costs it is extending to Queens residents.”
Regular service will continue from Flushing-Main Street to 74th Street station, and Parker said that without any unavoidable weather delays she expects the work finished by the scheduled deadline of March 26.