Feb. 20, 2018 By Tara Law
Astoria commuters who attempted to ride the subway this morning faced crowds, lines and confusion as signal problems at Queens Plaza and 5th Avenue/59th Street stations caused serious service delays.
Delays lasted from about 8 a.m. until 12:45 p.m.
N/W-line commuters were forced to walk to the 7 line (Queens Plaza), hire cars or wait for the bus. Lines for the Q102 bus line, which runs down 31st Street along the N/W line, ran around the block.
Many commuters took to social media this morning to express their displeasure, posting photos and videos of packed platforms.
“I assume they think everyone in Astoria can just walk/swim into Manhattan,” wrote Shea @Eat_Work_Run.
Today’s delays occurred during a strained time for the MTA in Astoria.
Queens lawmakers have criticized the MTA for failing to upgrade service as they revamp the N/W stations in Astoria.
Councilmember Costa Constantinides, who has been critical of the renovations, tweeted that today’s delays indicate the need for service improvements.
“The disaster this morning along the N/W line is demonstrable of the MTA’s broken priorities in Astoria,” he wrote. “Instead of closing down stations & spending money on cosmetic updates, they should make long-term improvements to subway service in our neighborhood.”
Yikes! With morning N train service disruptions, the line for the M60 bus from Astoria is wrapped around the block! ? #MTA #Ntrain pic.twitter.com/7VUYhv9mqT
— Julie Huntington (@mieletpiment) February 20, 2018
How is your morning commute? Mine requires a 2-part video of a line to board a bus that won’t come when all of the subways are down. #MTAFail #MTA #Astoria pic.twitter.com/7leO8rjorF
— Joshua A Bruner (@JoshuaABruner) February 20, 2018
Another day another dystopian nightmare. Why do I pay for a monthly metro card?! #mta #mtafail #nwtrain #astoriatrainfail #fixthemta pic.twitter.com/LbvZl80Ent
— benaroya (@benaroya) February 20, 2018
