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Did NJ Transit Screw You Too After U2?
By
John Del Signore
Published Sep 24, 2009
Modified Sep 24, 2009
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By
John Del Signore
Published Sep 24, 2009
Modified Sep 24, 2009
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The buzz was severely harshed last night for thousands of U2 fans making their way back from the Meadowlands to Manhattan. According to multiple reports, the post-concert scene was a total nightmare, with a packed mob left stranded for hours on the platforms. NJT officials tell 1010WINS there were plenty of trains, but there were too few ticket machines to accommodate the throngs of people. But one Gothamist reader describes a different scenario:
It was incredibly disorganized as there were not enough trains to accommodate the amount of concert-goers... At least a couple hundred people left during the encore in hopes of catching an earlier train and avoid the crowd, only to be met with a closed gate at the tracks. The staff didn't open the gates until people were completely pushed up against each other and 500 deep. When they finally allowed us on the platform, people shoved and pushed their way in. It was really unsafe.
Trying to get there was also a nightmare, with some concertgoers describing huge lines in Penn Station to buy tickets, and total confusion when they got off to transfer at Secaucus, where passengers were told they had to buy tickets before boarding the train to the Meadowlands. Disgruntled U2 fan "Amanda" tells NBC it took her three hours go get out to the concert, and during the transfer in Secaucus, there was one attendant trying to help "hundreds of people" waiting for tickets.
After the show, Amanda says, "It was crazy. Once you found your way, there were barricades up to guide the thousands of people pushing and shoving their way towards the area to board the trains." And then it took a half hour for a train to come, according to Amanda. At some point last night, blogger Thighs Wide Shut tweeted, "NJ transit to U2 show at Ghettolands = more fail than Ben Lyons' movie opinion." Good luck to those heading out there for U2's last show tonight, but we have to wonder whether any band is really worth enduring this clusterfuck. (Besides Radiohead.)
Tagged
delay
meadowlands
new jersey transit
nightmare
nyc
u2
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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