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Scenes From Last Night's Nightmarish Rush Hour Commute
By
John Del Signore
Published Aug 15, 2012
Modified Aug 15, 2012
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By
John Del Signore
Published Aug 15, 2012
Modified Aug 15, 2012
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A two alarm fire deep in a manhole at Dekalb Station caused nightmarish commutes for thousands of New Yorkers headed to and from Brooklyn during last night's rush hour. The fire started around 4 p.m. in a cable room, hundreds of feet down a manhole, and shut down five subway lines for several hours. “It sent smoke billowing through the tunnel," an MTA spokesman told reporters. "We had to shut down service on the B and D lines so that people wouldn’t be breathing that smoke going through there and so firefighters could get in and access it." Service was also disrupted on the N and R trains, which also deleteriously impacted service on the F, M, and Q.
The fire was under control by 6:15 p.m., but service did not resume immediately. "After the fire is out, then you have to air out the location,” a fire official told City Room. “It will be a little while.” One unfortunate Gothamist commenter reports:
Atlantic Ave. was packed with what seemed like thousands of people trying to get down to the QNR platform. All train announcements told us trains were running at Atlantic so everyone and their mother worked to get there. They held us at the stairs to the platform for about 15 minutes and then finally announced the there was one R train coming.....but nothing else. It took me over 15 minutes to shove my way BACK to the entrance to the 2/3. What a swell commute!
Here's a short video of the crowds squeezing through the Atlantic Avenue station:
Crowded Subway at Atlantic Avenue August 14 2012 from Gothamist on Vimeo.
Service was mostly resumed by 7:30 p.m., and there were no injuries, unless you count the damage to straphangers' already bruised and battered souls:
If the #MTA was in the #HungerGames I'd kill it first... twice
— Ace De Luna (@RealAceDeLuna) August 14, 2012
damn my sis just got home from atlantic ave (usually takes 20 min) after 3 hrs FUCK YOU #MTA! b,d,n,q,r,f all fucked up, better be fixed tom
— دعاء (@doowahh) August 15, 2012
3 rats have passed but still no N train yet #MTA
— ͚ (@stucker85) August 15, 2012
The #MTA handling of today's BDNRFQ issues was horrendous. No shuttle busses on 4th ave?
— matt zugale (@mattzugale) August 14, 2012
I took 5 trains, a bus, and a 1/2 mile walk home, #MTA. You have to do better @nyctsubwayscoop #MTAfail
— Alan Berquist (@alanberquist) August 15, 2012
Tagged
fire
MTA
rush hour
subway
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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