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Photos: Downtown Brooklyn Straphangers Doomed To Stand In Line For Hours To Catch A Bus


By

Jen Carlson

Published Nov 1, 2012

Modified Nov 2, 2012


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Approaching the front of the line on Jay Street.

 

Jen Carlson/Gothamist

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By

Jen Carlson

Published Nov 1, 2012

Modified Nov 2, 2012


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Yesterday Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that limited subway service would return... so how's that going? For anyone trying to get from Brooklyn to Manhattan, there's almost no point in trying. Barclays Center is complete chaos, and this morning we checked out the Jay-Metrotech hub, where many were just giving up and calling in to work from the disorganized lines snaking through blocks and tunnels in Downtown Brooklyn.

We asked one woman in line what she thought of the scene: "I can't believe this shit. This is not good. This is not good." Another woman walked up, took one look around, and said she was going to call into work and tell them there was no way to make it in. Which, there really wasn't if you wanted to make it in at a reasonable hour... a traffic cop attempting to organize the mobs of would-be straphangers told us that he had no idea, not even a ballpark for how long people would be waiting, and mentioned they were rotating three buses in at a time.

The buses were picking up in front of the Starbucks and Polytechnic Institute on Jay Street, where the lines began. The lines stretched down Jay Street to the Metrotech Roadway, where it ran down and spanned the full three blocks to Duffield Street. Around 9 a.m. the line was rapidly growing.

#MTA totally clusterfucks bus situation at Jay St./ Metrotech. No barricades or other crowd control methods prepared.

— Paul A Kowal (@paul_a_kowal) November 1, 2012

Brooklyn: don't bother with the Jay St Metrotech bus. There are at least several hundred waiting for it. At least four blocks of line #sandy

— Theresa Summa (@theresaanna) November 1, 2012

Lines at Metrotech & Barclays are both still crazy.

— Adam (@Carnegro) November 1, 2012

Tagged

bus

bus bridge

downtown Brooklyn

frankenstorm

hurricane sandy

jay metrotech

jay street

MTA

original


Jen Carlson

Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.

Read more

Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations


Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations


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