Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
"Hipsters" Rejoice: The L Train MAY Be Back Today Or Tomorrow
By
Ben Yakas
Published Nov 8, 2012
Modified Nov 8, 2012
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Ben Yakas
Published Nov 8, 2012
Modified Nov 8, 2012
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Yesterday, we got video evidence that the L Train tunnels have finally been cleared of water more than a week after Hurricane Sandy flooded many subways and brought mass transit to a standstill for days. But now we're left twiddling our thumbs and wondering WHEN the L train will not be fucked, and we can all resume transporting our pet rats back and forth between Manhattan and Brooklyn. The good news is it should be soon!
NY1's Pat Kiernan is hopeful it'll be any minute now: "They've said either today or tomorrow for the L train. Tracks are dry. Repairing signals and equipment now." MTA Chairman Joe Lhota is playing it cool and vague for now: "The L will be back when it's safe for passengers. We're working as hard we can to power it up." We've contacted the MTA hoping to get some more concrete information, and will update once we hear anything more.
But in the meantime, this has been a very serious crisis for the "hipsters" who allegedly rely on the L train—why, it's "worse than a Pabst Blue Ribbon shortage," or something, according to the Post. “Bedford [Avenue] is pretty slow when the train’s not on,” glum Bushwick bartender Malori McLaughlin told them. Oh sure, she may be putting on a brave face, but she seems on the verge of throwing down her trucker hat, moving to FiDi, and getting a job working for Deutsche Bank, all because the delays have "put a serious dent on the social scene in the artsy L train enclaves," as the Post puts it.
The pain was certainly palpable enough that the Post found it fit to dredge up cliches about Williamsburg circa 2004 and pin an article about how they don't know when the L train will return (they literally have "no clue" when it'll be back) with the SEO-bait/puntastic headline "Hipsters Off Track." Oh sure, we used "hipsters" in the headline too—but at least we're staying true to the spirit of those early 00's pioneers—the ones who first thought up the idea to make a kitchen table out of train track ties—by using the word in its preferred, ironic form.
Tagged
brooklyn
hipsters
l train
MTA
ny post
subway
transit
woe
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Man shot by ICE in NYC's Marble Hill said federal officers never identified themselves
The wounded man said he didn't learn ICE agents were involved until he woke up in the hospital.
By
Arya Sundaram
and
Samantha Max
Published Oct 14, 2026 at 5:26 p.m. ET
Brooklyn school dean says MTA officers assaulted him over a $3 bus fare he says he paid
Kyle Taylor, a dean at Mott Bridges Academy, says he made a legal bus transfer.
By
Carol Chen
News
Brooklyn school dean says MTA officers assaulted him over a $3 bus fare he says he paid
Kyle Taylor, a dean at Mott Bridges Academy, says he made a legal bus transfer.
By
Carol Chen
National Grid customers in NYC will see higher gas bills this winter
By
Rosemary Misdary
Bruce Blakeman joins Gov. Hochul in support for expanding NY rape law
By
Jon Campbell
2 men accused of stabbing off-duty NYPD detective in the Bronx plead not guilty
By
Charles Lane
and
Brittany Kriegstein
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .