Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Countdown Clock: 7 Line Will Shut Down For 8 Weekends In 2016
By
Ben Yakas
Published Dec 19, 2015
Modified Dec 19, 2015
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 Dec 19, 2015
Modified Dec 19, 2015
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
The 7 train has been besieged by bedbugs, vicious weather conditions, and other unidentified junk, and it's still been commended as the best-functioning subway line in NYC. So of course that means the MTA is planning on shutting it down for eight weekends next year for repairs. Because they can rebuild it. They have the technology. They have the capability to make the MTA's first fully-functioning subway line.
The MTA says in a press release that there are much-needed repairs on the line that will require weekend service shutdowns between Manhattan and Queens over the course of five non-consecutive months. That will include the replacement of entire panels of elevated tracks and the reconstruction and fortification of the storm-damaged Steinway Tunnel that links Queens and Manhattan.
One of the other major reasons for the work is that the MTA wants to implement an updated communications-based train control system (CBTC), a modern signaling system that "replaces the existing 50- to 90-year-old signal system and allows for trains to run more reliably and frequently, thereby increasing line capacity and preventing problems associated with old equipment."
The new system is expected to be ready to launch in 2017, with more countdown clocks across the entire line. So at least there's some good news here.
Also, Mets fans need not worry about the shutdown affecting their commutes to games next summer—the MTA is skipping the months of May-September, which means it may only be a problem for fans if the Mets end up in the World Series again (and really, what is the likelihood of that happening again!?) (No, really...is it likely? Please tell me if you know.) (I really really do hope it's likely).
Check out all the weekends it'll be shut down in 2016 below.
MTA
Tagged
7 line
7 train
construction
countdown clocks
MTA
subway
train
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
Central Park birders, others remember 63-year-old woman killed in park
People who said they knew her described her as an artist and a familiar presence in the Ramble.
By
Charles Lane
Published Sep 28, 2026 at 7:04 p.m. ET
Dump truck driver hits and kills cyclist on 34th Street in Midtown, NYPD says
It's the latest in a string of hit-and-run deaths in the city in recent months.
By
Liam Quigley
News
Dump truck driver hits and kills cyclist on 34th Street in Midtown, NYPD says
It's the latest in a string of hit-and-run deaths in the city in recent months.
By
Liam Quigley
New ingredient mandated for Latin American kitchen, restaurant plates in NJ
By
Arya Sundaram
A Brooklyn jail cell filled with smoke. The emergency button failed, a lawyer said.
By
Samantha Max
Crews launch tunnel machines to dig first new Hudson River rail tunnels since 1910
By
Michael Sol Warren
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 .