By Matt Chaban 4:16pm

Planes Trains & Automobiles

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The Rockaways, on a roll again. (MTA/Flickr)

The New, Free H-Train Shuttle Is Now Up and Running in the Rockaways

Among the indignities visited on the Rockaways by Hurricane Sandy was the destruction of its sole subway route, the A train. As The Observer first reported, this was not merely a case of flooding, but the very foundations of the Broad Channel crossing washing away, creating months, or longer, of reconstruction work for the MTA.

Still, the agency took the unusual step of trucking a bunch of subway cars out to the Rockaways so it could at least run shuttle service along the peninsula, with a bus in Far Rockaway then ferrying riders to the A train in Howard Beach. The service will be up and running as of 4:00 a.m. tomorrow morning, and Governor Cuomo even announced that it would be free until regular subway service is restored. Free subway service—finally some good news for the Rockaways. Read More

By Matt Chaban 11/03/12 2:16pm

Planes Trains & Automobiles

The damage done. (MTA/Flickr)

Broad Channel Crossing Must Be Rebuilt, Leaving Rockaways Without A-Train for Months or Longer

The Rockaways have been one of the hardest hit areas of the city following Superstorm Sandy, with lives lost, houses destroyed, crime on the streets. It has also been a remarkably resilient place, with diehard New Yorkers beginning the daunting work of rebuilding. It will be a long time before the Rockaways returns to normal, though, and it turns out that goes for subway service to the area, too.

At a press briefing Thursday night, MTA chief Joe Lhota said it would be some time before A-train service could be restored to the Rockaways due to extensive damage to the Broad Channel crossing that carries the train between Howard Beach in Brooklyn to the Rockaways.

“The amount of destruction on the A-train over Broad Channel is indescribable,” Mr. Lhota told reporters. Read More