Breathe a sigh of relief. With the F Train back, the worst-case scenarios never happened as both the MTA and RIOC came through for travelers. Let’s take a look.
by David Stone
The Roosevelt Island Daily News
When the 63rd Street Tunnel Track Fixation Plan rolled out last year, worries mounted over the projected seven-month shutdown. Would the shuttle run on schedule? With just a single train at work, what would happen if someone pulled an emergency brake? Or somebody got sick?
Worse was threatened when the MTA announced that not even F Train shuttles would run on February weekends, and if that looked bad, another full shutdown at the end, coupled with Easter weekend and the first glorious burst of cherry blossoms, threatened chaos.
But nothing awful happened. Roosevelt Islanders got no worse than problems of the pain-in-the-ass variety, long commutes, filth and too many stairs to climb. Thank the MTA for an efficient on-time finish, and RIOC for a big rescue at the end.
Now, the F Train Is Back
The MTA finishing a major project on time deserves a big shoutout. Like many others, we here at The Daily anticipated a wrap just in time for Father’s Day in June. We were humbly surprised.
And as the never-missed-a-beat historian Judith Berdy notes, the MTA is celebrating too…
Officials from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and Cornell Tech (located on Roosevelt Island) will greet subway riders as the MTA restores full-length f line service via the East River’s 63rd Street Tunnel for the first time since August 28, 2023, when the Authority began a critical track and infrastructure renewal project.
WHEN AND WHERE:
TOMORROW, Monday, April 1
8:00 a.m. at 21 St-Queensbridge f Station
8:20 a.m. (approx.) at Roosevelt Island F Station
Guest will include Touchdown the Bear, the Cornell Tech Mascot no one ever heard of before.
But Tip Your Hat To Team RIOC (Assuming You Wear a Hat)
With the F Train back at full service, remembering how RIOC’s new interim management came through in a way the state agency never has before.
Prompted by board member Ben Fhala, the team of Gerrald Ellis and Dhru Patel Amin came through with expanded Red Bus Shuttles that made a big difference. But the real action people were Transportation Director Cy Opperman and a dedicated crew of drivers who gave up big chunks of the holiday weekend to ferry otherwise stranded Roosevelt Islanders back and forth over the Queensboro Bridge.
Salute!
And don’t forget to thank them.
“I Can Ask”
Chair Fay Christian opened the Operations Advisory Committee on February 12th, reading out member names from a prepared sheet that omitted Melissa Wade. It didn’t feel intentional, but it struck me as odd precisely because it came from something prepared. Lydia Tang gently corrected her, noting that Wade was, in fact, a member of the committee. Wade met the moment with grace, or perhaps she simply wasn’t bothered by it.
