How to Get From Park Slope to Manhattan?

UPDATES BELOW.

One thing that's becoming increasingly clear in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy is that if you live in the neighborhood and don't have access to a car, you're going to have a very difficult time getting into Manhattan.

While car services like Aricebo are running into Manhattan (the going rate from the North Slope to Union Square is about $22), and taxis are available if you can find one, getting back to Brooklyn from Manhattan poses even more problems. Unfortunately, until subway service is restored, that appears to be the only option.

For those feeling adventurous, bus service is operating on a "near normal" weekday schedule. Spending some time on HopStop, however, it becomes clear that of the several routes that will take you from the neighborhood into Manhattan, none are feasible. One route requires the out-of-service Battery Tunnel, another needs you to take the Red Hook Ikea Water Taxi. All other routes are variations on those. But even if you were to find a way to get on a bus that crosses the river, you'd still be in for a very arduous journey.

It's going to be an interesting couple of weeks (or longer) until the subway tunnels re-open. As put so well in this AP article, "In the tunnels under the East River, all the signal-and-control systems are underwater. And it is salt water. It's not just that it doesn't work right now. It all has to be cleaned, dried, reassembled and tested. And we are not sure what the long-term corrosion effect might be."

If you can work from home, that will probably be your best option. If not, hopefully your bosses understand the situation. And if you've managed to track down an easier way into Manhattan, let me know; maybe we can organize a ride-share program of some sort.

1:18 PM UPDATE: Governor Cuomo mentioned in his press conference that limited subway service will resume tomorrow, but all stations below 34th Street (or 42nd, according to MTA's Joe Lhota) will remain closed due to loss of power.

A "bus bridge" will be rolled out tomorrow; according to this tweet from Cuomo, it looks like busses will be picking up passengers at the Barclays Center, going over the Manhattan bridge, up Third Avenue, down Lexington, and back.

2:30 UPDATE: Here's the subway schedule for tomorrow. Very few trains will be operating in Brooklyn. In our area, the B,Q, and G trains are suspended, The R train will be making all local stops between Jay Street-MetroTech and 95th Street, F trains will be running between Jay Street-MetroTech and Avenue X, and D trains will run between Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center and Bay Parkway, making express stops between Pacific Street and 36th Street.

Comments

[Eric McClure]

"One thing that's becoming increasingly clear in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy is that if you live in the neighborhood and don't have access to a car, you're going to have a very difficult time getting into Manhattan."

That wasn't remotely true today. Roads were gridlocked, and people reported that walking across the Brooklyn Bridge was faster than driving. You might want to replace "car" with "bike." Biking into Manhattan is easy, as fast as driving on most days.