At around 4:30am today, a powerful storm swept through New York City and surrounding areas, dumping nearly two inches of rain over Central Park in just one hour before spinning into “tornado-like” gusts in Brooklyn.
The downpour was over soon enough, but the sudden surge of water flooded our subway system, causing every major line to be shut down. Service on buses and trains into the city was either suspended or delayed, right in the midst of rush hour on a sweltering hot day.
By now, most people have either made it to work or given up trying, and at City Room, a blog in the NY Times regional section, many are weighing in about their morning commutes.
As far as I know, absolutely no subway service in lower Manhattan. I stood for 20 minutes in a No. 5 train before they announced no service. So I walked up to work at 45th and Madison and arrived a soaking mess. A word to the wise: DON’T DRESS UP TODAY IF YOU’RE WALKING! (J. Guha)
This is such a nightmare. I can’t believe that the MTA wants to hike fares so that they can offer the same crappy, crappy service. (Suzanne)
I usually drive from Nassau county and park in Kew Gardens to take the E or F train to downtown Manhattan., usually a 20 min. drive. This morning it took me an hour and 40 mins because of flooding and resulting traffic snarls around the Kew Gardens interchange area. Once I got to the subway, I learned that there was no subway service to Manhattan. Turned around and drove home. (Michael)
The PATH commute from Jersey city to 33rd St took about a 100 minutes today. It usually takes about 20-25. (SR)
The buses are so crowded they don’t stop, or, if they do, they can only take one or two new passengers. Since I’m an old 60’s protester, I stopped several cars to ask the drivers if they would take some of us to work. Guess what they said — if they even opened their windows? Do we look so dangerous or is there just no civility left? (Linda)
I rode my bike to work today, as usual. No delays. (Mike)
