By Adam Pincus
It was the first in a series of six weekend closures scheduled to replace sections of track, improve switches and replace signal lights between 33rd Street-Rawson in Sunnyside and Queensboro Plaza in Long Island City. Despite the need for the repairs, borough officials questioned the duration of the closures.Residents and community leaders joined with City Councilman Eric Gioia (D-Sunnyside) at a rally Saturday outside the Vernon Boulevard-Jackson Avenue No. 7 stop to push for greater relief for Queens riders.”When the 7 train is out, people in Queens suffer,” Gioia said. “When you're getting paid by the hour and you have to take a cab into Manhattan, you've spent half your day working just to pay for transportation.”Gioia represent the neighborhoods – Long Island City, Sunnyside and Woodside – most affected by the shutdowns.Shutdowns over the past several years have hit the train line known as the International Express hard. Over the past year, train service was interrupted during 14 weekends, including Memorial Day and the July 4th weekends, Gioia said. The new No. 7 closures extend from the 74th Street-Roosevelt Ave. in Jackson Heights to Times Square on weekends until March 26, from 12:01 a.m. Saturday until 5 a.m. Monday.Sheila Lewandowski, managing director of the Long Island City performing arts space called The Chocolate Factory, said walk-up sales drop 60 percent when the No. 7 line is closed.”We had to spend a lot of time and money today calling people with pre-purchased tickets to warn them about the closure,” she said Saturday.Community Board 2 Chairman Joseph Conley said in an interview Tuesday that the issue has been frustrating the Sunnyside, Woodside and Long Island City community for years.He wanted to know if this was part of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's long-term planning.”Was this scheduled in the five-year plan? When is it going to happen again?” he said. The board sent a letter to the MTA seeking answers to those questions.The Flushing Lunar New Year Parade and Festival, held at the terminus of the No. 7 line, saw a much smaller turnout Saturday, but it was not clear whether the low turnout was related to the repairs.New York City Transit recommends that riders take the E, F or R instead. Buses were also provided from Queensboro Plaza and Jackson Heights and Queensboro Plaza and Long Island City No. 7 stations.Residents seemed resigned to the inconvenience. Buses passed frequently during an hour stretch on Sunday – some full and some empty.Sunnyside resident James Norbert, 32, was waiting with his girlfriend at 46th Street heading into the city. He rides the train to work each day, but uses it less often weekends.”It's not too bad, just a bus,” he said. “But you wouldn't see this in Manhattan.”For other residents, the lost time was significant. Javier Telan works as a dishwasher in the city and was waiting at the 52nd Street station Sunday.How much longer did it take him to get to work? “Double,” he said.Craig Giammona contributed to this report.Reach reporter Adam Pincus by e-mail at news@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 154.
