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NY Post: L train almost eliminated?

Posted by BenYankee on Fri Feb 24 10:55:53 2012

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http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/of_comeback_gzDsWC3HEHBbPDbbVKUsfO

This is a tantalizingly brief story about something fairly majored. Anyone have any background on this?

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Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?

Posted by r33/r36 mainline on Fri Feb 24 11:20:25 2012, in response to NY Post: L train almost eliminated?, posted by BenYankee on Fri Feb 24 10:55:53 2012.

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I heard the TA wanted to do the same thing to the (G) line as well, If the TA ever went though with shutting down the (G) the Crosstown line would have been a Urban Explorer's paradise.

Same goes for the (L), a completely abandoned tunnel from 14th Street in Manhattan to Bushwick - Adbeerdean street. I assume the Broadway Junction - Rockway Parkway part of the line would have been kept as a shuttle.

I still wonder if the TA axed the (G) would they still maintain the trackage, 3rd rail, signals, etc, so NIS trains could still use the line.

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Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?

Posted by Dan on Fri Feb 24 12:07:24 2012, in response to Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?, posted by r33/r36 mainline on Fri Feb 24 11:20:25 2012.

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Quite possible the "L" was targeted but more likely to have been considered in the 1970s as part of the "planned shrinkage" of certain neighborhoods. Bushwick was dying after 1977 blackout and massive looting.

While this was going on the "F" was running only graffiti-free brand new R46s, some lines and neighborhoods were favored. That's the way it was back then.

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Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?

Posted by Chris R16/R2730 on Fri Feb 24 13:20:36 2012, in response to NY Post: L train almost eliminated?, posted by BenYankee on Fri Feb 24 10:55:53 2012.

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I seem to remember another proposal to eliminate the J and M, not the L. The L train was NEVER "hardly used". I used it regularly in 1988 and 1989 to commute to my job in Union Sq. and during rush hour, it was packed.

Smells like bad MSM transit reporting.

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Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?

Posted by MainR3664 on Fri Feb 24 14:24:11 2012, in response to Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?, posted by Chris R16/R2730 on Fri Feb 24 13:20:36 2012.

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Well, if any of those lines (J, K, L) had been eliminated, North Brooklyn's comeback may not have occurred. This shows how stoopid the eliminations of the Myrtle and (Bronx) Third Avenue lines were.

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Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?

Posted by Jackson Park B Train on Fri Feb 24 14:41:38 2012, in response to Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?, posted by Chris R16/R2730 on Fri Feb 24 13:20:36 2012.

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Much as I am adamant about preserving service, you are not correct about "LL" usage. In the late 60s the line was very lightly used outside of rush. The First Ave platform was a lonely place to wait for a train in either direction. Blaming MSM does not change the facts as I experienced them.

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Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?

Posted by SLRT on Fri Feb 24 14:54:21 2012, in response to NY Post: L train almost eliminated?, posted by BenYankee on Fri Feb 24 10:55:53 2012.

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Sounds like hyperbole. I remember when it seemed like you waited forever for a train, but I never heard of a proposal to shut it completely.


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Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?

Posted by shiznit1987 on Fri Feb 24 18:36:39 2012, in response to Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?, posted by Chris R16/R2730 on Fri Feb 24 13:20:36 2012.

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Yeah, the Broadway El was the one more likley to go out of the two. The L skirts Ridgewood which was still thriving, while Broadway was the epicenter of the warzone. Plus, the L has far, far, better connections to Midtown.

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Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?

Posted by Edwards! on Fri Feb 24 18:45:42 2012, in response to Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?, posted by shiznit1987 on Fri Feb 24 18:36:39 2012.

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damn, so many comments..and ALL of them completely PHUCKING WRONG.
How likely is that ever to happen..and should I make the attempt to enlighten
or would that be a waste of time?

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Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?

Posted by merrick1 on Fri Feb 24 20:15:52 2012, in response to Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?, posted by Chris R16/R2730 on Fri Feb 24 13:20:36 2012.

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The article reported that Joe Lhota revealed this. It doesn't say whether he was right or not.

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Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?

Posted by Wado MP73 on Fri Feb 24 20:27:57 2012, in response to Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?, posted by Jackson Park B Train on Fri Feb 24 14:41:38 2012.

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I remember that even in 1988, First Ave. station was so desolate that many Stuy Town residents wouldn't use it and chose to walk the two stops to Union Sq. to ride the Lex.

Second Ave. on the F was pretty much the same. It had more "residents" than riders most of the day.

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Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?

Posted by Joe V on Sat Feb 25 07:20:25 2012, in response to Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?, posted by merrick1 on Fri Feb 24 20:15:52 2012.

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I know the J line past Eastern Pkwy or Crescent St was an endangered species. Were it not for Archer, it would be gone. They could have told people to go to either IND line, or take a bus to Fresh Pond for the M.

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Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?

Posted by GP38/R42 Chris on Sat Feb 25 09:54:35 2012, in response to Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?, posted by Chris R16/R2730 on Fri Feb 24 13:20:36 2012.

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It probably meant the eastern end of it east of Bway Junction.

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Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?

Posted by GP38/R42 Chris on Sat Feb 25 09:56:06 2012, in response to Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?, posted by r33/r36 mainline on Fri Feb 24 11:20:25 2012.

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The Bway Junction to Rockaway Park part would be the part they would have wanted to get rid of the most. While that end is still pretty low use, it was always lower use than the rest of the line. Even if there was a proposal to shut down the L line (which I never heard), the east end would have been the first

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Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?

Posted by GP38/R42 Chris on Sat Feb 25 09:58:43 2012, in response to Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?, posted by Jackson Park B Train on Fri Feb 24 14:41:38 2012.

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That's because it was near Alphabet city, another bad neighborhood back then. I was a regular user of the L in the 80's (as a kid in the 70's), and in those times, the line was not low use. Union Square always had a huge transfer. WHile it wasn't nearly as packed as now, the rest of the line wasn't just like "First Ave". Granted a LOT less busy than now. Jefferson, Morgan, MOntrose, and some of those stations were quiet though.

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Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?

Posted by Dupont Circle Station on Sat Feb 25 18:02:13 2012, in response to Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?, posted by Jackson Park B Train on Fri Feb 24 14:41:38 2012.

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When we came east to visit relatives in Ridgewood in the 60s, the entire LL was a ghost town between Manhattan and DeKalb during non-rush...on weekends, there often was only maybe 4 or 5 other people on the train. When I would go visit after I moved to NY in '73, it was even less used: Several times I rode from 8th Av near where I lived, walked the length of the train during the trip under the river and I was the only passenger. On the Brooklyn side, maybe 5 or 6 people got on at Met, with maybe 2-6 waiting on the Manhattan-bound side at each of the intermediate stations.

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Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?

Posted by Dupont Circle Station on Sat Feb 25 18:21:48 2012, in response to Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?, posted by shiznit1987 on Fri Feb 24 18:36:39 2012.

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Ridgewood was hardly thriving in the 70s. Barely hanging on was more like it. The Germans left in large numbers and it got quite seedy west of Wyckoff. One of my great-aunts lived on Harman between Wyckoff and Irving and the walk from DeKalb to her house had gone from relatively pleasant in the early '60s to downright scary by the mid-70s.

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Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?

Posted by GP38/R42 Chris on Sat Feb 25 18:30:33 2012, in response to Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?, posted by Dupont Circle Station on Sat Feb 25 18:21:48 2012.

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Ridgewood was hardly thriving in the 70s.

LOL!! Absolutely not. I lived there and it was fine.

The Germans left in large numbers and it got quite seedy west of Wyckoff.

Yes, that's called Bushwick. Wyckoff Ave is the Queens-Brooklyn Border for a large stretch.

One of my great-aunts lived on Harman between Wyckoff and Irving and the walk from DeKalb to her house had gone from relatively pleasant in the early '60s to downright scary by the mid-70s.

Wrong side of the border. Harman and Irving is already deep into Brooklyn, and thus Bushwick. For the most part, the other side of Wyckoff Ave was fine, the further you got from that border, the better. ONce on the other side of St Nicholas, people didn't even have an idea of what was going on on the Brooklyn side. If you were on the Queens side of the border, Ridgewood was absolutely strong and stayed strong.



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Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?

Posted by Edwards! on Sun Feb 26 00:53:56 2012, in response to Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?, posted by GP38/R42 Chris on Sat Feb 25 09:56:06 2012.

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could've fooled me about that so called "low use"..

I've seen that section pretty crowded at times..even with the trains running every 2-3 minutes..

The MTA wanted to remove the queens section of the Jamaica line,from Crescent st to 121st..

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Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?

Posted by Edwards! on Sun Feb 26 01:09:55 2012, in response to Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?, posted by GP38/R42 Chris on Sat Feb 25 18:30:33 2012.

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there was only one reason Bushwick,BED STY,ENY,Williamaburg,and BROWNSVILLE went down hill during those years..
Actually several reasons..but the one that stood out the most was blacklisting the whole North Brooklyn by banks..while the city stood by and did nothing.

It was nothing more that racial profiling..racial prejudice mixed with economize depression felt by the people living there.
The city as a whole was suffering..but it was even more so in the so called depressed nabs..where the blight was pocket marked by the random abandonment of houses homes tenements stores..random fires set by landlords to collect insurance money..and the summer of 1977.

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Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?

Posted by Wallyhorse on Sun Feb 26 06:20:44 2012, in response to Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?, posted by Edwards! on Sun Feb 26 01:09:55 2012.

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And a lot of corruption as I remember reading when the New York Daily News ran it's "Bronx Is Burning" series in 2007 (coinciding with the ESPN series of the same name that aired at that time).

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Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?

Posted by MainR3664 on Sun Feb 26 10:57:19 2012, in response to Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?, posted by Dupont Circle Station on Sat Feb 25 18:02:13 2012.

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And yet...by keeping this line alive and not allowing it to fall victime to short-term thinking, we have a vibrant transit facility that has received tremondous usage- AND capital investment in recent years.

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Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?

Posted by MainR3664 on Sun Feb 26 11:01:22 2012, in response to Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?, posted by Edwards! on Fri Feb 24 18:45:42 2012.

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I tend to belive you that the J was in more danger than the L, but look at it this way- the story of the revitalization of BOTH lines shows why the the 8 and the MJ should not have been killed off...

Whether the MTA wanted more to kill the J more than the L, is, to me, a small detail- they were looking for lines to destroy, any one they could have politically gotten away with would have been good enough- so, every one that was saved has proven a valuable asset. Even the Franklin Shuttle has pretty decent usage.



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Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?

Posted by Dupont Circle Station on Sun Feb 26 12:47:19 2012, in response to Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?, posted by GP38/R42 Chris on Sat Feb 25 18:30:33 2012.

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You can be as snobby as you want but the deeds to the building my great-aunt lived in from 1911 until 1983, and 3 others in the block (that she and her husband bought between 1919 and 1927) all said Ridgewood. (The city, however, couldn't make up its mind if their properties were in Brooklyn, Queens or even both at the same time.) They also owned the big German bakery that used to be at Wyckoff & Stanhope from 1915 until the mid-1960s (where the hospital is now), and a smaller one on Onderdonck & Bleecker from the 30s to the 60s. Everyone I knew there back in the 60s and 70s considered it Ridgewood to Irving or Myrtle (including the folks on the "other" side of St. Nicholas. It was the mid and late 70s when the Germans and Italians pulled out of the area south/west of St. Nicholas and it became universally regarded as Bushwick.

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Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?

Posted by Dupont Circle Station on Sun Feb 26 12:53:05 2012, in response to Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?, posted by MainR3664 on Sun Feb 26 11:01:22 2012.

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DC did the stupid thing of destroying the streetcar lines. Had they kept those alongside building the subway, it's entirely likely the 30 years of decay and decline that followed the '68 riots would not have lasted as long, if even taken hold in the first place.

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Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?

Posted by GP38/R42 Chris on Sun Feb 26 13:11:05 2012, in response to Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?, posted by Dupont Circle Station on Sun Feb 26 12:47:19 2012.

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You can be as snobby as you want but the deeds to the building my great-aunt lived in from 1911 until 1983, and 3 others in the block (that she and her husband bought between 1919 and 1927) all said Ridgewood.

Who's being "snobby"? I am telling you where it was bad, and where it was good. You claimed Ridgewood had hard times too, and that's not true.....if you were on the QUeens side of the border, there was barely a blip going on. It was once considered Ridgewood deep far into Brooklyn (the eons ago built "Ridgewood" Masonic temple is on Bushwick Ave and Gates), and at one time most of Ridgewood was even considered "Brooklyn", even though in Queens... My grandparents lived on Woodward Ave near Harman in the 30's, and they were considered "Brooklyn" (yes, we all know the whole post office was the reason for that).

But there's nothing "snobby" about it....the address you gave is deep inside Brooklyn already, by a few blocks, so it's no surprise that it "fell", as much of the Brooklyn side of the border did (see Edwards reason why). The Queens side of the border, which entails most of Ridgewood (and all of what is today considered "Ridgewood") never had the problems the Brooklyn side of the border did.

The city, however, couldn't make up its mind if their properties were in Brooklyn, Queens or even both at the same time.

It wasn't "the city", it was the post office which served Ridgewood out of the Brooklyn post office, not Queens. The original border was a diagonal line in roughly the same spot it zip zags through now, they changed it to the zig zag line because there were even homes that had a kitchen in Brooklyn, and Bedrooms in Queens, which didn't much make sense.

They also owned the big German bakery that used to be at Wyckoff & Stanhope from 1915 until the mid-1960s (where the hospital is now), and a smaller one on Onderdonck & Bleecker from the 30s to the 60s.

The first one is in Brooklyn, the second one in Queens. The neighborhood of the second one never had any problems. The area around the first one fell, as it was on the Brooklyn side of the border.
The address you gave was clearly on the Brooklyn side, and unfortunately the Brooklyn side fell. When people talk of Bushwick, that is contained in the blanket of "Bushwick". Ridgewood did not fall.




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Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?

Posted by GP38/R42 Chris on Sun Feb 26 13:16:15 2012, in response to Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?, posted by Edwards! on Sun Feb 26 00:53:56 2012.

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I am talking back in the 70's and 80's, but even today, in the scheme of things, the stations are "low use" compared to other stations in the system, meaning they are low on the list. "Low use" doesn't mean "unused".

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Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?

Posted by Jackson Park B Train on Sun Feb 26 13:20:10 2012, in response to Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?, posted by GP38/R42 Chris on Sun Feb 26 13:16:15 2012.

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usage note 1st Ave on the L out does Astor Place. who'd a thunk?

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Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?

Posted by GP38/R42 Chris on Sun Feb 26 13:31:43 2012, in response to Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?, posted by Jackson Park B Train on Sun Feb 26 13:20:10 2012.

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Well, that's on the other side of the line than the one we were talking about, but yes, that is surprising.

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Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?

Posted by Jackson Park B Train on Sun Feb 26 13:35:46 2012, in response to Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?, posted by GP38/R42 Chris on Sun Feb 26 13:31:43 2012.

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Having lived both on E 7th betwn A & B and 11th betwn B & C I remember them very differently.

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Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?

Posted by GP38/R42 Chris on Sun Feb 26 14:17:11 2012, in response to Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?, posted by Jackson Park B Train on Sun Feb 26 13:35:46 2012.

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My post was in reference to the Canarsie end of the line.

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Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?

Posted by GP38/R42 Chris on Sun Feb 26 14:18:06 2012, in response to Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?, posted by GP38/R42 Chris on Sun Feb 26 14:17:11 2012.

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Oh sorry, I see what you meant! I read that wrong. Yeah, if you lived there back then, it would have been quite different than a station higher than Astor!

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Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?

Posted by Elkeeper on Sun Feb 26 15:22:05 2012, in response to Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?, posted by MainR3664 on Fri Feb 24 14:24:11 2012.

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I understand what you are trying to say. but, you are thinking in terms of today's neighborhoods. Back the, the old Myrtle Ave and Bronx-3rd Ave els ran over some pretty mean streets. Had you rode them with me, prior to their abandonments, you would have agreed with me! The Myrtle Ave el closed on my 21st birthday, Oct 4th, 1969.

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Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?

Posted by Elkeeper on Sun Feb 26 15:40:14 2012, in response to Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?, posted by GP38/R42 Chris on Sat Feb 25 09:58:43 2012.

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Wilson was the worst!

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Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?

Posted by Elkeeper on Sun Feb 26 16:01:28 2012, in response to Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?, posted by Joe V on Sat Feb 25 07:20:25 2012.

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The "J" line was supposed to have been cut back to Cypress Hills, with a free transfer to the B-56 (now Q-56) bus. The Lex-Jerome el, north of 161st St, was also on the list. And i do remember the proposal to turn the "G" tunnels into the Rochester subway!

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Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?

Posted by Dupont Circle Station on Sun Feb 26 16:12:15 2012, in response to Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?, posted by GP38/R42 Chris on Sun Feb 26 13:11:05 2012.

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2 blocks is *NOT* "deep" into anywhere; were we talking past Central Avenue, then your logic would follow. Your repeated insistence that it is, plus referring to the "Brooklyn side of the border" is nothing short of snobbishness, if not condescension. Practically no one in Ridgewood gave much thought to where someplace was in relation to the Brooklyn line was, much less the border of Ridgewood and Bushwick until things started sliding around 1967-68: *THAT* is when it suddenly became a big deal.

And drop the pretense about "the Brooklyn side fell." Decline and other crap did not stop at St. Nicholas or Cypress. It may have been masked better but that is all. Property values may not have fallen as dramatically as "the Brooklyn Side" but decline they did, and they did not begin appreciating anything worth mentioning again until around 2003. I had other relatives on Seneca by Grove and their neighborhood got rather sketchy by the mid-70s as well...they and friends of theirs were mugged or burglarized a number of times (which made them ultimately move out by the mid-80s). I myself was nearly mugged on 2 different occasions walking Gates between Onderdonk & Woodward on the way to visit friends in the late 1980s (and they were burglarized 3 times, mugged 4 times, and had their car broken into a half-dozen times between 1986 and 1989).

The city, not the Post Office dictated whether something was in Kings or Queens county (though, in practice, the city routinely ignored the border as it saw fit). The city's declarations determined the infrastructure, political and economic jurisdictions.

My great-aunt's and uncle's deeds for the bakery on Wyckoff and the building they lived in on the north/west side of Harman said they were in Ridgewood, county of Queens; the ones for the other side of Harman said Ridgewood, county of Kings. The city never could explain why the property on the "Brooklyn" side was deeded as being in Queens, or why their property tax bills had them going back and forth between Brooklyn, Queens or sometimes even being billed twice (once for each county): The buildings were blocks from the border on the map. ConEd and the phone company considered them all in Queens but the gas, water and DOT said all of them (including Onderdonk) were in Brooklyn. Most of the time you saw 83rd Precinct cars and beat cops all the way up by Woodward, not the Queens cops. The DMV went back and forth repeatedly reissuing their registrations and plates to reflect which way the wind was blowing. Insurance went back and forth over the years as to which county they were in, frequently contradicting the "official" county designation; the premiums were lower if they put them in Queens but higher in Brooklyn. The Assembly and school districts were the most confusing: Even Grover Cleveland High was in and out of a Brooklyn school district a few times in the 50s and 60s (in spite of there being no question that it was on the Queens side).

That nonsense was why folks didn't give a crap about where anyone from outside said the boundaries were, and simply used Irving and Myrtle as the de facto western and southern boundaries for Ridgewood for the first 3/4 of the 20th century.

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Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?

Posted by trains61 on Sun Feb 26 16:24:07 2012, in response to Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?, posted by Elkeeper on Sun Feb 26 15:22:05 2012.

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My, My don`t we paint with a broad brush. Normal, law abiding citizens still lived on those mean streets back then too. I would even venture to say that the majority of folks living in those areas were, every-work-a-day-people.

Edwards should be along sometime tonight to further educate you. For the purpose of disclosure( He and I grew up in the same areas in Bklyn. In the same era and a Project building apart)

To keep somewhat on topic, The Myrtle Ave. El and the 3rd Ave. should have never been torn down, because The City had no intentions of replacing them with anything adequate, regardless of the residents. One can even make a case for the Culver shuttle also. It should have remained for operational flexibility.

Just my two cents.

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Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?

Posted by Elkeeper on Sun Feb 26 17:14:08 2012, in response to Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?, posted by trains61 on Sun Feb 26 16:24:07 2012.

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Yet, not ONE of those "Law abiding citizens", as you call them, spoke ONE word of protest when those el lines were closed. Yes, most people were/are law abiding, but back then a lot of neighborhoods were decaying badly. Or am I painting an unrealistic picture with my brush again? As I recall, a few people waxed nostalgic in the Long Island Press about the demise of the old Myrtle el, but no one really opposed the demolition. By the way, I was living in East New York at the time! Marginal Street East, which was technically Highland Park, but we always considered ourselves East NY. Brooklyn 7, NY- before the zip codes! My paint brush and I had a first hand view of neighborhoods being destroyed, after long time residents had fled.

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Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?

Posted by tunnelrat on Sun Feb 26 17:25:35 2012, in response to Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?, posted by Elkeeper on Sun Feb 26 17:14:08 2012.

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you lived by the cathouse.

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Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?

Posted by Elkeeper on Sun Feb 26 17:55:17 2012, in response to Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?, posted by tunnelrat on Sun Feb 26 17:25:35 2012.

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If you mean Cuban Jimmy Valdes's house- right next door to it! it was never raided because Jimmy took care of the boys in blue. The cops from the Miller Ave Pct, as we called it, used to pull right up in front and would go in and get serviced, one by one. One day, I forgot to move my car to the other side of the street and a marked car was parked right behind mine. Lucked out- no ticket! Guess they had other things on their mind- and elsewhere! Bet the Knapp Commission never heard of that one! He also owned the bodega on the corner of Jamaica Ave and Marginal Street East. Hey, how did you know about that place. I promise I won't tell Cupcakes!!!

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Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?

Posted by tunnelrat on Sun Feb 26 18:37:12 2012, in response to Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?, posted by Elkeeper on Sun Feb 26 17:55:17 2012.

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I was a cop in the 75& that was my sector.no,I never was serviced by her or her crew.what was the madam`s name? it escapes me at the moment.funny story about her,I was coming from my girlfriends house in astoria one night when she pulled along side of me & smiled in the vicinity of laguardia airport.we played car grab ass from there to the interboro p`way where I went straight to the van wyck & she went to the interboro blowing her horn&waving.I wonder if our paths[me-n-you]ever crossed? I spent a lot of time in the firehouse on new jersey ave,ladder 175 down the block from you.small world!

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Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?

Posted by Elkeeper on Sun Feb 26 18:47:52 2012, in response to Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?, posted by tunnelrat on Sun Feb 26 18:37:12 2012.

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I was going to St John's Univ at the time. My mother grew up in that house with my great-aunt, who still lived there. My parents lived in NJ, but I loved East NY, even though it was going downhill fast. I remember the lady you are talking about. she used to run the girls through there for Jimmy. he had a charmed life, even surviving a .25 right to his head. What ever became of him?

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Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?

Posted by tunnelrat on Sun Feb 26 18:49:42 2012, in response to Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?, posted by Elkeeper on Sun Feb 26 18:47:52 2012.

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no idea,i,ll ask about this next month when I meet the old crew for breakfeast.

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Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?

Posted by Elkeeper on Sun Feb 26 19:02:27 2012, in response to Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?, posted by tunnelrat on Sun Feb 26 18:49:42 2012.

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I hope his daughter turned out okay. He used to beat her whenever she did anything wrong. I sold that house in 1978, after my great-aunt died. Got $15,000 for it- and I was lucky. Those houses were built in 1890 and were sold by Rapid Transit Realty. The attached sheds in the back yards were the original outhouses!

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Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?

Posted by Elkeeper on Sun Feb 26 19:19:28 2012, in response to Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?, posted by tunnelrat on Sun Feb 26 18:37:12 2012.

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Ladder 175 used to throw the fireworks down the manhole covers on July 4th. Remember Ratner's grocery, across the street from the firehouse?

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Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?

Posted by tunnelrat on Sun Feb 26 19:33:48 2012, in response to Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?, posted by Elkeeper on Sun Feb 26 19:19:28 2012.

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no,new jersey ave was residentual.are you sure you got your locations right?

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Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?

Posted by Elkeeper on Sun Feb 26 19:34:48 2012, in response to Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?, posted by trains61 on Sun Feb 26 16:24:07 2012.

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"Trains81", if you have read the exchanges between myself and tunnelrat, you know I'm no stranger to Brooklyn. I rode the "Q" cars on the 3rd Ave el AND on the Myrtle Ave el, as well as the gate cars that preceeded them. Also rode the "C" cars on the Fulton el and the B-25 bus along Fulton Street when it had billboards featuring Nat "King" Cole! So go ahead and educate me about Brooklyn, please!

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Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?

Posted by Elkeeper on Sun Feb 26 19:39:00 2012, in response to Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?, posted by tunnelrat on Sun Feb 26 19:33:48 2012.

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Maybe it was on the other side of Fulton St, on NJ Ave. it's been a few years! By the way, I retired from the Paramus, NJ PD, 11 years ago! 27 years- 4 months- 26 days, but i never counted! LOL!

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Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?

Posted by Jeff Rosen on Sun Feb 26 20:01:11 2012, in response to Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?, posted by Elkeeper on Sun Feb 26 17:14:08 2012.

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"As I recall, a few people waxed nostalgic in the Long Island Press about the demise of the old Myrtle el..."

Also Newsday. I still have this paper at home!!





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Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?

Posted by Jeff Rosen on Sun Feb 26 20:06:39 2012, in response to Re: NY Post: L train almost eliminated?, posted by trains61 on Sun Feb 26 16:24:07 2012.

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They didn't have to replace it with anything adequate, they already did decades before with the GG Crosstown Line which pretty much paralleled it. I personally was upset with the demise, not for the el itself though, but for the retirement of the Q cars. (I rode it the last day)

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