Commuting from S. Slope to Midtown-East

shishkab wrote: [quote=Idlewild]If you're heading to Grand Central I would take the F to 42nd and either take the 7 train to GCS or hop on the eastbound bus that runs on 42nd. Free transfers either way.

Idlewild wrote: Doesn't the F stop by 59th & Lex? Taking the R is equivalent to a slow death with all the stops it makes. Not that the F is better but once you get past the "local 8" from 7th Ave to Bwy & Laf it's not that bad.

With Connection on No. 6 Line, A Manhattan Transfer Is Coming
By Sewell Chan
Colin Moynihan contributed reporting for this article.
7 May 2005
The New York Times

One of the quirks of the New York City subway system can be found at the southern end of the Bleecker Street station, on the No. 6 line, in NoHo.

There passengers on the downtown platform walk down a steep staircase that takes them to the B, D, F and V lines at Broadway-Lafayette Street. But the northbound rider who wants to do the same can forget it: No similar transfer exists on the uptown platform.

This awkward configuration -- known as a one-way transfer -- is unique among the 468 stations in the system. It is one legacy of the fierce, often irrational competition that existed before the consolidation of the city's three subway companies in 1940.

Now, nearly half a century after the first transfer between Bleecker Street and Broadway-Lafayette was built, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority finally plans to construct the second one.

''Long overdue doesn't even begin to characterize it,'' said Assemblywoman Deborah J. Glick, a Democrat who represents the area on the East Side of Manhattan and has long advocated a complete connection.

Tucked into the capital program approved by the authority last week were three projects: $9.2 million to rehabilitate the Bleecker Street station, $31.9 million to build a second transfer to the Broadway-Lafayette Street station and $8.9 million to make both stations accessible to the disabled.

The $50 million effort could transform the morning commutes of residents of southern Brooklyn -- many of whom switch trains at Jay Street-Borough Hall or Atlantic Avenue-Pacific Street in Brooklyn to eventually reach East Side destinations.

The new connection would be used by approximately 11,000 people a day, based on current ridership patterns, the transit agency says.

Riders of the F line are likely to be the leading users of the planned transfer, but ''there are people throughout southern Brooklyn, as well as the Lower East Side and throughout Manhattan, who are going to benefit,'' said Peter G. Cafiero, the senior director of rail service planning at New York City Transit.

Still, some riders doubt whether the new transfer would be worth the cost, particularly since the introduction of unlimited-ride fare cards. Many riders -- 200 each morning, according to an official estimate -- have found their own solution to the strange configuration: Leave the subway, walk a bit and then go back in.

Crescencio Xelo, 29, a Baruch College business student who takes the F from Fort Hamilton Parkway in Brooklyn, does just that every weekday morning. On Wednesday, he emerged from the Broadway-Lafayette station and onto the northeast corner of Crosby and East Houston Streets. He made a 180-degree turn, traveled two blocks east along East Houston, turned left and walked north along Mulberry Street before descending into the Bleecker Street station.

''If it will cost millions of dollars for just a few people,'' he said of the planned transfer, ''maybe it isn't cost-effective.''

Ed Mui, 23, a financial analyst, boards the F train at East Broadway and exits the No. 6 train at 33rd Street. He performs the same morning ritual as Mr. Xelo.

Mr. Mui conceded that it was an annoyance, but he added: ''The M.T.A. needs to spend their money on something else. They can improve service, or bring back the token booths.''

Others, however, applauded the idea.

''It's a real pain, the simple fact that you have to walk around the corner,'' said Dan Estabrook, 36, an artist who takes the F train from Carroll Street in Brooklyn. ''It seems a little ridiculous, the fact that you can transfer one way and not the other.''

The Bleecker Street station opened in 1904 as part of the original subway line constructed by the Interborough Rapid Transit Company. The Broadway-Lafayette station opened in 1936 as part of the competing system run by the Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit Corporation.

After starting a third company, the Independent Subway System, the city acquired the other two lines in 1940. But transfers between the various lines took years to complete.

Despite the proximity of the Bleecker Street and Broadway-Lafayette stations, the transfer between the downtown platform of the IRT line and the IND lines below did not open until May 19, 1957.

The technical challenges involved in creating the new transfer are considerable. The uptown and downtown No. 6 platforms at Bleecker Street do not face each other. New York City Transit plans to lengthen the uptown platform. Once that occurs, stairwells and elevators will be constructed to link the new platform extension to the B, D, F and V platforms farther below.

''This is not an easy project,'' said Richard E. Miras, a program manager in New York City Transit's department of capital program management. ''Once we start cutting open sidewalks and streets, we have traffic issues, noise, dust, issues with the community.''

The most complex part of the work will involve underpinning nearby buildings -- deepening and stabilizing their foundations so that digging and tunneling can safely occur.

While money for the project was only budgeted last week, the idea is not new. The planning and design for the project were completed last year by a joint venture of two Manhattan firms, Lee Harris Pomeroy Architects and Weidlinger Associates.

Mr. Miras said he did not know why the No. 6 platforms were not built to face each other. ''Most of the people who made those decisions are dead -- well, they're all dead,'' he said. ''There was a madness to the method back then, but we don't know what the madness was.''

Only the downtown platform of the Bleecker Street station on the No. 6 line is connected to the Broadway-Lafayette Street station on the B, D, F and V lines. A connection to the uptown platform is planned.

(Source by Metropolitan Transportation Authority)

Idlewild wrote: Doesn't the F stop by 59th & Lex?

Nuclear Redaction wrote: I work at 59th & Lex and take the F to Jay Street, the A/C to Broadway-Nassau/Fulton and the 4/5 to 59th (one stop after Grand Central). I haven't found a quicker way to do it.

Absolutely the fastest. Involves a good amount of hoofing about at the BW-Nassau station, but if you abolutely positively need to get there quickly, this is unbeatable.

Coming back, doing the 6 to F switch at Bleeker might be just as good.