Petition: Weekend L Train Shutdowns Will Be Detrimental To Brooklyn Businesses
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Some Brooklyn residents have launched a petition calling on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to cancel plans to shut down the L Train for five weekends in April and May.
The MTA plans to shut down the L Train between the terminal at Eighth Avenue and 14th Street in Manhattan, and the Lorimer Street stop in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, for five straight weekends between April 11 and May 18, according to the MTA and published reports.
Service shutdowns on the L Train were also to go into effect for the overnight hours beginning late Tuesday night, and continue for nine weeks. Between 11:30 p.m. and 5 a.m. Monday through Friday during that period of time, there will also be no service between Eighth Avenue and Lorimer Street, the MTA said.
Business owners in Williamsburg and Bushwick have launched a petition calling on the MTA to stop the weekend L Train shutdowns later this spring, saying they would be devastating for local businesses.
"Each gallery, restaurant and retail shop relies heavily on this weekend traffic," the petition said. "If people cannot easily get the neighborhoods along the L line, like Williamsburg and Bushwick, all businesses suffer immeasurably."
The petitioners said some merchants could even be forced out of business by the service changes.
"When the L train closed for a number of weekends several years ago, many businesses in Williamsburg were so sorely impacted they were forced to close," the petition said. "This closure will surely have the same devastating effect."
The petition said the L Train is the lifeline between Manhattan and some of the most popular neighborhoods in Brooklyn, and the spring season is the most crucial time for businesses in the affected Brooklyn neighborhoods.
The petitioners said they understand that repair work needs to be done, but asked that it be put off until August – when tourism and ridership drop off and some businesses cut back their hours for the summer.
As of Tuesday night, the petition had just over 100 signatures. Petitioners were seeking 1,000.
The MTA has said the work cannot be rescheduled because it would affect other planned work on the J, Z and G trains, according to a DNAInfo report.
During both the overnight and weekend L Train shutdowns, a shuttle bus will provide alternate service from Lorimer Street to Bedford Avenue, and on to the Marcy Avenue J Train station during the overnight hours.
