All Hailing the G’s Five

The much-maligned G train is getting an awful lot of lovin’ these days.

Defenders of the G, famed for being the city’s only subway line that doesn’t enter the center of the universe that is Manhattan, are out in full force. Forget that it’s only four cars long. Forget that there’s no conductor sometimes. Forget that it barely even enters Queens anymore and that you often have to wait as much as eight minutes on a weekday for the green G to chug-a-lug along.

Lisa Haney

Since it became apparent several weeks ago that the extension’s permanence was not a given, more than one petition has been posted online.

That the G stretches into southern Brooklyn, into the glory land of Park Slope and beyond—well, that alone is reason to cheer for many.

That the five-stop G-line extension that went into effect in 2009 faces an uncertain future—well, that is enough to inspire alarm in the hearts of rabid Brooklynites (and just about every local official, including members of the Working Families Party).

“Preserve the G Train Extension,” cry petitions and local blogs.

“The G train is kind of like the red-headed stepsister of the transit system,” said Briana Campbell, a 36-year-old Greenpoint resident. “People love to hate on it and say it’s really unreliable. It’s all we have. So that extension is really important in connecting communities together.”

The extension was launched in connection with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Culver Viaduct project. That work is slated to end in about a year, and a decision will be made on whether to continue the G train’s extended reach after the MTA looks at ridership numbers and costs, according to an agency spokesman.

Since it became apparent several weeks ago that the extension’s permanence was not a given, more than one petition has been posted online.

A “G Train 5-Stop Fan Club” sprouted on Facebook and Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, a likely mayoral candidate, was among the officials at a rally over the weekend.

The possibility that the G will be shortened has residents arguing that businesses along the line will be hurt and that even romances could suffer (it was the subject of a somewhat tongue-and-cheek Brooklyn Paper article this week).

“My girlfriend lives in P Slope and we’ll have to break up if the G line stops extension there,” wrote one G fan on a change.org petition signed by more than 4,700 people.

Lost amid the rallying cries and petitions are several facts. First, the 16-stop G line that winds from Long Island City to Smith and 9th streets in Carroll Gardens is not in jeopardy. It’s just the five-stop extension—through Park Slope, Windsor Terrace and Kensington—that may not continue.

Second, those fives stops will still be served by the F. So if the G no longer goes there, the F will; it will just require a transfer somewhere along the line.

Ah. So the Working Families Party, among others, is griping about a transfer?

“It’s true,” said Lincoln Restler, a 28-year-old Greenpoint resident who is the brainchild behind the first petition.

“But for Greenpointers, the G train…,” he said, pausing.

“The G train has some tough luck,” he continued. “It’s the shortest train in the system…it comes about as infrequently as any train in the MTA system. Even at rush hour it’s every eight minutes. And on a Saturday for a Greenpointer on the way to Prospect Park what’s the likelihood that they’re going to wait 10-plus minutes for a G train and then transfer and wait another seven or eight minutes for an F train on the transfer? It significantly discourages riders from utilizing the service.”

A little Brooklyn whining? Perhaps.

But the fight to preserve the G underscores a longstanding problem: mass transportation in the boroughs outside the center of the universe.

“All paths lead to Manhattan”—that has long seemed to be the MTA’s mantra. It makes sense in many cases: Most people work there. But people are increasingly working within their boroughs or in neighboring ones. And getting to school, work and day care can be a long haul, particularly at a time when the MTA has made painful cuts in bus service.

“We have a Manhattan-centric transit system, but the economic growth happening is concentrated in Brooklyn and Queens and other areas of the city and we need to preserve other-borough—rather than outer-borough—travel and make it easier for workers and customers and consumers to get from neighborhood to neighborhood,” said Mr. Restler, who is the state committeeman from the 50th Assembly district.

To that end, he is building a “Save the G” coalition composed of community leaders and elected officials along the G route. The coalition, he said, will advocate restoring G stops in Queens, most of which have been slashed over the years, and facilitating street transfers between the G and nearby trains.

John Rozankowski, a mass-transit advocate and Bronx resident, has written about such “other-borough” transportation problems.

“They have been given the shaft all along,” he said.

In the Bronx, there are complaints about stations that need to be renovated, subway lines that should run express during peak hours and limited bus service. The lack of service affects economic development, argues Mr. Rozankowski.

“That stops businesses from establishing themselves in the outer boroughs because there’s such difficulty of access,” he said. “More people are working in the outer boroughs. If you provide better mass transit you will change the riding patterns.”

Economic development is one thing. Relationships, another.

I have experienced this transit problem firsthand. I don’t accept new friends from Brooklyn anymore. Ever since we got rid of our car, getting from my home base in Queens to Brooklyn and even some parts of Queens is too much of a hardship.

With every Brooklyn invite, I must ponder: Is this friend worth a $100 Zipcar rental or a 90-minute train ride through Manhattan each way? Probably not.

If it’s a really good, old friend I might consider a subway ride one way and a $35 to $40 cab ride back. Or maybe not.

The solution is usually simple. We meet halfway: In Manhattan, of course.

—[email protected]

Write to Sumathi Reddy at [email protected]

A version of this article appeared Mar. 23, 2012, on page A18 in some U.S. editions of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: All Hailing the G’s Five.