Subway service on the R train from Brooklyn Heights may not be returning before the end of the year. According to MTA in the New York Daily News, “The line’s Montague Street Tunnel, which connects Brooklyn and Manhattan, saw more flooding than any of the eight subway tubes inundated by superstorm Sandy.”

In addition, “Water from an unprecedented sea surge cascaded down a tunnel ventilation shaft at the southern tip of Manhattan, and it rushed down the stairs of the Whitehall St./South Ferry station. The volume of water in the tunnel was so great it extended up a steep incline into Brooklyn Heights, about four blocks from the riverbank. It stopped about 500 feet from Court Street station.”

MTA Chairman Joseph Lhota says, “That’s a long distance and the water was floor to ceiling. “The tunnel and the equipment was severely damaged.” NYC Transit President Thomas Prendergast said it will probably take at least two or three weeks to repair and replace signals, signal relays and other equipment. (Photo: The Brooklyn Paper)

Source: Brooklyn Heights Blog
http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/51893

An article in Time titled “New York Transit System’s Openness about Sandy Recovery Makes New Yorkers Hate Them Less,” posted November 8, discusses MTA’s clean-up efforts following Hurricane Sandy, including 15 dramatic video clips uploaded in the past week showing their ongoing efforts.

Relevant to Brooklyn Heights: “The Montague Street Tunnel, which brings the R train under the river between Brooklyn Heights and Manhattan’s Battery Park, was inundated by millions of gallons of water and is still being dried out.” The L train, as we know, is also still AWOL… Sigh… One at a time.

The piece concludes, “The MTA is keeping commuters updated on every movement via YouTube and social media. It’s all very 21st century for a transit system with its roots in the 19th century. Fixing these problems has required bringing in powerful machinery—not to mention an Army Corps of Engineers ‘dewatering’ team from Illinois—as well of thousands of hours of overtime work by MTA employees. And riders, inconvenienced or not, are gaining a modicum of respect for the authority that is normally among the most hated-on in New York City.”

Source: Brooklyn Heights Blog
http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/51713