F 'n' G Train Pain Begins for Windsor Terrace, Smith/9th Stops

Because of the long-term rehabilitation work on the Culver Viaduct, this weekend there was no F or G train service in either direction between Jay Street/MetroTech in Brooklyn and Church Avenue; the MTA ran free shuttle buses instead. And starting this morning, there is no Manhattan-bound F or Queens-bound G service at 15th Street-Prospect Park and Ft. Hamilton Parkway Stations, and no Manhattan-bound F service at Smith-9th Streets Station. Queens-bound G service will stop at the station at a temporary platform at Fourth Avenue and 9th Street (seen here). So far, reactions on Twitter, where New Yorkers come to complain, have been surprisingly tame (perhaps because some people have the day off). Still, there are a few outraged @souls who refuse to #suffer in silence.

On Twitter, one @LeslieBaldwin1 wrote, "Very annoyed about the F train not running until Spring 2012 on the weekends—not sure what this means for my staying in the Slope." Wait until she finds out it's not just on weekends—it's every day through May! And the situation's even worse for those who use the Smith-9th Streets station, which will close completely for rehabilitation and remain closed through Spring 2012. And when it reopens, there will be NO Coney Island-bound F trains at the Smith-9th Street station until the Fall of 2012. Please be patient.

There are, of course, shuttle buses, and some commuters are trying to accentuate the positive. @RealDealDanRobinson happily tweets, "As much as I hate this F train shuttle bus... having cell service I kind of nice." Meanwhile, @cskilpatrick is grateful because the service changes relieve him of the burden of making agonizing decisions: "Thanks, MTA, for helping me chose among my many options of things to do tonight by taking the F train out of service." And then there's @ChuckDeuce25, who tweeted on Friday, "DAMN! I just watched the homie lose $300 in a game of 3 card Marley on the F train." We're not sure what that has to do with the Culver Viaduct rehabilitation, but we're sure the MTA is to blame somehow.