Limited subway service resumed for the first time Thursday morning for New Yorkers in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.
This meant, after three days of "forced vacation," millions of residents finally were reporting back to work.
Most of the subways that run through Brooklyn were again operational. However, as much of lower Manhattan is still without electricity and subway service, all Manhattan-bound trains from Brooklyn stopped just short of the bridge at the Jay Street/Metrotech subway station.
Commuters at Jay Street then were instructed to exit onto the street and board a shuttle bus that would carry them across the bridge into Manhattan.
The scene: organized confusion.
“I think it’s okay,” said Rebecca Hadley of Bed-Stuy. She had been waiting in line for about 15 minutes and was about 10 minutes away from her boarding point. “People were a little confused. It takes a couple of minutes, but then you’re in line and it moves decently and quickly.”
As straphangers emerged from the J Street exit, they were instructed to walk to Willoughby and Jay Street where the line started.
The line then ran east one block down Willoughby, wrapped around the back of Metro Tech for two blocks, and then looped back around in the direction it started to Jay Street for three blocks until it reached the bus depot at the entrance of Polytech University. In all, the line stretched about 8 blocks and took 25-30 minutes to complete.
“That was crazy, the line seemed never-ending and there were people everywhere,” said Bed-Stuy resident Asta Calhoun who took the bus from Jay Street to her job on 34th Street in Manhattan.
“The line moved fast, and the bus was fast; the trip was actually faster than my usual commute on the train. But then again, I cut the line and just got myself on the bus. But I had to do what I had to do, or I would have never made it.
“But honestly, I think the city is doing tremendous work. I can't complain. Plus the trains and the buses are free.”
