The same is true in the Philadelphia metro area...getting from one suburb to another via public transit is excruciating.
Except Brooklyn and Queens are not the suburbs.
Why It's So Hard to Get From Brooklyn to Queens
61–70 of 118 posts
Re: Why It's So Hard to Get From Brooklyn to Queens
#62There is a delightful movie called Who Framed Roger Rabbit in which the villain is attempting just this: buying trolley lines to build "highways, as far as the eye can see". http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096438/
I'll also note that the (excellent) film was based on the novel Who Censored Roger Rabbit?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who_Censored_Roger_Rabbit%3F
, but the streetcar/ highway plot elements are invented for the movie completely absent in the book.
Re: Why It's So Hard to Get From Brooklyn to Queens
#63For comparison, a taxi or Uber between Queens and Brooklyn will run $40-$50 each way. Taking the F train through Manhattan takes over an hour.
Queens and Brooklyn are both enormous and border each other, so that price depends on where you're traveling to/from. e.g. a car from Bushwick, Brooklyn to Ridgewood, Queens might cost you $10. Also, taking the J train from Crescent St (Brooklyn) to Woodhaven Blvd (Queens) would be 5-10 minutes on the train.
Thank you for saying this. I live in Long Island City, Queens and I visit friends in Williamsburg, Brooklyn all the time. It's easy to take the G train and get there within 20 some minutes.
Re: Why It's So Hard to Get From Brooklyn to Queens
#64Heh - I used to live in Greenpoint and would reverse commute up to Queens Plaza to avoid the "G to the L to the BDFQ" into midtown... On the contrary, Hoboken - where I now live - has a wealth of options to commute into both midtown and downtown NYC. Within a few blocks of my apartment: a subway trip of less than 20 mins to either Wall Street or 32nd (Midtown); ferry (a very pleasant 40 min trip to my office in the 4…
> I used to live in Greenpoint and would reverse commute up to Queens Plaza to avoid the "G to the L to the BDFQ" into midtown...
I used to live in Greenpoint too! I lived close to the Bedford Ave station. From there, it only took 10 minutes (5 stops on the L) to get to the 14 St station.
I guess you lived closer to the Greenpoint Ave station?
Re: Why It's So Hard to Get From Brooklyn to Queens
#65Earlier quoted context omitted.
Though I've never personally experienced it, perhaps due to following the advice, I've been repeatedly advised when trying to get around NYC to always get in the taxi before telling them my destination is in Brooklyn. This could be wrong, but the stated reason is that drivers don't want fares to Brooklyn (typically lower, and harder to get another fare who wants to go Brooklyn to someplace else for the return trip),…
A taxi refusing a fare at all (inside or outside) is against TLC rules and the driver will be fined / have their license suspended if you report them.
they do it regularly and constantly. I doubt many get reported.
Re: Why It's So Hard to Get From Brooklyn to Queens
#66Thoughts that occurred to me as I read this:
1. Why were privately owned mass transit systems the norm in the first half of the 20th century, and why is that now considered "impossible" today?
2. Why is it OK for government to "monopolize mass transit", which they have done almost everywhere, but a criminal "conspiracy" when four private entities try to do it?
Re: Why It's So Hard to Get From Brooklyn to Queens
#67Also in the category of boroughs hard to reach from Brooklyn without a car or undue delay: Staten Island. Today, three of its four bridges prohibit pedestrians and none have subway connections. One of those bridges (to NJ) used to have a pedestrian and cycle way, but a few years after the Streetcar Scandal it was removed as part of an expansion (!) orchestrated by Robert Moses. Look him up to find out more about the…
The history isn't that bizarre. Robert Moses simply despised anyone that wasn't rich, and spent his entire career trying to make the city even more miserable than it already was for the poor. If you're rich, you don't bike to Staten Island, plain and simple -- you drive a glorious automocar.
It's ironic because now all the rich people want to bury his highways underground.
Re: Why It's So Hard to Get From Brooklyn to Queens
#68It keeps the hipsters out of Queens and then rent stays low. Do you really need another coffee shop for people to hog up tables using wifi all day?
Re: Why It's So Hard to Get From Brooklyn to Queens
#69Earlier quoted context omitted.
I took the G 4 miles. It took 47 minutes. I am not exaggerating those numbers for comedic effect.
I've had relationships fall apart because of the four mile G problem. To round it up, Court Square to the Park Slope areas is easily an hour when waiting for trains to arrive. Two hours round trip is why I left the Bay Area transit wasteland for cripessake.
You moved across the country for better transit and you chose Queens?
Re: Why It's So Hard to Get From Brooklyn to Queens
#70Earlier quoted context omitted.
Though I've never personally experienced it, perhaps due to following the advice, I've been repeatedly advised when trying to get around NYC to always get in the taxi before telling them my destination is in Brooklyn. This could be wrong, but the stated reason is that drivers don't want fares to Brooklyn (typically lower, and harder to get another fare who wants to go Brooklyn to someplace else for the return trip),…
A taxi refusing a fare at all (inside or outside) is against TLC rules and the driver will be fined / have their license suspended if you report them.
The fine is tiny, though.