The Show Must Go Off

Usually I'm very big on trying to get things back to normal as soon as possible, which may be exactly why I'm totally pissed that the city wants to run a marathon on Sunday.

Because in this case, that's not "back to normal," it's indulging the marathon over the interests of a  city that can't get where it wants to go.

Buses and trains from my neighborhood into Queens are totally packed.  You've got to wait and watch 'em go buy without stopping or without room to get on.  Even Thursday night, when the subway was running somewhat, the 59th St. Bridge was still being used by thousands upon thousands of people as their best route in and out of Manhattan.  Because it is.  The alternative is waiting for at least two trains or two buses, agonizingly long waits, and you can in fact walk faster.  In fact, Brady McReynolds in my office had two "commutes" yesterday that were longer than it might have taken for him to walk 9.5 miles to/from work.

So what is the city going to do on Saturday night?  It is going to close the bike/ped lane over the 59th St. Bridge for a full day.  And it's also going to disrupt the bus traffic over the 59th St. Bridge for several hours, which is just what we need.  And it's not like, as limited as the subway/bus service is, that I'm just going to hop on the couple of limited service subway lines heading into Manhattan.  So I sure won't be able to get my life back to normal.  I have theatre tickets on Sunday that will be very difficult to use because there won't be a good way to get into Manhattan.

And it's not just me.  The marathon will make it difficult for people to get to the Williamsburg Bridge.  It will make it difficult for people to get from the East to West sides of Manhattan above 59th St., or for people to get from the Upper East Side of Manhattan to other parts of Manhattan.

Obviously, the Marathon causes disruptions every year, but during a normal year I will smile and make do for a day because I might prefer to walk into Manhattan but I don't have to, I have a choice of fully operational subway lines that I and all the Marathon tourists can join.   This year, your Marathon turns Manhattan back into an island.

And if you can't tell, I'm not happy.