N Train Service Suspended in Astoria for 8 Weekends This Summer, MTA Says

By Jeanmarie Evelly, DITMARS — N train service through Astoria will be shut down for eight weekends this summer — including Memorial and Labor Day Weekends — so crews can make repairs along the line to help mitigate train noise, according to the MTA. During the affected weekends, there will be no N trains running between the Astoria-Ditmars Boulevard and Queensboro Plaza stations starting from just after midnight Saturday until 5 a.m. on Monday, and continuing through 5 a.m. on Tuesday during the two holiday weekends, the MTA says. The closures are due to a planned $12.4 million overhaul of switches and tracks along the elevated N line, work that will make service more reliable and help reduce train noise on 31st Street, which residents have complained about in the past. The shutdowns are slated to take place the weekends of May 20-22, Memorial Day Weekend of May 27-30, June 3-5, August 12-14, August 19-21, August 26-28, Labor Day Weekend of Sept. 2-5 and Sept. 9-11, according to a press release. Riders will instead be able to take free shuttle buses, which will run in both directions during the impacted times, the MTA says. (The W train, which also services Astoria along the same line, does not run on weekends.) The agency says the repair work requires cranes and other heavy equipment that will make it impossible for trains to run. The upgrades are intended to reduce noise from the elevated trains, which parents from local elementary school P.S. 85 say disrupts students’ classes throughout the day, and they’ve been calling for noise mitigation efforts for the last few years. Councilman Costa Constantinides said the news was “a sigh of relief” for the school community. “Elementary school children should not have to bear the burden of repeated interruptions while engaging in the learning process,” he said in a statement. NYC Transit President Darryl Irick said the service disruptions were intentionally scheduled during “closures during period of light ridership in order to minimize the impact to customers.” The repairs aren’t the only ones in store for Astoria N/W riders: Four subway stations along the line will close for months each at a time for renovations, work that’s expected to start during the next few years. dnainfo.com/new-york