Train troubles stall Independence Day beachgoers

Trains along the A line were delayed for nearly two hours as the MTA fixed the malfunctioning South Channel Bridge on Monday, July 5, 2021. Photo via Wikimedia Commons

By Jacob Kaye

Beachgoers were marooned over the holiday weekend after a malfunctioning bridge brought trains headed to and from Rockaway beaches to a halt.

Passengers taking the A train were stuck in stations for nearly two hours as the MTA patched up the South Channel Bridge after it wouldn’t fully close on Monday, July 5.

The issues began during prime beach hours, beginning around 1 p.m. and lasting until around 2:40 p.m., according to the MTA.

Joseph Reid, who was travelling to the beach from his home in Brooklyn, said riders were stuck in the Broad Channel station waiting for the train to move while receiving little to no information.

“We got on and then just sat there, the doors open, sitting there and sitting there and the conductor was saying the typical, ‘we're being held in the station’ kind of thing. But then this is going on for 20 minutes,” Reid said. “Then the conductor said, ‘they're conducting some kind of tests and that's all the information we have right now.’”

Soon after the announcement, NYPD officers began popping into every car to let riders know they should head out of the station and onto a nearby bus if they want to get moving as soon as possible.

Eventually, all straphangers were told to exit the train and to find an alternative way to get to the beach. While Reid still made it to the shore for his first beach trip this season, he said the issue goes beyond the minor inconvenience he experienced at the hands of the MTA.

“We all know the subways are falling apart – like, it's held together by tape and glue and good luck, but it's a service and if you're providing a service to people then there's a certain kind of responsibility you have,” he said. “To just let people sit there with no information is totally unacceptable.”

“I was just going to the beach,” he added. “But who knows who's on that train? Somebody is going to pick up their kids or maybe they’ve got a doctor's appointment, who knows?”

A separate issue later Monday evening further delayed riders heading home from the Queens beaches.

Around 10:45 p.m., the Rockaway Park Shuttle train service was suspended following reports of smoke billowing from the Rockaway Park-Beach 116th St. station.

Service resumed around 2 a.m. on Tuesday morning.