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COURIER L 4 IFE, JAN. 11–17, 2019 DT
Mad as L!
Locals who moved to avoid line’s closure
steaming over change in repair plans
BY COLIN MIXSON
They want the governor to go to L!
Brooklynites who fl ed Williamsburg
and Bushwick to avoid the
15-month L-train closure are enraged
over Gov. Cuomo’s last-minute decision
to call off the plan that many say
forced them to uproot their lives.
“We specifi cally moved because
of the shutdown, it would have made
work impossible,” said Whitney Lopez,
who with her fi ancé moved from
their apartment near Bushwick’s
Morgan Street L-train station to a
pad on the border of Gowanus and
Park Slope last month.
The couple would have simply renewed
their lease on the Bushwick
apartment — which Lopez said cost
about $250 less per month than their
new place — had they known the longpromised
L-pocalypse was a years-inthe
making false alarm, she said.
“We had such a good deal for our
old place,” Lopez said. “It feels so
disrespectful. He defi nitely does not
care about what’s actually happening
in New York City.”
Offi cials with the state-run Metropolitan
Transportation Authority
began warning straphangers that the
line’s East River–spanning Canarsie
Tube, which sustained severe damage
in superstorm Sandy, may close
for more than a year’s worth of repairs
in early 2016 .
And later that year, they announced
they would shutter the Tube
for 18 months — which later dropped
to 15 — to restore it.
That news started a great migration
from residences along the North
Brooklyn line, which only grew
larger as the clock ticked down to the
closure’s previously announced start
date of April 27 .
Indeed, a Park Slope broker said
that roughly 30 percent of all condos
he sold in nearby Carroll Gardens
since October went to buyers fl eeing
Williamsburg.
And some unlucky relocators
locked themselves into contracts just
days before Cuomo’s 11th hour announcement,
according to the local
realtor.
“I know people who already picked
up and moved,” said Peter Perez, who
works for real-estate fi rm Douglas Elliman.
“I know somebody who’s in
contract and their whole reason for
moving was the L-train shutdown.”
Another former Williamsburger
left her old apartment near the L
train’s Montrose Avenue station in
June for a Park Slope pad, where
she pays roughly the same price for
a smaller space occupied by more
TO L WITH HIM: Mahwish Mahbub moved
from her lux pad in Williamsburg to a smaller,
more crowded spot in Park Slope to avoid
the long-promised L-train shutdown, only for
Gov. Cuomo to call it off months before its
April start date. Photo by Julianne McShane
roommates, she said.
The recent transplant doesn’t regret
her move, but said she would
have never ditched her former spacious
spot if she knew Cuomo planned
to stop the L-train closure at the 11th
hour.
“In terms of what I could afford, it
had everything I wanted,” said Mahwish
Mahbub. “I like the apartment
I was in.”
Those who did not fl ee Williamsburg,
however, should not necessarily
expect smooth rides along the L
line following the unexpected change
in plans.
The state’s new proposal still requires
at least 20 months of repairs
once the job kicks off in April, according
to offi cials, which will take place
on nights and weekends to allow continued,
reduced service throughout
the job.
And transit leaders already said
that some previously promised alternative
commuting options — such as
dedicated Williamsburg–Manhattan
ferries, and a high-occupancy vehicle
lane across the Williamsburg bridge
— will likely get scrapped, leaving
commuters with less ways to cross
the river once the work begins.
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