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Memorial Day weekend has arrived, and already the city has started to empty out as New Yorkers flee for getaways, weddings and everything in between. On Thursday night, a thunderstorm brought flight delays and cancellations to all three of the area's major airports, foiling the plots of many locals who were attempting to make a late night escape from the city.
The holiday weekend comes with a whole slew of service changes across New York's subway system and commuter train lines—including a brief stretch of expanded service. If you're reading this and are planning on getting out of town for the weekend, leave now!
It's our goal to keep you out of transit purgatory while you're hitting up barbecues and exploring the city's hidden treasures over the next three days. With that in mind, we compiled the changes in MTA service that you need to pay attention to this weekend.
Metro-North and LIRR will have afternoon "getaway" service on Friday afternoon
On Friday afternoon, the Long Island Rail Road is adding 10 extra trains out of Penn Station, and Metro-North is adding 17 out of Grand Central Terminal. You can find a full breakdown of the additional service for LIRR here, and for Metro-North here. If you're taking the former, get to Penn between between 1:45pm and 3:30pm; for the latter, get to Grand Central between 12:50pm and 3:45pm.
Both rail services will operate on a regular weekend schedule on Saturday and Sunday, and a holiday schedule on Monday.
The holiday weekend will give way to subway track work, which means closures
Several subway diversions, closures and service changes will be in effect from late Friday night until 5am on Tuesday morning.
Perhaps the most notable of the changes is the suspension of L train service between Broadway Junction and Eighth Avenue, which out to provide a mind-numbing preview of the looming 15-month closure of the line.
Downtown-bound A and C trains will run express from 145th Street to Columbus Circle.
Q trains will run express from Prospect Park to Sheepshead Bay, which should actually make a trip to the beach pretty convenient for anyone who doesn't live in between the two stations.
4 trains will be again suspended in both directions in Brooklyn, and 3 trains will operate to and from New Lots Avenue instead.
Downtown-bound 4 and 6 trains will run express from 125th Street to Grand Central, and 5 train service will be suspended in both directions between Eastchester-Dyre Avenue and East 180th Street, as well as between Grand Central and Bowling Green.
7 trains will be running express from Queensboro Plaza to 74th Street-Broadway.
Godspeed, New Yorkers.