Transit advocates, the New York Mets, and subway riders from Brooklyn and Queens are urging the return of weekend G train service to Forest Hills, providing travel between the boroughs without detouring through Manhattan. The effort, backed by a broad coalition and noted by City Hall, is bringing attention to the MTA’s weekend service plans.
Coalition asks for a weekend pilot
More than 30 advocacy groups, business leaders and neighborhood organizations banded together in a Feb. 5 letter urging Gov. Kathy Hochul, Mayor Zohran Mamdani and MTA Chair Janno Lieber to restore weekend G service to Forest Hills. They argued the move would be an immediate, relatively low-cost way to improve cross-borough travel and cut transfer times, according to amNewYork.
Riders and development have changed the line
Advocates say the G line that was cut back in 2010 is not the G line riders use today. Development has surged along the corridor, and the once-maligned Crosstown now carries roughly 50,000 more riders than it did when the service was shortened. Streetsblog New York City reports that Mayor Mamdani called the extension proposal “an interesting idea” that his administration is “digging into right now.”
MTA points to capacity and signal work
The MTA, for its part, says this is not a flip-the-switch situation. The Queens Boulevard line already has E, F and R trains squeezing through, and weekend construction work limits how often an additional service like the G could run. The agency also notes that the Crosstown Line is in the middle of a signal modernization that installs Communications-Based Train Control, which means sections of the G must be shut down on selected weekends while that work gets done, according to the MTA.
Riders say it would cut transfer time
Regulars on the route say the benefit is obvious. “I have some friends who live in Forest Hills, so that’d be so much more accessible to get to them,” one rider told Streetsblog. Others described a weekend pilot as a “no-brainer” that would save time and spare them the extra leg through Manhattan, as reported by Streetsblog New York City.
MTA chair warns of real constraints
MTA Chair Janno Lieber has been clear that two big obstacles stand in the way: limited track capacity on the Queens Boulevard line and the kind of routine weekend maintenance that historically kept the G from running its full length. He told lawmakers that rider surveys show most people on that corridor are headed to Manhattan, not just across Queens, and that those operational realities make a weekend extension tough in the near term. “We got the message, and we’re never going to say never, never, never,” Lieber said at a legislative budget hearing, according to amNewYork.
What’s next
Advocates are pushing for a weekend-only pilot that would test restored service during what they see as lower-conflict hours, and they want City Hall and Albany to lean on the MTA to give it a try. Local reporting indicates the idea has the backing of neighborhood groups and business interests, but any pilot would have to be carefully slotted around the agency’s ongoing CBTC work and its weekend maintenance calendar. More coverage of the campaign is available from 6sqft.
