Brooklyn subway fix could derail real estate boom in New York hipster capital

Line that transports more than 400,000 commuters daily to Manhattan
could be shut down for three years under proposed plan

Jamiles Lartey in New York
Friday 6 May 2016 19.38 BST

Brooklyn residents are braced for chaotic commutes and a potential reversal of the booming real estate market that has characterized many of its neighborhoods in recent years if a proposal to shutter one of its main links to Manhattan for repairs goes ahead.

The 92-year-old Canarsie tunnels under New York’s East river took on more than 7m gallons of corrosive saltwater during the catastrophic landfall of Hurricane Sandy in 2012, bringing the city’s L train to a grinding halt for nearly two weeks. The long-term impact of that flooding, in the form of crumbling cement and rusted machinery, means that for the first time in nearly a century, north Brooklyn and Manhattan may be without a convenient link for as long as three years.

On Thursday night, hundreds of residents gathered in Brooklyn to voice their concerns about a plan that would shut down or severely limit the line in order to perform needed repairs. City officials have said that the longer the tracks go without a full restoration, the greater chance for a derailment and for other serious service interruptions.

“It’s safe to operate today, but over the longer term failures may increase and that’s what’s prompting us to do an out-of-phase replacement on the tube,” said the MTA’s CEO, Thomas Prendergast.

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