Displaced thousands flood No.1 train stop

Local commuters who regularly pass through the Van Cortlandt Park-242nd Street subway stop are making room for an influx of passengers taking the 1 Line into Manhattan while Metro-North service is suspended due to Sunday’s deadly train accident.

Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) officials said more than 2,000 commuters rode shuttle buses marked “MNR service” between Yonkers and the 242nd Street subway stop on Monday. The increase in commuters  passing through that stop has turned the nearby stretch of Broadway into a bustling thoroughfare of pedestrians unfamiliar with the neighborhood.

Regulars of the 1 Line had mixed reactions to the surge of commuters coming to Van Cortlandt Park while the Metro-North’s Hudson Line is stopping no further than Yonkers for an indefinite period.

“This is my regular route, and it’s just a mess,” Fieldston resident Idania Tablada said Monday night as she waited for a Bx9 bus home. “It’s a little bit chaotic.”

However, a number of 1 Line regulars said the extra passengers cramming subway and bus aisles did not faze them.

Jacek Brzepiora maintained a subdued view of the extra police presence and loudly idling buses on Broadway as he smoked a cigarette behind the line for the Bx1 bus on Monday night.

“I didn’t notice anything,” Mr. Brzepiora, who works as a painter in Manhattan, said as he removed his headphones.

One newcomer to the 1 Line said her Monday commute took her about twice as long as her usual ride on the Metro-North train. But Kathryn Slocum of Dobbs Ferry in Westchester County tried to put the situation in perspective.

“People were very grouchy on the train this morning,” said Ms. Slocum, who continued, “It’s an inconvenience, but compared to the tragedy of people losing their lives… it’s scales of inconvenience.”

Tuesday morning saw a number of passengers come to the 242nd Street stop after staying home Monday out of concern the first day after the train wreck would be chaotic.