MTA Rolls Out Special Transit Service for New Year’s Holiday

The LIRR platform at Jamaica. Eagle photo by Jonathan Sperling.

By Jonathan Sperling

New Year’s revelers in Queens and elsewhere in the city may be able to navigate the holiday a bit easier thanks to enhanced train and bus service offered by the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) this weekend.

For holiday travelers flying out of the city amid the New Year’s rush, the LaGuardia Link Q70 Select Bus Service will run fare-free through Jan. 1. The bus provides non-stop service linking the main terminals of LaGuardia Airport(Terminals B, C and D) with with the subway system at the Jackson Heights-Roosevelt Avenue No. 7/E/F/M/R train station and the 61 St-Woodside No. 7 station-Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) stop.

For LIRR users, the MTA will operate 13 extra trains departing Penn Station between 12:46 p.m. and 3:48 p.m. today, including on the Far Rockaway and Port Washington branches. See the LIRR website for more details.

Beginning on Dec. 31, New Year’s Eve, the LIRR will offer 13 extra trains departing Penn Station between 12:46 p.m. and 3:48 p.m for straphangers looking to leave the city.

Those wishing to travel further into the city will benefit from the LIRR offering 21 extra trains to Penn Station and Atlantic Terminal.

If you plan on heading to Times Square for the festivities, avoid using the 42nd Street-Times Square subway complex, as street exits may be closed. The northbound platform at 50th Street on the No. 1 line and both north and southbound platforms at 49th Street on the N/Q/R/W lines will also closed from noon until just after midnight. The MTA instead urges riders to exit from stations at 50th Street, or 57th Street and walk to Times Square. Additional subway service will be provided.

The MTA also recommends that customers avoid taking buses to Times Square, as buses will be affected by street closures.

E/M riders will still be affected by previously-scheduled construction on the E/M line until 5 a.m. on Dec. 31.