F-Train Crowding Leaves Rush-Hour Passengers
on the Platform

8:40 a.m., Friday, March 10:

As an F-train pulls into the Roosevelt Island station, passengers waiting on the platform realize the cars will accommodate few additional passengers (1), and (2) the doors close. The train pulls out, leaving about 60 commuters waiting for the next train (3, 4).

As more residential properties receive tenants, crowding in the morning rush is becoming an issue of increasing concern. At Octagon, 500 apartments will begin filling in April and May; at Riverwalk, owners are moving into the new condo at 455 Main Street, and a second condo building is expected to be ready in a little over a year.

No plans have been announced for measures to ensure the Island transportation structure will accommodate more Manhattan-bound passengers, or to study the capacity problem. Including the Southtown condo for which ground has now been broken, another six buildings are slated for Southtown, and RIOC’s recent RFIPs have offered space for at least one more residential building at the north end, just south of Lighthouse Park, and possibly another at Southpoint.