once upon a time, the B and D trains ran to Brooklyn, over the Manhattan Bridge and then along separate paths before meeting up at Coney Island. the B cut through Boro Park and Bensonhurst, while the D (and its express cousin the Q) served Lefferts Gardens, Midwood and Brighton Beach. then, the gods of construction issued an edict that forbade these trains from traveling below the 34th St demarcation, leaving in it's wake a amalgam of V and W trains and Qs with diamonds and leaving the poor people near Grand St almost completely cut off.
but now the MTA has announced it's plan for putting the subway system back together again opening both sides of the Manhattan Bridge tracks for the first time in well over a decade. they could have made it easy on themselves and everyone esle by simply putting the B and D back along the routes that they use to traverse. instead, someone with a perverse sense of humor has decided to switch them. so the B became the W and is now the D. and the D became the Q-diamond and is now the B. this is simply bound to piss a lot of people off.
nonetheless, t.s.o.a. is counting down the days until the changes take effect, in the hopes that something (anything!) can shave some time off our 80-90 minute commute...each way.
Posted by jamie at February 9, 2004 03:44 PM