Brannan says wrongly pulled emergency brake caused massive Brooklyn subway delays Monday

Council candidate blames thirsty passenger, MTA denies claim

April 25, 2017 By John Alexander Brooklyn Daily Eagle

The R subway line continues to have huge delays. Eagle file photo by Paula Katinas

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In just the past week, MTA subway lines have been plagued by a number of ailments that have caused endless frustration for train commuters across all five boroughs. Poor service has become the norm for riders of the city’s mass transit system, and yesterday, trains came to halt thanks to a pulled emergency brake on the Q line.

City Council candidate Justin Brannan attempted to defuse the situation with humor, tweeting, “Being told this morning’s southern Brooklyn subway debacle was caused by a passenger pulling the emergency brake because he was thirsty.”

According to a representative for the MTA, however, the delays were caused by a switch issue north of DeKalb Ave., which resulted in the train braking to an emergency halt. As a result, Q trains had to run through the Montague Tube, causing delays to the Q and R service.

A passenger on the R line said that he had boarded the subway at 8:45 a.m. at the 95th Street station in Bay Ridge and arrived 10:15 a.m., one and half hours later at the Court Street station, a commute that normally takes a little more than half an hour.

On Friday, a power failure occurred at 7:30 a.m. at the Seventh Avenue station at 53rd Street, which caused major delays on the B, D and E lines. Those trains had to be rerouted, which resulted in long delays on other lines including the F, M, A, C, E, J, Q, G and R trains. According to a report in The New York Times, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the power outage had resulted from a Con Ed equipment failure.

Brannan told the Brooklyn Eagle, “I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. First power outages, now thirsty passengers. What do commuters have to do to get to work on time? Asking people to allow for an extra hour of travel time every day is just unacceptable. People who live in different states get to work faster than people in southern Brooklyn. It is obscene. And a guy pulling an emergency brake shouldn’t bring an entire system to its knees.”