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The L Train
Rating Details »
Category: Public Transportation [Edit]
From 8th Avenue in ManhattanTo Canarsie-Rockaway Pkwy
Brooklyn, NY 11211
- Nearest Transit:
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Bedford Ave (L)
Metropolitan Ave-Lorimer St (G, L)
74 reviews for The L Train
L Train, I miss you this weekend. Again. You go away for weeks at a time, and you make me ride those awful buses that just don't treat me like they should, like you do.
Did I do something wrong?
All those others mean nothing to me; they're just a ride.
Please come back.
ah the hipster train..... die hipster train die
one of my fondest memories of you was waiting for more than a half an hour for your slow ass at the metropolitan ave stop, which happened to reek of puke and shit, after a gig one night.
I hate you.
TIP: If you can't find a seat, stand next to a few hipsters as you approach the Bedford stop. They will get off there and you will have a seat.
UPDATE: Montrose is the new Bedford stop, since hipsters can't afford Bedford anymore.
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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6/30/2009
TIP: If you can't find a seat, stand next to a few hipsters as you approach the Bedford stop. They… Read more »
L train, why are you so impossible on most weekends. I like to not take an effin shuttle bus, thank you.
I'll just try to add something that hasn't already been said, which is that New Yorkers just don't understand how to board a train that's even the weeniest bit crowded. Hey idiots, there's actually plenty of room, if you don't decide to walk in one step and then just stop in front of the door. How many times have you been wedged near the door of the L train, a potential target for pickpockets or freaky perverts, when there's enough room to play shuffleboard just a few feet away? Get it together, NY. It's just one more reason (as if you needed one) that Tokyo is superior in every way to this filthy city.
P.S. The signs that announce the purported amount of time until the train arrives are nice (and frequently completely wrong, btw), but the fact that they only exist on the L and maybe one or two other lines just serves to underscore -- and then circle in red Sharpie -- how backward the MTA is compared to mass transit systems in other cities/countries. Even Madrid's got a more reliable metro, and they sell pig heads in plastic bags in most delis there.
I saw the most gorgeous boy on the L train the other night. +1 star for gorgeous boy.
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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11/5/2009
WHY were you so bloody slow last night? I feel this happens alot. On the other hand, you're nice to… Read more »
Dear L Train,
When I first found out I was going to be with you everyday, I was super excited. You seemed flashy and exciting. Everyone said you were a fucking loser, but I said no! I even ignored the fact that one of the first times I was with you, I saw a girl wearing a tshirt with the entire lyrics of "Maps" by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs printed on it.
Then came the delays, the service cuts, the near panic that comes from being in a shuttle bus packed to brim. I'm tired of stepping on peoples over priced shoes, and the look of zombie like boredom that seems to glaze over everyone on the train. No, it's not your fault that you are filled with scenesters, hipsters, slackers, junkies, and crazies. But is is your god damn fault that you come every 26 minutes and only take me half way home.
I'm with some one more stable now, the 4/5. He's not the prettiest, but he's always around, and that counts L train...that counts.
Don't call me, I switched my number.
Sean
Inspired by the haiku thread, I will now edit my views of this fickle, fair weather train.
here's the orange sign
promising a month of doom
11:30 is death
in the constant rain
i must wait for the shuttle
hipsters congregate
i will kill someone
if i don't get on this bus
save your skinny jeans
o, there is no hope
looks like time to call a cab
ring "metro, metro!"
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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5/29/2009
It's kind of ridiculous that I'm giving the L train 3 stars when I complain about it CONSTANTLY.
You… Read more »
Things are OK until just before Union Square, then it's every straphanger for himself (aka "The L Train Lurch") - http://www.yelp.com/bi...
The L has always been there for me.
That schedule timer thing it has is amaaazing. If all the subway lines had that then commuting in this city would be 10x more bearable. Seeing that timer somehow makes the wait time feel shorter.
Minus 2 stars for flaking out on the weekends and making people ride a slow-ass bus.
Wistful women with hand made bags laugh out loud and eat slices of pizza next to drunken scruffy bearded men in cardigans whilst I stare at the digital minutes going down....an overhead intercom voicing out at the 2 minute mark for the L train's arrival to take us into Manhattan. A rat on the tracks darts back and forth in between scattered Dorito bags and a canal of sludge water makes its way into the dark tunnel. One more automated voice rings out and I can hear the mumble rumble down the path....a slight gust of wind coming out of the tunnel and russling my hair. Then a stronger flutter on my collar and WOOOOSH the steal bullet has arrived...a bright red L on its forehead and seated passengers swiftly moving by my scanning eyes....some of them slightly swaying as the train puts on its breaks.
And then we're all packed in like sardines and without gills I'm gasping for air and more and more automated voices:
Ladies and gentleman for your safety please do not hold the doors while the train is in the station.....and it's a hey move it man watch where you're going and I'm trying to decipher some Spanish on an MTA billboard. Finally I come out with "Last Year 1,944 New Yorkers saw something and said something" and I'm thinking "Why so few, shit I'm only one man but I see goddamn beasts everyday!" and we're all reading Kerouac and somebody is interesting and hey did you hear this great new band and a baby cries and a hipster burps and the whole car smells like curry. As the train arrives at 1st Avenue, the load is lightened and new people get on and the metal pole is greasy and a homeless man's cup shakes like a maraca.
"Can anybody please help? Right now I am doing my very best to get a good decent hot meal. Can anybody please help with a quarter, penny, nickel, or diiiiiiime"
And the girl in the knitted beret and flannel shirt is a dime and that guy knows where to get the best dimes but I'm high off the jazz notes sounding out from the trumpeteer on the Union Square platform as I squeeze myself out of the car like a tube of toothpaste and trip heading up the stairs.
Stand clear of the closing doors please. And the L rolls west towards 8th.
Morning commute is bad as everyone says. I've seen the train arrive and the Board will say "3 minutes" to arrival. Those Boards don't mean a lot.
I'm going to start walking to union square to catch the uptown.
So I lived off of the L train for a year. And just seeing this on yelp makes all my feelings of deep loathing and my utter exultation at having moved away from this dreadful train and never ever having to take it again overwhelm me!
I lived off the 1st ave stop in manhattan and had to make the trip to 8th ave. WORST COMMUTE KNOWN TO MAN!!!! Why oh why does the train need to stop every 10 feet because of "train traffic ahead of us" and hells to the no will I be patient when I deal with the stupid train inching forward every single morning.
1st Offense: It's crowded as hell in the mornings. But, I began to get a secret thrill from seeing what seemingly impossibly full train car I could manage to squeeze myself into. After seeing one 300lb guy, manage to get through a door I had passed off as impossible, I learned that there is ALWAYS space! ha! And, yes, I am THAT person.
2nd Offense: Delays. Why would you have only two hubs for the trains at the final stop (8th ave) knowing that trains are coming in 2 minutes apart at rush hour......... They have got to get the timing right. There have been times when everyone just got frustrated got off the train and decided to take the bus. This is REDUNK!!!
The only reason why I shall give this 2 stars instead of 1 is because it does have the new "fancy" trains and it has a screen that tells you when the next train is coming - which is awesome! But, I have happily divorced from the this train, and while my new line is definitely more grungy, it RUNS WITHOUT STOPPING EVERY TWO FEET!!!
I despise hipsters.
Okay, if I'm going to have to compare riding the subway on the L vs. other parts of the city.....I certainly like this one the best. Sure, the trains are kinda messed up on the weekends...but it is the burden we bear for having one of, or the only, 24 hours public transport systems in the world. Sure, I might have to squish on for the 9am Manhattan bound....but at least these are people I'm okay being squished into.
The peeps who ride the L train may look dirty, but most aren't. In fact, most smell quite delightful. I'm the last person that wiggles onto the train full well declaring "I am sacrificing all personal space" for this ride...iPod in place I close my eyes in the sea of people....and I wait 3 stops...but the people I stand next to (or under) smell pleasant. I can't say I'd be okay with having 4 other bodies against me in a subway situation on the regular unless I was with my beautiful strangers from the L train.
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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11/4/2008
The L Train....the incredible connector between my delightful home in Brooklyn to the mainland.… Read more »
That's it L! I have had it up to here! Running with the wrong crowd, AGAIN! AND you don't even give a shit if I am late to work or not!
I can't BELIEVE I am about to say this, but...
Why can't you be more like the G*?!?!?!
*For whatever reason and it could just be my frequent coffee-free (dear god) early morning commutes, but the G has been freakishly reliable as of late. WTF.
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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4/3/2008
Listen, L, if you are gonna act like the teenage-diamond-in-the-ro ugh-who -just-recently-got-invite… Read more »
Ways the L train is like God:
-I might be able to make it into Manhattan tonight, L train willing.
-I hope to L train we're not late again.
-Thank L train we made it over the river in fifteen minutes!
Ways the L train is like the weather:
-Do you know the forecast for the L train today?
-I was going to go out but the L train is so shitty right now.
-You know the L train is approaching when all the migratory Bedford Ave-rs flock to the edge of the platform.
Ways the L train is like a pretty-but-vapid boy/girl:
-The L train said it would be here in five minutes and now it's saying it will take at least ten minutes.
-I was trying to sleep on the L train this morning but I kept getting jabbed in the back.
-Yeah, the L train is relatively pretty, but there were some funky smells going on inside.
-The L train is a pain in the ass but every time I take a ride I'm standing up and I have to hold on for dear life.
-Ugh the L train is pissing me off./That's nothing. Did I tell you about my night with the G train?
The people on the L train make this train the worst train in NYC and I am so fed up about it, I am going to write every incident that happens here on Yelp.
It is prompt and clean. No complaints there.
The mta has done a very good job with providing enough trains and cleaning them.
The men on it are another story. I dreaded riding this train as a pregnant woman. Not only did none of the hipsters look up from their books on making the world better to give me a seat, but my husband actually was ready to punch someone out when two -- count them -- two men in their 20s shoved past my 8 month big belly to the one seat in front of me.
Its not so bad once it gets to Ridgewood, but before metropolitan Ave. it is a nightmare.
Just tonight 8/17/09 some idiot on too much adrenaline barrelled through me at 5 feet tall (he was at least 5.8) to get to the shuttle train into manhattan. Oh yes, he saw me. He thought that when I said excuse me, I was playing a game of chicken after trying to get past an endless line of people rushing for the train, which was just going to sit there for awhile. He pushed right in front of me, as if trying to prove something. Big brave man.
Oh, I wish I had followed him and given him a piece of my mind.
True, the L is a hipster fashion show every morning, but I could never live off any other line. Seriously, throw in a dishwasher, washer/dryer, and a brownstone but lest it commit the egregious error of being on the subpar G or F, and it's a dealbreaker.
I love its shiny new cars and the announcements on the platform of when the next train is coming, which I believe is unique to this line. The urine stench has not yet set in, and while the L does not emit a necessarily pleasant odor, it's certainly not pungent either. I've never had to wait more than 8 minutes for a train, day or night. Minus one star in the mornings for the trains getting more backed up than an 80-year-old without Metamucil. Stil, this train rules.
And believe me, the L has seen all my finer moments, drunken, hot mess locked out of my apartment at 4 am, and not judged me for it.
The only thing good about the L train is updates on how long it'll take for the next train to take.
But then again, you never know how many L trains in a row you have to watch pass by because you can't squeeze your sorry ass on.
So really, there's nothing good about the L train.
FUCKING HORRIBLE! HORRIBLE! HORRIBLE!
am i ever on time when i take the L train? nope. the L train is also responsible for my first panic attack, and it can claim to be the only train to be so fucking ridiculously shitty that i seriously had to concentrate on suppressing my temper so that i wouldn't punch something. this is not one of those trains that you get to sit on - on the L train, you are packed so tightly that you're fighting for oxygen. again - fucking horrible piece of shit train.
since i can't give zero stars, 1 good thing: good looking people.
The L train is an absolute bitch to take in the morning cause I'm usually glued onto another passenger unwillingly and I get stepped on. I love that you can see how many more minutes you need to wait but from the time you stare at the timer to the time the train makes its way down the platform, it seems like half of Williamsburg arrived on the platform. Despite the unpredictable service on the weekends and late nights, it's the only train that gets to me to Manhattan in a swift 15 minutes. Plus, sometimes there is some eye candy on the train. Yeah, I play the "pick the best-looking male on the train and do the eye exchange for the entirety of the train ride" game. Bite me.
This train gets super packed. It's ok, I often can't get a seat. There's air conditioning, that's nice. What pisses me off the most about this one is that they don't tell you when it's on construction from transfer stations. They'll post everywhere on the L line, but don't even think about putting signs up elsewhere. So you think, "Oh, I'll just take the NR to the L at Union Square," nothing at Union Square will indicate shuttles or delayed service. You end up wasting hours to get where you need to go. MTA, you really suck.
I didn't even know this train existed until today.
It isn't bad at all. It's clean and fast, and each stop as an electronic device that tells you when the next train is coming. I was lucky enough to get on when the train was pretty empty (it was around 7 pm), which was a welcome relief after suffocating in the crowded 6 train.
I love the Elf train.
Sure it's overcrowded, there's no shortage of shitty ipod noise pollution, or dumb, foul-mouthed kids talking about they shoes, but it's cleaned up real well.
And no other train travels straight into Always Always Land. It's cars sparkle with so many nymphs, pale faeries, and high elves. It's a wonderful parade of sportos, motorheads, geeks, sluts, bloods, waistoids, dweebies, and dickheads too.
There are occasional dangers but also those clandestinely tasked with protecting the meek and the naughty princesses. Like the bespectacled guy always dressed and fully accessorized as a combination WWI era trench soldier/medieval ninja with a steel pommeled umbrella.
Randomly runs express out of no where and skips stops.
always runs late.
always a ton of time between trains.
Clean though and signs show when next train is.
The L train seems to be the main conduit between Williamsburg and Union Square. I transfer from the G at Metropolitan/Lorimer, so I usually find a seat before the Bedford Ave. influx of commuters. The L trains are clean and free of character, something that I actually find refreshing in a city where everything has to "mean" something. It's just a train, a vanilla, plain train.
Hipsters don't exist. People like to sow wild oats, try new things and run from what ails them. So what if the guy next to you has a yellow belt?
Trains are on time, usually, but after midnight the times vary wildly. If you miss the train, you could be waiting a while. This is especially true for the 3rd and 1st avenue Brooklyn bound stops.
Beware! The 3rd avenue turnstile is a metrocard swipe stealer. I swiped a 4 dollar metrocard and it said "insufficient fare". Balderdash.
I guess it's fine. Good, even. Yay, go L.
The L train is my lifeline - it's the most convenient route for me (and many others) into Manhattan. The cars are cleaner than most other lines and the air conditioning almost always works. The train is pretty packed in the morning, but once in a while I'm lucky enough to snag a seat.
The only time I hate the L is when they have track maintainence and the entire line (or half the line) is shut down, but that happens on every line.
I transfer to the ACE at 8th ave and those trains are much grimier.
Guess who found a new White Castle to go to?
Just learned it this past Saturday after taking the L-Train into Williamsburg for a team celebration rooftop BBQ.
3rd stop into Brooklyn
Exit Graham Ave.
Walk down Metropolitan towards the White Castle.
Took less than 15min. from Union Square!
Why is this cool?
Because the White Castle in the city over by Port Authority/8th Ave. is fawkin disgusting with all the crackheads and riff raffs.
Hop on the L-Train on a lazy weekend to pick up a 30-pack Crave Case of Sliders?
YES PLEASE!!!
"Bloody L..."
The cars are operating-theatre bright, but I usually don't notice cause my face winds up buried behind an unwashed armpit or an overstuffed knapsack. This train gets crowded at 14th.
I like to take the long way 'round and catch a train at 8th; just to avoid the crowd and get a seat. Catch any other stop on the line, and you're lucky to find a spot to stand.
On every ride, there's the usual round-up of rude riders. There's the jerk who leans against the center-pole so that seven other folks can't hang on. There's the character who practically sits on the hand rail, spilling over onto anybody who's unlucky enough to sit by the door. There's the guy who spreads his legs out 'cause he's airing-out his crotch infection.
They're all there, but I've saved the worst for last.
You've run into him; that guy who stands in the doorway and moves for nobody; just to prove...fuck-all. There could be old people or moms with strollers trying to get in the car, and he just stands there like he's waiting to get "serviced" from behind. There's really only one thing to say to them...
"Hey buddy, It's a door, not a glory hole!"
It works every time.
The L Train hosts the newer trains by Kawasaki as the equipment is newer and improved. This L Train line offers an computerized display of "estimate time of arrival" for the next and following trains to arrive on the station platform. It is very convenient when planning a trip and gives riders an idea for their destination when planning an event. The L Train have a line route map which electronically notifies patrons the exact location.
There appears to be less vagrants on this train. Since the trains are new there is less scratchitti, less graffitatti, less stench.
I'm free...I'm free at last. After 8 years of L train commuting, I'm finally free and rid of that ghetto train forever. I've moved to another part of Brooklyn, and man O' man what a grandiose difference it is for me now that I take either the D or N train mostly.
Syonara, L train-riding sucka bitches. I won't miss you one iota.
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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4/10/2008
This subway line is about as ghetto as they come, which often times makes it difficult to feel like… Read more »
I had my first L-train experience when venturing to Williamsburg. Why don't the other lines have a countdown for next arriving train? How is the L so much more civilized than the others?
This a good train and there were lots of good looking people in my car. Will need to find more places to ride it.
I love the L. I moved uptown and the L is no longer on my radar, so I miss it.
I used to love looking at the hipsters who thought they were sooo different (but strangely all dressed the same) get on at the Bedford stop. When I moved I could see them staying on the train longer and longer...they will soon infiltrate Bushwick - my old home.
Now that I live off the ABCD and the 2/3 I can honestly say that people are not nearly as colorful as they were in Williamsburg. That makes my train ride less fun.
Gosh. I love the L.
Crowded, cute, loud, hit-or-miss, new(ish), and pretty much everything else in between.
No wonder it suffers an identity crisis: it can't figure out whether it's a Brooklyn hipster or a Manhattan downtowner.
Still, it elicits most of my entries at http://ny.subwaycrush.com. Damn those people looking FINE on the L.
Take this train into the city every day. To/From the Bedford stop. It is clean. It runs often. Sometimes, when I am running late, I might have to wait a train or two to squeeze on, but if Im late, that is generally my fault. I wonder about those that complain about the Subway system in NYC, especially this line. Have you ever been on public transportation in other cities? Nothing compares, not for efficiency, not for value. Not a fan of mismanaged funds and the fare increase and will do all that I can to make let my voice be heard, but the L has done nothing but good by me so far.
If by "hipster" you mean a young twenty-something kid with a sense of style, well then ya, I guess there are alot of "hipsters" in New York City.
DUH
And ya, the subway is alittle crowded during rush hours.
DUH
Weekdays on the L Train are a thing of beauty. A train every 3-6 minutes, always announced and always displayed. Always clean and well-lit, and rarely a begging bum.
Weekends are not as reliable, but still better than average. Trying to get home after midnight on any train you'll have to wait a while. The announcements aren't always spot on, and the chick will probably just end up giving you a splitting headache.
All things concerned, I consider the L as good as it gets in NYC.
The L train has been pretty good to me. I live a block from it and it's my main connection to the world outside my neighborhood: I take it to visit friends, I take it to work Monday-Friday, and I take it to Manhattan.
Weekdays are a breeze on the L train. I typically wait 3-5 minutes for a train, sometimes 10 but rarely much over that. The weekends can be a different story! One thing I have learned is that the times up on those great signs that tell us when the next train is coming can be totally wrong. Yesterday the sign said it'd be 26 minutes until the next train came. We didn't wait anymore than 5 minutes! And of course sometimes they'll say the next train is coming in 2 minutes, but you wait 20. Such a tease!
Service on the weekends is not as great as the weekdays. The trains don't run as often, which kind of sucks if you're in a hurry to be somewhere. But overall, I'm happy with the L train. At least the trains are clean and somewhat happy-looking, and I've never felt unsafe riding late at night by myself because there are always people riding, no matter what time it is.
The L train goes out to Williamsburg and beyond and out to 8th Avenue underneath 14th Street. Invariably I'll be standing at Union Square waiting to go to 8th Avenue and the electronic read-out will say that the train is 4 minutes away...three minutes later, I'll check my watch and the read-out will say the train is three minutes away and I'll wonder if my expensive watch isn't keeping time properly or if the MTA sucks at life. I'm 99.9% sure its the latter.
An open letter to the L train...
Dear L,
I used to hate you. A lot. Your inconsistent functionality, your constant track maintenance, and your malicious impulse to make me get off in the middle of nowhere in Brooklyn all made me wary of you. I even started taking the G when I visited friends in Brooklyn. That's how bad it got.
You're better now. Not great, but better. Those little displays they installed to make sure you ran on time work a lot better now, although I somehow doubt you ever managed to prove their effectiveness (it's ok, I'd have an inferiority complex in comparison to London's underground, too). And I've gotten used to your blindingly sterile trains, even if your regular riders continue to abstain from showering.
Giving you an E for effort,
S
