MTA scraps December G train weekend shutdowns, but October outages remain
Tunnel repairs under Newtown Creek finished early, so the G will run through December. Riders still face weeknight and weekend changes in October.
G train riders in North Brooklyn will keep their trains running through December. The MTA has called off three weekend shutdowns it had scheduled for that month because tunnel repairs between Greenpoint and Long Island City wrapped up ahead of schedule. Several October service changes are still on the calendar.
Hurricane Sandy damaged the tunnel in 2012. According to the MTA, crews have now injected grout and sealed leaks along over 6,400 feet of the Greenpoint tube beneath Newtown Creek, so the December closures are no longer needed.
Why Greenpoint businesses pushed back
For months, North Brooklyn residents, elected officials and business owners had objected to shutting the line during the holiday shopping season. The group Shop Small Greenpoint polled 36 neighborhood businesses, which said weekend sales dropped by an average of 22% across four shutdowns held from July 2025 through June 2026. Of those businesses, 39% said they had cut staff shifts or hours.
Perri Salka, a co-founder of the group who owns WonderMart, said a quarter of her store’s annual revenue comes from December holiday sales. “Reversing these shutdown dates means our shop owners can count on a full, uninterrupted holiday season this year,” she said.
G train service changes in October
From Oct. 12 to 16, G trains will not run between Court Square and Bedford-Nostrand Avenues on weeknights from 9:45 p.m. to 5 a.m. Free shuttle buses will take their place.
The line will also be cut between Church Avenue and Hoyt-Schermerhorn Streets over two weekends, Oct. 16 to 19 and Oct. 23 to 26. Each suspension starts Friday at 9:30 p.m. The first lasts until 5 a.m. on Monday, Oct. 19, and the second until 10 a.m. on Monday, Oct. 26. During those weekends, trains will operate on two separate segments: one linking Court Square and Bedford-Nostrand, the other linking Bedford-Nostrand and Hoyt-Schermerhorn, where a train will come every 20 minutes.
For the affected stations at the southern end, the MTA points riders to the F train, but separate F work means some of those stops will only have service toward Manhattan. Work on the G continues, including signal modernization, accessibility upgrades, structural repairs and track maintenance.
Quick answers
Are the December G train shutdowns still happening?
No. The MTA called off the three weekend shutdowns scheduled for December because the tunnel repairs wrapped up early.
When is the G train suspended in October?
Weeknights Oct. 12 to 16 between Bedford-Nostrand and Court Square, and the weekends of Oct. 16 to 19 and Oct. 23 to 26 between Hoyt-Schermerhorn and Church Avenue.
What should riders use instead?
Free shuttle buses run on the October weeknights. On the weekends, the MTA points riders at the southern stations to the F train, though some F stops will only have Manhattan-bound service.
