MTA to disrupt service on R, G trains

Tens of thousands of straphangers will have to find a new way to get around beginning this summer.

The lasting damage superstorm Sandy caused to New York City's transit system will continue punishing commuters as the MTA is forced to disrupt service on the R and G trains, the agency said Wednesday.

Starting the first week in August, the Montague tunnel that allows the R train to enter lower Manhattan will be shut down for repairs for 14 months.

Meanwhile, three G train stations -- 21st Street and Court Square in Queens and Greenpoint Avenue in Brooklyn -- will be shut down for 12 weekends starting July 6.

"We're not out of the woods on Sandy," said acting MTA chairman Fernando Ferrer. "We'll still have compromises to our electrical and electronic systems, our mechanical systems, our infrastructure in general, that we'll be dealing with for a very long time."

The closure of the Montague tunnel means the 65,000 daily R train riders must take nearby train lines in downtown Brooklyn to get into Manhattan on weekdays. There will continue to be R train service from Queens to the tip of Manhattan; and from Court Street in Brooklyn to Bay Ridge. On weekends, the R train will run over the Manhattan Bridge, bypassing six stations between Canal Street and DeKalb Avenue in Brooklyn.

To get into Manhattan, the MTA says R train riders must transfer in downtown Brooklyn at nearby stations such as Borough Hall and Atlantic Avenue.Hilda Gonzalez, a Staten Island resident who frequently commutes to Brooklyn, said her 30-minute ride on the R train from the ferry will become a hardship. "I'm going to have to go out of my way to get around now," she said. "I don't know what to do." With Ivan Pereira