Pols push to save potential G train service cuts with 'fan club'

The G train -- dubbed the Rodney Dangerfield of the subway because it gets "no respect" -- could lose five Brooklyn stops. And that's got businesses along the affected route rallying for their futures.

Public Advocate Bill de Blasio told amNewYork that he's launching a new campaign called 5 Stop Fan Club to draw attention to the economic toll that the potential service cuts could take, and several merchants are throwing their support behind it.

The campaign focuses on the plight that businesses in Park Slope, Windsor Terrace and Kensington face if those stops are slashed, the public advocate said. Other pols, including Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz and state senators Eric Adams and Daniel Squadron, are also on board.

"If the MTA cuts this service, it will mean fewer customers walking through the doors of our mom-and-pop stores -- we are not going to let that happen," de Blasio said Thursday.

The MTA extended the G line by five stops in 2009, as it continued rehabilitation work on the aging Culver Viaduct, the cement structure that carries the F and G lines past the Gowanus Canal.

The agency has not ruled against keeping the extended stops running once the work is completed -- expected to be done in late 2013 or early 2014.

"We'll make a decision after we conduct an assessment of ridership trends and other factors," said MTA spokesman Kevin Ortiz.

Eugenie Woo, owner of the Brooklyn Commune café in Windsor Terrace, said there's "certainly a lot of anxiety" among businesses.

"We don't have the luxury of a several subway lines in this part of Brooklyn," Woo said.

Steeplechase Coffee owner Lynn McKee said potentially cutting off service on the G line from Fourth to Church avenues "tells me whoever makes these decisions thinks that our neighborhood doesn't matter enough."

"No small business wants to hear that subway lines will close around them. That's crippling," she added.

Transit officials in 2008 reportedly said the line carries about 100,000 people during a weekday. The G is the only train that doesn't stop in Manhattan.

Gene Russianoff, of the Straphangers Campaign, said it would be "a huge thing" for riders and businesses if the MTA continues running extended service along the line.

"In a sea of troubles for the MTA, the G train extension is a bright spot," Russianoff said.