Three to five years?that's how long service on the A and C could be screwed up after a subway tunnel fire at the Chambers Street station yesterday. (Service on the C is suspended indefinitely). A special Curbed correspondent emails us to weigh the real estate implications:
With the A and C trains now officially FUBAR for the next 3-5 years, anybody holding property along 8th Avenue or in West Harlem, Washington Heights, or Inwood better be prepared to take a big hit to their equity. The C, which used to run at 15-20 minute intervals even during rush hour, looks poised to become a semi-hourly train. And the A, which used to bring young professionals from Upper Manhattan to Midtown to Downtown in just a few stops, looks like it's going to have to run local for the foreseeable future. (Those young professionals should prepare for their commuting times to quadruple.) In a related note, the multimillion dollar damage to the A/C signal relay system means anybody speculating on 2nd Avenue real estate in anticipation of a new subway line 8-10 years from now better adjust their investment horizon. Drastically.
You get the idea.
· Train Migrane [Gothamist]
· Blizzard: During [WATPA; source of above photo]