NOR’EASTER: MTA moves to protect train yards, other critical infrastructure to keep transit moving during weekend storm

The MTA is preparing New York City’s transit system for a nor’easter expected to hit the metropolitan area Friday afternoon and last through Sunday — forecast to bring strong winds, heavy rainfall, and coastal flooding — by preemptively protecting train yards and other critical facilities in low-lying areas from floodwaters.

Official response and confirmed impact

MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber, during a Sept.

24 briefing inside the agency’s “situation room” at its Lower Manhattan headquarters, said that in preparation for possible coastal flooding, the agency has closed the storm doors at its Coney Island and Howard Beach train yards in Brooklyn and Queens, respectively.

Both locations are in notoriously flood-prone areas vulnerable to strong coastal storms.

“When the train yards, many of which are in low-lying areas, get flooded, it impacts on our ability to put out service,” Lieber said.

“It knocks out electrical operations and prevents trains from moving. So, we’re especially focused on protecting the yards.”

Lieber said the MTA will also closely monitor conditions on train lines that run through low-lying and coastal areas, including the Rockaway A train and several outdoor lines that snake through southern Brooklyn.

The powerful storm is expected to bring up to 40 mph winds that could lead to downed trees along outdoor lines, he added — posing a particular danger on lines that run through a trench rather than on an elevated structure.