J and M Riders: The Manhattan Shutdown Returns Friday Night — Nov. 13–16 Is the Fourth of Five Fall Weekends

If you ride the J or the M between Brooklyn and Manhattan, this coming weekend is the fourth verse of a five-verse song. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority's fall switch-replacement program at and around Marcy Avenue — hardware last renewed in 1997 — suspends J and M service between Myrtle Avenue-Broadway in Brooklyn and Manhattan on five weekends between October 17 and November 23. The Nov. 7–9 weekend just ended; the next shutdown runs Nov. 13–16, and the last lands Nov. 20–23.

The pattern, per the MTA advisory read by this desk, runs from the small hours of Saturday to 10 p.m. Sunday: J trains operate only between Jamaica Center-Parsons/Archer and Myrtle Avenue, M trains run in two separate sections about every 20 minutes, and at Myrtle Avenue every J and M train boards from the Manhattan-bound platform. Free shuttle buses bridge the gap between Myrtle Avenue-Broadway and Delancey Street-Essex Street in Manhattan. Four Brooklyn stations lose train service entirely during the shutdowns: Flushing Avenue, Lorimer Street, Hewes Street and Marcy Avenue. The MTA's standing advice stands: the L at Myrtle-Wyckoff and the A, C or L at Broadway Junction are the rail detours into Manhattan.

Weekday riders are not exempt. Through November 20, the midday pattern — 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. — has the J running locally between Marcy Avenue and Myrtle Avenue-Broadway while the switch work continues above and below the weekend closures.

None of this is a surprise closure, and that is precisely the point of filing it on Monday: the riders who plan around a shutdown lose minutes; the riders who meet it at the platform lose their morning. Check the MTA's alerts before Friday night, and if your weekend crosses the East River on the J or M, build the shuttle into the trip now.