It’s the G-fit!
Riders of the historically erratic G-train say they are using its predictable unpredictability to get themselves in shape — or at least they are joking about it in a new internet video.
Members of the Riders Alliance, which advocates for straphangers, have produced a tongue-in-cheek, minute-long movie that highlights the body-toning benefits of riding the beloved-but-slow Brooklyn Local in an effort let the MTA know that they’re tired of the train’s hurry-up-and-wait service.
The scene is set when a man, who says he’s moved from Greenpoint, asks his friends how they keep their toned physiques. It then flashes to Adeboye getting a workout by running down a subway platform to catch a train, stretching to hold the ceiling when the train is too crowded to hold a pole, and walking miles out of her way when she arrives at the Greenpoint stop, only to find the G train is not running.
In real life, the 36-year old Adeboye lives by the Myrtle-Willoughby stop in Bedford-Stuyvesant. She said the goofy video was dreamed up during a Riders Alliance strategy meetings, when members discussed their experiences sprinting for the train.
The Alliance says it has been urging the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to make changes to the crosstown line — the only subway line that never forces Brooklynites to suffer the indignity of traveling through Manhattan. Earlier this year, the group made a list of demands for an improved G train, including more frequent service and better communication about service changes. The group also wants free, above-ground transfers between the G train’s Broadway stop and the J and M trains at Hewes Street, which shuttle commuters to Manhattan, and between the G’s Fulton Street stop and the many trains at the Atlantic, Barclays Center, and Pacific stations.
Together with state senators Daniel Squadron (D–Brooklyn Heights) and Martin Dilan (D–Bedford-Stuyvesant), the group convinced the state agency to study ridership on the G and determine how it can improve service. The MTA said it expects to release the results in June.
In the meantime, the Riders Alliance wants to increase its membership. Hence, the video.
“They are going to have their press release and their report, and we want to make sure that the whole story will be told,” said Matt Green who also stars in the movie.
The video was first uploaded last Thursday. On Wednesday, the group released the results of a four-question poll of G riders that the group claims determined that 60 percent of riders have experienced the “G-train sprint” to catch the four-car train.
Reach reporter Danielle Furfaro at dfurfaro@cnglocal.com or by calling (718) 260-2511. Follow her at twitter.com/DanielleFurfaro.r
