An emergency track repair on a subway line spanning Brooklyn to Queens was the last thing regular A train riders wanted to encounter in the middle of stifling heat wave Wednesday.
"It's too hot for this. Seriously," said an unhappy Belmont Carthens as he walked from a shuttle bus in the mid-day heat.
The MTA had announced emergency repairs would shut down the A line between Euclid Avenue and Howard Beach-JFK Airport stations between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. But hundreds, possibly thousands, of people were caught off-guard anyway.
The buses they had to take from Howard Beach to East New York added up to 30 minutes of travel time -- and untold numbers of complaints.
"It's miserable, it's hot," said Annie Rivera.
Another woman snapped at an MTA worker, "What happened to the train?"
She continued, "It's hot. I've got to walk in the heat? It's wrong!"
Local
The heat didn't postpone the repair, as extreme weather sometimes does in the winter. This time, riders just had to deal.
Shaniqua Saterfield of Rockaway Beach, at least, tried to keep her cool.
"Just trying to stay hydrated," she said as she and her nephew sipped from ice-cold water bottles.
