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 Patrick Cashin/Metropolitan Transportation Authority

Metropolitan Transportation Authority employees using a pump train to get
water out of the L train tunnel under the East River.


THE NEW YORK TIMES
N.Y. / REGION
November 8, 2012
New York Subway Repairs Border =91on the Edge of Magic=92By MATT
FLEGENHEIMER<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/f/m=
att_flegenheimer/index.html>

Inside a sprawling Manhattan command center, a board that detects subway
activity by sensor had gone quiet. No trains were running; the Metropolitan
Transportation Authority<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopic=
s/organizations/m/metropolitan_transportation_authority/index.html?inline=
=3Dnyt-org>
had
shut the system down as Hurricane
Sandy<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/h/hurric=
anes_and_tropical_storms/index.html?inline=3Dnyt-classifier>
 approached.

Suddenly, the screens inexplicably crackled to life.

Something was moving down there. And it was not the trains.

To the subway=92s chief maintenance officer, the storm=92s encroaching wate=
rs
were even more obvious. He was forced to flee with his flashlight from the
South Ferry station in Lower Manhattan as the waters charged over the
platform and up the terminal stairs, chasing him like an attack dog.

It has been less than two weeks since the most devastating storm in the New
York City subway system=92s 108-year history. Seven tunnels beneath the Eas=
t
River flooded. Entire platforms were submerged. Underground equipment, some
of it decades old, was destroyed.

The damage was the worst that the system had ever seen. And yet, the
subways have come back =97 quicker than almost anyone could have imagined.

Less than three days after the storm hit, partial subway service was
restored. Most major lines were back within a week. Repairs came so quickly
in some cases that the authority was ready before Consolidated Edison had
restored power.

=93Some of what they=92re doing borders on the edge of magic,=94 said Gene
Russianoff, the staff lawyer for the Straphangers Campaign, a rider
advocacy group that is frequently critical of the authority.

Across the region=92s transportation network, scars from Hurricane Sandy ar=
e
still keenly visible. PATH service remains out between Hoboken and New
York. New Jersey Transit=92s Midtown Direct service is not running at all. =
At
the Port Authority Bus Terminal, commuters endure chaos and winding lines
that have lasted for hours.

But nearly everything under the Metropolitan Transportation Authority=92s
auspices, from its commuter railroads to its bridges and tunnels, is
running close to normal. Each restoration presented its own challenge, but
none more daunting than the task of resurrecting the subways.

Interviews with those who oversaw the recovery suggest a rescue mission
both thrilling and frightful, with officials at times alternating between a
compulsion to cling to protocol and to toss it aside. Workers traversed
darkened, slippery tunnels, inspecting sludgy tracks, equipment and third
rails. Even the subway map itself was reimagined, as bright lines were
faded to represent downed service.

None of this was truly expected in the days leading up to the storm.

In a morning radio interview on Oct. 25, the Thursday before the hurricane
was projected to arrive, Joseph J.
Lhota<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/l/joseph_j=
_lhota/index.html?inline=3Dnyt-per>,
the chairman of the transportation authority, recalled Tropical Storm
Irene, which spurred an unprecedented systemwide shutdown last year.

=93I don=92t think we=92re looking at anything like that,=94 he told WNYC.

By the afternoon, the tone had changed. During a 2 p.m. conference call
with the governor=92s office, Mr. Lhota recalled, state officials asked of
the storm=92s arrival: =93What is zero hour?=94

From there, officials worked backward. The authority=92s storm plan include=
d
triggers for closing trains, bridges and tunnels, based on minimum
thresholds of sustained winds. Waiting for these winds to arrive before
acting was not an option.

=93If we got everybody in on Monday morning,=94 Mr. Lhota said, =93we could=
n=92t
get them home.=94

By Sunday morning, Mr. Lhota recalled, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo told him he had
made a decision: the system would be taken offline at 7 p.m.

Thomas F. Prendergast, the president of New York City Transit, had already
dispatched workers to cover vents and place sandbags at stations, and by
Friday, the agency had begun coordinating with the Police Department and
union leadership for the possibility of a shutdown. Barriers were placed at
station entrances, including at South Ferry, near the tip of Lower
Manhattan.

With a forecast for a storm surge of over 11 feet, Mr. Prendergast knew
that flooding was possible. He predicted that three tunnels might have some
flooding, which would equal the most in his career.

=93I never anticipated seven,=94 he said. As the storm neared, pump trains =
were
placed strategically at the center of the system, where crews could easily
access them and approach the likely flood zones.

The dual tasks =97 shutting down the system and moving trains to safe groun=
d
=97 were often carried out simultaneously, Mr. Lhota said. Some trains
continued taking passengers after 7 p.m. on Sunday, he said, but only if
their route took them near their protected storage plot.

By early Monday, an eerie quiet had fallen over the agency. The subway was
off, the trains were stored, but the storm had not yet arrived.

Around 8 p.m., after a local television appearance, Mr. Lhota decided to
head downtown. But the West Side Highway was already submerged. Soon, he
found, Greenwich Street was also impassable. He headed down Broadway, as
far as he could.

Moments later, Mr. Lhota happened upon Mr. Prendergast, who had covered
himself in a yellow jacket and a hard hat. Then the men in charge of trains
and buses realized that another mode of travel might be required. =93We=92r=
e
talking about, =91We=92re going to need a bigger boat,=92 =94 Mr. Lhota rec=
alled.

At the same time, Joseph Leader, the subway=92s chief maintenance officer,
went into South Ferry. No one knew the barriers outside the station had
given way, Mr. Leader said, breached apparently by 15-foot hunks of wood
that, late last week, remained strewed across the mezzanine, beside the
turnstiles.

As he lurched into the terminal, the water had already risen over the
platform. When it began climbing the stairs, Mr. Leader fled. He made his
way on foot toward the darkened loop track, approaching Rector Street,
training his flashlight ahead. =93You could just see it rising, coming up t=
he
tracks,=94 he said. =93I realized, I can=92t stay here much longer.=94

At the rail command center, the boards began to light up. =93Everything jus=
t
started to look like there was a train everywhere,=94 said Tom Calandrella,
the senior director of rapid transit operations. =93Once it gets wet, that
same thing that conducts the train wheels, water, if it pulls up to a
certain height, conducts everything.=94

Mr. Lhota spent Monday night at a hotel in Midtown, near the authority=92s
headquarters on Madison Avenue. He got in around 3 a.m. and returned to the
office hours later. In between, he found a deli open nearby. He ordered an
omelet.

By late Monday night, teams had already been dispatched to inspect sections
of the system, particularly those out of the surge=92s path. Some work trai=
ns
even ran during the storm, in areas removed from the surge, to check for
water buildups, Mr. Leader said.

But restoration options were few, at least in the short term.

=93It=92s triage,=94 Mr. Lhota said.

Strategy turned on a simple question, Mr. Leader said, posed often in
meetings with agency officials: =93Well, what works?=94

It seemed likely that buses could return quickly, as they soon would on a
limited schedule, but the subways required painstaking decisions on how to
deploy the agency=92s resources.

=93We had 7 under-river tunnels flooded out of 14,=94 Mr. Prendergast said.
=93And we have three pump trains. The first thing we have to do is, which
tunnels do you go after first?=94

The Joralemon Street tunnel was an obvious target, given the heavy
ridership of the No. 4 and 5 trains and what appeared to be relatively
little damage to the tube. It was dry almost immediately. Other tunnels,
like the 14th Street tube that carries the L train or the Greenpoint tunnel
for the G, had to wait.

Water in the L tunnel stretched 3,400 feet and was 15 feet deep. It was not
dry until this week. For the Montague Street tunnel, which carries the R
line, 4,000 feet of water, 10 feet deep, had still not been entirely pumped
as of Thursday.

Publicly, the authority did not provide a timeline for service restoration.
But Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg offered a guess at a news conference the day
after the storm, estimating that service would not return for =93a good fou=
r
or five days.=94

Mr. Lhota recalled seeing the announcement and wondering where the mayor
was getting his information.

=93It obviously wasn=92t true, either,=94 Mr. Lhota said. =93I have no idea=
 who was
briefing him.=94

(A spokeswoman for the mayor said Mr. Lhota and Deputy Mayor Caswell F.
Holloway corresponded frequently, but added that a briefing for the mayor
before the news conference had focused on more immediate city concerns and
included little about transportation.)

Nonetheless, the estimate may have succeeded in tempering public
expectations for the system=92s recovery. Mr. Lhota said the authority also
made a point of publishing images from the tunnels, both to communicate
progress and to relay the scope of the tasks, allowing riders to set
expectations accordingly.

Beyond deploying the pump trains, which are diesel-powered, Mr. Calandrella
said detritus on the tracks could affect draining.

And even if tunnels were pumped, obstacles remained. Workers had to inspect
tracks, third rails and signals. There could be no dangerous debris in the
tunnels. Some cables needed to be reattached.

Mr. Lhota said that despite the authority=92s trove of ancient underground
equipment, the authority=92s warehouses in Queens and the Bronx were rarely
without a required replacement part.

=93Things break all the time,=94 he said. =93We have inventory.=94

Test trains began running partial routes on Wednesday. But with power still
out in Lower Manhattan, no trains could run between Manhattan and Brooklyn.
If not for the power loss, officials said, the No. 4 and 5 trains could
have very likely returned during the week.

A so-called bus bridge =97 service to plug the gaps in the limited subway
routes =97 emerged as the only option, Mr. Lhota said. Some officials worri=
ed
about offering a below-average experience underground.

=93There was a debate here about, =91Do we bring them back if we can=92t br=
ing
the countdown clocks?=92 =94 Mr. Lhota recalled, incredulously. =93I was sa=
ying,
=91Yeah, we bring them back.=92 =94

Charles Gordanier, the authority=92s chief map designer, began drafting
changes to the old subway map, fading out the lines that were without
service. Copies were released to the public on Wednesday, and have since
been updated as service is restored.

The bus bridges created winding lines and widespread gridlock, resulting
from a simple math problem, Mr. Prendergast said: Between 1,500 and 2,000
people can pile into a train. A bus can fit no more than 75 or so.

Accordingly, connecting the boroughs by subway was the next priority. Late
Friday, as the power returned, officials were confident they could restore
full service to some trains, like the Lexington Avenue line and the No. 7,
almost immediately. By Saturday morning, they had, and several other
connections between boroughs followed.

After a news conference Saturday with Mr. Cuomo, Mr. Lhota held up a sheet
of paper with a bar graph, depicting how much subway service had returned.
By day=92s end, it was expected to be 80 percent.

There were some hiccups. At West Fourth Street, unexpected third-rail and
switch problems delayed the return of the D, F and M trains. As the
authority prepared to bring the G train back this week, a transformer blew,
keeping the train offline for the morning rush hour on Wednesday. There
were still service gaps on the N train, the A train in Far Rockaway and the
R line, among others.

On Thursday morning, inside his office, Mr. Lhota checked his BlackBerry
often, hoping for an update on the L train. Moments later, he placed a call
to Howard B. Glaser, Mr. Cuomo=92s director of state operations, whom he
wanted to brief on the Queens-Midtown Tunnel.

The tunnel could open Friday, he told Mr. Glaser, remarking that Mr.
Bloomberg, =93like an idiot,=94 had predicted publicly that the tunnel migh=
t
open over the weekend. =93He=92s making it up,=94 he said, after a brief ha=
il of
profanity in which Mr. Lhota wondered aloud who, exactly, Mr. Bloomberg had
been talking to.

=93It=92s wrong,=94 he told Mr. Glaser. =93It=92s just wrong.=94

Mr. Lhota also spoke of the L line=92s importance, as if his audience neede=
d
convincing.

=93You know who knows where the L train goes?=94 he barked into the phone. =
=93All
the hipsters in Williamsburg.=94

The BlackBerry buzzed on the table in front of him. He grabbed it quickly,
then put it back. No good news yet on the L, he said. Hours later, that
would change. =93Ladies and Gentlemen,=94 he wrote on Twitter. =93The L tra=
in is
back. Enjoy your trip home tonight.=94

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<div><img src=3D"http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2012/11/09/nyregion/SU=
BWAY/SUBWAY-articleLarge-v2.jpg" width=3D"600" height=3D"350" alt=3D"" bord=
er=3D"0" style=3D"line-height:15px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-size:10.3999996=
18530273px;font-family:georgia,&#39;times new roman&#39;,times,serif"><span=
 style=3D"line-height:15px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-size:10.399999618530273=
px;font-family:georgia,&#39;times new roman&#39;,times,serif"></span><span =
style=3D"line-height:15px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-size:10.399999618530273p=
x;font-family:georgia,&#39;times new roman&#39;,times,serif"></span><span s=
tyle=3D"line-height:15px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-size:10.399999618530273px=
;font-family:georgia,&#39;times new roman&#39;,times,serif"></span><span st=
yle=3D"line-height:15px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-size:10.399999618530273px;=
font-family:georgia,&#39;times new roman&#39;,times,serif"></span><div styl=
e=3D"line-height:1.223em;color:rgb(144,144,144);text-align:right;font-size:=
0.9em;margin-bottom:3px;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">

Patrick Cashin/Metropolitan Transportation Authority</div><p style=3D"line-=
height:1.2727em;color:rgb(102,102,102);font-size:1.1em;font-family:arial,he=
lvetica,sans-serif;margin:0px">
Metropolitan Transportation Authority employees using a pump train to get w=
ater out of the L train tunnel under the East River.</p></div><span style=
=3D"color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:12.727272033=
691406px"><div>

<span style=3D"color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:1=
2.727272033691406px"><br></span></div><div><span style=3D"color:rgb(34,34,3=
4);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:12.727272033691406px"><br></span>=
</div>

THE NEW YORK TIMES</span><div><font color=3D"#222222" face=3D"arial, sans-s=
erif">N.Y. / REGION</font></div><div><div style=3D"margin-top:15px;font-siz=
e:10px;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;white-space:nowrap;color:rgb(=
168,24,23)">

November 8, 2012</div><div style=3D"text-transform:uppercase;margin-top:15p=
x;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:13.600000381469727px;lin=
e-height:1.4em"></div><h1 style=3D"font-size:2.4em;margin:0px;line-height:1=
.083em;font-family:Georgia,serif">

New York Subway Repairs Border =91on the Edge of Magic=92</h1><h6 style=3D"=
margin:2px 0px;color:rgb(128,128,128);font-size:1em;line-height:1.2em;font-=
family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">By=A0<span><a href=3D"http://topics.nyti=
mes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/f/matt_flegenheimer/index.html" re=
l=3D"author" title=3D"More Articles by MATT FLEGENHEIMER" style=3D"color:rg=
b(102,102,153);text-decoration:none" target=3D"_blank">MATT FLEGENHEIMER</a=
></span></h6>

<span style=3D"color:rgb(51,51,51);font-size:13.600000381469727px;font-fami=
ly:Georgia,serif"></span><p style=3D"line-height:24px;font-size:1.2em;margi=
n:0px 0px 1em">Inside a sprawling Manhattan command center, a board that de=
tects subway activity by sensor had gone quiet. No trains were running; the=
=A0<a href=3D"http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizat=
ions/m/metropolitan_transportation_authority/index.html?inline=3Dnyt-org" t=
itle=3D"More articles about the N.Y. Metropolitan Transportation Authority.=
" style=3D"color:rgb(102,102,153);text-decoration:none" target=3D"_blank">M=
etropolitan Transportation Authority</a>=A0had shut the system down as=A0<a=
 href=3D"http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/h/hur=
ricanes_and_tropical_storms/index.html?inline=3Dnyt-classifier" title=3D"Mo=
re articles about Hurricane Sandy." style=3D"color:rgb(102,102,153);text-de=
coration:none" target=3D"_blank">Hurricane Sandy</a>=A0approached.</p>

<p style=3D"line-height:24px;font-size:1.2em;margin:0px 0px 1em">Suddenly, =
the screens inexplicably crackled to life.</p><p style=3D"line-height:24px;=
font-size:1.2em;margin:0px 0px 1em">Something was moving down there. And it=
 was not the trains.</p>

<p style=3D"line-height:24px;font-size:1.2em;margin:0px 0px 1em">To the sub=
way=92s chief maintenance officer, the storm=92s encroaching waters were ev=
en more obvious. He was forced to flee with his flashlight from the South F=
erry station in Lower Manhattan as the waters charged over the platform and=
 up the terminal stairs, chasing him like an attack dog.</p>

<p style=3D"line-height:24px;font-size:1.2em;margin:0px 0px 1em">It has bee=
n less than two weeks since the most devastating storm in the New York City=
 subway system=92s 108-year history. Seven tunnels beneath the East River f=
looded. Entire platforms were submerged. Underground equipment, some of it =
decades old, was destroyed.</p>

<p style=3D"line-height:24px;font-size:1.2em;margin:0px 0px 1em">The damage=
 was the worst that the system had ever seen. And yet, the subways have com=
e back =97 quicker than almost anyone could have imagined.</p><p style=3D"l=
ine-height:24px;font-size:1.2em;margin:0px 0px 1em">

Less than three days after the storm hit, partial subway service was restor=
ed. Most major lines were back within a week. Repairs came so quickly in so=
me cases that the authority was ready before Consolidated Edison had restor=
ed power.</p>

<p style=3D"line-height:24px;font-size:1.2em;margin:0px 0px 1em">=93Some of=
 what they=92re doing borders on the edge of magic,=94 said Gene Russianoff=
, the staff lawyer for the Straphangers Campaign, a rider advocacy group th=
at is frequently critical of the authority.</p>

<p style=3D"line-height:24px;font-size:1.2em;margin:0px 0px 1em">Across the=
 region=92s transportation network, scars from Hurricane Sandy are still ke=
enly visible. PATH service remains out between Hoboken and New York. New Je=
rsey Transit=92s Midtown Direct service is not running at all. At the Port =
Authority Bus Terminal, commuters endure chaos and winding lines that have =
lasted for hours.</p>

<p style=3D"line-height:24px;font-size:1.2em;margin:0px 0px 1em">But nearly=
 everything under the Metropolitan Transportation Authority=92s auspices, f=
rom its commuter railroads to its bridges and tunnels, is running close to =
normal. Each restoration presented its own challenge, but none more dauntin=
g than the task of resurrecting the subways.</p>

<p style=3D"line-height:24px;font-size:1.2em;margin:0px 0px 1em">Interviews=
 with those who oversaw the recovery suggest a rescue mission both thrillin=
g and frightful, with officials at times alternating between a compulsion t=
o cling to protocol and to toss it aside. Workers traversed darkened, slipp=
ery tunnels, inspecting sludgy tracks, equipment and third rails. Even the =
subway map itself was reimagined, as bright lines were faded to represent d=
owned service.</p>

<p style=3D"line-height:24px;font-size:1.2em;margin:0px 0px 1em">None of th=
is was truly expected in the days leading up to the storm.</p><p style=3D"l=
ine-height:24px;font-size:1.2em;margin:0px 0px 1em">
In a morning radio interview on Oct. 25, the Thursday before the hurricane =
was projected to arrive,=A0<a href=3D"http://topics.nytimes.com/top/referen=
ce/timestopics/people/l/joseph_j_lhota/index.html?inline=3Dnyt-per" title=
=3D"More articles about Joseph J. Lhota" style=3D"color:rgb(102,102,153);te=
xt-decoration:none" target=3D"_blank">Joseph J. Lhota</a>, the chairman of =
the transportation authority, recalled Tropical Storm Irene, which spurred =
an unprecedented systemwide shutdown last year.</p>

<p style=3D"line-height:24px;font-size:1.2em;margin:0px 0px 1em">=93I don=
=92t think we=92re looking at anything like that,=94 he told WNYC.</p><p st=
yle=3D"line-height:24px;font-size:1.2em;margin:0px 0px 1em">By the afternoo=
n, the tone had changed. During a 2 p.m. conference call with the governor=
=92s office, Mr. Lhota recalled, state officials asked of the storm=92s arr=
ival: =93What is zero hour?=94</p>

<p style=3D"line-height:24px;font-size:1.2em;margin:0px 0px 1em">From there=
, officials worked backward. The authority=92s storm plan included triggers=
 for closing trains, bridges and tunnels, based on minimum thresholds of su=
stained winds. Waiting for these winds to arrive before acting was not an o=
ption.</p>

<p style=3D"line-height:24px;font-size:1.2em;margin:0px 0px 1em">=93If we g=
ot everybody in on Monday morning,=94 Mr. Lhota said, =93we couldn=92t get =
them home.=94</p><p style=3D"line-height:24px;font-size:1.2em;margin:0px 0p=
x 1em">
By Sunday morning, Mr. Lhota recalled, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo told him he had=
 made a decision: the system would be taken offline at 7 p.m.</p><p style=
=3D"line-height:24px;font-size:1.2em;margin:0px 0px 1em">Thomas F. Prenderg=
ast, the president of New York City Transit, had already dispatched workers=
 to cover vents and place sandbags at stations, and by Friday, the agency h=
ad begun coordinating with the Police Department and union leadership for t=
he possibility of a shutdown. Barriers were placed at station entrances, in=
cluding at South Ferry, near the tip of Lower Manhattan.</p>

<p style=3D"line-height:24px;font-size:1.2em;margin:0px 0px 1em">With a for=
ecast for a storm surge of over 11 feet, Mr. Prendergast knew that flooding=
 was possible. He predicted that three tunnels might have some flooding, wh=
ich would equal the most in his career.</p>

<p style=3D"line-height:24px;font-size:1.2em;margin:0px 0px 1em">=93I never=
 anticipated seven,=94 he said. As the storm neared, pump trains were place=
d strategically at the center of the system, where crews could easily acces=
s them and approach the likely flood zones.</p>

<p style=3D"line-height:24px;font-size:1.2em;margin:0px 0px 1em">The dual t=
asks =97 shutting down the system and moving trains to safe ground =97 were=
 often carried out simultaneously, Mr. Lhota said. Some trains continued ta=
king passengers after 7 p.m. on Sunday, he said, but only if their route to=
ok them near their protected storage plot.</p>

<p style=3D"line-height:24px;font-size:1.2em;margin:0px 0px 1em">By early M=
onday, an eerie quiet had fallen over the agency. The subway was off, the t=
rains were stored, but the storm had not yet arrived.</p><p style=3D"line-h=
eight:24px;font-size:1.2em;margin:0px 0px 1em">

Around 8 p.m., after a local television appearance, Mr. Lhota decided to he=
ad downtown. But the West Side Highway was already submerged. Soon, he foun=
d, Greenwich Street was also impassable. He headed down Broadway, as far as=
 he could.</p>

<p style=3D"line-height:24px;font-size:1.2em;margin:0px 0px 1em">Moments la=
ter, Mr. Lhota happened upon Mr. Prendergast, who had covered himself in a =
yellow jacket and a hard hat. Then the men in charge of trains and buses re=
alized that another mode of travel might be required. =93We=92re talking ab=
out, =91We=92re going to need a bigger boat,=92=A0=94 Mr. Lhota recalled.</=
p>

<p style=3D"line-height:24px;font-size:1.2em;margin:0px 0px 1em">At the sam=
e time, Joseph Leader, the subway=92s chief maintenance officer, went into =
South Ferry. No one knew the barriers outside the station had given way, Mr=
. Leader said, breached apparently by 15-foot hunks of wood that, late last=
 week, remained strewed across the mezzanine, beside the turnstiles.</p>

<p style=3D"line-height:24px;font-size:1.2em;margin:0px 0px 1em">As he lurc=
hed into the terminal, the water had already risen over the platform. When =
it began climbing the stairs, Mr. Leader fled. He made his way on foot towa=
rd the darkened loop track, approaching Rector Street, training his flashli=
ght ahead. =93You could just see it rising, coming up the tracks,=94 he sai=
d. =93I realized, I can=92t stay here much longer.=94</p>

<p style=3D"line-height:24px;font-size:1.2em;margin:0px 0px 1em">At the rai=
l command center, the boards began to light up. =93Everything just started =
to look like there was a train everywhere,=94 said Tom Calandrella, the sen=
ior director of rapid transit operations. =93Once it gets wet, that same th=
ing that conducts the train wheels, water, if it pulls up to a certain heig=
ht, conducts everything.=94</p>

<p style=3D"line-height:24px;font-size:1.2em;margin:0px 0px 1em">Mr. Lhota =
spent Monday night at a hotel in Midtown, near the authority=92s headquarte=
rs on Madison Avenue. He got in around 3 a.m. and returned to the office ho=
urs later. In between, he found a deli open nearby. He ordered an omelet.</=
p>

<p style=3D"line-height:24px;font-size:1.2em;margin:0px 0px 1em">By late Mo=
nday night, teams had already been dispatched to inspect sections of the sy=
stem, particularly those out of the surge=92s path. Some work trains even r=
an during the storm, in areas removed from the surge, to check for water bu=
ildups, Mr. Leader said.</p>

<p style=3D"line-height:24px;font-size:1.2em;margin:0px 0px 1em">But restor=
ation options were few, at least in the short term.</p><p style=3D"line-hei=
ght:24px;font-size:1.2em;margin:0px 0px 1em">=93It=92s triage,=94 Mr. Lhota=
 said.</p>

<p style=3D"line-height:24px;font-size:1.2em;margin:0px 0px 1em">Strategy t=
urned on a simple question, Mr. Leader said, posed often in meetings with a=
gency officials: =93Well, what works?=94</p><p style=3D"line-height:24px;fo=
nt-size:1.2em;margin:0px 0px 1em">

It seemed likely that buses could return quickly, as they soon would on a l=
imited schedule, but the subways required painstaking decisions on how to d=
eploy the agency=92s resources.</p><p style=3D"line-height:24px;font-size:1=
.2em;margin:0px 0px 1em">

=93We had 7 under-river tunnels flooded out of 14,=94 Mr. Prendergast said.=
 =93And we have three pump trains. The first thing we have to do is, which =
tunnels do you go after first?=94</p><p style=3D"line-height:24px;font-size=
:1.2em;margin:0px 0px 1em">

The Joralemon Street tunnel was an obvious target, given the heavy ridershi=
p of the No. 4 and 5 trains and what appeared to be relatively little damag=
e to the tube. It was dry almost immediately. Other tunnels, like the 14th =
Street tube that carries the L train or the Greenpoint tunnel for the G, ha=
d to wait.</p>

<p style=3D"line-height:24px;font-size:1.2em;margin:0px 0px 1em">Water in t=
he L tunnel stretched 3,400 feet and was 15 feet deep. It was not dry until=
 this week. For the Montague Street tunnel, which carries the R line, 4,000=
 feet of water, 10 feet deep, had still not been entirely pumped as of Thur=
sday.</p>

<p style=3D"line-height:24px;font-size:1.2em;margin:0px 0px 1em">Publicly, =
the authority did not provide a timeline for service restoration. But Mayor=
 Michael R. Bloomberg offered a guess at a news conference the day after th=
e storm, estimating that service would not return for =93a good four or fiv=
e days.=94</p>

<p style=3D"line-height:24px;font-size:1.2em;margin:0px 0px 1em">Mr. Lhota =
recalled seeing the announcement and wondering where the mayor was getting =
his information.</p><p style=3D"line-height:24px;font-size:1.2em;margin:0px=
 0px 1em">

=93It obviously wasn=92t true, either,=94 Mr. Lhota said. =93I have no idea=
 who was briefing him.=94</p><p style=3D"line-height:24px;font-size:1.2em;m=
argin:0px 0px 1em">(A spokeswoman for the mayor said Mr. Lhota and Deputy M=
ayor Caswell F. Holloway corresponded frequently, but added that a briefing=
 for the mayor before the news conference had focused on more immediate cit=
y concerns and included little about transportation.)</p>

<p style=3D"line-height:24px;font-size:1.2em;margin:0px 0px 1em">Nonetheles=
s, the estimate may have succeeded in tempering public expectations for the=
 system=92s recovery. Mr. Lhota said the authority also made a point of pub=
lishing images from the tunnels, both to communicate progress and to relay =
the scope of the tasks, allowing riders to set expectations accordingly.</p=
>

<p style=3D"line-height:24px;font-size:1.2em;margin:0px 0px 1em">Beyond dep=
loying the pump trains, which are diesel-powered, Mr. Calandrella said detr=
itus on the tracks could affect draining.</p><p style=3D"line-height:24px;f=
ont-size:1.2em;margin:0px 0px 1em">

And even if tunnels were pumped, obstacles remained. Workers had to inspect=
 tracks, third rails and signals. There could be no dangerous debris in the=
 tunnels. Some cables needed to be reattached.</p><p style=3D"line-height:2=
4px;font-size:1.2em;margin:0px 0px 1em">

Mr. Lhota said that despite the authority=92s trove of ancient underground =
equipment, the authority=92s warehouses in Queens and the Bronx were rarely=
 without a required replacement part.</p><p style=3D"line-height:24px;font-=
size:1.2em;margin:0px 0px 1em">

=93Things break all the time,=94 he said. =93We have inventory.=94</p><p st=
yle=3D"line-height:24px;font-size:1.2em;margin:0px 0px 1em">Test trains beg=
an running partial routes on Wednesday. But with power still out in Lower M=
anhattan, no trains could run between Manhattan and Brooklyn. If not for th=
e power loss, officials said, the No. 4 and 5 trains could have very likely=
 returned during the week.</p>

<p style=3D"line-height:24px;font-size:1.2em;margin:0px 0px 1em">A so-calle=
d bus bridge =97 service to plug the gaps in the limited subway routes =97 =
emerged as the only option, Mr. Lhota said. Some officials worried about of=
fering a below-average experience underground.</p>

<p style=3D"line-height:24px;font-size:1.2em;margin:0px 0px 1em">=93There w=
as a debate here about, =91Do we bring them back if we can=92t bring the co=
untdown clocks?=92=A0=94 Mr. Lhota recalled, incredulously. =93I was saying=
, =91Yeah, we bring them back.=92=A0=94</p>

<p style=3D"line-height:24px;font-size:1.2em;margin:0px 0px 1em">Charles Go=
rdanier, the authority=92s chief map designer, began drafting changes to th=
e old subway map, fading out the lines that were without service. Copies we=
re released to the public on Wednesday, and have since been updated as serv=
ice is restored.</p>

<p style=3D"line-height:24px;font-size:1.2em;margin:0px 0px 1em">The bus br=
idges created winding lines and widespread gridlock, resulting from a simpl=
e math problem, Mr. Prendergast said: Between 1,500 and 2,000 people can pi=
le into a train. A bus can fit no more than 75 or so.</p>

<p style=3D"line-height:24px;font-size:1.2em;margin:0px 0px 1em">Accordingl=
y, connecting the boroughs by subway was the next priority. Late Friday, as=
 the power returned, officials were confident they could restore full servi=
ce to some trains, like the Lexington Avenue line and the No. 7, almost imm=
ediately. By Saturday morning, they had, and several other connections betw=
een boroughs followed.</p>

<p style=3D"line-height:24px;font-size:1.2em;margin:0px 0px 1em">After a ne=
ws conference Saturday with Mr. Cuomo, Mr. Lhota held up a sheet of paper w=
ith a bar graph, depicting how much subway service had returned. By day=92s=
 end, it was expected to be 80 percent.</p>

<p style=3D"line-height:24px;font-size:1.2em;margin:0px 0px 1em">There were=
 some hiccups. At West Fourth Street, unexpected third-rail and switch prob=
lems delayed the return of the D, F and M trains. As the authority prepared=
 to bring the G train back this week, a transformer blew, keeping the train=
 offline for the morning rush hour on Wednesday. There were still service g=
aps on the N train, the A train in Far Rockaway and the R line, among other=
s.</p>

<p style=3D"line-height:24px;font-size:1.2em;margin:0px 0px 1em">On Thursda=
y morning, inside his office, Mr. Lhota checked his BlackBerry often, hopin=
g for an update on the L train. Moments later, he placed a call to Howard B=
. Glaser, Mr. Cuomo=92s director of state operations, whom he wanted to bri=
ef on the Queens-Midtown Tunnel.</p>

<p style=3D"line-height:24px;font-size:1.2em;margin:0px 0px 1em">The tunnel=
 could open Friday, he told Mr. Glaser, remarking that Mr. Bloomberg, =93li=
ke an idiot,=94 had predicted publicly that the tunnel might open over the =
weekend. =93He=92s making it up,=94 he said, after a brief hail of profanit=
y in which Mr. Lhota wondered aloud who, exactly, Mr. Bloomberg had been ta=
lking to.</p>

<p style=3D"line-height:24px;font-size:1.2em;margin:0px 0px 1em">=93It=92s =
wrong,=94 he told Mr. Glaser. =93It=92s just wrong.=94</p><p style=3D"line-=
height:24px;font-size:1.2em;margin:0px 0px 1em">Mr. Lhota also spoke of the=
 L line=92s importance, as if his audience needed convincing.</p>

<p style=3D"line-height:24px;font-size:1.2em;margin:0px 0px 1em">=93You kno=
w who knows where the L train goes?=94 he barked into the phone. =93All the=
 hipsters in Williamsburg.=94</p><p style=3D"line-height:24px;font-size:1.2=
em;margin:0px 0px 1em">

The BlackBerry buzzed on the table in front of him. He grabbed it quickly, =
then put it back. No good news yet on the L, he said. Hours later, that wou=
ld change. =93Ladies and Gentlemen,=94 he wrote on Twitter. =93The L train =
is back. Enjoy your trip home tonight.=94</p>

<div style=3D"margin-bottom:2.8em"></div><span style=3D"color:rgb(51,51,51)=
;font-size:13.600000381469727px;font-family:Georgia,serif"></span><br style=
=3D"color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Georgia,serif;font-size:13.600000381469=
727px">

<center style=3D"color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Georgia,serif;font-size:13=
.600000381469727px"></center></div>
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