The #5 Train and Its Contradictions

Sharpen up, you folks who can barely read a map, folks who can’t take direction, folks who have no business traveling by themselves, and lastly, tourists. If you don’t retain this information quickly, you will literally reach the end of the line, the subway line, in some remote neighborhood after the sun has gone down in New York City.

To the discerning subway rider, a thorough perusal of a subway map is sufficient enough to get a grasp of how mass transit runs throughout the five boroughs of New York City, especially for the lucky commuters who only travel from top to bottom in Manhattan. However, if you ever get the urge or the need to travel to the outer boroughs, it doesn’t matter how adroit you are at reading a map; riding the #5 train line will test your transit map IQ and probably your patience as well.

HARD, COLD FACTS TO DIGEST NOW: there are two #5 train routes. Shocked? Well, get over it. Both trains travel through Brooklyn, Manhattan and the Bronx. Both trains run on the east side of Manhattan. Northbound trains are called Eastchester-Dyre Avenue or Nereid Avenue, the last stop in the Bronx on each line. Southbound trains are called Crown Heights-Flatbush or Eastern Parkway Express. During midday hours, both #5 trains terminate at the Bowling Green stop in lower Manhattan when traveling from uptown. Only during rush hour do both trains travel their complete routes from Brooklyn to the Bronx and vice versa, just in time for the sardine commute. Unfortunately, during late nights, the Eastchester-Dyre Avenue line runs between Dyre Avenue and E. 180th Street only. The Nereid Avenue line stops running.

IF ONLY YOU WERE RICH. YOU COULD AVOID ALL THIS CONFUSION BY TAKING A TAXI OR LIMOUSINE TO YOUR DESTINATION.
If you’re traveling from Brooklyn headed for any stops in Manhattan and you board the Eastchester-Dyre Avenue #5 or the Nereid Avenue #5, you’re fine, but let’s say you decide to travel further north. You’re standing on an uptown subway platform. The overhead sign says Bronx-bound 5 train to Dyre Avenue and 5 train to Nereid Avenue. Which train should you board?

Well, it depends on where you want to go and what time of day you want to travel. Most tourists want to check out the Bronx zoo. Luckily, a few options exist for this site-seeing venture. Take the Eastchester-Dyre Avenue #5 to the East Tremont Avenue/West Farms Square stop. You can also take the Nereid Avenue #5 train to the same stop for access to the zoo. From 9:00am to 4:00pm, unless otherwise noted by NYC Transit Authority, both trains make local stops in the Bronx. However, if you’re traveling during rush hour-- 4:00pm to 7:00pm-- the Nereid Avenue and the Eastchester-Dyre Avenue trains make express stops in the Bronx heading north, so it pays to AVOID riding uptown during this time to minimize chances of being squished into the train by Bronx-bound commuters heading home after a long day at work and missing your stop.

If you’re trying to get out of the Bronx, south-bound trains make local stops during rush hour. Weird, huh? **Please refer to a transit map for more details, especially quirky service changes during late night hours. **Yankees fans, take the #5 train to 149th Street-Grand Concourse and transfer to the #4 train to Yankee Stadium.

RETURNING TO YOUR STARTING POINT IN THE BRONX TO HEAD FURTHER NORTH
East 180th Street is where the perennial fork in the train track occurs. This is where the curious and the determined must decide which direction to take.

I advise you to pay close attention at this train station, as sensory overload occurs here on a daily basis, and it may affect how you get to where you’re going. An unseen announcer blares out directions and updates at this outdoor train station from some overhead office with loud speakers hanging over the platform. In fact, you can sometimes hear the announcer tapping the microphone first, to see if it works, before he makes his all important transit announcements. “The next uptown 5 train is five minutes away.....” or “the train on the middle track is going to Dyre Avenue.,” information that is of little consolation to passengers who have been waiting for half an hour already. Watch commuters who exit or board these trains with angry, annoyed expressions on their faces as the MTA tries to clean up messy rush hour delays which seems like an impossible task since three train routes converge at this stop.

The Eastchester-Dyre Avenue line, the Nereid Avenue line and the #2 to Wakefield. All three lines travel on the uptown and downtown tracks. It’s the middle track that may cause some confusion.

The Nereid Avenue bound #5 train runs to the north and west of East 180th Street along White Plains Road, a major roadway lined with businesses and shops. The last stop on this train line will put you near the Wakefield area of the Bronx. The #2 train which runs on the west side in Manhattan, runs on the same line in the Bronx as the Nereid Avenue train but goes one stop further to Wakefield. Weird!

The Eastchester-Dyre Avenue #5 train travels to the north and east of East 180th Street. Often, this train arrives on the middle track. Usually, the announcer will state if it’s a shuttle train traveling back and forth from Dyre Avenue to East 180th Street or if it’s traveling on the complete route. If a train arrives on the middle track heading uptown, you must pay close attention. Read the train’s electronic signs to see if its going to Eastchester-Dyre Avenue or Nereid Avenue. As an extra precaution, wait for the overhead announcer AND the train conductor to confirm its true destination because there have been times when the overhead guy says one thing but the train goes in a different direction or no announcements were made and passengers who didn’t want to go the Eastchester-Dyre Avenue route found themselves riding back to E. 180th Street vexed as ever!

The Dyre Avenue line is off to itself in sort of an isolated area without convenient cross transportation options available, therefore it is imperative that if you do not want to access this area but you find yourself getting off at one of the stops anyway, be prepared to do additional walking as you attempt to find an alternate route. However, if you do find yourself on the Eastchester-Dyre Avenue line and you get off at any stop after E. 180th Street, believe it or not, there are a plethora of businesses around to occupy your time, but be prepared to walk, take buses and cabs to get around, as this is more of a residential area where people rely on cars.

Food, clothing and shelter is available at Co Op City and Bay Plaza where shopping for a home and all the objects to put in each room are concentrated in this area. Some of the major department stores are located here, and at least four train stops on this line give you access to Baychester, Co Op City and Eastchester neighborhoods:
1) Pelham Parkway--#12 bus takes you directly to the Bay Plaza shopping district
2) Gun Hill Road--#28 bus takes you to Co Op City and Bay Plaza
3) Baychester Avenue--close proximity to Co Op City
4) Eastchester-Dyre Avenue--close proximity to Co Op City
**Please refer to transit map for additional travel options at each stop.

DON’T GET STUCK WITHOUT COMFORTABLE SHOES!
Get off at any stop after East 180th Street on the Nereid Avenue line and you will not be hard pressed to find amenities within a reasonable walking distance from the train station which is not the case with the Eastchester-Dyre Avenue line, but even if you don’t want to walk but you’re desirous to peruse shops along White Plains Road, a bus line travels this route, thus affording you the views without the hassle for a mere free train to bus transfer.

Should you smile, thinking of the aforementioned positives for riding the #5 Eastchester-Dyre Avenue line? This is a complex train line with two faces. You must get to know it well before you can render an honest opinion.

If you work in upper Manhattan, i. e., above 96th Street, and you ride the #5 Dyre Avenue line, as New Yorkers call it, you literally can get to your workplace in under 45 minutes coming from the Bronx and sometimes within 30 minutes. Train service is excellent during rush hour, as this line has only four stops from the beginning of the line before it runs express from East 180th Street to Third Avenue, skipping several stops. Barring service delays, sick passengers or other unforeseen obstacles, the train flies through the Bronx, although it gets packed to the gills with some mean looking commuters at the Gun Hill Road stop, and it stays that way until it reaches lower Manhattan, so forget about being comfortable but don’t forget to wear comfortable shoes, bring your iPod and something to read. Riders coming from Brooklyn enjoy the luxury of express service in Manhattan.

On the weekends, the ugly truth comes out. The Eastchester-Dyre Avenue line evaporates, replaced by an ugly monster with no discernable train schedule. For several weekends in a row, from month to month this line shuts down, replaced by shuttle train service or bus service that runs from Eastchester-Dyre Avenue to East 180th Street presumably to allow for track work and train maintenance to occur, according to advisories posted in the train stations. Sometimes uptown and downtown trains travel on the same track, running every 30 minutes. When this occurs, it looks as if only one train operates back and forth between Eastchester-Dyre Avenue and East 180th Street, all day. Furthermore, it’s a major inconvenience when the shuttle train arrives on the wrong track at East 180th Street, forcing riders to traverse downstairs, under the platform and back upstairs to board a train heading in their desired direction.

There’s no escaping this looping nonsense, as passenger must wait on the platform at East 180th Street for the down town #2 train which makes local stops to 149th Street-Grand Concourse where riders can pick up the #4 train running down the east side of Manhattan. Be prepared for overcrowding, noise, and excessive walking up and down stairs as you make the transition from one train line to the other jostling along with irate, worn out passengers carrying humongous shopping bags or pushing baby strollers or handling both. You will definitely want to keep money on your person in case you get fed up and decide to skip this cattle roundup and take a taxi to your destination. **Special note to passengers in the Bronx trying to get to Brooklyn on the #5 line on weekends: forget about it! Take the #2 train instead.

The Nereid Avenue line disappears on the weekends. Passengers coming from the neighborhoods serviced by this train must utilize the #2 train which makes the exact same stops as the #5 in the Bronx once it passes East 180th Street but it travels down the west side upon reaching Manhattan. The bottom line: weekend train travel in the Bronx sucks.

GETTING RIPPED OFF!
Go to work during the week and stay home on the weekend or drive your own car! Is this a viable option?

It’s a pity that most New Yorkers who ride the #5 trains use weekly or monthly metro cards thereby paying NYC transit in advance at a full time service rate when they’re actually getting part time service. It’s something to think about the next time you buy a metro card.

C. D. Jackson has been living in the Baychester area of the Bronx for 16 years, getting on at the Gun Hill Road stop on the Eastchester-Dyre Avenue line.