This weekend’s celebration of Puerto Rican heritage begins on Saturday, June 10 with the 116^th Street Abrazo Fraternal Festival which will be held from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. along 116^th Street between Lexington and 2nd Avenues and on 3rd Avenue between 106^th and 122^nd Streets.  The 116^th Street Festival can attract up to 50,000 people at any one time, and overall attendance for the day could reach upwards of 100,000.

On Saturday, the 116 St  station will be “exit only” from noon to 5:00 p.m. in order to prevent overcrowding on stairways and platforms.  Customers wishing to enter at 116 St will be redirected to nearby  line stations on Lexington Avenue at 110 St and 125 St.  In addition, the following New York City Transit and MTA Buses will skip stops located within the festival area during the event:  M101, M102, M103, M116, BxM1, BxM6, BxM7, BxM8, BxM9, BxM10 and BxM11.

This year’s National Puerto Rican Day Parade will be held on Sunday, June 11 between 11:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.  The parade route runs up Fifth Avenue from 44^th Street to 79^th Street.  The 77 St  station will be “exit only” from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.  Customers seeking service from this station will be directed to the  line’s 68 St or 86 St stations.  Parade-goers may use Fifth Avenue stations on the  and  lines.  Additionally, NYC Transit will increase subway service on the  and  to accommodate spectators.

The following NYC Transit and MTA Buses will take customers to the parade area, however stops along the parade route will be skipped on the:  M1, M2, M3, M4, M5, M31, M50, M57, M66, M72, Q32, BxM2, BxM3, BxM4, BxM6, BxM7, BxM8, BxM9, BxM10, BxM11, QM2, QM4, QM5, QM6, X1, X10 and X17.

Spectators should check our website at www.mta.info for Current Service Status on any MTA mode of travel that they plan to use.  TripPlanner+ provides travel information that takes weekend service diversions into account.  Customers can also use our OnTheGo mobile service at http://onthego.mta.info for travel updates.  In addition, customers can receive customized subway and bus status e-mails and text messages delivered to them by signing at https://www.mymtaalerts.com