The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is gearing up for an event-filled weekend June 8-9 with tens of thousands of customers expected to take the train to Belmont Stakes and 116^th Street Abrazo Fraternal Festival on Saturday, and the National Puerto Rican Day Parade on Sunday.

 

With extra service being offered on the LIRR and traffic congestion anticipated, New Yorkers are encouraged to take mass transit to all the events.

 

As in past years, the MTA Police remind customers that they will enforce a system wide alcohol ban for the duration of the weekend.

 

 

The LIRR will operate 21 eastbound trains to Belmont Park between 9:37 a.m. and 4:55 p.m., most of them direct from Penn Station. Customers traveling from Brooklyn, Woodside and stations on Long Island can connect with Belmont trains at Jamaica. Full train service details are available at this special timetable: http://web.mta.info/lirr/Timetable/BelmontStakes2019.pdf

 

Return LIRR trains depart from Belmont Park at 4:19 p.m., 5:05 p.m., 5:19 p.m., 5:45 p.m. and 6:35 p.m. Then, immediately following the Belmont Stakes and continuing until Belmont Park closes, trains will depart approximately every 15 minutes to Jamaica and Penn Station, with connections at Jamaica available to Atlantic Terminal and points east. LIRR personnel will be assigned at key locations to assist customers.

 

To allow for the extra train service, Hempstead Branch trains will operate every two hours, instead of hourly, in both directions between 3 p.m. and 10 p.m. on Saturday, June 8, and buses will substitute for eastbound trains at Queens Village and Hollis from 9:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Full details are in this special Hempstead Branch timetable.

 

 

This year’s National Puerto Rican Day Parade will be held on Sunday, June 9 between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m.  The parade route runs up Fifth Avenue from 44^th Street to 79^th Street. The 77 St 6 station will be exit only from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Customers seeking service from this station will be directed to the 68 St 6, 86 St 456, 72 St MQ or 86 St MQ stations.  For a list of subway stations closest to the parade route, click here. 

 

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, M55, M57, M66, M72, M79 SBS, SIM1c, SIM3c, SIM4c, SIM33c, X27, X28, BxM2, BxM3, BxM4, BxM6, BxM7, BxM8, BxM9, BxM10, BxM11, Q32, QM2, QM4, QM5 and QM6.    

 

To help customers reach the parade, the Long Island Rail Road is adding three trains on the Ronkonkoma Branch, which has a second track between Farmingdale and Ronkonkoma that was completed last summer. The special trains will depart from Ronkonkoma at 10:16 a.m., 11:16 a.m., and 12:16 p.m. to Penn Station. After the parade, the LIRR is adding three extra return trains departing Penn Station at 4:29 p.m., 5:29 p.m., and 6:29 p.m.

 

A special LIRR Ronkonkoma Branch timetable noting the additional service is here. The full branch timetable with regular service is available here

 

 

This weekend’s celebration of Puerto Rican heritage begins on Saturday, June 8, with the 116^th Street Abrazo Fraternal Festival which will be held from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. along 116^th Street between Lexington and Second Avenues and on Third Avenue between 106^th and 122^nd Streets.

 

On Saturday, the 116 St 6 station will be exit only from noon to 5 p.m. in order to prevent overcrowding on stairways and platforms. Customers wishing to enter at 116 St will be redirected to nearby 6 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, BxM1, BxM6, BxM7, BxM8, BxM9, BxM10 and BxM11.  For a list of subway stations closest to the festival, click here.

 

As a reminder, some subway lines do not run on weekends and some trains will be rerouted due to pre-scheduled maintenance and upgrade work in our efforts to maintain and upgrade tracks, signals, stations and other infrastructure throughout subway system. As a reminder, each weekend until Summer 2020, L trains will run every 20 minutes between Brooklyn and Manhattan, and every 10 minutes within Brooklyn, days and evenings. NYC Transit encourages customers to take advantage of extensive and robust options in its alternative service plan for quicker travel or to avoid crowds.  Click here for more information on the project. 

   

Spectators are advised to allow additional travel time and use the MYmta app or MTA.info for trip planning and real-time train and bus arrival estimates.