A coalition of more than 30 advocacy organizations, business groups and major destinations — including the New York Mets — is calling on Governor Kathy Hochul, Mayor Zohran Mamdani and MTA Chairman Janno Lieber to restore weekend G train service to Forest Hills, framing the extension as one of the fastest transit wins available to Brooklyn and Queens riders. In a letter sent and made public on February 5, the signatories argued that extending weekend G service would be a transformative improvement for outer-borough residents who they say have long been underserved by a system built around Manhattan commutes, and that riders should not have to wait until 2030, when the next major transit expansion is set to open, for relief.
The coalition, organized in part by the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, said in its letter that the G train has seen remarkable growth since weekend service to Forest Hills was eliminated in 2010, with weekday ridership surging to 166,000 passengers — an increase of 50,000 riders and, the signatories said, one of the fastest growth rates in the entire subway system. “Despite this growth, traveling between Brooklyn and Queens remains unnecessarily difficult,” the letter’s signatories stated. According to the campaign, the signatories include major advocacy groups such as Tri-State Transportation Campaign, Riders Alliance, Transportation Alternatives, New Yorkers for Parks and Open Plans, alongside neighborhood organizations, environmental groups and prominent Queens business entities including the Queens Chamber of Commerce, the Queens Economic Development Corporation and the New York Mets. The coalition pointed to a recent op-ed in Streetsblog NYC making the same case as evidence of growing pressure on the new administration.
The G train push lands amid a busy stretch for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which spent the late winter and spring rolling out new technology, expanding camera enforcement and continuing planning on its marquee outer-borough rail project. On March 25, the MTA’s press office announced the launch of what it called a new, best-in-class MTA app for subway and bus customers, built by the authority’s in-house tech team. According to the MTA, the app shows the real-time position of a train or bus and its estimated arrival time at all future stops, offers live in-app customer support to answer rider questions, and includes refreshed visuals intended to make navigating the transit system easier. In a release tied to the launch, the MTA said Governor Hochul announced the app, describing it as dramatically transforming the user experience with more accurate real-time data on arrival times, transfer information and service changes, and a new accessibility mode that includes a map of accessible stations and easier-to-find elevator and escalator status. The authority said the app was optimized for New York City underground data availability and rebuilt from the ground up, and that it is available in the Apple and Google app stores.
Camera-based enforcement also expanded sharply. The MTA said automated camera enforcement fines began Friday, February 6, on three Brooklyn and Manhattan bus routes, part of the authority’s continued push to keep bus lanes clear. Days later, on February 11, Verra Mobility announced it had finalized a new five-year, $998 million contract with the New York City Department of Transportation to continue managing the city’s automated enforcement camera programs, with an option to extend for an additional five-year term. According to the company, the contract — a 34 percent increase over the 2021 to 2025 contract period — covers the city’s red-light, speed and bus-lane enforcement systems as well as cameras used to enforce weight limits on the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, and takes effect retroactively to January 1, 2026. Verra Mobility, which said it has managed the city’s automated enforcement programs since they were introduced more than 30 years ago, said the new contract will support expanding the red-light safety camera program to 600 signalized intersections, up from 150, following legislation that the company said Governor Hochul signed in 2025 to renew and expand the program. The company credited the broader enforcement effort with contributing to the city’s lowest number of pedestrian deaths in its history.
Planning on the Interborough Express, the proposed light-rail line connecting Brooklyn and Queens along an existing freight right-of-way, continued through the spring. In notices circulated through Brooklyn Community Board 1, the MTA and project staff invited residents to interactive public workshops, including one in Brooklyn on May 13 from 6 to 8 p.m. at Maimonides Medical Center, 4802 10th Ave. According to the outreach, the workshops were meant to build on the MTA’s ongoing engagement and give the public a chance to weigh in on the project’s design, station priorities and train design, and to learn about recent updates. Project staff noted that the environmental review and design phase for the IBX are underway, with a Draft Environmental Impact Statement in progress, and said the workshop flyer was available in multiple languages.
The agency also took stock of its year and its riders. On February 5, the MTA released its 2025 Annual Report, and on April 13 it announced the launch of its Spring 2026 Customers Count survey, the authority’s recurring effort to gather rider feedback on subway, bus and commuter-rail service. The MTA also published its Presidents’ Day service schedule on February 16, advising riders of holiday timetables across its networks.
Throughout the period, the MTA continued its regular cycle of public governance. The authority issued media advisories for joint committee and board meetings held in person and online in late January, late February, March, late April and May, including a joint meeting of board committees and a board meeting tied to May 20. The MTA also flagged a leadership announcement on March 19. The advisories, which the authority routinely distributes ahead of its monthly meetings, give the public and press access to the board’s deliberations on budget, capital projects and service as the agency weighs the kind of outer-borough investments — from the weekend G train to the Interborough Express — that advocates say are overdue.
