BUSHWICK — After months of quiet from the MTA since news first broke that the L train could fully shut down between Brooklyn and Manhattan for more than a year, the agency has finally committed to come before the public in early May, according to a local politician who met with the agency last week.
"We are working with the MTA to secure a location for the first town hall in Brooklyn," said state Assemblyman Joseph Lentol. "We are hopeful that the town hall will take place in the first week of May.”
The public meeting is expected to be held in the evening so as many concerned commuters and business owners can attend as possible, staffers involved in its planning said.
"They intend to make recommendations to the community and ask for community feedback," Lentol said.
MTA spokesman Kevin Ortiz declined to offer more specifics about the upcoming meeting.
"We’ll be releasing details in the near future," Ortiz said.
The MTA has said that it needs to repair damage done to the Canarsie Tube, which connects Manhattan and Brooklyn along the L train line, during Hurricane Sandy.
The agency is considering a number of options for an L train shutdown including a full, 18-month closure of the Canarsie Tube or a partial shutdown where workers repair one tunnel at a time, which could last for three years.
A shutdown of the Canarsie Tube may also affect all crosstown L trains in Manhattan according to recent reports, and city planners are suggesting that 14th Street should be shut off to private vehicles and reserved for buses, bikes and pedestrians during that time.