J, M riders face five weekends of commuting misery as MTA cuts Manhattan connection

J is for just and M is miserable.The MTA is forcing J and M train riders into a slog this fall, removing their direct connection to Manhattan for five weekends as workers replace track equipment near Marcy Avenue.Shuttle buses will replace both trains between Myrtle Avenue-Broadway in Brooklyn and Essex Street in Manhattan, and J trains will only run between Jamaica Center and Myrtle Avenue-Broadway as crews replace track switches, according to the MTA.“The switches were last replaced in 1997 and are critical for connecting Williamsburg, Bushwick, Bedford-Stuyvesant, East New York, Ozone Park, and Jamaica in Brooklyn and Queens with Lower Manhattan,” the MTA said on its website.

Riders should brace for the commuting chaos Oct.17-18, Oct.

24-25, Nov.7-9, Nov.

13-16 and Nov.20-23.The cuts will leave four Brooklyn stations without train service: Flushing Avenue, Lorimer Street, Hewes Street and Marcy Avenue.M trains will still run in Queens and parts of Brooklyn, but won’t enter Manhattan during the five affected weekends.The remaining M trains will run every 20 minutes and be split into two sections.

One will run between Metropolitan Avenue and Myrtle-Wyckoff with riders continuing toward Myrtle Avenue-Broadway having to switch to another M train at Myrtle-Wyckoff.On its website the MTA urged riders to use other subway lines, including the L at Myrtle-Wyckoff and the A, C or L at Broadway Junction, to reach Manhattan. Some riders traveling from Jamaica could take the E instead....