Hellish NYC Commutes Reveal Aging Wires Are No Match for Extreme Heat
Searing temperatures wreak havoc on transit and power lines
New Jersey Transit trains at Hoboken Terminal.
Photographer: Michael Nagle/BloombergLaura Sigman and Diane Laura, marketing executives at a financial services company in midtown Manhattan, have often found their office chitchat this summer turning to the subject of their hellish commutes.
As scorching weather helped trigger power disruptions that touched off massive delays in rail service last month, it took Sigman three hours by subway, bus and Uber to get from work to her home in Asbury Park, New Jersey — a journey that would typically take a fraction of the time if NJ Transit trains were running as normal. Laura spent hours sweating on stifling subway platforms and walking to alternate stations to reach Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, usually about 40 minutes away.