The “summer of hell” is officially underway for commuters who use Penn Station to get in and out of New York City.
From service cancellations to rerouting to more riders on less New Jersey Transit and Long Island Rail Road rains, it is sure to be a hellish two months indeed as Amtrak shuts down three of Penn Station’s 21 tracks at a time for repair work.
As a way for the thousands of affected commuters to avoid the inevitable headaches they will face while the work continues through Sept. 1, MTA Chairman Joe Lhota suggested on Sunday that they “try to come in earlier — or later if your job allows it.”
Another way they can cope is by sharing their grief and horror stories on social media, and that they did. Here are a few of our favorites thus far:
#summerofhell lets go all in & play @themisfits ‘All Hell Breaks Loose’ on a continuous loop in Penn Station to soundtrack the chaos & riots pic.twitter.com/cDP9WXBLzf
— Shannon O’Neill (@shavostorm) July 10, 2017
This is me trying to figure out how I’m getting to Penn Station this morning. #lirr #summerofhell pic.twitter.com/PsvL4xhZgC
— tet chajé (@lamagnifiquex) July 10, 2017
Penn Station smelled like smoke and burning metal this morning. Either a fire or Satan reclaiming his property. @LIRR @MTA #summerofhell
— Guy Gardino (@guygardino) July 10, 2017
Did everyone stay home today? Because commute to penn station was actually on time and a few min early. #summerofhell #itsatrap
— Tony Buser (@tbuser) July 10, 2017
To commemorate the first day of the Summer of Hell, Penn Station’s Pret a Manger has been renamed Pret a Mangler.
— Fake MTA (@FakeMTA) July 10, 2017
Pleasant ride into Penn Station today for day 1 of #summerofhell ???. No way this can go wrong now right? #speakingtoosoon pic.twitter.com/ztMMGm4EJb
— Chris Camp (@Chris_Camp_) July 10, 2017
One NJ Transit rider Metro spoke with who asked not to be named said that he was switching from his regular train to a bus to “avoid Penn Station at all costs,” and said he was going to be working from home a lot more now that the repair work is underway.
For complete info on service changes at Penn Station, visit NJ Transit, LIRR or Amtrak.
If you have a particular horror story you’d like to share about Penn Station’s “summer of hell,” please email nikki.mascali@metro.us.
