My 4 Train Broke in Half
A Woodlawn-bound 4 local train leaving the Bronx-bound platform of the 161st Street – Yankee Stadium IRT station, above River Avenue and 161st Street in Highbridge / Concourse, Bronx. (Tdorante10 via Wikimedia)
One of my fellow passengers was right: “You can’t make this shit up.”
3:40 PM EDT on October 20, 2025
I can’t count the number of times I’ve found myself stranded underground on a train stalled between subway stations, bored and testy, with spotty cell service, wondering whether this is the time I’m going to get truly stuck. The train always seems to jolt back to life right as I’m composing a text message catastrophizing the situation, some variation of Fuck I’m sorry I’m going to be late the [insert line here] train is ruining my fucking life lmfao.
On Sunday evening, I was on a sparsely populated Brooklyn-bound 4 train, heading back from an afternoon at Woodlawn Cemetery for a mausoleum tour (shout out to Open House New York!) when things slumped to a familiar halt between 161st Street-Yankee Stadium and 149th Street. An unusually clear announcement informed us that the train was having a mechanical issue. Most people barely looked up from their phones, or bothered to take their headphones out. I went back to reading my copy of “Death in Venice,” and my boyfriend went back to looking at his phone; neither of us really reacted when the same announcement happened again, five or so minutes later. An MTA worker marched through the car, with his radio buzzing. I thought I heard the word “split,” and closed my book. It wasn’t until the third announcement that the entire car perked up.Â
Give us your email to read the full story
Sign up now for our free newsletters.
Great! You’ve successfully signed up.
Welcome back! You’ve successfully signed in.
You’ve successfully subscribed to Hell Gate.
Your link has expired.
Success! Check your email for magic link to sign-in.
Success! Your billing info has been updated.
Your billing was not updated.