"If You Miss the 'A' Train"

You won't be alone for a long time, thanks to a homeless person trying to stay warm.

The disruptions of subway service, and dislocations for hundreds of thousands of commuters, caused by a devastating electrical fire under Church Street will probably last for years to come, officials said yesterday.

The fire, which raged from early Sunday afternoon into the evening, short-circuited wiring in a crucial signal-relay control room at the station at Chambers Street in Lower Manhattan.

Officials are investigating the fire as an act of arson. It started after a homeless man ignited a shopping cart containing wood and garbage, according to a press report.

....transit officials warned that service on the A and C lines may be disrupted for three to five years and cost millions of dollars in repairs.

Transit officials said service on the A line will be slashed by more than half for the next couple of weeks while repairs are made to the signal room. Until signal transmission can be completely restored, the A train will be the only line to service the station and may not return to full service for up to a year, leaving hundreds of thousands of commuters in East New York and Ocean Hill-Brownsville to cram into crowded trains.

Not as Billy Strayhorn meant it, but You'll find you... miss... the quickest way to Harlem.