We thought we’d never say this. We’d actually like to deal with a train collision on the Red Line more than endure the transit crisis our colleagues in New York are dealing with. Because of a homeless man who apparently caused a fire that took out 600 electrical relays that control the busy Eighth Avenue Line, train service is being delayed, reduced and eliminated. The repairs could take as long as five years and subway travel between Manhattan and Brooklyn will be severely hampered, with one train, the C, suspended indefinitely. Life along Eighth Avenue will generally suck.

Now, this incident affects nearly 600,000 passengers. That’s comparable to the number of passengers WMATA’s metrorail carries on an average weekday. Fortunately, because many of New York’s subway lines are interconnected, train service can be rerouted with — and we say this with caution — relative ease. It’d be nice if D.C.’s metrorail system had such advantages, but alas, it seems to be suffering from atherosclerosis.

So to those who don’t drive, do you know how to navigate around metrorail and bus problems when they happen?

In case you’re doing any travel to New York via Penn Station or the Port Authority Bus Terminal, the A between Brooklyn and Washington Heights, Manhattan, will run reduced service on the local tracks (uggh…), with some reroutings to the F line between Greenwich Village and downtown Brooklyn. There is no C train service, but in Brooklyn, V trains will replace the C. Confused? Be sure to check out the latest transit advisories at mta.info so you aren’t caught off guard when you arrive.