How bad is the 7?

The 7, the 24-hour miracle

The 7 is the purple line from Times Square all the way out to Flushing–Main Street in Queens — the one line that runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week, straight to the heart of one of the most-used subway branches on earth. It's the only line that travels the full breadth of the revitalized West Side, under Times Square, and out past Sunnyside, Jackson Heights, Woodside, and Corona before landing in Flushing.

The 7 is famous for being the only line where 'the 7 is having a day where it's actually the 7' is a genuine compliment — the running joke on social media every time it runs on time. It's the line of the Mets, of the U.S. Open in Queens, and of Citi Field, and it's the transit spine of one of the fastest-growing stretches of New York.

Rider well-knowns: at Hunters Point Avenue the 7 comes above ground and suddenly the ride turns into a scenic tour of the East River and Queens' postwar skyline. The 7's terminal at Flushing is not only busy but serves a corridor where ridership numbers break the curves — it's routinely the highest-ridership route in the system. And when it's good, it's gloriously good: a 7 that skips the occasional local west of Times Square gets you from Queens to Manhattan faster than most express lines.

The 7 is the line of big events and big dreams, and it carries itself that way. It can be crowded and it can be noisy, but a 7 that's on time is the friendliest train in the system — and on a good day, it really is.