Thanksgiving travel: Here are the NYC mass transit service changes in effect this holiday weekend

The arrival of Thanksgiving means a feast of NYC transit service changes for commuters leaving work early or traveling elsewhere for the four-day weekend.

Here’s what you need to know before you go! 

Subways and buses

On Thursday, Nov. 28, Thanksgiving Day, all MTA New York City Transit subways and buses will operate on a Sunday schedule.

There will be additional service on the 1 train and 42nd Street Shuttle in the early morning.

Those heading to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade Thursday morning should be prepared for the closure of some station entrances and exits along the route will be closed. This includes some entrances at 59 Street-Columbus Circle and select entrances and exits at Penn Station and others along Sixth Avenue .

Bus service in Manhattan may experience delays and will be affected by reroutes, detours or frozen zones, especially those that travel through Midtown near the parade.

Meanwhile, the 79th Street Transverse Road will be closed from noon, Wednesday, Nov. 27, to noon Thursday, Nov. 28 for both the parade and the inlating of balloons on Central Park West. Buses will not be allowed to cross during this time. 

A, C and D trains will not stop at 81 Street-Museum of Natural History on Thursday from 4 to 11 a.m.

Staten Island express buses will follow a Sunday schedule on Thanksgiving Day.

Subways will return to a regular weekday schedule on Friday, Nov. 29. Buses will operate on a reduced schedule that day.

The Staten Island Railway

The Staten Island Railway will operate on a Saturday schedule on Thanksgiving Day. It will return to a regular weekday schedule on Friday.

Long Island Rail Road (LIRR)

The LIRR will operate on a holiday-weekend schedule with extra service before and after the parade, adding 15 additional trains to accommodate customers traveling to and from the parade that day.

The Babylon and Ronkonkoma/Farmingdale branches will get seven extra trains each. The MTA will add one train to the Huntington branch.

The LIRR will resume its regular weekday schedule on Friday, Nov. 29, with lower, off-peak fares in effect all day.  

Metro-North Rail Road

Metro-North will operate a special schedule with extra service before and after the parade on Thanksgiving Day.

On Friday, Metro-North will operate on an enhanced Saturday schedule with additional inbound service in the morning and outbound service in the afternoon “to accommodate commuters and Black Friday shoppers,” the MTA said, with lower off-peak fares in effect all day.  

Amtrak

For New Yorkers planning to travel out of town and visitors coming into the Big Apple, Amtrak is deploying extra cars to its Northeast Regional trains and increasing trip frequencies through Dec. 2 between several popular destinations along the Northeast Corridor (NEC), including Washington, DC, Philadelphia, New York City, and Boston, among others. Visit amtrak.com for details and seat availability.

What to expect on Saturday and Sunday

All subways, buses, the LIRR and the Staten Island Railway will return to their regular weekend schedules on Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 30-Dec. 1.

Metro-North will also operate extra “Shopper Specials” on the New Haven Line into Manhattan in the morning and returning in the late afternoon and evening to “accommodate shoppers and sightseers,” the MTA said. 

For more information about Thanksgiving holiday travel, visit mta.info.