NYC subway lines a mess heading into Thursday afternoon rush hour: 'I feel angry'

Subway service across New York City faced catastrophic delays on Thursday — with issues continuing as the afternoon rush hour approach — a problem that was made worse by torrential downpour across the city.

The problems began in the morning when a power outage near the West Fourth Street station in Manhattan disrupted service on multiple subway lines for the second time this week, according to the MTA.

B and C train service was suspended, while the A, D, F and M trains were running with delays in both directions, the transit agency said.

The problems continued into the evening rush, when a the National Weather Service issued a flood watch across the city while thunderstorms rolled in.

MTA officials said Thursday afternoon that a backup transformer, installed at West Fourth earlier this week to resolve the first outage, is what broke Thursday.

Officials said crews were on the scene addressing the issue, and Gothamist reporters saw workers inspecting tunnel signals near West Fourth Street. An MTA spokesperson said the meltdown was still being investigated but was caused by a power failure affecting subway signals, the same issue behind a similar debacle Tuesday.

The transit agency advised riders to check its app or website to see the latest service information.

But for scores of commuters stuck on the platforms on another broiling morning, it was already too late.

“What are you supposed to do? I feel angry,” Maria Cava, 42, said at the West Fourth Street station on her way to work at a Manhattan hotel. She said she had been delayed for about an hour commuting.

Albero Ciecedo, 45, said he was running late to his job as a handyman in Coney Island, but his boss told him “don’t worry, it’s New York, it’s the MTA, all the time it’s problems, problems.”

“This system needs renovation, something’s wrong,” he said.

Michael Tantala, a 48-year-old engineer who lives in Pennsylvania and was in the city for an MTA-related development project in Brooklyn, said he had waited about 45 minutes for a train to show up at West Fourth Street.

“They keep extending the time that it takes to get here by 2 minutes, and you get hope that the next train’s going to come, and it just gets extended and extended,” he said.

This is a developing story and has been updated with additional information. Stephen Nessen and Andrew Giambrone contributed reporting.