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2021 TCS New York City Marathon: Service changes

Everything you need to know about how the NYC Marathon may affect your commute.
Updated November 2, 2021 1:27 p.m.
Runners on a bridge.
Photo: Metropolitan Transportation Authority/Patrick Cashin

Event details

When: Sunday, November 7, 2021, beginning at 8:30 a.m.

New York City’s five-borough marathon starts on Staten Island at the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, and continues through Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Manhattan to the finish line in Central Park.

You can find more information, including a list of recommended viewing spots, on the TCS New York City Marathon website.

Service changes that may affect your trip

Subways and buses

There will be numerous diversions affecting buses operating along or crossing the marathon route. Check information for your bus route and planned detours on our homepage or the MYmta app before heading out.  

On race day, runners traveling Staten Island by ferry can take the subway to South Ferry  or Whitehall St   stations, then walk to the Whitehall Ferry Terminal. (Please note that there will be no   service between Brooklyn and Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall.) In order to prevent overcrowding on stairways and platforms at subway stations, some stairways may be designated as “entrance or exit only.” Additional NYC Transit personnel will be available to assist customers at these subway locations.

Use the MTA Live Subway Map to check your subway route before heading out.

Bridges and Tunnels

The Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge will close to all vehicular traffic between 7 a.m. and 4 p.m. Drivers traveling to Brooklyn or Staten Island via the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge must use alternate routes. On Saturday, Nov. 6, the upper level of the bridge will be closed to traffic in both directions beginning at 11 p.m. to allow for roadway preparation. Over-dimensional vehicles and vehicles containing hazardous materials will not be permitted to cross the bridge in either direction once that closure takes place. The Bay Street and Lily Pond Avenue exits in Staten Island will close at 3 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 7, and reopen at 4 p.m.

Motorists can call the Verrazzano-Narrows Marathon Traffic Hotline at (718) 692-5656 to hear information about the closures.

Contact us

For real-time service updates and information, participants, spectators and motorists can use the following options: 

  • Check new.mta.info or the MYmta app for updates, including modified emergency schedules. 
  • Follow @MTA and the MTA’s operating agencies on Twitter.  
  • Sign up for text message or email alerts at mymtaalerts.com.