The Regional Plan Association was granted $20,000 for advocacy work around the closure of the L-train, set to happen in 2019. The NYC subway line, which serves 225,000 every weekday between Manhattan and Brooklyn, needs to be closed in order for repairs to the tunnels under the East River, damaged by Superstorm Sandy. The MTA has decided it will fully close the line between Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn and 8th Avenue in Manhattan for a period of 18-months to undertake these repairs. The closure is a crisis and will be very difficult on L-train riders, but it provides a rare opportunity for transit advocates to win reforms that they have been seeking for decades. These includes ambitious bus rapid transit and street configuration/traffic calming projects.