Sounding at times like reciters of out-of-sequence alphabets, commenters at a Tuesday MTA public hearing on proposed subway service changes spoke out about the E, F, R, G, Q, and a new V train.

Roosevelt Island was represented by Judith Berdy of the Roosevelt Island Residents Association (RIRA) Common Council, who pointed out the train crowding that will occur for residents boarding at the Island station because of the F train rerouting. On the other hand, an MTA official points out that F-train service will pass through the Roosevelt Island station every four minutes during peak hours, as opposed to Q service at seven- to eight-minute intervals now.

Berdy also spoke of ongoing confusion with service change signs. "Your signage is abominable," she said. "There must be a way to write comprehensible signs in English and in Spanish so that people know where they're going." To laughter from the audience, she added, "People come out of Roosevelt Island [station], they think they're on Roosevelt Avenue. Lexington Avenue, the orange station, is not Lexington Avenue on 53rd or 59th. There are people lost all over this line every single weekend now. And no one seems to care. There's not a staff member from MTA at any of these stations helping people."

Jeffrey Hochman, another RIRA Common Councilor, also pleaded for clear signs in stations. Explaining that he is the RIRA coordinator for transportation, he said, "I'm not doing a very good job. I'm supposed to tell the Island people what's going on on the subway."

Listening were E. Virgil Conway, MTA Chair; Douglas Sussman, Deputy Director, MTA Government and Community Relations; Lawrence Reuter, MTA President-NYCT; and three board members. The session is the only scheduled public meeting on the proposed changes to be made once the 63rd Street Tunnel Connector is completed in August. Other speakers - individuals, elected officials and representatives of advocacy groups - raised concerns about service frequency, crowding, weekend service for certain areas, and accessibility for people with disabilities.

There was even criticism over the location of the hearing, at Long Island City High School in Queens, which caused a hardship for some attendees, who complained that the school was not easy to find, or not easily accessible via public transportation. (Bus travelers from Roosevelt Island would have had to use two buses; subway riders would have had to transfer once or twice and then take a bus to get to the school.)

Public Advocate Mark Green said: "It's curious that the MTA plans (for now) no other hearings about the extensive subway reroutings that will take place this year." He and other speakers asked for more meetings to give Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Bronx residents the chance to suggest improvements to the proposed service to their areas. He added, "Elected officials and concerned citizens also share these concerns and so I'm distributing a letter to you from 59 elected City officials and groups including the Straphangers Campaign." The latter is an advocacy group for subway riders, part of the New York Public Interest Research Group, or NYPIRG.

Speakers throughout the evening asked for changes including an E line extension to Forest Hills and free MetroCard transfers between the F and Lexington Avenue lines. Individuals also asked for weekend service for the new V train. (The current proposal provides for only weekday service in Queens and Manhattan.) Among them, Rochelle Slovin, Director of the Museum of the Moving Image, argued that the institution, which will be accessible by that line, serves tourists as well as city dwellers from other boroughs. "We're studied and admired worldwide for our innovative exhibitions, adventurous film programs and pioneering work in digital media," she said. She added that of their more than 70,000 visitors every year, 41 percent of them arrive by subway, and efficient service was needed.

Andrew Albert, representing the Straphangers Campaign, also asked for increased express service for the E and F trains, as well as an extension of the G train into Forest Hills. He demanded that MTA representatives meet with local officials representing riders.

Sussman said comments gathered at the hearing will be reviewed before a final recommendation is given to the MTA board for approval, sometime in March.