Trains on the 7 line moving in and out of the new station on Manhattan's Far West Side are finally packed with riders. However, as NY1’s Jose Martinez reported, these are not your everyday straphangers.
This Chewbacca does not need his spaceship, the Millenium Falcon - not when Chewy can take the 7 train into the new space-age station across from where from this weekend's Comic Con is being held.
"I heard something, it's going to be really futuristic, which is pretty exciting," he said.
The cavernous station at 34th Street and 11th Avenue has seen a trickle of commuter traffic since it opened last month, a paltry 7,000 riders every weekday.
But this weekend, it's getting broken-in by the likes of General Zod, Captain America and Naruto and Choji - some of the tens of thousands of wannabe superheroes swarming to the Javits Center,
It finally looks like a rush hour. Destination: Fantasy Land.
Previously, not even superpowers could make getting to the far-flung convention center easy.
"We used to call it the Con Walk, where you literally had to walk like almost point seven miles just to even get here,” said one straphanger. “And I have a bad knee, so this is actually even better."
"I would take the train to either 42nd Street or Penn Station and then walk,” said another. “But it was kind of a pain depending on what type of costume you have. But this makes it a lot more convenient."
Javits Center officials say the four-day gathering offers a hint of what's to come once the area around the new station develops.
“To have something like the 7 line has really been a tremendous opportunity for us," Javits Center spokesman Tony Sclafani said.
Riders who wouldn't be caught dead at Comic Con didn't seem to mind all the costumed craziness on their trains.
"I think it's awesome,” said one non-costumed commuter. “I think that if you have the time and you can, go be a part of the city. And if you're like me, you can go to school."
By the time Comic Con ends Sunday at 5 p.m., organizers expect to have welcomed 150 thousand-plus visitors to the Javits Center, with a good chunk of them traveling through the new station.