Every borough has its designated joke, and Brooklyn's runs on four cars between Court Square and Church Avenue. Comedians mock it. Transit officials sideline it. Even its own riders describe it the way you'd describe a cousin who means well. I would like to propose something radical: the G train is good, and we have been ungrateful.

Consider what the G actually does. It is the only line in the system that never touches Manhattan, which means it is the only line built on the premise that Brooklyn and Queens are destinations rather than origins. Greenpoint to Fort Greene without a transfer at some Manhattan mezzanine: that is not a consolation prize. That is the future every transit planner claims to want, running every eight minutes, mostly on time, since before it was fashionable.

Yes, the cars are short and the platform sprint is a borough-wide cardio program. But ridership is up double digits since 2023 and the line now carries more weekend riders than several lines we are told to take seriously.

Real respect means real investment: full-length trains, modern signals, and public officials who ride it somewhere other than a press conference. The G has spent decades being the punchline of a system that couldn't function without it. The joke, it turns out, was on us.