What to Know The MTA offered an unusual reason for subway delays Friday morning; train crew needed a bathroom break

A flurry of rider comments came within the next few minutes, of course -- and they ranged from sad to mad to amused and straight-up meme

It's not clear how often crew bathroom breaks are cause for subway delays; the MTA said the explainer tweet is part of its transparency push

We've all seen more than a few reasons for subway delays in the city -- signal problems, unauthorized people on the tracks, unruly passengers among them -- but on Friday morning, the MTA shared a surprising one: crew bathroom break.



"Jamaica-bound J trains are delayed while our train crew takes a restroom break at Crescent St.," the verified NYCT Subway Twitter account said at 10:23 a.m.

Jamaica-bound J trains are delayed while our train crew takes a restroom break at Crescent St. — NYCT Subway (@NYCTSubway) March 8, 2019

A flurry of rider comments came within the next few minutes, of course -- and they ranged from sad to mad to amused and straight-up meme. A



"Is this real?" wrote one Twitter user.



"Hello boss, I'm late due to the subway operator's explosive diarrhea," wrote another.



Yet another tagged a buddy in his reply tweet to the MTA, writing, "If you're not following this account by this point, you're missing out."

Hello boss, I’m late due to the subway operator’s explosive diarrhea.... — Gwot (@RealGwot) March 8, 2019

At least one Twitter user begged the MTA to err against transparency, at least in this case, saying, "please just go back to calling it 'Train Traffic.'"



The MTA addressed a few of the tweets by acknowledging the humanity of its employees and urging subway riders to do the same.



"Hello. It is frustrating that this happens. While our crews make every effort to do this at the end of the route where it won't affect service (which is what usually happens), they are humans. Sometimes, waiting is not possible."

Hello. It is frustrating that this happens. While our crews make every effort to do this at the end of the route where it won't affect service (which is what usually happens), they are humans. Sometimes, waiting is not possible. We apologize for the delay. ^TS — NYCT Subway (@NYCTSubway) March 8, 2019

It's not clear how often crew bathroom breaks are cause for subway delays. An MTA spokesman confirmed the explainer tweet was part of its effort to increase transparency as it relates to delays.



For what it's worth, the delays had cleared up in less than 10 minutes. And don't forget, you can always get real-time commute updates from all your key transit sources using our module below.