I'm sleepily writing this post after basketball tryouts, so I'm exhausted and please forgive any typos that may come up. Earlier this evening, I heard that the MTA is shutting down train service to the Rockaways for 4 months from January 17 to May 19, 2025.
During this shutdown, (A) trains will terminate at Howard Beach-JFK Airport in both directions, and the Rockaway Park Shuttle trains will not run at all. The MTA stated that they are doing this to repair bridges that were extensively damaged during Hurricane Sandy, which I could definitely see.
Now, the Rockaways is the undoubtedly the least used portion of the New York City Subway, but it did come as a surprise, and it will still affect over 9,000 riders, and for many of them, the subway is one of the only modes of transportation into Manhattan. They will be running free Q97 busses from Howard Beach to Far Rockaway, and free Q109 busses from Howard Beach to Beach 67 St and Beach 90 St. They also said that "enhanced train service for LIRR is being considered."