The Little Train That Couldn’t Get Any Respect

Another sad chapter in the sorrowful story of the sorely neglected G train:

Straphangers and Transit Authority workers at the Broadway and Flushing Ave. stations said the stench has been unbearable for a month, and that rivers of putrid black water have flown over the tracks.

“It stinks,” said Nilsa Feliciano, 44, at the Flushing Ave. stop, adding that riders run from the trains “to get fresh air.”

“It smells like a thousand bums are living down there,” said straphanger Brian Colas, 18.

“We put air fresheners in [the booth] to keep the smell out,” said Flushing Ave. token booth clerk Darlene McDuffie, who avoids venturing out into the station.

City Department of Environmental Protection officials blamed the stench on a breach in a 54-inch-wide sewer pipe that runs parallel to the train tracks between the stations.

But in two weeks of looking, including with a remote camera, DEP has been unable to pinpoint the source of the leak.

“We’ve not been able to determine exactly where the leak is,” said agency spokeswoman Natalie Millner.

Workers were sent into the pipe yesterday in an effort to locate the damage, she said.

Despite the leak, the pipeline, which carries household wastes and rain water to the Newtown Creek-Greenpoint Sewage Treatment Plant, is operating properly, Millner said.

“We’re aware of it. We’re doing our best to find the source and fix it,” Millner said.

Even so, Transit Authority officials, who said track workers reported the problem several weeks ago, said the DEP hasn’t acted quickly enough.

“The problem still exists,” said TA spokesman James Anyansi. “Maybe [DEP] didn’t realize the urgency of it. It has leaked onto the tracks.”

See also: G Love (And That Special Sprint).