When I was a kid, that might have worked -- the G stopped at Queens Plaza (with local service all the way to Continental Ave.), so you could take an E or F down Queens Boulevard, make a quick transfer, and be on your way. Sadly, the MTA seems to have it in for the G; the line now terminates at Court Sq., the trains are shorter than before (which was already shorter than other lines), and some of the stations are in very poor shape.
Also worth mentioning is the J, which is mostly a Brooklyn/Queens train.
The J barely goes into Queens, only at the very end does it have half a dozen stops in Woodhaven and Jamaica. Someone below mentions the L which as far as I know has no Queens stops, and the the M which does actually serve Middle village directly from Brooklyn but otherwise requires a giant loop through Manhattan.
This issue is near and dear to my heart, I live in Woodside but I have close friends in Park Slope. By car it's a straight shot down the BQE -- 20 - 30 minutes depending on traffic. When all the subways are running, I can take the 7 to the G and it's an hour and fifteen minute trip. But both the 7 and the G have terrible weekend schedules so if I wanted to go right now, I'd have to take the 7 to the Q and go through all of Manhattan and it'd take more like an hour and a half. Or I could take three buses and hope that scheduled connections actually happen.
If the timing works out it can sometimes make sense to take commuter rail from Woodside-Jamaica-Atlantic Terminal though that's more expensive and you have to buy a ticket at the counter because the machines can't figure it out.
As an interim measure they should put a couple of express buses going north south -- one could go from the 74th Jackson Heights station down the BQE to the Lorimer stop on the L and then continue on to the Atlantic Terminal. Another could link the Middle village terminus of the M to the M (and R, F, E) at Queens Blvd with a second stop along the 7. The long term solution is more lines. We should be doing that instead of spending billions on silly prestige projects like the new Penn Station they want to build.
BTW last time I took the rail from Jamaica to Atlantic terminal (this summer) I bought a ticket from one of the machines without much complication. Did they somehow break it?
Jamaica to Atlantic is fine it's when you want to go from Woodside to Atlantic via Jamaica (i.e. east to go west) that the ticket machines have a problem.
They're trying to change things around. The G has been getting attention lately due to the population explosion in Williamsburg/Greenpoint. You'll have to ask someone that rides it every day, though. The J connects, but through Manhattan. Another mention is the East River Ferry which connects Dumbo, Williamsburg, Greenpoint and LIC. Still a far cry from connecting the rest of the boroughs, though.
Not really related, but your comment reminds me of a fantastic exchange from a Seinfeld ep, with Kramer advising Jerry on how to get to Coney Island.
Kramer: Ok, you can take the B or the F and switch for the N at Broadway Lafayette, or you can go over the bridge to DeKalb and catch the Q to Atlantic Avenue, then switch to the IRT 2, 3, 4 or 5.
But don't get on the G. See, that's very tempting, but you'll wind up on Smith and 9th, then you've got to get on the R.
Elaine: ... Couldn't he just take the D straight to Coney Island?
I've had relationships fall apart because of the four mile G problem. To round it up, Court Square to the Park Slope areas is easily an hour when waiting for trains to arrive. Two hours round trip is why I left the Bay Area transit wasteland for cripessake.
Honest reply: at that time, I lived two houses down from the Court Square E/M/G/7 station and 0.3 miles away from an N/Q stop (and another 0.2 miles away from an E/M/R), so everything was pretty much right there.
Checking in to say that I rode the G once from park slope to Williamsburg for a "quick dinner." The ride took over an hour each way. That's when I decided to never ride it again.
