Metro

On a roll: Subway ridership highest in 66 years

The last time this many people rode the city’s subways, William O’Dwyer was calling the shots from Gracie Mansion.

More than 1.65 billion straphangers used the system in 2012 — numbers that haven’t been seen since 1946 when ridership was more than 2 billion, according to MTA statistics released yesterday.

Total usage was up nearly 1 percent from 2011, even with a five-day shutdown of the entire system due to Hurricane Sandy.

Officials credit the success to the economy rallying back and a fairly mild winter — virtually free of blizzards that can wreak havoc on the system.

The G train led the way, boasting 2,000 more riders on weekdays thanks in part to the real-estate boom throughout Brooklyn’s hipster havens.

Officials also credited more travel between Queens and Brooklyn due to the newly opened Barclays Center.

Ridership at the Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center station was up almost 800,000 from 2011 with the arrival of the Nets — making it the borough’s busiest station.

It took over the top spot from Jay Street-MetroTech, which remained the most used station Monday through Friday.

Along the A line, the Aqueduct-North Conduit Avenue station had a daily increase of 1,000 riders — mostly gamblers heading to the Resorts World Casino.

In Harlem, ridership was up at all neighborhood subway stations. There was a 3.4 percent increase on the 2 and 3 lines along Lenox Avenue and a 3.7 percent rise at the A/B/C/D stops from 116th Street to 145th Street.

Baseball fans, meanwhile, made their choice.

The 4/B/D stop at Yankee Stadium saw a surge of 225,122 riders in 2012 — while at Citi Field, the Mets-Willets Point station was down 36,219.

Just a station away, the 7-line terminal at Flushing-Main Street was tops in Queens.

Despite the banner year, the numbers couldn’t touch the stats from 1946, even though the metropolitan area then had nearly a million less residents.

Many New Yorkers then worked six days a week and many of today’s free-transfer points required a second fare.