City Council votes to reform operations at Hart Is.
Drone footage of Hart Island. Photo courtesy of Hart Island Project
West Bronx rally decries MTA’s express bus ‘off peak’ cuts
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, NOVEMBER 1 BTR 7-28, 2019 3
BY ALEX MITCHELL
AMNEWYORK REPORTER
The city’s Potter’s Field on Hart Island
has been the fi nal home to over 1
million people who couldn’t be accommodated
with proper burials, instead
being laid to rest by prisoners making
minuscule pay for their agonizing labor.
Loved ones can hardly visit the public
grave due to Hart Island’s lack of accessibility
— partially due to security
measures in place from the NYC Department
of Corrections, which oversees
not just inmates but the jurisdiction
of the entire island.
On Thursday, the New York City
Council voted on two resolutions
aimed at improving conditions of the
currently dilapidated island by a vote
of 45-2.
One was to transfer Hart Island
from the DOC into the control of the
NYC Parks and Recreation Department,
while the other was to expand its
public accessibility via ferry service.
One of the only vocal opponents
to the plan was Councilman Mark
Gjonaj, who voted in opposition.
“Something should have been done
a long time ago,” the Hart Island council
representative said in regards for
the conditions of the Potter’s Field.
Some of Gjonaj’s uneasiness towards
the land transfer to Parks comes
from the agency admitting that it did
not have the proper assets to manage
the open cemetery in 2016.
“Parks still does not have what the
funding to handle Hart Island,” he
continued.
City Hall sources also say that
Parks was reluctant to take Hart Island
from the DOC because of graves’
costly maintenance.
Although Brooklyn Councilman
Chiam Deutsch did vote in support of
the Hart Island plan at a committee
level, he turned over to a ‘no’ after expressing
concerns about graves being
disturbed in ways that would violate
various religious customs.
That, though has been happening
to some degree as waves of erosion
have washed remains from Hart
Island into the Long Island Sound in
past years — an issue that is now being
addressed by FEMA, which is providing
$13.2 million to restore the island’s
shoreline.
As far as getting to Hart Island, the
city could add a cemetery stop at existing
stations around the city, however,
that and other proposed methods
will undergo stakeholder study over
the next year before a fi nal decision
is rendered, Transportation Committee
Chair Ydanis Rodriguez said. That
method would replace a single ferry
that departs from Fordham Street in
City Island as the sole public transport
to the cemetery.
Gjonaj says he wouldn’t oppose the
transit side of the plan as long as there’s
a concrete safeguard that would insure
that City Island is not the only point of
access to Potter’s Field. Though, who
would be digging the graves if Parks
were to take over Hart Island?
It would likely be privatized, according
to Melinda Hunt of the Hart
Island project, who’s been a partner to
the city on the plan.
Now, a full plan of action is all that
remains for the future of the public
grave.
(Additional reporting by Alejandra
O’Connell-Domenech)
BY KYLE VUILLE
Residents of west Bronx neighborhoods
came out in the mass Monday,
November 18 to protest express bus
schedule changes proposed by the Metropolitan
Transportation Authority.
MTA offi cials along with Assemblyman
Jeffrey Dinowitz and Councilman
Andrew Cohen addressed a concerned
crowd of 400 to 500 at the Riverdale
Temple on 4545 Independence Street.
The MTA released The Bronx Bus
Network Redesign after analyzing
extensive data from the past couple
years. The most recent collection of
data was acquired through Metrocard
registration during the months of May
and June 2019, according to MTA offi -
cials.
“The MTA has assured me that although
they are using the phrase ‘fi -
nal plan’ that there is still opportunity
to make changes.” Dinowitz said in a
press release. “They have also assured
me that even after the implementation
of the redesign next year, they are able
to continue making changes where
necessary.”
The crowd, mostly comprised of aging
Riverdale residents, were primarily
concerned with the service cuts to
the BxM1 and the BxM2 express buses
that run from Riverdale to Manhattan
throughout the day.
Additional cuts will be made to
Bx4A, Bx6, Bx8, Bx11, Bx15, Bx18,
Bx24, Bx26, Bx28, Bx29, Bx30, Bx34,
Bx35, Bx36, Bx38, Bx40, Bx42, Q50 LTD,
M100, M125, BxM2, BxM4, BxM5 (formerly
BxM11), BxM8, BxM10, BxM17,
and BxM18 lines, and additional buses
on the Bx13, Bx22, Bx23, and Bx41.
“The main thing I wanted tonight
was the MTA to see a massive turnout
of people in our district and they saw
it.” Dinowitz said.
MTA offi cials said the reasoning
behind the earlier cut off times for the
express buses were the results of low
ridership averages during off-peak
hours.
The recent studies, conducted by
the MTA, found an average of four
people riding the BxM1 southbound
during the off-peak afternoon hours
on weekdays. Similar averages were
shown on weekends and for other bus
routes.
However, reducing the southbound
express buses will directly affect those
who don’t have a normal 9 to 5 job and
those interested in spending the evening
downtown to enjoy a movie or
have dinner, among other activities.
MTA chief offi cer of Operations
Planning, Mark Holmes, responded
to those concerned about bus routes to
Mount Sinai.
“Once again, I want to reiterate that
we are aware of the Mount Sinai issue
and we are actively looking at alternative
services to Mount Sinai,” Holmes
said.
Riverdale resident Jane Fletcher
received a tremendous, heartfelt reaction
after stating why the afternoon
bus cuts would affect her.
“I was recently widowed and now I
travel on my own and if I couldn’t get
down to the theater or a museum or
see a friend in Manhattan, I wouldn’t
be doing it,” Fletcher said.
Express bus routes in Throggs
Neck, Pelham Bay and Co-op City are
also slated for major cuts in service
during off-peak hours.
According to the MTA, the fi nal express
bus plan won’t be implimented
until late spring, allowing ample time
to make tweeks to the plan.
Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz speaks to the crowd at Riverdale Temple on Nov. 18 concerning
the Bronx Bus Redesign Plan. The public hearing at 4545 Independence Ave. was a
chance for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to inform Bronx residents about the
proposed changes and hear the public’s opinion on said changes.
Photo courtesy of Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz’s offi ce