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 BROOKLYN WEEKLY, NOVEMBER 17, 2019 
 IT’S ONLY FARE 
 Locals rally for return of crosstown bus service 
 BY BEN VERDE 
 Park Slope civic gurus rallied  
 on Tuesday to demand the return  
 of the crosstown B71 bus, claiming  
 it’s easier to get from Brooklyn  
 to Manhattan than it is to  
 reach Red Hook! 
 “Most of the subway service  
 is  oriented  towards  north-south,  
 and taking people in and out of  
 Manhattan — not connecting  
 people  across  Brooklyn  neighborhoods,” 
   said  Eric  McClure,  
 Transportation Chair of Community  
 Board Six.  
 The bus route ran from the  
 Columbia Street Waterfront District, 
   up  Union  Street  through  
 Gowanus and Park Slope, before  
 turning  back  in  Crown  Heights  
 — right up until the Transit Authority  
 axed the service in 2010  
 amid statewide budget cuts. 
 The  move  deprived  locals  of  
 an essential crosstown transit  
 option, which made stops at nine  
 schools, three senior centers, and  
 multiple public housing developments, 
  according to one local  
 lawmaker.  
 “Students lost a route to  
 school, seniors lost the bus that  
 took them to the grocery store  
 and library and families lost a  
 ride  to  the  Brooklyn  Children’s  
 Museum and Prospect Park,”  
 said Councilman Brad Lander  
 (D–Park Slope).  
 Another Park Slope activist  
 pointed out the lack of alternative  
 transit options to fi ll the vacuum  
 left by the B71’s demise, especially  
 in Red Hook, where straphangers  
 can’t rely on the subway to provide  
 crosstown connections.  
 “This void represents schools  
 that families can’t choose because  
 they can’t get to them, healthy  
 Locals rallied on Tuesday to demand the MTA bring back the B71 bus.    Photo by Ben Verde 
 food options that are fewer, the  
 music lessons that are just too  
 out of the way,” said community  
 board member Kathy Park Price.  
 “This hole represents missed opportunities.” 
   
 Local  leaders  have  pushed  
 for  the  bus’  return  since  it was  
 eliminated  in  2010,  but  they’re  
 renewing  their  push  to  resurrect  
 the  B71  in  anticipation  of  
 the  Metropolitan  Transportation  
 Authority’s  plan  to  overhaul  
 the  borough’s  bus  system.  
 And  then  there’s  the  Gowanus  
 Rezoning,  which  housing  experts  
 predict  could  bring  more  
 than  8,200  new residents  to  the  
 neighborhood.  
 “Agencies must plan and invest  
 in smart, sustainable infrastructure  
 to support new and existing  
 residents,”  said  Andrea  
 Parker, Executive Director of the  
 Gowanus Canal Conservancy.  
 “Both current and new residents  
 of Gowanus will benefi t from an  
 accessible transportation route.”  
 At the rally on Tuesday night  
 outside the Park Slope library  
 branch, advocates delivered a  
 1,300-signature petition to transit  
 offi cials calling for the line to not  
 only be reinstated, but extended  
 to Manhattan through the Holland  
 Tunnel, which would create  
 a direct link to Manhattan for  
 transit-starved Red Hook.  
 The Transit Authority should  
 be reinstating the B71 and making  
 other bus improvements, according  
 to advocates, who see  
 mass transportation as a way to  
 mitigate the effects of climate  
 change.  
 “As the planet gets hotter, we  
 need  to  be  getting  people  out  of  
 cars and onto mass transit,” said  
 McClure.  “For  the  Transit  Authority 
   to be  contemplating  service  
 cuts rather than adding service, 
  is just unacceptable.”  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
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