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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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