EDITORIAL
READERS WRITE
Losing longer buses in Eastern Queens
After only a few days in passenger
service, NYC Transit has
removed the 60-foot articulated
buses from service on the Q12
Glenwood Street City Line to
Main Street Flushing route. My
sources tell me that this was due
to mechanical problems.
These buses were transferred
from a Bronx Garage to the Casey
Stangel Flushing Garage. This
facility is used for maintenance,
operation and storage of buses.
Using articulated buses affords
more riders the option to sit instead
of standing. Two 60-foot articulated
buses provide the same
capacity as three 40-foot standard
buses. This saves NYC Transit
costs of fueling, cleaning, maintenance
and operations.
Introduction of these 60-foot
buses included closing more than
six bus stops and lengthening
others to accommodate longer
buses. This will not be a welcome
change for customers.
The next step to improved service
on the Q12, regardless of bus
size, would be to run limited stop
buses during rush hour. This has
proven successful on the Q36 Little
Neck Parkway/Jamaica Avenue,
Q43 Hillside Avenue and Q46
Union Turnpike routes to other
subway stations. It could shorten
travel time for commuters from
Little Neck, Douglaston and Bayside
who ride the Q12 and transfer
to the Flushing No. 7 subway
at Main Street.
Consider running every other
bus local from the Nassau County
line to Bell Boulevard, and
limited stops for the balance of
the ride to Flushing. This could
easily save five to 10 minutes as
buses would not have to stop and
start again at several dozen additional
stops.
Larry Penner, Great Neck
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THE WRONG PRIORITIES
The third public meeting for the Sunnyside
Yard master plan erupted into chaos Monday night
at Aviation High School in Long Island City.
Protestors shouted down the city’s Economic
Development Corporation’s outlandish plan to
deck over 180 acres of one of the nation’s busiest
train yards and build a city with up to 24,000 new
housing units, 52 acres of open space, new schools,
parks and community centers.
While the NYCEDC tried to conduct its question
and answer session with the community,
anti-gentrification groups commandeered the
school’s cafeteria for a boisterous hour-long teach
in warning of displacement, the loss of small
businesses, and that the EDC is in the pocket
of developers.
There’s lots of shouting over the Sunnyside
Yards, but in truth, even some of its proponents
concede that it may never get off the ground
— which leaves us wondering what all the
fuss is about.
When the original feasibility study was released
in 2017, the project came with a price tag
between $16 to $19 billion. With the 18-month
master planning process drawing to a close a
review of the latest Financing & Policy Priorities
page of the plan reports that building the
full plan, including deck and public infrastructure
is now estimated to total $20 billion to $22
billion “that would unfold in phases over a
50-100 year period.”
Critics have screamed that money planned for
Sunnyside Yards should go to fix NYCHA, the subways
and much needed infrastructure, fire houses
and police precincts. They were right then, and
they’re right now.
Put aside the astronomical cost of the project
and imagine the scale. The three-story-high deck
over the trainyard would tower over the low-scale
buildings of Sunnyside Gardens.
When the feasibility study came out, Mayor
Bill de Blasio was shouted down along every street
corner as he marched up Skillman Avenue in the
St. Pats for All Parade. As usual, he heard what
they were saying, but it seems he didn’t listen.
The master plan, which will offer detailed proposals
for the project, is due to be released this
winter. In our view, it can wait.
Our streets our crumbling. Our subways are
broken. Our public housing is in shambles. And
for added measure, the rent is, as someone once
said, “too damn high.”
It’s time for the city to get its
priorities straight.
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