SERVICE ADVISORY
Borough-wide bus revamp leads to renewed call for the B71 bus’s return
BY BEN VERDE
A group of neighborhood activists
and local pols are renewing
their demand that the
Metropolitan Transportation
Authority restore the B71 bus
line in light of the Metropolitan
Transportation Authority’s
plan to revamp Brooklyn’s
bus network and the city’s
scheme to stuff 20,000 new residents
in Gowanus through an
upcoming rezoning .
“The need for it has not
abated since 2010 when they
took it away,” said Council
Member Brad Lander (D–Park
Slope), who created a petition
calling for the return of the
B71 . “This redesign is a great
opportunity.”
Lander pointed out the
bus once served nine schools,
three senior centers, and multiple
public housing developments.
It also provided a direct
link for Brooklynites who
lived near the waterfront to
get to the borough’s cultural
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center, where Brooklyn Public
Library’s Central Branch,
Brooklyn Museum, Children’s
Museum, Botanical Garden
and Prospect Park are located.
As it stands, Carroll Gardens,
Gowanus and Columbia
Street Waterfront District residents
have to take a subway
trip with one or more transfers
to get to the eastern end of
Brooklyn’s Backyard by mass
transit.
The petition comes in the
midst of a sweeping overhaul
of the borough’s bus system by
the state-run transit authority.
Transit honchos have been surveying
riders in the borough
in an effort to speed up and expand
bus service, amidst a decline
in bus ridership borough
and city-wide.
It also comes as Gowanus,
which the bus once rolled
through, is on the verge of a
rezoning that could bring up
to 8,200 new apartments to the
neighborhood, according to
housing experts.
The B71 once ran from
the Columbia Street Waterfront
District, up Union Street
through Carroll Gardens, Gowanus,
Park Slope, and Prospect
Heights before turning around
in Crown Heights.
The MTA eliminated the
line along with 10 other Brooklyn
bus lines, in 2010, citing
budget cuts.
The petition calls for the
B71 to be restored to its previous
service area and for an extension
to be added through
Red Hook to Lower Manhattan
through the Battery Tunnel.
Red Hook is currently only
served by two local bus lines
and a ferry stop, despite its
proximity to the Battery tube.
Transportation bigwigs
said they are open to suggestions
and encouraged locals to
attend one of the many open
houses, which will be held regularly
starting this week as
part of the Authority’s bus redesign
efforts.
“We encourage the public to
attend one of our open houses
and get involved in the process,”
said authority spokesman
Andrei Berman. “MTA
bus planners will take the
feedback they receive into account.”
Local leaders propoposed extending the extinct bus route through Red
Hook and into Lower Manhattan. Brad Lander
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