MESSAGE
| DATE | 2018-05-05 |
| FROM | Ruben Safir
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| SUBJECT | Subject: [Hangout - NYLXS] Anger at the SBS B82 is boiling over
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http://www.brooklyn-living.com/b82_sbs_opposition.html#const
There is more than a single constuency involved a dramatic land grab by
the MTA along the narrow streets of the Kings Highway Business district
for the SBS B82. And despite there being better options for routing a
super express bus through Midwood, the MTA and the DOT have refused to
listen to any complaints. The times hasn't written a word about this,
ignoring the outer boroughs as normal. Maybe we can get some coverage
for a project that will negatively affect nearly 200,000 people.
These are the constituencies involved... (see the website for more
information)
The Cab and Limousine Businesses -Kings Highway is a huge transport hub
for multiple communities. There are no less than 4 local taxi services
and 2 taxi pickup lanes.
Subway Commuters - This overlaps with local residents, but also includes
the residents of the feeder communities from Bergen Beach to the
Bensonhust boarder. All these commuters need feed into the train station
through the 5 bus lines and "kiss and bye" drop offs points around the
train station. People need to drive into and out of the immediate area
for pickups and drop offs of children, parents, lost relatives, or
whoever might need to not drag themselves and their packages onto a bus
from the train.
Retail Business - Retail businesses have been very vocal about the loss
of street parking. And they are right to be angry. South Brooklyn and
the area around the Kings Highway district is dependent on automobiles.
These communities are not like downtown Brooklyn, or even Flatbush. They
are spread out and most families have multiple cars. No business in the
area invests without considering the parking problem. They must have
adequate parking and parking has been taken away from the neighborhood
for 20 years. First the Parking lot around the Fire House, which was
heavily used, was eliminated with the building to the super structure on
East 15th Street that now has TJ Max. The private garage that was
substituted was then removed, and the price of parking in the garage at
TJ Max increased and the lot closes early. The surrounding communities
are at the bursting point when it comes to parking. UPS will no longer
deliver properly in the community. They quickly come through and drop
off pick up notices to pick up at the JFK terminal. From Avenue O, to
Avenue R, double parking is all along the side streets, radiating
outward from Kings Highway.
But parking isn't even the local retailers biggest trouble. Truck
delivery and the tandem buses is. Thousands of pounds of fresh produce,
fish, dairy and meat is sold daily on Kings Highways shops. These
products need morning delivery and it takes time to load and unload
produce, meats, etc. By cutting out the parking lanes at this time, you
are telling trucks that they have to block the entire roadway in order
to make delivery. This is going to come as an enormous emotion cost to
residents, but worst is that the trucks will deliver no matter what. The
tickets that they receive will simply be passed along to the retailers
who will then try to pass it along to the consumer. Customers will be
forced to shop elsewhere for competitively priced products...and THAT is
what will put the small businesses out of business.
Pedestrians - Removing the parking lane endangers pedestrians. Kings
Highway is very narrow and pedestrians cross it at will, like any small
town. When you remove the parking column, they have no protection when
they step into the street, especially the elderly, even when they cross
at the corners. The area around 12th street is particularly pedestrian
with people hanging out on benches or by their cars on the Quentin Road
triangle. Currently traffic goes very slow. The buses will go much
faster than current traffic. It is a huge error to put articulated buses
at 25 MPH (and likely more) running down the bus lanes with pedestrians
coming and going. There is no way any double tandem bus will be able to
stop. This is an unnecessary risk that will lead to tragedy.
Additionally, the Tandem Buses are very long. This will create a huge
inconvenience for pedestrians trying to cross with a train of tandem
buses blocking walkers. This is even more the cse right in front of the
station entrance where people are constantly running across the street,
back and forth. Tandem buses create a trap.
Schools, Yeshivot and School Buses - The area in question is surrounded
by educational institutions. School buses need to make pickups and drop
offs in the morning along Kings Highway and must have curb access. Touro
College, and B'nos Yisorael Girls School are directly in the business
district as are a number of trad schools and the Kaplan preperation
center. Propsect Park Yeshiva and Bais Yockov Academy, St Benards
Catholic School and the Mirrer Yeshiva are less than a block away. All
these schools need curb access in order to function and need to cross
Kings Highway.
One of the more grievous parts of this proposal is the closing of East
12th Street. This will completely lock up access to Kings Highway as the
other side streets have been stopped from crossing the road. This will
shove all the traffic, especially school buses, either directly onto the
Kings Highway road way and up Coney Island Avenue.
Bus Riders traveling from Canarsie to Coney Island - The trip from
Canarsie to Coney Island is difficult by mass transit. If one goes by
subway, they take the bus of walk to the Rockaway Parkway L train
station. They ride to Broadway Junction and switch for the C train on
the Fulton Line. They transfer to the Franklin Avenue Shuttle to the
Brighton Line and take the Q or the B Train to Coney Island.
Alternately, they can take the L train to 14th Street and Union Square
in Manhattan and return back on the Q train. Today there is the new
route using a transfer to the IRT at Liviona Avenue to Atlantic Avenue
to the Brighton Line. If leaving from East 107th Street and Flatlands
Avenue, all these way is over an hour and twenty minutes. (according to
google maps and by experience). The fastest means, shaving about 15
minutes from the trip, is to take the B82 to Kings Highway and the Q to
Coney Island, which reinforces the importance of the leg of the B82 to
Coney Island. One can take the B82 straight through to Coney Island, but
that one of the longest routes, and is the chief reason for wanting to
streamline the route with the SBS. It maintains a single seat ride
through south Brooklyn and in theory, reduces the time to make a trip.
Overall, this is a fairly complete look at all the stakeholders involved
with the implementation for a SBS B82 bus route with articulated buses
through the Kings Highway business district, aside from the interests of
the MTA itself, and the manufacturers of articulated buses and so on.
Reviewing the motivations of the MTA in this matter and its self
interest is a long and complex discussion, one worthy of serious study,
maybe even necessary and vital, but beyond the scope of this evaluation.
But we will touch on the subject as necessary. More directly related to
this issue is an evaluation of the data and promotion of this project
that the MTA presents. In that regard we are left to evaluate several of
the powerpoint presentations and PDF files that the MTA has left behind,
and we will try to dig through some of the source material, in order to
understand what the MTA is presenting to the public, and how they have
manipulated data to misrepresent the facts to the public. Then hopefully
we can clarify the meaning of their data, and determine its real meaning
to the public, and look at the real costs and benefits of this route.
--
So many immigrant groups have swept through our town
that Brooklyn, like Atlantis, reaches mythological
proportions in the mind of the world - RI Safir 1998
http://www.mrbrklyn.com
DRM is THEFT - We are the STAKEHOLDERS - RI Safir 2002
http://www.nylxs.com - Leadership Development in Free Software
http://www2.mrbrklyn.com/resources - Unpublished Archive
http://www.coinhangout.com - coins!
http://www.brooklyn-living.com
Being so tracked is for FARM ANIMALS and and extermination camps,
but incompatible with living as a free human being. -RI Safir 2013
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