SHEEPSHEAD BAY'S ONLY INDEPENDENT NEWS BLOG

To kick things off, I’m adding Cat Consequence’s email and the B line general manager’s reply first. My own e-mail will come soon.

Response
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Dear B Line Customer:

Thank you for taking the time to write. Your comments are important to me and my team as we work together to improve your commute and meet the high standards you expect. Each letter or comment that we receive is treated like a “”Rider Report Card”” on our efforts. I want to assure you that your comments will be investigated, analyzed and changes will be made where possible. I will personally oversee implementation of changes that will make your ride safe and smooth. We welcome your comments, suggestions, concerns and compliments. Thank you for your continued input and support.

Sincerely,
Jim Leopard
B Line, Q Line and Franklin Avenue Shuttle General Manager

Discussion Thread
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Customer – 08/10/2009 02:47 PM
I was just informed that the B line will be shut down, as of this September, for TWO YEARS of work. During that time it seems we will only have local train service on our line.

I am a commuter who works in SoHo and depends on the B train to get to work from my home near the King’s Highway B train station. A few weeks ago, when B trains were suspended during the weekdays, this led to huge crowds and significantly longer commute times.

I hope the MTA is aware that by shutting down B train service they will chase out people like me, who bring money home from Manhattan to spend in the neighborhood. I will most likely be forced to move apartments, and consider this action (especially with so little advance warning) a breach of trust by the MTA. How can you justify closing an entire subway line for TWO YEARS with just under TWO MONTHS’ notice?

I hope that the MTA reconsiders their decision. We already do without the B train on weekends and this is a huge inconvenience. Not to have the B train available at all, especially during the week, will make living in Midwood and the King’s Highway neighborhood a difficult, if not impossible thing. I am very upset and hope you will reconsider this decision, or offer some kind of solution for long-distance commuters to Manhattan.

Here’s what my household wrote, and we got the same response from Jim Leopard.

From myself:
I am writing to suggest that, rather than shut the B line down completely for 2 years, some compromise might be found so that express service could still be available during rush hours. I have arthritis, and am not looking forward to a more strenuous commute, standing on a crowded train for a significantly longer time.

From my husband:
Every day I take the B from Kings Highway to 59th Street, rather than the Q to 57th Street. The B express saves me about 30 minutes in rush hour each way. If the B is shut down for 2 years, I will spend 60 minutes longer commuting every day! DO NOT SHUT DOWN THE B. Thank you.

From my son:
My commute is the B from Kings Highway to 34th Street. The express saves me about 20 minutes over the Q local. If the B is shut down for 2 years, it will inconvenience me and a lot of other subway riders. Can’t the express run at least in rush hour? So I don’t have to travel 40 minutes longer each day?

Here’s my letter. Just as an FYI, I have heard from more than half a dozen people that they were considering a move here and have decided against it because of this, or have recently moved here and will move to a closer location to Manhattan when there lease is up. This is no exhaggeration – this WILL hurt our community!

My letter (to which I’ve received the same canned response):

Good afternoon,

I am a Sheepshead Bay resident living just one block off of the B/Q line and must frequently make trips to Manhattan and locations in Northern Brooklyn. I’ve lived in the area for 25 years and the B train has been an important part of my life and a vital service to the community. As you can imagine, I was aghast when I found out about the planned termination of express B service between Kings Highway and Manhattan.

I’ve made the trips hundreds of times – if not thousands – over the years, and am well aware that the local train takes far more than 7 minutes to midtown as recent articles say. It adds upwards of 20 minutes, and the resulting congestion and increased commute is going to hurt our neighborhood. It will slow economic growth in the area, which has been booming in part because of its short commute to Manhattan. An hour or more to travel is simply too much, and I am wholeheartedly opposed to the plans to terminate service.

In addition to my own view, readers of my website, SheepsheadBites.com, which receives hundreds of views a day, have been commenting and emailing about these plans and all are opposed. We have contacted community leaders who are also opposed. No one is against the idea of renovation, but we are asking the MTA to seek alternatives to shutting down the entire track for two years. The MTA has previously done such track work in sections, requiring only two or three stops at a time to be affected. Or, as some have proposed, you can continue express service during rush hour to ease commutes. But all agree that closing express service for two years would be devastating to the growth of our neighborhood, and many people have already shared plans to either move out of the neighborhood or – for
those that were considering Sheepshead Bay as a home – have decided not to move here altogether.

Please seek alternatives. It’s what the community, the leaders, and your clientèle want. Thank you.

Kind regards,
Ned Berke
Editor
SheepsheadBites.com

I just sent over my complaint form. Thanks for the link!

Hi everybody!

Please look at this MTA-related meetup group: http://www.meetup.com/New-York-Public-Transit-Data-Summit/?gj=ej2&a=cn1_cn1

Citation: “As New Yorkers, we want the city to stay on the cutting edge of public transportation. As developers, want to help forge a positive, mutually beneficial relationship between the MTA and the wider New York development community.

Please join us for respectful and constructive discussion about how we can best bring this about.”

I cannot believe they are doing this. How can they shut down the B train for two whole years??? My life just got 80 minutes longer every day. Thanks MTA!!!!

This is so retarded. Thats like an extra 15 minutes added to the hr that it already takes for me to get to my school. wow why is the MTA so annoying?

you people seem really clueless to me. do you even know why the MTA has to shut down the Brighton Express for two years? it is because they are rebuilding several stations on the line that are in really bad shape. if you keep express service, Newkirk Avenue is going to collapse and it will be a safety hazard for both riders and MTA workers while Avenues M and H are under rehabilitation. what would you rather have, local service only for two years or crumbling stations that pose a safety hazard for the rest of your life? those Brighton Line station need rebuilding immediately and local-only service will add just 10-15 minutes to your travel time, a small price to pay for up-to-date stations.

Here is a solution.

Back in 1966 the Brighton express tracks were not used for six months so there could be renovation at stations for longer subway cars.

The compromise was a positive one. Express service continued on the local track. Express trains passed the local stations on the local track. If that worked for six months in 1966, why not do it now.

The schedule can be arranged for there not to be congestion with express trains being held back by locals on the same track.

Another solution, would be to use three tracks similar to the number 7 line in Queens. The express track would continue express but change direction around 1 PM.

Are they actually shutting down the B line, or just running it local up to Prospect Park like they’ve been doing this week?

They will be only Q service on the Brighton line.

Correction: Should read “There will be only Q service on the Brighton line”.

no lisanne, they are running the B train. it is just going local!