City Installs New Bus Shelter For No Reason At All


by on Apr 23rd, 2010

B49 bus shelter gets demolished (Photo by Ray Johnson)

The B49 bus shelter located in front of 2900 Ocean Avenue has been demolished to make way for a brand new one.

The operator of the hydraulic excavator who was sitting in the cab of the truck, as if in the “calm after the storm,” told us that a new bus shelter will be installed by the next day.

When asked if there was something wrong with the shelter, or if there was some accident that prompted the replacement, he replied, “No, as far as I know, nothing was wrong with it. The city has a lot of money to spend.”

The NYC Department of Transportation says on its website:

We will replace every bus shelter and install an additional 200 (3300 bus shelters total) by 2011. DOT is working closely with community leaders to identify the best locations for additional shelters to ensure that new locations best serve each community and the riding public. For the first time ever, all of our bus shelters will offer seating, especially important for the eldery (sic) and disabled. The City is also exploring exciting new technologies like Bluetooth, LCD screens and real-time bus arrival information.

The DOT tells us that the they are replacing every bus shelter in order to best serve each community. But to fully understand why the city would destroy a perfectly intact bus shelter (a day before Earth Day, nonetheless) to build a new one, we have to figure out the private enterprise that will benefit most from these contracts with the city.

This photograph was taken on Wednesday, April 21, 2010. Has anyone seen the new fancy bus shelter? Let us know, and shoot us a photograph if you have one.

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  • http://www.facebook.com/QueensCrapBlogger Queens Crapper

    They contracted this to Cemusa. Cemusa was paid one fixed price to replace all the bus shelters.

    http://www.cemusany.com/web/en/indexnyc.aspx

  • BrooklynBus

    These shelters have been around for at least a year. They are all over Sheepshead Bay and are quite attractive. But I also see a problem in destroying perfectly good shelters. Seems wasteful. Cemusa's contract also calls for them to replace vandalized shelters and ones where bus stops are eliminated.

    On March 3rd, the day of the hearing for the Brooklyn service cuts, just a few blocks from the hearing at the Brooklyn Museum, one of these new shelters was nearing completion at Grand Army Plaza for one of the routes proposed for discontinuation, the B71. The shelter was completed just in time for the Board to approve the elimination of the route. What do you think of that one Ray?

  • http://www.shutupitson.com Oz

    I'm guessing it'll look like this: http://secondavenuesagas.com/2009/04/17/dot-cem…

  • Leonid

    This is just ridiculous. They did the same thing on the corner of Ocean Ave and Ave N. There was a perfectly new shelter, (installed just last year) with sitting on one side of Ocean Ave and nothing on the bus stop on the other side. It would be logical to build a new shelter on the side which did not have one. But no… instead they just replaced the existing shelter with a new one.

  • bagels

    How can the MTA cry about their budget gap and cut service and then spend all this money on “new” shelters? It just defies logic!

  • applegreen

    city has a a lot of money to spend? where is the mta getting the money, considering they are crying to be in debt?

  • bagels

    I agree. And where are our elected officials and King Bumberg on this? The MTA is crying poor mouth and yet they have the funds to destroy bus shelters only to rebuild them? WTF is going on? We pay huge real estate taxes and there are plans to jack up the rates property owners pay for water?!. They talk of laying off teachers because the picture is so bleak and yet there are plans to build an amphitheater in Brighton Beach to the tune of 64 million dollars?!That piece of land is enjoyed by the neighborhood as a public space and should continue as such. Keep the teachers, forget the service cuts, and for God's sake, stop using NYC property owners as the cash cow for stupid projects that only serve the huge egos of city politicians.

  • bagels

    How can the MTA cry about their budget gap and cut service and then spend all this money on “new” shelters? It just defies logic!

  • applegreen

    city has a a lot of money to spend? where is the mta getting the money, considering they are crying to be in debt?

  • bagels

    I agree. And where are our elected officials and King Bumberg on this? The MTA is crying poor mouth and yet they have the funds to destroy bus shelters only to rebuild them? WTF is going on? We pay huge real estate taxes and there are plans to jack up the rates property owners pay for water?!. They talk of laying off teachers because the picture is so bleak and yet there are plans to build an amphitheater in Brighton Beach to the tune of 64 million dollars?!That piece of land is enjoyed by the neighborhood as a public space and should continue as such. Keep the teachers, forget the service cuts, and for God's sake, stop using NYC property owners as the cash cow for stupid projects that only serve the huge egos of city politicians.

  • Big Yellow Taxi

    Hi Bagels! Beachwalker here>Miss me??? I totally agree with you. Sometimes I think, maybe I'm NUTS and this actually makes sense to other people. It IS just crazy. Our polititians have gone mad. I am so tired of working my ass off every day, and constantly having my pocket picked by them as they vote themselves raises and fund pet projects, like the amphitheater, which, let's face it Marty Markowitz is hoping will eventually be named for him. Hey, someone should let the webmaster at GB.net know about the bus shelters being torn down, lol, I'm sure the kids here will give them a hand with that!

  • Skaterkid945