SHEEPSHEAD BAY'S ONLY INDEPENDENT NEWS BLOG

I wasn’t able to attend last night’s public hearing on MTA cuts, but luckily Allan Rosen, the former MTA official who critiqued the plans earlier this week, sent us the dispatch below. I encourage anyone who went to add their two cents to the report.

As for me, I’ll be submitting testimony online based on what I’ve seen and heard from residents. Also, at the Sheepshead Bay/Plumb Beach Civic Association meeting on Tuesday, board members asked to get a hearing in the area, which State Senator Marty Golden’s office is looking into.

Here’s Rosen’s report:

Brooklyn had their turn last night at giving the MTA an earful regarding their proposals to cut subway and bus service as well as the free or reduced-fare student MetroCards.  The meeting turned tumultous as a brawl broke out when one student tried to speak out of turn and four people were arrested.

Students were frustrated at having to wait hours for their turn to speak because of the MTA’s policy to allow elected officials to speak before the registered public speakers.  Finally, one elected official suggested that the MTA alternate one elected official with one member of the public, which the MTA finally heeded. Still, even pre-registered speakers, who registered weeks ago, such as Allan Rosen, didn’t get a chance to speak until 8:45 PM; the meeting began at 6.  Those registering on the night of the hearing had to wait much longer.  Many went home before their turn as the hour turned late.  One of them was CB 15 Chairperson Theresa Scavo.  A few speakers from Sheepshead Bay did get a chance to speak. The meeting was expected to last until midnight.  It is unknown if the meeting actually lasted that long or even longer.

The main points brought out my speakers were the need not to cut student passes, the need to use a portion of the federal stimulus money to fill the deficit gap until more permanent funding can be found, a sweetheart deal between the MTA and Ratner which allowed the Atlantic Yards to be sold at below market value with terms of up to 80 years for him to complete payment to the MTA and how the MTA is wasting money by allowing 370 Jay Street to remain empty for years.

The disabled also spoke against proposals to cut Access-a-Ride services; some mentioned ways to improve how the current system works.  Others protested cuts to specific bus and subway routes.  The MTA stated that the complete video of the hearing will be made available on its website one week from today and all sumitted written testimony will be prepared in book form and be made available to Board members for their review.

Also, some people criticized the location of the hearing claiming it was a difficult location for them to get to, requiring multiple buses and trains. They suggested that in the future additional meetings be held at more locations.

During last Wednesday’s Manhattan Beach Community Group meeting, Community Board 15 Chairperson Theresa Scavo urged residents to attend the March 3 hearing on MTA service cuts. The all-important hearing is being used by MTA commissioners to judge opposition to their plans, so a light showing from certain neighborhoods could be interpreted as a sign of community approval.

Don’t let that happen! Attend the hearing even if you don’t plan to speak. Let them know that striking out the B4 service along Emmons Avenue will suffocate businesses and leave Plumb Beach residents and several senior homes without service. And let them know, too, that you believe these plans are ill-conceived and rely on faulty data.

To give a little more oomph, you’ll see in the video above that Scavo believes eliminating the student metrocard will lead to increased crime rates. She says struggling students are “going to be stealing the money to get to where they are going, or they’re going to be jumping the turnstiles. They are not going to put their hand in their pocket rather than going and buying sneakers or their cell phone to pay to get on a train or a bus.”

I’m not sure if I totally buy the increased crime argument, but asking families to pay nearly $100 a month for their kids to get to school for their supposedly free education is ludicrous. It will certainly lead to increased drop-out rates and further hurt New York City’s education standings.

It’s stealing opportunity from an entire generation of low-income students and their families.

Learn what you can do to stop the cuts from suffocating Sheepshead Bay!

Photo courtesy of a-NeRo86 via Flickr

Allan Rosen, a Manhattan Beach resident and former Director of Bus Planning for New York City Transit, has fired off a 2,600-word missive at the MTA for its latest round of cuts.

Rosen posted his planned testimony for this Wednesday’s MTA hearing, in which he lays into the befuddled agency for poor planning. And he should know – in addition to his role as Director of Bus Planning, Rosen wrote his masters thesis on the “Inefficiency and Ineffectiveness of Brooklyn Bus Routes” at Columbia University. He’s also a 25-year veteran of the MTA, retiring in 2005 after recovering the authority millions of dollars as Director of Asset Recovery.

The scope of Rosen’s challenge to the MTA is breathtaking. His years of experience afford him an advantage few critics of the MTA have, including a deep knowledge of criteria and guidelines used to determine “acceptable” cuts. And he uses that knowledge to do an almost point-by-point decimation of the MTA’s plan.

Among Rosen’s critiques, which he explains at length, are that the MTA:

• overestimates the cost savings provided by cuts
• assumes inconvenience is not a factor in determining whether someone chooses to use the system or not
• grossly understates the negative effects … [which include for some] no mass transit option at all
• based its cuts on faulty criteria (which Rosen picks apart well)
• routinely chose cuts over optimizing efficiency

He also hints that the plan being put forward now is not based on fresh data, but has been a “go-to” plan shelved for many years until deficits grew too deep.

Notably, one of the bus cuts that Rosen singles out for examination is the B4, which will have service eliminated east of Coney Island Avenue. Not only has he observed much higher ridership than the MTA’s data claims, but the service elimination leaves residents with a walk much longer than the MTA’s own planning guidelines allow. The cut will sever mass transit options to the Emmons Avenue waterfront, including a shopping and dining district, major movie theater, and several senior homes.

Rosen is submitting his full testimony electronically, but he’s also planning on attending Wednesday’s hearing and delivering a three-minute version. “I have not been this upset about service cuts since 1993, which was the last time I testified at a hearing,” he told Sheepshead Bites.

He urges all of Sheepshead Bay’s residents to attend the hearing or send comments by e-mail, because he says the MTA is attempting to “overwhelm” with cuts and make it impossible to fight.

Below I excerpt pieces of Rosen’s post, but I strongly advise residents to read his entire testimony.

Read Allan Rosen’s testimony about MTA Bus cuts

Courtesy of LivableStreets.com

A bicycling and public transit advocacy group says that the areas around the Kings Highway B and Q train station needs more bike paths to alleviate stress on the connecting bus lines.

Transportation Alternatives dispatched volunteers to the station in September to survey commuters waiting for the bus home from the train station. After speaking to residents from neighborhoods along the B2, B3K, B31, and B100 bus lines, they found Southern Brooklyn may be an amenable home to new bike routes along the wider, less congested streets.

“My impressions from this survey is that there is some interest in better bike lanes and infrastructure in Mill Basin, Marine Park, Madison, Gerritsen Beach, Sheepshead Bay, etc,” said Murray Latner, a former Mill Basin resident who produced the survey materials.

What do you think? Would more bike lanes and sheltered bike parking locations near subways alleviate congestion on the streets and crowding on buses? Would you use it?

[via LivableStreets.com]

With the city trying to breathe new life into Coney Island, they’re also looking to revive a dead idea: ferry service.

Following last week’s announcement that the city purchased 6.9 acres of amusement district real estate from Thor Equities developer Joe Sitt for $95.6 million, they have started a consultant search to reevaluate Coney Island’s potential for ferry service to Manhattan and northern Brooklyn. If the site is deemed worthy, it stands to receive $3.2 million in federal transportation funding. Continue Reading »

The Metrobus will visit Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz’ community office, 1800 Sheepshead Bay Road (between Emmons Avenue and Shore Parkway), on Thursday, October 29. The all-in-one stop for Metrocard issues will be there from 10:00 a.m. to noon. The bus is equipped to handle all MetroCard transactions including applying for senior citizens and people with disabilities reduced fare MetroCards. A photo ID is required. For further information please call (718) 743-4078.

Councilman Fidler sent over a letter from the president of MTA Bus regarding BM3/BM4 service, discussed at last week’s subway meeting. MTA says a decrease in riders is the reason for cutting BM3 service, though we heard whispers that the ridership survey was done on a Jewish holiday. And now that there’s no B express, and as complaints roll in about congested cars on both lines, more people will be interested in a bus alternative. But gripes aside, they say they’re looking into scheduling an earlier BM4 bus. Congrats, residents of Gerritsen Beach. Now when do we get something?

Continue Reading »

These signs went up at B/Q stations citywide on Wednesday morning. The fight isn’t over yet, though. Stay tuned…

(Photo courtesy of Daniel Cavanaugh)

We noticed some new signs posted at the B/Q train platform yesterday, indicating some early trackwork heading up to the much maligned B train express cancellation. The changes are as follows:

B Line: For three consecutive Fridays – September 11, 18, and 25 – service will terminate at 8:45 p.m.

Q Line: For the weekends of September 11 – 14, and September 18 – 21, there will be no trains between Prospect Park and Kings Highway. Service will be replaced by a free shuttle bus between stations. The weekend service changes begin Friday at 9:30 p.m. and continue until 5 a.m. on Monday.

Essentially, it means areas of Southern Brooklyn along the B/Q line are screwed for going into or coming from the city beginning Friday evenings. Thanks MTA!

Why can’t Sheepshead Bay have a commuter ferry to Manhattan? It’s the parking, stupid.

That was the message Sheepshead Bay residents sent the New York City Economic Development Corporation (EDC) during last night’s hearing on increasing Brooklyn ferry service to several locations including Sheepshead Bay.

The hearing, hosted by the EDC, the Department of Transportation (DOT), and Councilman Michael C. Nelson’s office, brought out local leaders including Community Board Chairperson Theresa Scavo, Bay Improvement Group president Steve Barrison, and several members of the Sheepshead Bay/Plumb Beach Civic Association and the Manhattan Beach Community Group. All opposed the plans.

“It’s romantic. It’s beautiful. It’s wonderful. But practically speaking, it’s not practical,” said Barrison.

Concerns by local leaders revolve around costs, demand, infrastructure needs, and the time it would take to reach Manhattan. But at the heart of it all is parking.

“Parking in the area is already at a premium. To bring more people in would be a nightmare,” said SB/PB Civic’s attorney, Gene Berardelli.

The ferry proposal, officially known as the Comprehensive Citywide Ferry Study, is still in its early stages, with landing profiles yet to be created. The EDC was unable to provide implementation or operating costs for the service, but noted that the ferry ride from Sheepshead Bay is estimated to take about 40 minutes and cost $6. Continue Reading »