THE COMMUTE: (Here is Part 1 from last week). The B44 is different from other Select Bus Service (SBS) routes because the SBS will not take the same route as the local. It will utilize Rogers Avenue northbound instead of New York Avenue, making it more difficult to access Kings County Hospital. It will also provide a glut of northbound bus service on Rogers Avenue while cutting New York Avenue service by 50 percent.
Another difference is that it will not use all articulated buses as the M15 and Bx12 do, or all standard length buses as the S79 and S78 do. The B44 SBS will use the longer articulated buses, but the locals will continue to use the standard length buses, as last proposed. Wouldn’t that mean there should be more locals than SBS buses on the B44? The MTA does not think so.
THE COMMUTE: According to Theresa Scavo, chairperson of Community Board 15, the MTA stated that it is now too late to request additional stops to the B44 Select Bus Service (SBS) because maps have already been printed. She made that announcement at this month’s Manhattan Beach Neighborhood Association (MBNA) meeting. She also stated that the board is still fighting the reduction in available parking spaces. However, that is the least of the problems this route will cause.
If it is too late to add an SBS stop at Avenue R, a likely assumption would be that it is also too late to change the route as I recommended back in 2011. I suggested that the southern portion of the B44 SBS terminate off-route at the Sheepshead Bay station instead of at Knapp Street and Voorhies Avenue, using Avenue Z to get to the station supplementing B36 service.
Whether you agree with me or not is not really important now. What is important is that I received assurances from the MTA Project Director Ted Orosz at the last B44 SBS Workshop that he would investigate my suggestion and get back to me in three months. He also stated that if they agreed that it was feasible to do, and it was something the community wanted, they would change their plans. He never investigated it, nor got back to me as promised.
Everyone here at the Sheepshead Bites offices has been staring at this hypnotic video we found of a simulated B Train running express from Prospect Park to Brighton Beach in a virtual environment.
For those wondering what you’re looking at, it’s not footage of a hijacked subway via some Grand Theft Auto-type video game. Rather, it’s a video capturing OpenBVE software in its full glory.
OpenBVE is an open source program for Windows, Linux and Mac created by dedicated train simulating enthusiasts. This particular video was created by AlognquinRider810.
Users operate trains from the cab controls viewing the track ahead, or from trackside with a roaming view of the 3D exterior and railway scenery. The goal is to successfully drive a selected railway route and train, obeying signals, making stops on schedule, picking up and dropping off passengers, without speeding or derailing.
So, it’s like the opposite of Grand Theft Auto. That’s all well and good, but wouldn’t it be more fun to see what happens when you send the B Train hurtling at high speed off the rails of the elevated platform? I mean, for educational purposes, of course.
For those without the patience to see their local train stop in full 3D glory, skip to 10:45 to see the train pull into the Sheepshead Bay station.
Where could this sign have come from? And is there any truth to it?
A reader sent us the iPhone photo you see above along with the following text:
Voorhies ave by the train station. fence guarding the empty lot.
Having, thank heavens, no personal experience with poison oak, I took to the vast pages of Wikipedia to learn me some more:
Toxicodendron diversilobum, western poison-oak or Pacific poison-oak (syn. Rhus diversiloba) is in the Anacardiaceae family (the sumac family) and is a plant best known for its ability to cause allergic rashes after contact. Western poison-oak is found only on the Pacific Coast of the United States and of Canada.
It is extremely common in that region, where it is the predominant species of the genus; the closely related Atlantic poison-oak (T. pubescens) occurs on the Atlantic Coast. The hyphenated form “poison-oak” is used, rather than “poison oak” to clearly indicate it is not a variety of oak, just as “poison-ivy” is not a variety of ivy.
So my question is, or rather questions are:
Why is poison oak allegedly shmeared all over this fence, guarding the empty lot, near the Voorhies Avenue entrance to the Sheepshead Bay Road train station?
If, indeed, there is poison oak around there, who would take the time to announce that grim news by painting such a pretty, antique -looking sign? I don’t know about all of you, but I would definitely hang that sign up at my place. It’s artfully done and matches my drapes.
Has anyone else seen this sign? Is there any truth to it? What is the dealio with this poison oak craziness?
Here at Sheepshead Bites, we are all about spreading the love, even if it means posting porely-spelt “Missed Connections” from Craigslist.
u were walking to subway on sheepshead bay road… – 27 (Sheepshead bay)
…I drove pass and we made heavy eye cocntact a few times. u looked good, masculine and seemed interested, but hesitant. hit me up if this sounds familiar around 620am. let me know
Not that I am one to dole out romantic advice to anyone, but if you want to try to really ‘wow!’ a member of the opposite sex, or even a member of the same sex, while you are cruising at 6:20 a.m. underneath the train trestle, try giving the impression that you graduated from fifth grade. Although, truth be told, I have not had much luck with that tactic myself.
Hey, Valentine’s Day is less than eight months away — why not get a head start?
Dozens of commuters milled around the Sheepshead Bay train station at around 10:30 a.m. this morning, making phone calls and chatting about alternate ways to get to their destination. An MTA representative informed them that the agency has terminated all bus service in the area, and B and Q lines are not running south of DeKalb Avenue.
The city is also telling residents not to attempt to drive or leave your home if its not absolutely necessary. So stay home, watch a movie and drink some hot chocolate. But make sure you also shovel your walkway…
NYPD and other emergency responders swarmed all exits of the Sheepshead Bay train station after a gun-toting thug sought escape on the tracks.
The suspect after his arrest (click to enlarge)
Responders first showed up at the scene around 9:35 p.m. on Monday. An officer said a man had robbed at least one person at gunpoint. Other witnesses said the suspect attempted to flee by the East 14th Street pedestrian bridge and then climbed over the fence and onto the tracks. It’s not clear where the robbery attempt occurred – reports vary whether it was near the station, in a train car, on Emmons Avenue or on the platform.
Approximately 50 officers were dispatched to the area, including members of the Canine Division, Vandalism Squad and the heavily armed Emergency Service Unit. Several ambulances also lined the street. The authorities clustered at the Sheepshead Bay Road and Voorhies Avenue entrances to the train station, as well as the Shore Parkway entrance to the pedestrian bridge on the other side of the Belt Parkway. An NYPD helicopter hovered overhead with a search light scanning the tracks.
Trains in both directions were stopped and lights cut, as police were seen searching car-to-car.
Minutes before 10:00 p.m., a suspect was detained on the tracks and brought down through the Voorhies Avenue exit. He passed a mob of onlookers, and blood and dirt were on his face and clothes. An officer said he fell during the pursuit.
Trains remained out-of-service for around 20 more minutes. On the Sheepshead Bay Road side, the booth agent was crowded with confused passengers looking for alternative routes home.
Officers were still seen searching the area by 10:20 p.m., presumably for the suspect’s weapon.
This shopping cart, now known only as Jane Doe, was found on the sidewalk under the Sheepshead Bay Road train station overpass. An eyewitness said he saw this shopping cart cahorting with the two drunken revellers from last week. Another eyewitness told us that this cart was just a hard working cafe table. If anyone is able to do a positive I.D. of this sad cart, we might be able to find her next of kin.
