Bus plan is the pits To The Editor: Re “Loony to cut Abingdon bus loop, seniors protest” (news article, May 9): At the Community Board 2 meeting on May 2 held at N.Y.U.’s Meyer Hall, about as far from 14th St. as one could be (by contrast City Council Speaker Corey Johnson held his hearing on the same subject at The New School, adjacent to 14th St.) there were strong and vocal responses from the community, which Lincoln Anderson described so eloquently for The Villager. The concerns held by the Union Square Coalition, whom I represented, centered around meeting the needs of the riders, as opposed to the New York City Transit Authority, which dwelt more on bus speeds rather than the comfort and convenience of its riders. If buses arrived on reliable two-minute headways, there would be no need for Select Bus Service, with its free rear entries, since not that many people would be waiting. The bus stops removed at Fifth Ave. and Union Square should be immediately returned. The Fifth Ave. stop allows a transfer to the Fifth Ave. bus Downtown to N.Y.U. and Washington Square and Uptown to the spine of Manhattan. Union Square not only connects with three subway lines but with the Greenmarket, which serves up to 20,000 people four times a week, and with Mt. Sinai Hospital. By eliminating bus stops, the Transit Authority forces riders to walk further to their destinations, thus increasing — not decreasing — trip time, plus making the trip less convenient and comfortable, especially discouraging seniors and others who find walking difficult. I hope the Transit Authority will revise its plans. Barry Benepe
Agencies ignore seniors To The Editor: Re “Loony to cut Abingdon bus loop, seniors protest” (news article, May 9): I have been saying this for years: The Department of Transportation and New York City Transit Authority are not senior-friendly. They always marginalize those with mobility problems. Sadly, neither is Transportation Alternatives, which has morphed into a bicycle advocacy group. They all worship speed over need. The thing is that transporting people is not only about commuters. It’s about getting to doctors appointments, parks, nursery school, visiting family, grocery shopping, etc. Funny they should mention that ridership has dropped in the past 10 years. Remember what happened in 2010? They cut bus service to our area and changed routes drastically. Waits became longer, with nowhere to sit. Here is a thought: local stops, with seating, during non-rush hours. Keep providing necessary service to non-commuters who need surface transport. Lora Tenenbaum Getting set to sue To The Editor: Re “Loony to cut Abingdon bus loop, seniors protest” (news article, May 9): The removal of the Fifth Ave. and 14th St. bus stop going west is a disaster for those of us who use that 14th St. corridor daily. To have no stop between Sixth Ave. and Union Square is a hardship for seniors and many other others. And now we hear that the M.T.A. plans to eliminate the M14A bus stops on Hudson St. I’m all in for suing the city. It seems as if they want to get rid of senior citizens and the middle class. Ellen Datlow Freedom of the press To The Editor: Re “Jaywalking ticket for doing my job” (op-ed, Clayton Patterson, May 9): You don’t need permission to exercise your constitutional rights. Freedom of the press means you can photograph anything you want in public without some pig interfering with you. Never stop resisting anti-Amerikan government repression.
Nick Zedd E-mail letters, maximum 250 words, to news@thevillager.com or fax to 212-229-2790 or mail to The Villager, Letters to the Editor, 1 MetroTech North, 10th floor, Brooklyn, NY 11201. Please include phone number for confirmation. The Villager reserves the right to edit letters for space, grammar, clarity and libel. Anonymous letters will not be published.
