Lower Manhattan alert for Thursday between 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. as President Obama swings into Midtown and the Upper East Side for a trio of fundraisers. The President usually takes a helicopter from JFK Airport to the Wall St. Heliport before heading up the FDR Drive with his motorcade. The FDR below 63rd St. will be frozen during this time, affecting traffic heading to/from the Brooklyn Bridge and the Battery Park Underpass. During his visit, the President will stop by fundraisers at the Sheraton Hotel on 53rd St. and Seventh Ave., a restaurant on 65th St. and Park Ave. and the Broadway Theatre at 52nd St. Drivers should stay west of Eighth Ave. and use the West Side Highway.
From the mailbag:
Dear Transit Sam,
I wrote you a while ago with respect to making the bus stop at West St. and Murray St. an official stop for the X10 Express Bus so it’s closer to the World Financial Center. The stop currently serves the X7 and X9 Express Buses with the next official X10 stop on Warren St. between West St. and Greenwich St. The MTA had informed you a couple months ago that the X10 was never an official stop at West St. and Murray St., but that some drivers decide to stop there from time-to-time. Well, I went through my old briefcase at home recently and found a schedule for the X10 dating back to September 2007. There it is in black and white with the X10 map showing Murray St. as an official stop. Could you please contact the MTA again showing them this schedule as proof that the stop did exist? Please let me know if any progress has been made about the reinstatement of the X10 Express Bus stop. Thanks for your help.
Rosemarie, World Financial Center
Dear Rosemarie,
The schedule you provided did the trick! I shared it with the powers that be at the MTA and I have great news. The MTA not only acknowledged that the stop did exist (discontinued in early 2009 when the new stop was installed on Warren St.) but they approved reinstating the West-Murray St. location as an official stop for the X10. All that’s left now is for the NYC Department of Transportation (D.O.T.) to approve the MTA’s request, which should happen around early August. Soon, it will no longer be a guessing game as to whether or not an X10 Express Bus will stop at West St. and Murray St.
Transit Sam
Have any questions about a parking ticket, traffic rules, public transportation, street cleaning rules or more? If so, send me an e-mail at TransitSam@downtownexpress.com or write to Transit Sam, 611 Broadway, Suite 415, New York, NY 10012.
