Capital plan deals between the city, state and the MTA are great, but you can’t keep forgetting the needs of Southern Brooklyn.
That was the message that Coney Island City Council Member and Brooklyn Delegation co-chair Mark Treyger yesterday elaborated on in a press conference at the F -Train Neptune Station that also included Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, State Senator Diane Savino, Assembly Member William Colton, and a representative from Council Member Vincent Gentile’s office joined community activists at the Neptune Avenue station of the F-line on Monday, November 2nd to for a press conference calling for the restoration and institution of important transportation services for Southern Brooklyn.
“The time has come to restore the transportation options that our communities have lost. Southern Brooklyn deserves its fair share. The ridership on the F-train continues to grow, yet service has not improved. Our most vulnerable residents need an elevator at the Neptune Avenue station on the F-train in the event of another Hurricane Sandy. The x29 line served the many apartment complexes in Coney Island, West Brighton and Brighton Beach. Saturday is the busiest day of the week in Coney Island, yet there is no express bus. The B1 is overcrowded. The wait times for the B82 are excessive,” said Treyger.
“We are not asking for luxury, we are asking for necessities. Southern Brooklyn was shut out of the mayor’s initial ferry plan. But we matter, too. The residents of our communities deserve to have these services restored, and our seniors and disabled people deserve to have every option available to them in the event of an emergency,” the lawmaker added.
Treyger noted that service improvements are needed in the following :
– Express trains to the Coney Island area stops are needed. Ridership at the Coney Island/Stillwell Avenue and the West 8th Street/Aquarium stops in Coney Island rose by 6.2% and 5.5%, respectively, between 2013 and 2014.
– An elevator at the Neptune Avenue station of the F-line, located within a NORC community that is also a major evacuation zone with a high concentration of disabled persons and senior citizens, is needed. More than 31% of the population of West Brighton – the neighborhood that includes the Warbasse Houses, Luna Park, and Trump Village high-rise residential complexes – is over the age of 65, while nearly 25% of the population is disabled.
– The return of Saturday service on the x28 express bus in Coney Island and Bath Beach and the return of the x29 express bus, a route that ran from Coney Island through Gravesend, Kensington, and Midwood to Manhattan. Over 5 million people visited Coney Island in 2014, and 60% came from outside of Brooklyn (30% were residents of other boroughs, 20% from elsewhere in the United States, and 10% international visitors). Over 3 million people rode the subway to Coney Island in 2014 between May and September, the highest number since at least the year 2000.
– Improved service on the B1 bus route, a heavily-used route that takes residents to and from Kingsborough Community College, attended by approximately 14,000 students. The B1 and the B49 are the only public transportation options to and from the campus.
– Improved service on the B82 bus route. The community’s older population sometimes waits between thirty and sixty minutes for bus service because half of the B82 buses stop at 25th Avenue and head back.
Colton noted that for too long, the MTA has neglected the needs of Southern Brooklyn, and that public transportation is an important part of the daily commute for the elderly, disabled, and the Southern Brooklyn community in general.
“This issue is one that spreads across both the F line and the bus services in our area. This affects the seniors who are traveling to and from the doctor’s, the small businesses who lose potential customers, and the students who are traveling to and from school. Bringing back these services will restore the vitality of our great neighborhood and tight-knit community. I am speaking on behalf of those who could not voice their concerns to make sure the MTA is aware that we need this change,” said Colton.
Gentile said that restoring weekend service on the x28 along Cropsey Avenue in his district is critical.
“The accommodation the TA made with the x17 coming in from Staten Island just doesn’t work. Also, I join my colleagues in calling for better and more frequent service on the B1 bus line,” said Gentile.
