Tag Archives: mta

The elimination of the M9 bus affected Battery Park City residents

Battery Park City Community Board Proposes M9 Resolution

News, What's Happening, , , , , , , ,
The elimination of the M9 bus affected Battery Park City residents
MTA's elimination of the M9 bus affected Battery Park City residents

The elimination of the M9 bus this summer has caused transportation headaches for our area.

Losing the M9 bus line this summer has caused transportation headaches for many residents in our area. Many of our own readers have voiced their concerns over the loss of the M9 line which was a main artery of transportation for the daily life of many residents.

The effects have caught the attention of City Councilmember Margaret Chin and the Community Board to draft a proposal which was recently presented to the MTA.

In that proposal, Battery Park City Committee have offered a resolution which calls for the extension of the M15 bus line into Battery Park City as well as extending the M22 line from Vesey Street into the southernmost tip of our neighborhood at Battery Place and Little West Street.

According to an article in this week’s Downtown Expresss, “The letter states, “due to the elimination of the M9, people traveling between Battery Park City and other areas of New York City are required to make more transfers, and, seniors, the mobility-impaired, and students particularly rely on buses.”

Compounded by the loss of the W line and consistent service closings due to the construction of the Fulton Street Transportation Hub, Lower Manhattan has been adversely affected. A response from the MTA is pending.

Rector Street 1 train station

MTA Shuts Down 1 Train

News, What's Happening, , ,
Rector Street 1 train station
Rector Street 1 Train

Obviously, the MTA doesn’t want us to leave Battery Park City, we are losing our 1 train over the next two weekends.

On top of losing the 9 and W trains as well as M9 service, we are really living up to our “Lower Manhattan’s Siberia” reputation.

The shut down of the 1 train will accomodate for end-to-end maintenance on the line, which includes completing work at the World Trade Center site.

The decision to shut the 1 train down over two weekends was the lesser of two transportation evils and provided more efficient repairs versus stretching them out over months.

For the next two weekends, free shuttle buses will connect riders to points on the A line that will run locally along the 2/3 lines within Manhattan.

According to the MTA.info website:

The 2,3,A trains, free shuttle buses, and the M3 bus provide alternate service

Weekend, 11:30 PM Fri to 5 AM Mon, Sep 17 – 20 | Sep 24 – 27

2 and 3 trains run local and replace the 1 between 96 and Chambers Sts.

(Downtown 2 and 3 trains skip 86 and 79 Sts)

Shuttle buses run in four sections making station stops on the 1 line:

1. On Broadway between 242 and 215 Sts, then connecting to the 207 St A station.

2. On St Nicholas Av between 191 and 168 Sts.

3. On Broadway between 168 and 96 Sts (express and local service).

4. In Lower Manhattan between Chambers St and South Ferry.

The elimination of the M9 bus affected Battery Park City residents

Community Board Revisits M9 Elimination

News, , , , , , , , ,
The elimination of the M9 bus affected Battery Park City residents
MTA's elimination of the M9 bus has affected Battery Park City residents

This summer’s cuts to MTA service left many Battery Park City residents in the lurch. The M9 bus was an important line to connect residents west of Broadway to points east, including Chinatown and much of the Lower East Side. (Of course, we also lost the convenience of the W train at area subway stops: a loss that, while not of the magnitude of the M9 removal, has added 15 minutes to this writer’s daily commute).

While the W train has waved its last goodbye, is there still hope for the M9?

Community Board 1’s Battery Park City Committee will be discussing the affects of losing the M9 bus in its next meeting on September 7th.

If you have been affected by the route elimination, please let us know how it has changed your commute — and what you have done to accomodate for the loss of service — by leaving a comment below or by emailing us at [email protected]. We’ll make sure to forward your stories to the committee to discuss during the September 7th session.

American Freedom Defense Initiative Bus Ads

“WTC Mega Mosque Why There?” Bus Ads To Run (PHOTOS)

News, What's Happening, , , , , , ,
American Freedom Defense Initiative Bus Ads
American Freedom Defense Initiative Bus Ads Run in Several Cities (Credit: AFDI)

Ads decrying the Park51 mosque near Ground Zero will run on New York City buses, after gaining approval from the MTA today.

The campaign is being funded by The American Freedom Defense Initiative, a New Hampshire organization, who had sued MTA in federal court last week to accept the ads.

According to the groups spokesperson, David Yerushalmi the ads are “a victory not for free speech but against political correctness and Mayor Bloomberg’s bullying.”

The ad features an airplane headed toward the burning World Trade Center along with the message, “WTC Mega Mosque — Why There”

This is not the first time the American Freedom Defense Initiative has run controversial ads. They have also purchased transit advertising calling for the questioning of Islam in several other cities including San Francisco, Miami and Minneapolis — which have been deemed offensive by different groups in each city.

According to a statement from the MTA, “While the MTA does not endorse the views expressed in this or other ads that appear on the transit system, the advertisement … was accepted today after its review under MTA’s advertising guidelines and governing legal standards.”

This would be the second advertisement against the slated Mosque that had caused equal amounts of controversy. A month ago, both NBC and CBS had banned the airing of anti-mosque ads on their networks by the National Republican Trust PAC.

Battery Park City Community Comments

Week in Review: You Said It! (Community Comments)

News, Op-Ed, , , , , , ,
Battery Park City Community Comments
Check out this weeks neighborhood comments!

We’ve been humbled by the response we’ve received on the site through comments and suggestions, and so we’ve decided to create a weekly feature called “Week in Review.’ Every week, we’ll highlight  selected comments from the site. We urge you to find and add more comments to all our articles as we hope that this keeps the conversation going! As always, feel free to leave suggestions/comments for the rest of us on the site and in our posts.

Art Vendors in Battery Park
Battery Vendors

In ‘Battery Park to Have Fewer Art Vendors,’
John wrote: “what about the counterfeit luxury bags dealers? between the art vendors and the counterfeit luxury bags dealers, i’d rather see the art vendors stay, and the counterfeit bag dealers go. one group is selling legal merchandise, the other is clearly trading in illegal merchandise. and they make neither commitments NOR investments in our neighborhood. their shady way of operating is the real blight on our streets.”

45-47 Park Place Debris
9/11 Debris

In ‘Mosque Hearing Update and Religious Turf War,’
Dr. John A. Pagnani wrote: “It seems to me that the part of the reconstruction site that is not dedicated to commerce should be a nondenominational space to promote healing and rememberence, not division. I would vote to keep all organized religions from seizing this ground so everyone is able to feel comfortable there. I do not think it should be used to promote any specific religious perspective other than what people bring to the site in their hearts.”

liberty court 200 rector place
Tire Swing Woes

In ‘Liberty Court Residents New Tire Swing Victims,’
M Wood Wrote: “…Of course for the last year or so we have been living through another reconstruction of West Street. In addition, those of us facing West Thames Park just experienced many months of construction, starting early in the morning, sometimes 7 days a week. I think a little context might help make others a little more understanding and actually appreciative of those residents who have stayed here despite these challenges. By the way, my own pet peeve is the ugliness of the new “arbor”, but that is nothing after what we have been through here.”

MTA Cuts greatly affect Lower Manhattan
BPC MTA Changes

In ‘MTA Cuts Ream Lower Manhattan: What This Means,’
Kate S. wrote: “Battery Park City is a wonderful place to live–except when they take away key services like the W train and the M9 bus. The M9 was a link to being able to go out by myself at night and feel completely safe coming home late. What a shame that we, who do not have all the amenities of the rest of NYC, are cut off from the few things that made life here a bit easier.”

Bus and Subway changes are in effect for Battery Park City

MTA Changes in Effect for Battery Park City

News, , , , , , , , ,
Bus and Subway changes are in effect for Battery Park City
Bus and Subway changes are in effect for Battery Park City

Your commute to and from work has forever changed today. After months of forewarning, the transit changes for buses and subways in our area have been solidified.
Here’s what the changes mean for us in the neighborhood

Trains by Station:
1/9 – The 1 line will continue to have interrupted service on the weekends to accommodate the construction of the South Ferry/Fulton Street transit hubs.
W- Completely eliminated.
R-  The R will replace the stops serviced by the defunct W line.
4/5/6- Unaffected. Service as usual to Fulton St., Wall St., Whitehall and Bowling Green stops.
A/C/E-  The A/E will continue to have interrupted service on Sundays to accommodate the construction of the South Ferry/Fulton Street transit hubs.
J/M/Z- Reduced train frequencies on the weekends to accommodate the construction of the South Ferry/Fulton Street transit hubs.
Bus Routes:
The bus changes will affect our area greatly as stipulated below:

Manhattan Bus Route Changes
: M1, M6, M8, M10, M11, M16, M18, M20, M21, M22, M27, M30, M42, M50, M66, M98, M100, M104, M116, B39, B51
•    M18, M27, M30, B39 and B51: all service will be discontinued.
•    M8, M21 and M50: weekend service will be discontinued.
•    M1, M8, M16, M22, M50 and M66: overnight service will be discontinued.
•    M11, M20, M21, M22, M98, M100 and M116: late night service will end earlier and/or early morning service will begin later.
•    M6 service will be discontinued with alternate service provided partially by the rerouted M5.
•    M10 service south of Columbus Circle will be discontinued.
•    M42 service will no longer operate to the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center.
•    M98 service south of 65 St will be discontinued; service will no longer stop inside the George Washington Bridge bus station.
•    M104 service on 42 St will be discontinued.
Manhattan Bus Route Restructuring
: M1 M3 M5 M6
•    M5 service will be extended south to South Ferry via 5 Av/Broadway southbound and Church St/6 Av northbound to replace
discontinued M6 and M1 service south of 8 St.
•    M3 service will be rerouted from 9 St and University Place to 4 Av between 9 St and 14 St.
•    M1 service will be rerouted on weekdays to follow the M2 in both directions north of 8 St (5th/Madison/Park Avs)
•    M1 service will be discontinued on weekends south of 106 St.
M9 M15 M20 M21
•    M9 service will be rerouted from Avenue B to Avenue C to replace M21 and will terminate at the VA Hospital at East 23 St (Peter Cooper Village and Stuyvesant Town).
•    M9 service will be discontinued along Water St and in Battery Park City and will be extended along Park Row to City Hall replacing the M15.
•    M15 service to City Hall via Park Row will be discontinued replaced by the M9.
•    M21 service will be discontinued north of Houston St (along Avenue C) and extended along Houston St and the FDR Drive to Grand St (M21 service will not run on the weekends).
•    M20 service will be extended to South Ferry replacing a portion of the M9.

MTA Maps for bus changes in Lower Manhattan
MTA Maps for bus changes in Lower Manhattan (Courtesy MTA)

Do the transit changes affect your commute?

MTA Cuts greatly affect Lower Manhattan

MTA Cuts Ream Lower Manhattan: What This Means

News, , , ,
MTA Cuts greatly affect Lower Manhattan
Do you know how the MTA cuts affect your daily commute?

During this widespread recession, New Yorkers everywhere have tried to save on their daily commutes by relying heavily on public transportation. For us residents of Lower Manhattan, specifically Battery Park City, our commute just got crappier. On June 27, the transit changes go into effect which include the loss of key subway and bus lines in the downtown area. The W train, which directly served the Battery Park City community will stop it’s regular service on Friday, June 25th. It’s all a wee bit ironic, considering the state could be considered biting the hand that fed them some much needed financial infusion for their large budget gap.

The most contested transit change, the elination of the M22 was saved at the 11th hour. Saving an important route that served both the BPC and LES communities.

So what other changes will effect our area? We seek to list out some of the major changes and how many people will be affected by these changes:

Trains by Station:

1/9 – The 1 line will continue to have interrupted service on the weekends to accommodate the construction of the South Ferry/Fulton Street transit hubs.

W– Completely eliminated.

R-  The R will replace the stops serviced by the defunct W line.

4/5/6– Unaffected. Service as usual to Fulton St., Wall St., Whitehall and Bowling Green stops.

A/C/E-  The A/E will continue to have interrupted service on Sundays to accommodate the construction of the South Ferry/Fulton Street transit hubs.

J/M/Z– Reduced train frequencies on the weekends to accommodate the construction of the South Ferry/Fulton Street transit hubs.

Bus Routes:

M22- Weekend and Overnight service will be shortened.

M20- Service will be restructured and is TBD. Weekday and Weekend service will be shortened.

M9 – Service will be restructured and is TBD

Express Bus Routes:

X25 – Total Elimination (Route served Grand Central to Lower Manhattan)

X20-  Total Elimination (Lower Manhattan to Staten Island)

X18– Total Elimination (Lower Manhattan to Staten Island)

X16– Total Elimination (Lower Manhattan to Staten Island)

X90– Total Elimination (Lower Manhattan to Yorkville)