YOU can help us fight it!

• Sign our online petition.
• Hand out our flyer to your neighbors

For more information, call our office at 718-859-6357 or e-mail us at bklcb14@optonline.net.

Proposed changes are summarized below and pertain, as applicable, to MTA New York City Transit (NYCT), the Manhattan and Bronx Surface Transit Operating Authority (MaBSTOA), MTA Staten Island Railway (SIR), MTA Long Island Rail Road (LIRR), MTA Metro-North Railroad (MNR), MTA Bridges and Tunnels (B&T), MTA Long Island Bus (LI Bus) and MTA Bus.

For more complete descriptions of these potential changes, please consult information posted at MTA stations and on the MTA website, www.mta.info or call 212-878-7483. Please note: other service adjustments and cost-reduction steps are under consideration that may also affect operation of subway, bus and rail lines, bridges and tunnels, staffing of stations and general provision of service. Although these possible changes do not require public hearing, they are described in informational material available on the MTA website.

Wed, 3/3/10
Brooklyn Museum
Cantor Auditorium
200 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn
6PM

Directions:

• 2 3 trains to Eastern Parkway-Brooklyn Museum
• 4 5 trains to Franklin Avenue
• Shuttle S to Botanic Garden
• Bus: B41, 45, 48, 69, 71

Registration to speak will be open until 9 p.m. on the dates of the hearings. Oral testimony is limited to 3 minutes per speaker.

To register to speak in advance of the hearings, for more information, or to comment in writing contact Douglas Sussman, Director, MTA Community Affairs, 347 Madison Ave, NY, NY 10017, (212) 878-7483.

Additional information can be found at www.mta.info. Comments may also be made on the MTA website.

In accordance with applicable legal requirements notices are being posted at appropriate locations throughout the MTA system with respect to the proposals under consideration. All public hearing locations are accessible to the mobility impaired. Interpreter services will be available for the hearing impaired.

B and Q Coney Island-bound side of Avenue H and Avenue M stations are closed for rehabilitation

All times, beginning at 5 AM Mon, Sep 28, until Fall 2010

• B and Q trains operate local between Prospect Park and Kings Highway.

Customers who need to exit at Avenue H and Avenue M should take the train to Kings Highway and transfer to a Manhattan-bound train.

• Coney Island-bound riders entering at Avenue H and Avenue M should take Manhattan-bound B and Q trains to Newkirk Avenue for Coney Island-bound trains.

•  Brighton Beach-bound  and Coney Island-bound Q trains continue to bypass Avenue U and Neck Rd.

And as a reminder, Brighton Beach-bound and Manhattan-bound B trains will be running on the local tracks until Fall 2011.

This will enable the MTA to commence track work and rehabilitate older station houses.  The work on the stations will include platform repair, paint jobs and electrical work.  Both the “Q” and “B” trains will make all local stops.

Effective September 28th, southbound Q and B trains will skip the Avenue H and M stations for approximately one (1) year.  After that work is completed, the northbound tracks of the Avenues H and M stations will be closed for one year.  For service at those stations, transfer at Kings Highway to the northbound side to take the Q or B trains to Avenue H or Avenue M stop.

Additionally, track construction has been scheduled between Avenue P and Kings Highway, Brighton Line commencing September 18, 2009 through November 23, 2009. This project consists of panel renewal with the additional installation of one switch. Working hours are from 8:00 AM Fridays to 5:00 AM Mondays (continuous from 10:00 PM Fridays to 5:00 AM Mondays). Street cranes will be set up at the following locations:

1) Chestnut Street between East 15th Street and East 16th Street (8:00 AM Fridays to 5:00 AM Mondays from 9/18/09 through 11/23/09). Full Closure

2) Avenue N between East 15th Street and East 16th Street (maintain one lane for traffic in either direction) (8:00 AM Fridays to 5:00 AM Mondays from 9/18/09 through 11/23/09).

3) Avenue P between East 15th Street and East 16th Street (maintain two lanes for traffic in each direction) (8:00 AM Fridays to 5:00 AM Mondays from 9/18/09 through 11/23/09).

Vehicle parking will be restricted for 200 feet at each crane location in order to accommodate lane changes to maintain traffic through work area.

• 12:01 AM Saturday, February 21 to 5:00 AM Monday, February 23rd — Traffic will be permitted on Newkirk Avenue between Marlborough Road and East 16th Street during the above-indicated times; however, vehicular traffic may be restricted at times due to construction.
• 12:01 AM Saturday, February 28 to 5:00 AM Monday, March 2nd –  Newkirk Avenue between Marlborough Road and East 16th Street will be closed to traffic during the above-indicated times.

This closing has been approved by the New York City Department of Transportation.

12:01 a.m. Saturday, February 21 until 5:00 a.m. Monday, February 23: Southbound Q trains operate express from Prospect Park to Kings Highway but will bypass Newkirk Avenue. Northbound service normal.

12:01 a.m. Saturday, February 28 until 5:00 a.m. Monday, March 2: Northbound Q trains operate express from Kings Highway to Prospect Park but bypass Newkirk Avenue. Southbound service normal.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact our office by phone at 718-859-6357 or by e-mail at bklcb14@optonline.net.

Cortelyou Road recently has been experiencing a phenomenal retail revitalization, which is bringing a new life and economic vigor to the surrounding community.  Restaurants, cafes, and bars are opening on a regular basis, attracting customers locally and from all over Brooklyn.  The B23 provides the only bus service connecting the F and Q Trains and the B41 Flatbush Avenue bus to these establishments.  Furthermore, the B23 also provides access to key retail hubs, such as Sears and the Flatbush Food Co-op, allowing customers from other neighborhoods to shop in Flatbush. Local merchants already have expressed grave concern that the elimination of the B23 demonstrates the City’s lack of confidence in the ability of this renewed commercial strip to continue to attract business from around the borough. They subsequently fear that future investors and customers will view this decision as a limitation on Cortelyou Road’s economic potential.  Needless to say, this is not a view that Community Board 14 shares.

Our board also is concerned with the impact of the elimination of the B23 on the daily commute of workers and their children.  Many parents use this bus to bring their children to schools and other programs near Cortelyou Road, such as P.S. 139 and the Cortelyou Branch of the Brooklyn Public Library, and then use the B, Q, or F Trains to commute elsewhere. While arguments have been made that roughly parallel bus lines such as the B8 and the B35 are viable alternatives, in reality they are not.  Use of either bus could require travelers to walk at least three avenue blocks north or south (about a half-mile) each way, which is an inconvenience, to say the least, for parents, and maybe an impossibility for their children, the elderly, the disabled, and anyone during heavy snow or rainstorms.

Lastly, the proposed alternate routes on Church Avenue and Foster Avenue are already heavily trafficked by cars, buses, delivery trucks, and bicycles. Church Avenue is part of State Route 27, and already is slowed by trucks delivering to retail stores. The B35 and the B8 are the 5^th and 7^th most heavily utilized bus routes in Brooklyn.  Providing additional buses on those routes to absorb displaced B23 riders would only worsen the already problematic traffic conditions on these streets.  At the same time, Cortelyou Road is the perfect alternate route for bus service to mitigate traffic on these other routes.  If anything, riders should be encouraged to utilize this less-trafficked route to access commercial, cultural, and educational establishments as well as to link with other modes of transportation.

From a planning perspective, elimination of any local bus route risks increasing inefficient forms of transportation and runs counter to the Mayor’s efforts embodied in PlaNYC2030. This step backwards should not be taken in the interest of negligible short-term financial benefit.

For these reasons, Brooklyn Community Board 14 is firm in its opposition to the elimination of the B23 Bus.  Additionally, we have signatures of over 1,000 residents and commuters who agree with our view about the necessity of the B23 route.

Sincerely,

Alvin M. Berk
Chair

YOU can help us fight it!

• Sign our online petition to save the B23 bus route
• Attend the MTA’s Public Hearing on this service cut on Wednesday, January 28th, 6 PM, at the Brooklyn Marriott
• Hand out our flyer to your neighbors

For more information, call our office at 718-859-6357 or e-mail us at bklcb14@optonline.net.

Proposed changes are summarized below and pertain, as applicable, to MTA New York City Transit (NYCT), the Manhattan and Bronx Surface Transit Operating Authority (MaBSTOA), MTA Staten Island Railway (SIR), MTA Long Island Rail Road (LIRR), MTA Metro-North Railroad (MNR), MTA Bridges and Tunnels (B&T), MTA Long Island Bus (LI Bus) and MTA Bus.

For more complete descriptions of these potential changes, please consult information posted at MTA stations and on the MTA website, www.mta.info or call 212-878-7483. Please note: other service adjustments and cost-reduction steps are under consideration that may also affect operation of subway, bus and rail lines, bridges and tunnels, staffing of stations and general provision of service. Although these possible changes do not require public hearing, they are described in informational material available on the MTA website.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Brooklyn Marriott
333 Adams Street, Brooklyn
6 P.M.

Directions: A C F to Jay St-Borough Hall, M R to Lawrence St, or 2 3 4 5 to Borough Hall; B25, 26, 37, 38, 41, 45, 51, 52, 54, 57, 61, 65, 67, 75 or 103

Registration to speak will be open until 9 p.m. on the dates of the hearings. Oral testimony is limited to 3 minutes per speaker.

To register to speak in advance of the hearings, for more information, or to comment in writing contact Douglas Sussman, Director, MTA Community Affairs, 347 Madison Ave, NY, NY 10017, (212) 878-7483.

Additional information can be found at www.mta.info. Comments may also be made on the MTA website.

In accordance with applicable legal requirements notices are being posted at appropriate locations throughout the MTA system with respect to the proposals under consideration. All public hearing locations are accessible to the mobility impaired. Interpreter services will be available for the hearing impaired.