In anticipation of the commuter nightmare that’s going to be caused by the closure of the Smith-9th Station, Assembly Member Joan Millman is lobbying the MTA for a new bus route to Manhattan. Following a recent community board meeting where the MTA said it would consider establishing a line through the Battery Tunnel to Lower Manhattan once the station revamp began in 2010, Millman sent a letter (copy on jump) to the transit authority urging it to start up the bus line immediately. “We want them to start the service now, so we can see if it works,” says Paul Nelson, Millman’s chief of staff. “Why wait until the station closes down to see if there’s demand for the route?” Nelson said they want the service to be local, rather than express (which would cost $5 a pop), which doesn’t rule out the possibility of limited stops. Millman’s office isn’t pushing for specific stops aside from one at Smith-9th, though the line could conceivably serve Park Slope, Carroll Gardens and Red Hook. Seems like a no-duh idea to us; how’s it rest with commuters who rely on Smith-9th?
Man on the Street: Ready for Smith-9th to Close? [Brownstoner]
Photo by phrenologist.