As Brooklyn Bridge Park nears its long-awaited opening day, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is considering eliminating the only bus route that services the park's main entrance. In its "Doomsday" service cuts, the MTA might nix the B25 bus, which is the only route that travels down Old Fulton Street and passes near the park's main entrance at Pier 1 — the first section of the 85-acre waterfront park that is scheduled to open to the public.
According to MTA documents obtained by Gothamist, the B25 is up for elimination because it closely mirrors the A and C subway lines. The document — which was a part of the proposed service cut package approved by the MTA board last month — notes that "[a]lthough these routes do carry significant numbers of customers, the subway provides direct alternative service." Though the B25 closely follows the train lines, it extends several blocks past the subway stop at High Street, down a hill and through several busy intersections to Fulton Ferry Landing. "It's totally counterproductive," said Gene Russianoff, chief attorney for the Straphangers Campaign. "You are building a major new park in Brooklyn and then you are turning off one of the main means of access to it? Now they expect us all schlep up and down the hill to get there."
If implemented, the service cuts could be go into in the summer, coinciding closely with the planned debut of the grand entryway on Old Fulton Street in mid-2010. MTA Transit spokeswoman Deidre Parker said that her agency had not reached out to the group developing Brooklyn Bridge Park before adding the B25 bus to chopping block. "Did we contact them? The answer is no. But we are at the beginning of the process and there will be public hearings." We've reached out the Brooklyn Bridge Development Corporation, and we'll update if we hear back.
To fund its construction and maintenance, Brooklyn Bridge Park will rely in part on condos constructed on park grounds — sparking concerns from some that the greenspace might turn out feeling more like a backyard for condo residents than a public park for New Yorkers. Now that the only form of public transit that brings visitors directly to the park might be eliminated, state Sen. Dan Squadron (D-Brooklyn Heights and Lower Manhattan) blasted the MTA for its lack of foresight. "What Brooklyn Bridge Park needs is increased access, not ill-conceived service cuts, and there is no question this is that category," he told Gothamist. "The thought here should be, how can we get more folks down to it from Atlantic Avenue all the way down to DUMBO. What this would do is decrease access and connectivity."
