The express bus to midtown Manhattan that was extended to the Beach 169th Street/Fort Tilden bus stop this spring is enjoying great success. Each weekday morning, residents of Breezy Point, Rockaway Point, and Roxbury are seen lined up to board the bus for the direct ride to work in midtown. The bus has become so successful that parking is now at a premium. If commuters do not leave their homes early enough, they invariably find that there is nowhere to park their car. This applies to riders of the new express bus, as well as all those who take the Q35 local bus to the Brooklyn College subway station and other points in Brooklyn.
Until recently, commuters taking the bus at Beach 169th Street had two parking alternatives. They could park inside Fort Tilden, in one of a number of spaces running parallel to Rockaway Point Boulevard/State Road, or they could park on the north side of Rockaway Point Boulevard/State Road. Traditionally, parking spaces on the north side of State Road became scarcer in the summer with the influx of seasonal residents of the Cooperative. However, commuters could generally find a space inside Fort Tilden.
Now, with increased numbers of commuters using the Beach 169th Street bus stop to catch the midtown express bus (a very positive development overall), the last resort of Fort Tilden is increasingly not available. The problem has been compounded recently in the wake of the closure of the post office at Fort Tilden. For unknown reasons, the gate into what used to be the post office building has been chained shut. This was the way most people entered the parking spaces in Fort Tilden. Additionally, for equally unknown reasons, “NO PARKING ANY TIME” signs have been posted on a portion of those formerly available parking spaces.
Former Congressman Weiner and City Councilman Ulrich were made aware of the potential for this kind of parking problem last spring when the extended run of the midtown express bus started. At the request of this columnist and others, they explored the possibility of using the Riis Landing parking lot, but the answer given was that the Riis Landing lot was reserved for ferry riders and fishermen. They were also requested to explore the possibility of making the spaces directly in front of the former post office building available for commuters. At the time of Mr. Weiner’s departure from Congress, this possibility was still being explored. Unfortunately, it now appears that those spaces are off-limits to commuters as well.
This is a major problem. We have worked very hard to get the express bus, and to get scheduling and other problems on the Q35 addressed; if commuters from the Cooperative cannot park, they cannot take the bus, and the MTA is likely to cancel or cut back service due to a perceived lack of ridership. Therefore, everyone is urged to contact our local politicians, including Lew Simon, Councilman Eric Ulrich, State Senator Malcolm Smith, State Assembly candidate Jane Deacy, and U.S. Congress candidate Bob Turner.
Cooperative residents also face another transportation problem, namely the lack of yellow school bus service for our children and grandchildren who attend middle school on the Peninsula. Even though there is no public transportation to Breezy Point, the Board of Education has denied our seventh and eighth graders, and many of our sixth graders, yellow bus service. Instead, they are giving them all MetroCards. Councilman Ulrich brought a lawsuit last year and won a decision favorable to us, but Mayor Bloomberg and the City appealed. Cooperative residents are urged to contact our local politicians, and the Mayor and Board of Education, to demand yellow bus service.
Finally, the weeds are overtaking the ocean front and bay front in the Cooperative. Soon, it will look like the jungle outside our gate. Please contact the Cooperative office and request that the weeds be removed.
Respectfully submitted,
sandybeachpoint@aol.com |
