Straphangers, local pols call for increased bus service throughout Bay Ridge Avenue station shutdown
Bay Ridge R train riders are seeking some sort of resolution to a plan of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s that would see not only an overhaul of one of the neighborhood’s four subway stations, but also its closure for at least half a year.
“While we are glad to see that Bay Ridge Avenue will be included as part of the MTA’s Enhanced Station Initiative, we are concerned about the impact that the projected closure will have on riders who use the station,” wrote concerned resident and avid R train rider Andrew Gounardes in a letter addressed to both MTA President Veronique Hakim and Governor Andrew Cuomo that will be sent alongside signatures from a subsequent petition. “Closing this station will force riders to travel an additional [half of a] mile to either 77th Street or 59th Street just to ride the R train.”
Gounardes and company are calling on the MTA either to run shuttle bus service between Bay Ridge Avenue and 59th Street or temporarily boost bus service on three nearby buses – the B9, B37 and B63 – while the Bay Ridge Avenue station is closed for repairs.