Commuter chaos erupts over Bay Ridge subway station closure

El-Yateem Calls for Shuttle Bus to Take Passengers to 59th Street

May 1, 2017 By John Alexander Brooklyn Daily Eagle

City Council candidate Rev. Khader El-Yateem holds press conference about Bay Ridge Avenue subway station closure. Eagle photo by John Alexander

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Johnny Cash famously sang “I hear the train a-comin’,” but there was no train in sight pulling into the Bay Ridge Avenue station on Monday, May 1, as frustrated commuters learned that the station was closed and shuttered for major renovation.

The problem was exacerbated by what rail riders perceived as a lack of information provided by the MTA regarding the station closure, and alternate means of travel. Democrat Rev. Khader El-Yateem, who is running for the seat in the 43rd Council District (Bay Ridge-Dyker Heights-Bensonhurst), held a press conference outside the Bay Ridge Avenue station expressing his views on the matter and offering suggestions for how the MTA should handle the situation. Another City Council candidate, Republican Liam McCabe, was offering stranded commuters rides to the 59th Street station in his own car (see related story).

An MTA worker said that it was chaos all morning long as commuters came to the station only to find that it was closed and told that they had to take a B-9 bus to the 59th Street station. While it was hoped that the buses could handle the overflow of passengers, on this first day of the station closure it was not enough. Traffic was snarled for 10 blocks along Fourth Avenue, as people tried to determine the best route for travel.

El-Yateem is one of four Democrats running in the race to succeed Councilmember Vincent Gentile, a Democrat who has held the council seat since 2003 but who is term-limited and cannot run for re-election this year.

El-Yateem will face Justin Brannan, Gentile’s deputy chief of staff; Kevin Peter-Carroll, scheduler for Councilmember Stephen Levin (D-North Brooklyn); and Nancy Tong, a constituent aide to Assemblymember Bill Colton (D-Gravesend-Bensonhurst) in the primary.

A fifth Democrat, Assemblymember Peter Abbate (D-Dyker Heights-Bensonhurst), is said to be considering a run, but has not yet officially entered the race.

The Republicans running for the council seat are: Bob Capano, an adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice; McCabe, a former aide to U.S. Rep. Dan Donovan; and John Quaglione, deputy chief of staff to state Sen. Marty Golden (R-C-Bay Ridge-Southwest Brooklyn).

El-Yateem, who is pastor of the Salam Arabic Lutheran Church in Bay Ridge, was joined by small business worker Sal Ali of Sakman Grill & Gourmet Food Basket at 6821 Fourth Ave. and resident college student and subway rider Jack Johnson.

At the press conference, El-Yateem called on the MTA to increase the service on the B-9, B-37 and B-63 bus lines, and to also provide shuttle service to residents who are impacted by the six-month closure of the station.

He also said that the MTA did not do a very good job informing residents that the station would be closed. “We see the chaos here this morning with so many people showing up, not knowing that the station is closed, and not knowing where to go. We call on our elected officials, we call on the MTA that in future we need better communication for the residents of this community by informing them in advance and in different languages about things that will directly impact their lives,” he added.

Ali said that that the renovation was not as needed as more trains running on the R line and said that since the station closure over the weekend his grocery store, which is located directly in front of the station entrance, was like a ghost town. He said that he had just hired some great employees and now feared having to lay them off since the renovation was expected to take at least six months. He called the entire situation a disaster.

El-Yateem told the Brooklyn Eagle, “The closure of this station is not fair to the residents of our district and it does not improve the quality of service of the R train and it does not make the station handicap accessible. Also, the closure of the Bay Ridge Avenue station is going to impact the businesses in this area, as well as impact the commute time of our residents because the MTA does not provide shuttle service to the next station. So, we are fighting to continue to advocate to our elected officials that they need to do more to provide for our community. If they are going to spend $24 million to make it handicap accessible, we need to make sure that the speed of the train will be faster and the people of this district will be served better.”