Northeast Queens Residents Decry MTA's Proposed Express Bus Cuts

GLEN OAKS, QUEENS — The MTA is redoing the Queens bus map, and its current draft calls for cuts to express bus service ferrying northeast Queens residents to Manhattan.

Under the proposed redesign, which the MTA released Dec. 31, express buses from Bay Terrace and Glen Oaks to Manhattan wouldn't run on weekends and other routes would be consolidated.

The QM2, QM20 and QM32 bus lines would become the QMT163, a bus route running from Beechhurst to Midtown Manhattan.

The QM6, which runs from the North Shore Towers in Glen Oaks to Midtown Manhattan, would become the QMT167 and run only every 20-30 minutes during morning and evening rush hour on weekdays.

Such changes have become a rallying cry for the 2,000-member Express Bus Advocacy Group on Facebook, where members are urging each other to lobby elected officials in Queens to stand up for the borough's express bus service, the Queens Courier reported.

The proposed service cutbacks add insult to injury for northeast Queens officials who say their constituents are being left out of the redesign process: The MTA kicked off a series of public outreach sessions and workshops this month, but its preliminary schedule includes none in northeast Queens.

"I find it particularly galling because we are the ones who have the least transportation of Queens county," City Council Member Barry Grodenchik said in a phone interview.

Grodenchik and City Council Member Paul Vallone are working with MTA officials to host outreach sessions in their districts, which are beyond the reach of the city's subway system, but nothing has been confirmed.

On the current schedule, the nearest MTA workshop is Wednesday, Jan. 22 in the Queens Library at Flushing.

The @MTA has scheduled 8 workshops in #Queens to get feedback on @NYCTBus bus redesign. How is remotely possible that not one of the workshops is scheduled in communities most dependent on buses, namely #EasternQueens? We aren't on the subway map and now this. #Disappointing pic.twitter.com/WPjeEbdfxV
— Barry Grodenchik (@BarryGrodenchik) January 8, 2020

In Northeast #Queens, where there is no subway access and limited public transportation options for commuters, the MTA should be increasing and improving bus service, not creating a more desolate transportation desert. We deserve a seat at the table. https://t.co/YkxI8RaKkJ
— Paul Vallone (@PaulVallone) January 14, 2020

Still, the MTA's proposal offers some good news for commuters in northeast Queens.

Grodenchik cited the new QT71 route, which would run along Springfield Boulevard between Bay Terrace and Springfield Gardens by JFK Airport, and the QT34, which he said would help bring visitors and employees to and from North Shore University Hospital.