Councilman Lander To Host Event To Bring Back B71 Bus Route

BROOKLYN, NY — Councilman Brad Lander will host an event this week to call on the MTA to bring back a bus route connecting Red Hook to lower Manhattan.

Lander teamed with the Brooklyn Children's Museum to host a community event on Thursday night in the hopes to show the MTA residents want the B71 bus — which ran along Union Street through Park Slope, Carroll Gardens and Crown Heights — back with extended service to Manhattan, the councilman announced.

"This cut a vital transportation link for our neighborhoods," Lander wrote on Facebook. "We’re fighting hard to restore the B71 with a new link through Red Hook to Manhattan to create the #B71Plus."

The MTA axed the B71 in 2010 to save money citing low ridership numbers, DNAinfo reported. A group of locals started a push in 2015 to restore the line — skipping highly trafficked areas and including more stops in Brooklyn — but the MTA did want to bring it back, the website reported.

In October, Lander and several community groups started a new campaign and petition to bring the B71 back, this time with a route that linked Red Hook to lower Manhattan.

"Red Hook is not served by any subway stop, and only by two local Brooklyn bus routes," City Councilman Brad Lander wrote about the petition in October.

"A direct connection between Red Hook and Manhattan would make 90,000 more jobs accessible for Red Hook commuters within a one-hour transit zone. And everyone along the route would gain a convenient new commuting route to Lower Manhattan."

Thursday's event at the Brooklyn Children's Museum in Crown Heights aims to raise awareness about the new push and show the MTA the need to bring it back, Lander said. It will be from 4 to 5:45 p.m. and have local student bands, art activities for children, a bouncy house and raffles.

Image: Councilman Brad Lander's Office