Madison Avenue Businesses Resist Plan For Bus Shelters

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — A city plan to install shelters at a dozen bus stops along an Upper East Side stretch of Madison Avenue is facing resistance from business and preservation groups who claim the shelters will drain the character of the luxe shopping corridor.

Nearly two months after the local community board voted on a resolution to oppose the installation of bus shelters between East 57th and 78th streets, the Madison Avenue Business Improvement District is calling on the city Landmarks Preservation Commission to hold a full public hearing regarding the plan, which is being proposed by the Department of Transportation.

The DOT is planning to consult with the commission on the design of the shelters, but that isn't good enough for BID President Matthew Bauer. Bauer said that businesses on Madison Avenue have to adhere to strict landmarks rules, so it doesn't make sense that the city could install permanent structures on the street without doing the same.

"These bus shelters being proposed have tremendous advertising panels that are nearly 8-feet-tall, and will have flashing signage, illuminated signage that would be completely not allowed if stores would do it themselves in their storefronts," Bauer said. "Any major change to the character of Madison Avenue has to be reviewed and approved."

The business advocate compared the city's plans to previous experience in dealing with Madison Avenue's historic regulations. When the Madison Avenue BID proposed installing newspaper boxes on the street, a full landmarks hearing and vote was required, Bauer said.

The BID has also offered an alternative to the city's plans. The group will install benches, without shelter and the accompanying advertisements, at the same bus stops. Bauer said the city doesn't appear to be interested in the BID's proposal.

When asked if he sees any benefit to the bus shelters, Bauer said that Madison Avenue's narrow sidewalks render them nearly useless "unless rain falls 100 percent vertically from the sky and there's no wind."

"The health and vibrancy of our district which employs thousands of people at 400 businesses would be harmed by this tremendous change to the physical nature of the street," Bauer said.

Neighborhood preservationists are also speaking out against the plan and demanding a landmarks hearing. Letting the project go through without a full hearing could set a dangerous precedent said Rachel Levy, executive director of Friends of the Upper East Side Historic Districts. The preservation group conducted a study of iconic retail corridors in other cities such as Boston's Newbury Street and D.C.'s M Street and found that bus shelters are "uncommon."

Community Board 8 has been voicing its opposition of the city plan since its September meeting, when it passed a resolution calling on the city to consider alternate sites on the Upper East Side for bus shelters instead of Madison Avenue. Board chair Alida Camp said that the city's main motivation for the project appears to be the advertising revenue the structures would bring in.

"The advertising, the revenue supports the bus shelters, that's really the purpose" Camp said. "It's to generate revenue for JCDecaux, the owner of the bus shelters. We're also concerned about the width and sidewalk space between the shelters and the building."

Camp emphasized that Community Board 8 is not against bust shelters as a concept, but doesn't think the structure are appropriate for Madison Avenue.

The city maintains that the goal of installing shelters on Madison Avenue is to honor requests from bus riders asking for protection from the elements, NBC news reported when the shelters were first proposed.