MTA promises more bus redesign input sessions in Eastern Queens
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Eagle file photo by Jonathan Sperling.
By Jonathan Sperling
After Northeast Queens lawmakers pushed for community input sessions on the MTA’s Queens bus network redesign plan, the transit agency said Friday that it would host two new community workshops events in the outer reaches of Eastern Queens.
The MTA also confirmed that it would add additional other community forums in Eastern Queens in the near future. Lucille Songhai, assistant director of community relations for MTA New York City Transit, said, after being asked by the Eagle, that additional community events would be staged in Electchester and Glen Oaks.
Songhai said that the locations for the initial set of workshops — which excluded Northeastern Queens — were initially selected because they are “hubs that we know people can easily get to for their meetings.”
“We also acknowledge obviously that Queens customers are all over the borough, so we are going out directly to where our customers are located,” she added.
Eastern Queens commuters are especially dependent on buses due to the lack of subway access in the area. The most northeastern Queens neighborhood included in the initial round of workshops was Flushing, but the borough’s boundaries extend east for an additional five miles to the Nassau County border, a fact that Northeastern Queens residents criticized before lawmakers announced the additional workshops last week.
Songhai also told the Eagle that additional outreach events would be hosted in Rosedale, Laurelton, Springfield Gardens and Oakland Gardens.
“We are going out to where our customers are located,” Songhai said, adding that the MTA was also working with community boards and civic organizations to meet with bus riders “no matter where.”
Two workshops announced by local lawmakers will take place in Northeast Queens. The first will take place in Bayside at 7 p.m. on Feb. 20 (Korean Community Services, 203-05 32nd Ave.) and the second will take place in Bellerose at 7 p.m. on Feb. 27 (Cross Island YMCA, 238-10 Hillside Ave.)
