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Fresh Meadows neighbors seek to move Q65 bus stop

By Tien-Shun Lee

Two neighbors who live in apartment buildings on the corner of Grand Central Parkway and 164th Street in Fresh Meadows are trying to drum up support to move a Q65 bus stop that they say blocks their buildings' driveway.

“The curb is cut right where the bus stop is, so the bus itself blocks the path of vehicles using the driveway, and the passengers waiting for the bus, they themselves block the driveway,” said Dan Martin, a resident of 161-32 Grand Central Parkway, at a Community Board 8 meeting earlier this month.

In addition to obstructing the driveway, which is shared by several apartment buildings, the current location of the bus stop results in high school students crossing the street diagonally to reach 84th Avenue, which leads to Edison and Jamaica high schools, said Martin.

He and his neighbor, Samuel Rodriguez, proposed moving the bus stop one block south of its current location to a spot in front of a water tank, directly across the street from 84th Avenue.

The proposed new location would prevent students from having to cross the street at an angle and would free up the entrance/exit to the apartment buildings' driveway, the neighbors said. In addition, because the sidewalk at the proposed location is wider than at its current location, a bus stop shelter could be constructed there to shield waiting passengers from inclement weather.

“It's logical, it's practical and it doesn't cost anything,” Rodriguez said.

In October, a letter was written to CB 8's transportation committee on Rodriguez's behalf, requesting that the bus stop be moved. The request was rejected, apparently because it did not benefit enough individuals, said Jesse Rosenbaum, chair of the committee.

“We are looking to benefit the community at large, not any private individual,” said Rosenbaum, who reviews about 30 requests a month. “It came in as an individual request, and an individual request doesn't carry as much weight as a request from a civic association or a community petition indicating that there is widespread support for a particular project.”

Following the suggestion of CB 8's transportation committee, Rodriguez is now working with Martin to write up and circulate a petition to move the bus stop, which has been at the same spot for more than 35 years.

If the new request, accompanied by a petition, is approved by CB 8's transportation committee, it will be passed on to the Metropolitan Transit Authority.

“If we can get a group of people to say 'yes, we would like it moved,' we could look into the feasibility of it,” said Tom Cocola, a spokesman for the city Department of Transportation.

Reach reporter Tien-Shun Lee by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com, or call 1-718-229-0300, Ext. 155.