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‘Gimme
Shelter’ Say Bus-Riding Seniors
by Barry
Owens
In Battery
Park City along North End Avenue, black cars sit at the ready for their
clients, and taxis head to West Street with passengers and a purpose.
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Then there’s the M22 bus.
It lumbers up the avenue every 20 minutes or so, snorts to a stop,
and opens its doors to passengers who, depending on the weather,
could be rain-soaked, wilted from the heat or shivering.
With no shelter at the bus stop, those passengers—often coming
from the Hallmark seniors residence across the street—are at
the mercy of the elements.
So when Pearl Scher, a Hallmark resident and member of Community
Board 1, began lobbying a year ago for a shelter at the stop for
“her people,” she thought it was an obvious and easy sell.
“It seemed to me such a reasonable request that there wasn’t
any doubt in my mind it would be approved,” Scher said.
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So far, she’s been proved
wrong.
The location meets the Department of Transportation’s criteria
for installing a shelter and the request is supported by the Battery
Park City Authority and Community Board 1.
But the plan hasn’t earned the approval of the building management
at Tribeca Bridge Towers, at 450 North End Avenue, which is next to
the bus stop.
In a letter to the Department of Transportation, building manager
George Limbach of Glenwood Management Corp. denied the agency’s
request to install a shelter, without explanation, according to Scher.
“They don’t have to give an explanation and they didn’t,”
she said.
Limbach did not return repeated calls for comment.
According to Department of Transportation regulations, business and
property owners closest to the site of a proposed bus shelter or other
sidewalk fixture have the right to deny the installation for any reason,
said Kay Sarlin, a DOT spokeswoman. Unless the building managers have
a change of heart, there will be no shelter in front of 450 North
End Avenue, she added.
“We really want to help any member of the community that we can
and we will look for other [nearby] areas that a bus shelter might
be possible,” Sarlin said.
“It’s a big deal,” said Michelle Dewitt, activities
director at the Hallmark, who often sees residents leaning on the
building, sitting on their walkers or taking shelter in a nearby deli
while they wait for the bus. “One of the reasons they moved down
here is because they like the fact that there’s bus service uptown
to Lincoln Center and up that way.”
Resident Henry Suss said the lack of a shelter was a hardship for
residents, particularly those with handicaps.
“They try hard to go places, like anyone else,” said Suss.
“And they’re not going to go on the subway. That’s
45 steps down.”
Scher insists she will continue to fight for a shelter, even a temporary
one.
“Listen, if the city puts in a temporary shelter, that means
it will be there for 50 years,” she said.
At least one Hallmark resident and frequent bus rider, who did not
want to be identified, said she was not holding her breath.
“Why should they care?” she asked, shrugging. “A lot
of people down here can afford to take a taxi. Look, there goes another
one.”
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