By Rebecca Henely
The rally held at the end of the N and Q subway lines in Astoria Monday doubled as a memorial, although the protesters were remembering not people but lost bus and train routes.
About 30 people, mostly elected officials and civic activists, gathered at the end of the line as straphangers exited the elevated station, at 31st Street near Ditmars Boulevard, and called on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to reinstate the QM22 express bus and the V and W subway trains. Both services were eliminated last year.
“Cutting service is not a creative way of dealing with the problems that we have,” said District Leader Costa Constantinides.
Restoring the QM22, an express bus which ran from Jackson Heights to Astoria to midtown Manhattan, has been the mission of Constantinides and a Whitestone teenager who attends school in Long Island City since April. So far, they have collected more than 1,000 signatures.
Kevin Ortiz, spokesman for the MTA, said in an e-mailed statement that the QM22 was cancelled for low service, with 60 to 70 customers a week on average.
“There are no plans to restore the route,” Ortiz said.
But advocates said the bus was poorly advertised and needed better locations for its stops. They contend that in a growing community, the service is still required.
“We have congestion, we have delays,” said state Assemblywoman Aravella Simotas (D-Astoria), who said she has been riding the subway trains since 1995 and has seen the population of straphangers increase in the ensuing years.
City Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. (D-Astoria) said the rally was also held to remember the V and W subway lines. The V ran along a similar track to the E and F lines and the W ran along a similar track to the N and Q lines. Vallone, who held a “funeral” news conference last year soon after the lines were cut, said since they were eliminated straphangers have faced longer waits and more crowded trains.
“We’re saying today what we predicted happened,” Vallone said.
Ortiz said Astoria residents have not seen their subway service decrease as the Q has replaced the W and the M serves most of the V line’s stations.
Activists at the rally held up signs reading slogans like “We Need Our Bus,” “In Memory W” and “Dearly Departed QM22.”
Many activists were part of Rider Rebellion, a project of pro-public transit and bicycle group Transportation Alternatives. Rider Rebellion advocates for more affordable fares and protests service cuts.
“We miss those bus lines that were taken from us,” said Brodie Enoch of Transportation Alternatives.
Reach reporter Rebecca Henely by e-mail at rhenely@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4564.
