Second Maspeth MTA Bus Redesign Meeting Set for Next Month

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Feb. 17, 2020 By Allie Griffin

Assembly Member Brian Barnwell and Council Member Robert Holden will host a Queens bus network redesign workshop in Maspeth in partnership with the MTA next month.

The workshop will be held at PS 153, located at 60-02 60th Ln., on March 9 at 6:30 p.m., Barnwell announced on Thursday.

The announcement came a day after the two elected officials hosted a first public meeting in Middle Village on the redesign plan with the MTA at PS/IS 49.

Holden said he was unhappy with the presentation and Q+A format of that meeting and instead wanted a workshop format on the redesign plan.

“We wanted a workshop format with large maps and breakout sessions, but the MTA decided at the last minute not to offer that,” he tweeted following the meeting last week.

The public meeting was disorganized and ended abruptly, according to reports.

Other upcoming meetings on the bus redesign plan in the area include one in Middle Village on Feb. 25 at 6:30 p.m. with the Queens Community Board 5 Transportation Committee at Christ the King School, located at 68-02 Metropolitan Ave.; and one in Glendale on March 5 at 6:30 p.m. at St. Pancras School, located at 68-20 Myrtle Ave.

In January, Barnwell sent a letter to the MTA criticizing the agency’s decision to scrap the Q18 bus line in Maspeth under the draft plan.

“The removal of the Q18 on 65th Place in Maspeth will result in removing bus service from thousands of people, including many seniors who are unable to walk to the new proposed route,” he wrote.

The current route would be replaced by three different bus routes under the draft plan.

To see the Queens Bus Network Redesign draft plan, click here. To see additional public workshop dates and locations throughout the borough, click here.