Elected officials announced the postponement of two bus redesign meetings in northeast Queens amid growing coronavirus concerns.
The postponed meetings include one on March 18 at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Church in Whitestone and another on March 19 at North Shore Towers in Floral Park.
“The MTA has promised to reschedule these forums and will not move forward with the Queens Bus Redesign until they have held all promised meetings and gathered input from all interested parties,” said Senator John Liu in a Facebook post.
The March 18th and 19th @MTA Workshops in #Whitestone and #NorthShoreTowers have been POSTPONED out of an abundance of caution due to #COVID19. Please stay posted for the new dates in the coming weeks. pic.twitter.com/7gJJAGU2is
— Paul Vallone (@PaulVallone) March 11, 2020
Assemblyman Edward Braunstein and Councilman Barry Grodenchik also confirmed the postponements on social media.
Starting on Monday, the MTA said that it started discussions with “community partners” in a series of letters, notifying them of the decision to postpone these bus redesign meetings.
In the letters, the MTA said that postponing the meetings was a “precautionary measure for the safety of the public and our employees.” The agency added that these events would likely have a “high attendance of vulnerable populations” like senior citizens.
The agency continued by saying that they would explore digital technology, including the web, video and social media, as a means of communication during these times.
According to the MTA website, bus redesign meetings in Oakland Gardens, Bay Terrace and Glen Oaks are still scheduled for April.
Edited on March 13 to reflect comments from the MTA.
