Res. No. 1841 Title Resolution calling upon the appropriate committee of the City Council to hold hearings on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's plan to severely curtail service between Brooklyn and the Grand Street subway station in Lower Manhattan as a result of repair work to the Manhattan Bridge. Body By Council Member Freed and The Speaker (Council Member Vallone) and Council Members Dear, Malave-Dilan, Moskowitz, Perkins and Pinkett; also Council Members Berman, DiBrienza, Fisher, Foster, Lopez, O'Donovan and Rivera Whereas, The Grand Street subway station located at Chrystie Street in Lower Manhattan is among the busiest stations in New York City, serving approximately 25,000 riders per day; and Whereas, The Grand Street subway station provides access to the B, D and Q subway lines at this key Chinatown location; and Whereas, Ridership at the Grand Street subway station has increased by over 200 percent over the last three decades; and Whereas, Citing necessary repair work on the Manhattan Bridge, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) plans to reroute the B, D and Q subway lines in a manner that bypasses the Grand Street station beginning in July 2001 and lasting for a minimum of three years thereafter, according to MTA certifications filed pursuant to the State Environmental Quality Review Act; and Whereas, Such rerouting means that thousands of riders who currently use the Grand Street station will be forced to use the Canal Street station, located eight blocks away; and Whereas, On March 20, 2001, The Daily News reported that such rerouting will affect approximately 600,000 subway riders daily; and Whereas, Many local businesses in Chinatown are located in close proximity to the Grand Street station primarily because a large portion of their daily business is derived from customers who are drawn to the area exclusively because of their ability to access the subway system at Grand Street; and Whereas, On March 27, 2001, The Daily News reported that several local business owners and managers estimated that because of the rerouting of the B, D and Q subway lines to bypass the Grand Street station, sales will drop 30-50 percent during construction; and Whereas, The rerouting of the B, D and Q lines to bypass the Grand Street station will have a significant negative effect upon the profitability and potential viability of many of these local businesses; and Whereas, Mitigation of the adverse impact of the virtual closing of the Grand Street station should be considered by the MTA, including increasing service on the underutilized M subway line as a 24-hour express train between Brooklyn and Manhattan, running shuttle buses between subway stations in Brooklyn and the Grand Street area and between Canal street and Grand Street, and extending shuttle service further northbound to West 4th Street or 34th Street from the Grand Street area; and Whereas, The MTA should hold public hearings on the subway routing changes that will affect the Grand Street station and the community surrounding it in order to consider public opinion and entertain suggestions and recommendations for alternative means of transportation; and Whereas, The official position of the MTA in relation to holding public hearings on the subway changes affecting the Grand Street station is that because the changes are of a temporary nature, no public hearing is required by the State Public Authorities Law which provides for public hearings; and Whereas, The MTA's decision not to hold any public hearings on this issue is offensive to the thousands of riders who will be affected by the subway rerouting and to members of the local community surrounding the Grand Street station in that they are deprived of any official, public forum in which to voice their concerns and recommendations directly to representatives of the MTA; and Whereas, The lack of public hearings on this issue contravenes the spirit of the State Public Authorities Law that intends to provide an opportunity for the expression of public opinion where significant transportation changes are being considered for a substantial period of time; now, therefore, be it Resolved, that the appropriate committee of the City Council hold hearings on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's plan to severely curtail service between Brooklyn and the Grand Street subway station in Lower Manhattan as a result of repair work to the Manhattan Bridge. |1013| MBS-4/3/01 LS#4078