By Daniel Afanasyev
Brooklyn College students, transit advocates, and community groups relay-hiked four miles up Flatbush Avenue, calling on the Adams administration for long overdue service improvements to the major Brooklyn artery on Thursday, Oct. 17. Commencing at Nostrand and Flatbush Avenues just outside of BC, students hiked towards Atlantic Ave., passing a large MetroCard baton between groups at Beverly Road, Midwood Street, and the Brooklyn Public Library, before holding a press conference in front of Barclays Center.
To organizers of the protest, the goal was to highlight the need for more reliable transportation not just for Brooklynites, but for students who need access to reliable service in order to get to school.
“Tons of Brooklyn College students rely on the Flatbush bus daily to reach campus. Improved bus service would mean shorter commutes, more reliable transportation, and a better overall quality of life for students like myself,” said Damien Andrade, a student at BC and member of the New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG). “Having a system we can trust is essential for our success and wellbeing.”
Joining the students in the call for improved service were several local elected officials and representatives of various community-based organizations, such as the NYPIRG Straphangers Campaign, Transportation Alternatives, Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA, and Riders Alliance, among others.
“Students and other straphangers know all too well that bus service is unacceptably slow and unreliable with buses moving at under eight miles per hour on New York City streets,” said Natasha Elder, NYPIRG regional director with the Straphangers Campaign. “For the 132,000 Brooklynites who take buses down Flatbush Ave. daily, this means missed appointments, being late for school, and less time with family.”
The speakers singled out Mayor Adams on his failing commitment to the bus lane initiative, and specifically his failure to meet the goals set out by the NYC Streets Plan passed by the city council in 2019. Despite the city first holding outreach meetings regarding Flatbush Ave. during the summer of 2022, the transit corridor has yet to see any bus lane related work or improvements.
“Better public transit, and especially better buses, is a social justice issue. So many working class families rely on buses to get to work, school, and access the city,” said Jolyse Race, senior
organizer at Riders Alliance. “It’s time our Mayor and elected officials keep their promises to riders and give them some space on the city’s streets. Not only is it the right thing to do, it’s the law according to the Streets Plans Law that mandates Adams to implement 150 miles of bus lanes and busways throughout the city. Riders on Flatbush Ave are more than ready for the improvements they deserve.”
As the surrounding residents who depend on Flatbush Ave. buses continue to express a lack of action on the part of the city and unreliable service, students and advocates went away from the event with positive impressions, and vowed to keep pressuring the Adams administration for the much needed changes.
“The Faster on Flatbush event was a huge success. We had students, elected officials, and transit activists in attendance. As we walked down Flatbush, we walked past the slow buses and got shouts of support throughout the community,” McCoy Sikes, NYPIRG project coordinator at BC, told The Vanguard. “The event successfully highlighted the student and community need for a bus that we can trust to consistently get to class and work on time.”