Community Corner
'Bring Back The B71' Petition Gathers Over 2,500 Signatures
The new route would connect Crown Heights, Prospect Heights, Park Slope, Gowanus, Cobble Hill and Red Hook, and run into Lower Manhattan.
BROOKLYN, NY — A petition to restore B71 bus service and add a leg that connects Red Hook with Lower Manhattan got more than 2,500 signatures.
Those signatures were delivered to an MTA committee meeting at City Hall on Monday morning by a coalition of residents, local organizations and elected officials.
"On behalf of the 2,507 Brooklynites that have signed our petition to bring bring back the B71 with a new connection through Red Hook to Lower Manhattan, we respectfully request to meet with the MTA to discuss our proposal in more detail" Brad Lander, who represents the Park Slope-area on the council, said in testimony to the state agency. "Thank you again for the opportunity to testify and we look forward to meeting with you soon."
Find out what's happening in Park Slopefor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Lander has led the group that is renewing calls to bring back the B71 bus, which was shuttered in 2010 during a wave of MTA budget cuts.
The bus route would connect Crown Heights and Prospect Heights with Park Slope, Gowanus, Cobble Hill and Red Hook along Union Street (full map above), with an added leg from Red Hook to Lower Manhattan to help the commutes of people in that transit-starved Brooklyn neighborhood.
Find out what's happening in Park Slopefor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Lander said the area along the route has grown by more than 10 percent since the route was shut down.
"This increase in the still-growing population has fed a demand for more transit, and even greater growth (and transit demand) may result from rezoning in Gowanus," he said.
The route would also connect cultural centers such as the Brooklyn Museum and Brooklyn Children's museum with other parts of the borough not directly served by the subway, advocates say.
"With the B71, more families would probably have Brooklyn Children’s Museum memberships and our neighborhoods, which aren't that far away from each other, would feel more connected," Kathy Park Price, a Park Slope parent, told the committee.
SEE ALSO: Brooklyn Leaders Call For Return Of B71 Bus, With Service From Red Hook To Manhattan
Image courtesy Brad Lander's Office
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