Brooklyn Leaders Call For Return Of B71 Bus, With Service From Red Hook To Manhattan

CARROLL GARDENS, BROOKLYN — A coalition of community groups, citizens and elected officials on Friday called for the return of the B71 bus at a rally on the corner of Court and Union Streets.

The bus route connected Red Hook, Carroll Gardens, Gownaus and Park Slope on Union and Sackett streets and continuing on into Prospect Heights and Crown Heights at the Brooklyn Children's museum.

A proposed extension would run into FiDi from Red Hook, giving the transit-starved neighborhood access to Lower Manhattan.

"There’s no good ways for families to get to school, and all the families with kids in the neighborhood to get over to the Brooklyn Children’s Museum, this incredible hundred-plus year old institution," City Councilman Brad Lander, who represents Carroll Gardens and Park Slope, told the crowd of a few dozen people.

"The gems of our cultural institutions, our seniors, our families, we all need the B-71. We relied on it, and we gotta have it back."

Here's what the proposed route would look like (click here to see it full size).

Neighborhood residents said they'd love to have the bus route back to get from one side to the other.

"It ended shortly after I moved to the neighborhood," Lydia Gerthoffer, who lives on the east side of Carroll Gardens, told Patch.

"And then I had a baby shortly after it ended, and our pediatrician was on Eighth Avenue. And it was a pain, because we didn’t have a car so we would walk. And now my daughter goes to school on Fourth Avenue, and I would love to have a public transit option."

Jessica Blackman, who lives on the other side of the neighborhood, said she would love bus service because driving is a pain.

"It takes forever. And parking is terrible," she said. "That’s probably the biggest impediment. Once you have a spot you don’t want to leave."

An online petition from Lander's office had nearly 1,500 signatures by Friday afternoon.

After the rally on Court and Union, officials rode a private bus along the route into Red Hook and the Columbia Waterfront.

Residents there have hardly any transit options besides the Smith and Ninth Street subway stop that isn't wheelchair accessible.

Karen Blondel, who lives on Columbia Street, said she misses the B71.

"That bus was a crosstown bus that actually cut time and allowed people from Red Hook to go up to Park Slope and other areas," she said.

Carlos Menchaca, who represents Red Hook on the city council, said he wants to push the MTA to make the proposal come to fruition.

"Get ready," he said. "We are ready to bring everyone together to make this happen."

The MTA did not return requests from Patch for comment.

Photos by Marc Torrence Patch.