This Busy UES Intersection Needs A Bus Stop, Lawmakers Tell MTA

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — Over a decade after the MTA removed the bus stop that formerly stood at the busy intersection of East 72nd Street and Second Avenue, a half dozen neighborhood lawmakers are pressing the agency to restore it.

For years, the heavily-used M15 bus line included a stop at that busy corner. But that changed in 2010, when the M15 was put under the umbrella of the Select Bus Service program: the bus rapid transit initiative that aimed to speed up service by eliminating some stops and creating dedicated bus lanes.

In a letter earlier this month, six Upper East Side officials urged the MTA to bring back the stop, saying M15 riders have been deprived for the past 12 years of easy access to their homes, nearby hospitals and of a possible transfer to the Second Avenue Subway stop at 72nd Street.

"Now is the perfect opportunity to increase ridership by restoring M15 Select Bus Service at 72nd Street," reads the letter from City Councilmembers Julie Menin and Keith Powers, U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney, State Sen. Liz Krueger and Assemblymembers Dan Quart and Rebecca Seawright.

The M15 is the city's busiest bus line, carrying 8.1 million riders in 2020 and 14.5 million the year prior. The blocks around 72nd Street are also home to many families and senior citizens — some of whom have complained to the local lawmakers about infrequent bus service and a lack of accessible transit options, according to the letter.

While the M15-SBS is supposed to be complemented by local service, the local M15 has begun stopping less frequently in recent years, sparking complaints from "typically older" constituents, the letter states.

Meanwhile, the 2017 opening of the 72nd Street Q train station makes it the only Second Avenue Subway stop without a corresponding Select Bus station, the lawmakers note.

Reached for comment, an MTA spokesperson said the agency had received the letter and was evaluating its requests.

There is precedent for adding a stop at 72nd Street despite the fairly short, five-block distance to the next stop at 67th Street, the lawmakers argue: between 23rd and 34th streets, the M15-SBS makes three stops, in part to serve the three hospitals in that 11-block span. A similar quantity of medical centers dots the area near 72nd Street, including Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Weill Cornell Hospital.

"This change would be a great help to families with young children and senior citizens," the letter reads. "It would create a more logical and efficient Upper East Side transit network, and help thousands of New Yorkers who visit these locations every day."