The Department of Transportation has decided to approve an application from Greyhound/Peter Pan for a new bus stop on Essex Street, alongside Seward Park. Last week, Community Board 3’s transportation committee voted to oppose the application, following a contentious meeting in which many residents spoke out against the proposal. A resolution urging the DOT to reconsider, and to come back to CB3 with alternatives, was forwarded to city officials. But today, we’ve learned, the agency has signed off on the location across from 3 Essex Street, near Canal Street. It’s a six-month permit that will be re-evaluated next spring.
Greyhound and Peter Pan are creating a new service to compete against already-existing Chinatown bus companies. “YO!” Bus will offer eight daily stops between New York and Philadelphia. The service begins operating September 27; a ticket office will be located at 98 East Broadway.
In a press release, Greyhound President and CEO Dave Leach said, “YO! offers a safe and relaxing new option for travelers who like the convenience and affordability of Chinatown bus lines… Currently intercity bus service between Chinatown in New York and Philadelphia is virtually non-existent, so we are excited to offer customers a service that meets their travel needs.”
Residents opposed the Essex Street stop primarily because it’s in front of a playground in Seward Park. The application is an early test of a new state law setting up a permit system for intercity buses. The law, which hasn’t officially taken effect, requires community board consultations. Greyhound and Peter Pan saw an opportunity in Chinatown after the federal government shut down more than 20 operators for safety violations this past spring.
City Council member Margaret Chin told us she hopes the city can find an alternative location after six months, since there was so much community opposition.
We have a call into the DOT press office for more information; we’ll let you know what we hear.
Editor’s note: Thursday afternoon a DOT spokesperson confirmed the permit had been approved on a “six-month trial basis” and said the agency would “monitor operations at this location going forward.”
Outrageous.
Wel-scum to the neighborhood…
UNFORGIVEABLE!! Soon Greyhound will no doubt increase it’s daily runs to 28/day, and then they will likely request additional lines all around the neighborhood!
So much for community participation in the decision process! Ha! This was a done deal from the start.
Elected officials, such as Margaret Chin, should be held accountable for supporting this bus stop and thereby helping to ruin our lovely little neighborhood!
We should not give up. Phone camera’s should record the crowds and garbage and proximity to all the kids. Bus riders lounged on the benches etc.The pictures should be sent to all elected and appointed officials.
Any doc filmmakers out there this could be the start of a provocative movie. Ms Sadek- Khan , darling of the Mayor versus the people of a real live neighborhood…. and so much more.
Margret Chin sold us out!
they will be greeted with eggs and then molotovs
If they can put this bus stop here, they can put it anywhere, and they will…it’s not even in chinatown. “….requires community consultation..” Really? There are approximately ten more applications on the table for consideration (I’m sorry, to be approved) and NONE of them are in chinatown. All are on the outskirts where the streets are wider. DOT will only make considerations where it involves a street issue. It does not and will not consider neighborhood objections because under the current law, they don’t have to. Two of the future proposed sites are in front of public schools. Honestly, the CB meetings are a waste of time. You can only ask the DOT to be kind when they screw you, because you are going to get screwed. For the surrounding neighborhood—-it’s about to become Port Authority on a much wider scale. Over the next few years, over 500 buses will trek in out of the chinatown area (95% outside of chinatown), non-stop. My only advice is to complain about every single issue you can find when the buses start rolling in and to flood your elected officials with letters. But honestly, short of an tragic accident, they are ALL done deals. For the few who actually say this is a good thing-be careful what you ask for. Do you really want your neighborhood to become a bus depot? Your doorstop is next. Oh, and by the way, Greyhound has already asked the DOT to increase the number of round-trips to 28. And DOT will say yes…Move or sell now because it’s about to get real ugly.
Thank you DOTinsider for this important information! So now it will be back to the 28 bus trips, which means more than 1,000 passengers/day outside the park. Just as we thought – this is just the beginning. Totally outrageous!
NYCDOT Commissioners, Margaret Chin, Daniel Squadron, Sheldon Silver – how can you all sleep at night knowing that you have just helped to ruin a gentle little LES neighborhood!
What ever happened to the democratic process? The community and community board were unanimous in their opposition to this location. Clearly the city did not take that into consideration at all and had already made a deal with Greyhound – it was obvious from Greyhound’s behavior at the community board meeting that they knew they were going to get what they wanted. Margaret Chin needs to be held accountable for this – since she is clearly uninterested in representing the needs of her community she needs to go.
Redunkulous! Next they’ll want to open a 7-11 on grand st!
Ms. Chin – you knew there was tremendous opposition to this bus stop so why didn’t you support alternative stops before the decision was made? I , and several others, were working very hard with your staff on identifying alternative stops , and then suddenly the curtain came down, and you decided to favor Greyhound. You had the chance to help and you did not.
So saying that you ‘hope the city can find an alternative location after six months ‘ rings very hollow….
Some key points that were missed during the CB3 meeting. The route in and out of the city was quickly glossed over as was the layover/parking spot for these buses. The city already had an agreement with greyhound to park at Pier 42 even though this area is slated to become a waterfront/park destination. DOT is aware that the entrance (Montgomery St.) to this lot is precarious for bikers/pedestrians but put that safety issue secondary to the agreement. DOT representatives were at the meeting but as observers only. There is an upcoming CB3 meeting next week to discuss the future of Pier 42 but I’m not sure if the bus depot is on the agenda. Another key point which no one even raised was security. DOT is aware of the security risks that these buses present now that they are on public streets as opposed to an official bus depot. What traffickers have been doing is placing unattended cargo in the storage underneath the bus and having someone else pick up the cargo at the end point of the route. The person never has to actually get on the bus or for that matter, even pay for a ticket. A package gets to ride unattended and undocumented into lower Manhattan. This was documented with the recent banning of the seafood that was being transported between cities. Friends of Seward Park, 7 Essex, The Forward Building, and other groups-you had no chance. Greyhound hired lobbyists and public relations personnel to quickly gain the favor of local politicians. “Donations” go a long way. They did not even consider working with the local public groups. They want to do this as quick as possible in hopes that people will just get used to it and give up.
Which is what generally happens in most cases. Have you even seen DOT move so quickly even in cases involving fatalities?
Many wrote letters to some public officials but it simply wasn’t enough. You need thousands of letters to all including the Mayor. And writing to the DOT is a waste of time. It goes straight to the shredder.
So appreciate your information. Wish there were a way of contacting you.
We need to start taking pictures now for before and after shots because yes it will get ugly and fast.
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Bottom line.
Margaret Chin should pay a political price for this.
She has sold out community interests for business interests a few times too many and this is the last straw.
How can the idiots not come up with a better solution. A beautiful, quaint park, children all around, elderly…and they decide to force a BUS DEPOT w/ tons of people, garbage, vagabounds, and pollution? It makes no sense whatsoever and is plain disgusting what they’re doing to this neighborhood. This Margaret Chin woman seems like she’s completely destroying the fabric of LES/Chinatown…who voted her in???