Queens Post: Elected Officials, Local Organizations Call on MTA to Add Bus Stop near Ridgewood Reservoir

June 28, 2019

Originally published in Queens Post

Several elected officials and local groups are calling on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to add a new bus stop near the Ridgewood Reservoir as part of the Queens bus route redesign.

The MTA announced in April that it will undergo a year-long redesign of all 107 bus lines in the borough in an attempt to modernize the routes and reverse the declining bus ridership. Local leaders are calling attention to the fact the 50-acre reservoir is not currently accessible by public transit and are asking the MTA to include a new stop in the revamp.

”Currently, one has to walk a mile from the closest subway station and a half mile from the closest bus stop to get to the Historic Ridgewood Reservoir,” said Assembly Member Mike Miller. “More families, students and seniors can enjoy this 50 acre natural oasis if there was a bus stop in front of the reservoir.”

The closest bus stop to Ridgewood Reservoir, located on the border of Brooklyn and Queens, is the Q56 at Jamaica and Shepherd Avenues, about a half mile away. The nearest subway station is the Norwood Avenue J train station, located a mile downhill from the reservoir.

Nonprofit NYC H20 has led the charge calling for the new bus stop and has received support from City Council Members Robert Holden and Antonio Reynoso, State Senators Michael Gianaris and Joseph Addabbo, and Assemblymembers Andrew Hevesi and Catherine Nolan. Community organizer Rob Jett of Friends of Ridgewood Reservoir and Marit Larson of NYC Parks have also given their stamp of approval.