{"id":206045,"date":"2026-04-22T14:39:47","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T14:39:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/206045\/"},"modified":"2026-04-22T14:39:47","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T14:39:47","slug":"bus-stop-battleground-queens-gazette","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/206045\/","title":{"rendered":"Bus Stop Battleground – Queens Gazette"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\"Bus<\/a><\/p>\n

Bus stop along 21st Street with broken pieces of the \u201cislands.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like so many situations that are labeled as \u201cpolitical,\u201d the current concerns generated by the Department of Transportation (DOT) plans to change a bus stop on Queens Blvd. at 39th Place has prompted vocal opposition. Protesters came out in significant numbers on Friday, April 10th to highlight their concerns about the planned relocation of the bus stop for the Q32 and Q60 buses which they believe will be un\u00adsafe for local seniors and parents with young children. The current stop is located outside of the Sunnyside Community Services (SCS) pre-K entrance on Queens Blvd. The plan is to move the stop \u201cone block away across the other side of 39th Street\u201d which is a busy two-way street. In response, DOT claims that the reloca\u00adtion will make it safer for people to wait for the bus. The change is part of a coordinated plan with the MTA\u2019s Queens Bus Network of 2025 calling for changes along Queens Blvd. The plan proposes \u201cbus boarding islands\u201d that would allow people to safely wait for buses while help\u00ading buses to move in and out of traffic more smoothly and shortening the length of the cross\u00ading on 39th Street. Because of a manhole near the current stop, it would not be suitable for the planned modification; therefore, requiring the bus stop move to another location.<\/p>\n

\"After<\/a><\/p>\n

After our winter storms and floods, pieces of the modular, heavy-duty vinyl pieces have broken off and have been unattended and in need of repair.<\/p>\n

Local leaders opposed to the changes in\u00adclude SCS Executive Director Judy Zangwill who has deemed the plan to be \u201cvery unsafe\u201d because it is located in a heavily trafficked area between Queens Blvd. and Northern Blvd. State Senator Michael Gianaris has expressed his pledge of support for the position taken by the local residents who are opposed to the change; and he expressed a commitment to urg\u00ading MTA to \u201clet go\u201d of the relocation plans. Michael Mallon, Deputy Queens Borough Pres\u00adident for External Affairs and Special Initiatives, is aligned with the concern that moving the stop across 39th Street would make it difficult for seniors and parents with young children to nav\u00adigate. He characterized it as \u201ca tragedy waiting to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is unclear how the issue of a planned change will be resolved; however, it is very clear that the Sunnyside community is on a bat\u00adtleground to defend their right to a sense of self-determination in the face of bureaucratic decision-making that negates the lived experi\u00adence of daily life in their community. The spec\u00adtrum of needs that include mobility issues, ac\u00adcess to local services, and challenges of increas\u00adingly high levels of traffic, together create a picture that begs the question: \u201cWhy are we changing something that works and already ad\u00addresses these needs?\u201d Perhaps those opposing the redesign are feeling the pressure of change for the sake of change that does not provide im\u00adprovement or enhanced ease.<\/p>\n

I can speak from my experience with similar modifications that have been made in Long Is\u00adland City along our busy 21st Street. If I am correct in assuming that we have been given the \u201cislands\u201d that are proposed for Sunnyside, I can share that there is some greater ease in boarding the buses; however, after our winter storms and floods, pieces of the modular, heavy-duty vinyl pieces have broken off and have been unat\u00adtended and in need of repair. These modular pieces are fitted together like a puzzle and there are areas where they have become dislodged creating a tripping hazard. In addition, we have also experienced bus stop changes in places where the result has created more difficulty than convenience. For more years than I can count, it was always very easy to depart the subway stop at 23rd & Ely and go directly upstairs to the bus stop that was right there. With this change and several others related to buses and trains, this is no longer the case as my husband and I discovered shortly after the changes were made. I can attest to the fact that the longer walk for my husband who has mobility issues was very challenging. In advance of the changes in Long Island City, my husband and I were not aware of any pushback or demonstra\u00adtions. We got our notice in pamphlets and MTA workers standing at bus stops after the change was scheduled to take place. Maybe we should have done what Sunnyside is now doing in the hope that it would amplify our collective voice and our concerns, but alas this did not happen so we are left with another dose of what I have previously referred to as \u201cbureaucratic bungling.\u201d<\/p>\n

I am choosing to take the long view and I see the Sunnyside community outcry as an im\u00adportant effort to foster consideration of commu\u00adnity needs and concerns based on their familiarity with the area and the fact that, unlike DOT and MTA, they actually LIVE there. The battleground is not one where weapons are drawn or where a struggle for conquest and domination preside, but one of principles, val\u00adues, and a simple form of agency and sover\u00adeignty that remains the undisputed \u2018property\u2019 of citizens, voters, and community residents. It seems that bureaucracies have assumed far too much power in determining how people live their lives. There appears to be a concerted ef\u00adfort to create more stress in the lives of commu\u00adnities that already have too much. So, in closing, I turn to an adage that illustrates how instead of the proverbial dog wagging its tail, the tail is wagging the dog and I will leave you, the reader, to determine your view of the bus stop battleground situation, but from where I sit, the bureaucracy is the tail trying to tell the dog what to do.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bus stop along 21st Street with broken pieces of the \u201cislands.\u201d Like so many situations that are labeled…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":206046,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[9,24,63,122,124,123],"class_list":{"0":"post-206045","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-queens","8":"tag-new-york","9":"tag-new-york-city","10":"tag-nyc","11":"tag-queens","12":"tag-queens-headlines","13":"tag-queens-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206045","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=206045"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206045\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/206046"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=206045"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=206045"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=206045"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}