Manhattan Beach Community Group

From our friend Ned at Sheepshead Bites.

Three weeks from now - the MTA will launch a two-year rehabilitation plan for platforms between Prospect Park and Kings Highway. As part of the trackwork the B train will run local at ALL TIMES in ALL DIRECTIONS. This adds upwards of 35 minutes to Manhattan-bound commuters in our neighborhood, and makes prospective home-buyers and renters more reluctant to move here. (This is not speculation. We’ve already heard from many who found the site in researching the neighborhood, and they’ve told us that they have stopped considering Sheepshead Bay and the surrounding communities specifically because of the planned MTA changes. Some renters have also told us they plan to move out.)

 Also during the two-year shutdown, the MTA has said that it will periodically terminate ALL train service (B and Q) between Brighton Beach and Prospect Park. Service will be replaced by a shuttle bus, which for many is an inefficient means of traveling that distance and will add more than an hour to people’s commutes.

I wish I could say that this is the end of it. However, CB15 Chairperson Theresa Scavo told Sheepshead Bites that she expects construction and service changes to last far beyond two years. She has also been told by the MTA that they will add only three additional trains to the tracks to make up for the elimination of an entire line in Southern Brooklyn. This will result in congestion beyond what the neighborhood’s commuters have seen before.

If this comes to pass it will be a tragedy for our neighborhood. The B line is a vital part of the community, and without it businesses will suffer and home sales and rentals will dry up. Property values will be hurt, and I believe that funding for developments currently in construction will be pulled, leaving us with dangerous, unmaintained work sites. I foresee similar problems in Manhattan Beach, and Kingsborough Community College students may also suffer more than the rest of us.

Help stop this threat to the community. Use your group’s influence with local politicians to pressure the MTA into seeking alternative plans. Already, Scavo has asked them to reconsider, and Senator Golden has proposed continuing express service during rush hour. However, both of them told me they cannot continue to push the issue because they haven’t received enough outcry from the community. So do your part, and make some noise.