Days after the MTA announced plans to expand service in Brooklyn and the Bronx, eastern Queens got some good news of its own on Thursday.
Agency officials said it will partially restore service along the former Q79 bus route by re-routing every other Q36 bus to run along the old Q79 route from Little Neck to Floral Park.
City Councilman Mark Weprin said the restoration is a partial but vital victory in a long-fought battle since the Q79 got the axe in 2010.
“It’s not perfect,” said Weprin (D-Oakland Gardens). “But it will improve the lives of the people who live along the Little Neck Parkway.”
But western Queens leaders charge the MTA has once again snubbed their neck of the woods.
State Sen. Michael Gianaris sent a letter to MTA Chairman Joseph Lhota this week requesting that two major transit options in his district be reinstated.
Gianaris called for the restoration of the W train and the QM22 bus, also cut in 2010 because of budget shortfalls.
“People of eastern Queens face great burdens,” Gianaris (D-Astoria) told The News. “But my concern is western Queens and the people who rely on fast, reliable service to get into Manhattan.”
The Q79 bus was the only gateway to the rest of the city, said Glen Oaks Village President Bob Friedrich, because it linked to the Long Island Rail Road.
“Cutting this route left people prisoners in their own home,” Friedrich said.
While the elimination of the W train — which ran from Astoria-Ditmars Blvd. to Whitehall St. in Manhattan — stirred up the most chatter when it was cut, Gianaris said, the QM22 was an equally devastating loss. The express bus ran from Jackson Heights via Astoria to midtown Manhattan.
But the MTA snubbed the community even after some 1,500 residents signed a petition to restore service, said Costa Constantinides, member of the Long Island City Alliance and Democratic district leader in the Assembly district for northwest Queens.
Astoria isn’t the only community whose demands to the MTA are falling on deaf ears. Residents of Rochdale Village presented a petition with 325 signatures calling for a full restoration of the QM21 bus, said Lorna Welshman-Neblett, a local activist.
Prior to 2010, the express bus ran every 15 minutes rather than 30, including during mid-day hours, she said.
Constantinides said deficiencies elsewhere don’t mean western Queens should be neglected.
“Just because the N and Q exist in Astoria doesn’t mean that we’re fine,” he said. “We’re living in a growing, thriving community, and we’re calling on them once again to do the right thing.”
MTA officials declined to comment because they had yet to receive Gianaris’ letter.
With Joe Stepansky
