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Brian Lehrer: Brian Lehrer on WNYC. Let's talk about mass transit. There are a number of interesting transit stories right now. We were talking about crime and taking some of your calls yesterday, crime in the subways. We can continue on that, but here's some other headlines. Some New York state senators want to halt the huge redesign of Penn Station and the surrounding area as the design stands. This month, the Port Authority released 14 alternatives to Andrew Cuomo's beloved air train design as well.

That's to get from LaGuardia and yes, one is simply a Subway Extension out to LaGuardia Airport. That's two, Penn Station in LaGuardia. There's bus news too, the MTA announced this week that the agency would begin redesigning bus routes in Queens. We can take phone calls on your weirdest bus route to nowhere in Queens.

Then there's the great stroller debate, which is breaking out again, should parents be allowed to keep open strollers on the subway and keep them in the accessible seating section of buses? There's been chatter about rethinking that rule. There's a new president of New York City transit and he comes from Boston, sorry, Yankees fans, and he doesn't own a car. With me now on all this and more Stephen Nessen, transportation reporter for WNYC News and Gothamist. Hi, Stephen, welcome back to the show.

Stephen Nessen: Good morning, Brian. Thanks for having me.

Brian Lehrer: Listeners, we'll open up the phones right away for your reports from the mass transit front of any kind. For example, if you have to struggle with strollers on buses, and people with disabilities on the subway struggle with wheelchairs, are you in each other's way? Are your interest opposed to each other? For parents, would it be easier if you could keep your stroller open on the bus and easily accessible space upfront? Is that something you've done and been scolded by drivers or other passengers for?

How do you manage the strollers on the bus, and what would you like the city to know? 212-433-WNYC, 433-9692. People in wheelchairs who take the bus, is that a space you think should be shared with parents with strollers at all? Or anything else you want to say about using public transportation while in a wheelchair today. We can open this up to talk about bus speeds. Are you regular bus rider or bus driver? What do you think would make the bus faster? That's an issue right now.

What routes don't make sense? How would you propose that they change? 212-433-WNYC. I will throw in for bus riders in Queens as they're thinking of redesigning the entire Queens bus system. I'll say as a longtime user of the Q28, Q13, and Q31, which all touched my neighborhood growing up and where my parents still live, I know how complex the Queens bus system is and how sometimes they don't quite go where you want them to take you. Queens' listeners, tell us the weirdest thing about bus routes and queens that you think need to be adjusted.

Of course, the general question open to everybody, what's your state of transit and travel today, particularly on mass transit, in this case? 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692, or tweet @BrianLehrer. Let's start Stephen, as calls are coming in with our new Andy Byford. If I can call this person that. Our new New York City Transit president, his name is Richard Davey, I see. I don't know anything about him, except that he led the Boston system for a while, a much smaller and non-24-hour transit network, I'll point out. How do most transit advocates and transit geeks feel about this choice?

Stephen Nessen: Well, before we call him the next Andy Byford, we certainly have to hear a little bit more about his vision and the way he's going to operate. I will say, I spoke with my Boston colleague, transit reporter in Boston, who told me when they announced that he'd be going to run New York City Transit at the last MBTA meeting, I was told there was an audible gasp in the room, not that he couldn't do it, but, "Wow, our local guys go into the big city," kind of feeling.

There was a lot of excitement for him but also a fair amount of shock that what they see in him is like a relatively low-key leader is heading to New York City.

From what I can tell you from a little bit of research and digging I've been doing, he ran the Boston commuter rail system, which is like the equivalent of Long Island Railroad Metro-North, obviously on an even smaller scale. He did that for about seven years. He was general manager of MBTA. That's the MTA of Boston, running the rails, the T, the buses, he did that for a short stint. Then he was actually Massachusetts transportation secretary for three years.

As far as New York City bonafide, he was here during 9/11, he was working at a law firm, which he said in interviews, was a seminal moment for him and urged him to continue or to go work in public service. He's excited to come back. One fun factoid, you may remember the subway action plan, that was a Cuomo Byford era effort, just pre Byford, really, to get the subways back on track after a disastrous 2018.

Brian Lehrer: Right, it almost seems quaint now with the pandemic, and everything else to talk about that, but we remember when the subways were experiencing a lot of delays, they were signal problems, other equipment problems, and people were like, "You got to get those subways running more efficiently again like they were 10 years ago." Cuomo developed this subway action plan. What [unintelligible 00:06:19] the subway Action Plan?

Stephen Nessen: The reason I bring it up is because Richard Davey was one of the consultants that worked on that plan.

Brian Lehrer: Oh, well, that plan kind of work, didn't it?

Stephen Nessen: Well, there's some debate about how much the subway action plan did to improve service, and how much Byford really did when he came to speed up trains, finding all those little things that were slowing down service such as signal problems and things that workers were telling him that he acted on.

The subway Action Plan was really Cuomo and Joe [unintelligible 00:06:51] like emergency operation to pump a ton of water and clean drains and things like that. I think both in tandem had an effect. I think the subway action plan, a lot of advocates and folks say maybe was overpraised for its role. It played a role. It was not the number one role to get service back on track and as you mentioned, we're still not quite back on track.

Brian Lehrer: This new guy, Richard Davey was involved with a subway action plan, so he was at least looking at the New York City subway system at that time. Does he have a vision that he's articulated?

Stephen Nessen: We haven't heard yet. We haven't heard yet. He did a brief interview with the New York Times, but it wasn't terribly in-depth. I will say he was at last week's MTA board meeting sitting on the side. He will be up to speed when he starts on May 1st.

Brian Lehrer: All right, I'll give the guy a chance. One stated goal of his that I've seen and I guess a stated goal of every other transit chief before him is to quicken the city's bus lines. For background, in December, New York City buses were measured at an average speed of just over 8 miles an hour. Can you put that in context for us? Is that slower or on par with other big cities?

Stephen Nessen: I can confirm it as the slowest in the nation.

Brian Lehrer: Oh, really? Not just the Crosstown buses in Manhattan.

Stephen Nessen: Not just that. It's the slowest in the nation. I don't have all the average bus speeds. I will say I was checking, San Francisco during its evening commuter period, does have buses running about 6 miles per hour in Downtown. Average car speed is about 11 per hour at that time, but New York beats them all for sure, on average bus speeds. I should add, when De Blasio took office, he also pledged to speed up buses and did install a lot of bus lanes and whatnot. The bus speed then was about the same as it is now.

Brian Lehrer: Oh, interesting. I see so far that people who are calling in want to talk about the strollers and wheelchairs issue. Let me get you to set that up a little bit, and then we'll take some phone calls on that. What's new in that respect?

Stephen Nessen: Recently, some parents have been very vocal about wanting to allow open strollers on buses. They've appeared to several MTA board meetings, and it's risen to the level that the MTA has agreed to have a working group committee to look into the issue and figure out if there is a way to do it. In that committee group, it includes parents, it includes members of the disability community as well as bus drivers, who really have to bear the brunt of this issue as far as the gatekeepers of who gets on and who doesn't. That group is meeting soon, but this comes from several months in a row of sort of a boiling over of

outraged that lots of parents want strollers on the buses. Many from the disability community say that's taking up precious space that we rely on that we need because we can't ride the subways a lot of the time. That's where the debate is. I'm sure it'll get fiery. Get ready to tamp down if things get out of control.

Brian Lehrer: All right, we've got a couple of Brooklyn moms lined up first here. Naomi, in Brooklyn. You're on WNYC. Hi, Naomi.

Naomi: Yes, hi, big deal for me. My daughter is no longer on a stroller but boy, I hated it when I couldn't put her on the bus, keeping the stroller open. I would put her in an umbrella stroller. It's smallish. It's the same size as a wheelchair but if I was to fold up that stroller and hold it, that means reorganizing all the toys, the food, the diapers, all the stuff you have to have with the kid, plus the kid plus folding up the stroller. Now, how old is the child? We don't know is the child may be asleep or has problems with transitions.

If the kid is asleep, you're not going to hold the poor little kid out of the stroller and then try to fold it with the other hand. What if it's snowing outside? What if it's raining? It was so hard to deal with this issue. Also, I remember the issue that I think the MTA was saying it's safer to fold your stroller. I don't know about that. It's much more dangerous to be holding a stroller which has wheels on the bottom, fold it up, and the child in the other arm rather than having the child secure buckled down in a stroller which you can put brakes on.

Brian Lehrer: Naomi, thank you very much. I hear your struggle and I've been there. Christine in Brooklyn, you're on WNYC. Hi, Christine.

Christine: Hi, Brian. Longtime listener, first-time caller, big fan. I wanted to share how this new regulation could have benefited me a couple of years ago when I was pregnant with my third child. I would commute to work via school and ripping off the [unintelligible 00:12:16]. I had the middle one in a stroller [unintelligible 00:12:18] walk 10 minutes go on to the subway. I had to then fold up the stroller, carry the stroller. The younger child at the time, two backpacks and hold the hand of the oldest child while pregnant, down the stairs onto the subway and do the same thing in reverse back up the stairs. Totally exhausting.

I got to my desk at work at 9:00 AM and I felt like I lived a full day. The experience of being pregnant absolutely made me very sympathetic to the needs of the disability community. I don't think that this is in opposition to their needs. I think that actually, a lot of us understand and are sympathetic but would really benefit from relaxed rules on this.

Brian Lehrer: Christine, thank you very much. Here's one more Brooklyn mom who I think is also going to talk about how this doesn't need to be wheelchair community versus stroller community. Lisa, you're on WNYC. Thank you for calling in.

Lisa: Hi, thanks. I was going to say something along the same lines that it makes me sad that it sounds like communities are being pitted against each other. When I was on parental leave, I have two young kids. It made me so empathetic to people who have wheelchairs in the city, elevators hardly ever worked, or very few ramps. Seems like there's a lot of aligned causes.

I think there could be a solution where parents are allowed to keep their stroller open on a bus. I would say maybe 10% of the time I'm on the bus, someone with a wheelchair gets on and then if someone with the wheelchair gets on, they would of course get priority and could fold up your stroller while you're on the bus. I feel like we could work together to have a solution for everyone.

Brian Lehrer: Lisa, thank you very much. Wheelchair people, where are you? We only have stroller people calling in. 212-433 WNYC. Can you come to common ground on this if the official debate is one versus the other? Can we settle this here caller to caller and maybe present it to the MTA or New York City Transit?

212433 WNYC 433-9692 on that or anything else transit-related for our transit reporter, Stephen Nessen. What do you think about that little series of Brooklyn mom calls that we just took? Is there a solution that could satisfy both? It's not us that's pitting them against each other. It's official advocacy groups taking different positions but is there a way out?

Stephen Nessen: Definitely, from what I've heard I've definitely heard a lot of this at the meetings and even some parents have said very clearly like, "We do not want to be in opposition to wheelchair users. In fact, we want to be third in line after wheelchair users and the elderly. If there's room, just let us come on," which does seem to be somewhat reasonable. If it's an empty bus, why not let a stroller on. That seems to be an area where there may be some wiggle room to work with.

I think the challenge really does come in with who enforces, who decides if a bus is too full or whatnot. What to do when someone with a wheelchair needs that spot, and it's a crowded bus. I think up to now, the MTA just hasn't really wanted to get into that. They've just said, no open strollers but now that so many people are clamoring for this, that could be a thing.

I will say, you've maybe heard about all-door boarding especially now that the Omni Readers are in the front and the back of the buses, that could present as another option especially if people are getting on the bus in the front and the back. That's not quite ready yet but the MTA says it's coming soon, they'll allow that. That could be a way that there could be more room in the front and the back of the bus where everyone's not just jammed in the front

Brian Lehrer: I want to get back to Richard Davey for a second, the new president of New York City Transit. Some people are wondering if anybody can live up to Andy Byford, who had that job a few years ago and had a good reputation and was a creative guy in that role and apparently fled because he couldn't get along with Andrew Cuomo. Somebody is tweeting, why can't we get Andy Byford back now that Cuomo is gone? Is there an answer to that question?

Stephen Nessen: He went back to his native London and is running Transport for London very happily, from what I've last heard. I think that's a full-time job. He loves soccer, he loves The Smiths, and he can get all those things in London. I have not heard that he has any interest in returning to New York City anytime soon.

Brian Lehrer: Peter in Greenwich is calling saying he was one of the designers of the Second Avenue subway, the new line. Peter, you're on WNYC. Hello.

Peter: Hi, there. Thank you for putting me on. I just had some points I wanted to bring up. I thought some coordinated effort needs to be made to address all the outdated systems on the subway itself from track wall protection on the platform to brake dust collection on the track wall itself, which was used on the Second Avenue subway, that actually collects brake dust from the cars. New York City uses the heaviest cars on the planet, they need more power to fuel them, to run them, and more braking power to stop them.

That becomes a factor in that. The lighting, also the T5s that are stockpiled by the MTA, they basically use those. They're forced to use them because they have so many of these things. It could be using more efficient LED systems if they get out of that loophole having to do with materials. There's so much that needs to be done. Some coordinated effort needs to be done to bring all those things together. It's not just one aspect of it that's being solved.

Brian Lehrer: Yes, the kinds of things you're bringing up, though, sound like major infrastructure changes where they would have to change what kinds of subway cars we buy when we already have so many subway cars in use. If they change the kind of lighting, I don't know if that would take different fixtures or a gazillion just different bulbs to go in the current fixtures. Are these huge expensive transformations?

Peter: Well, you know what we say is you can't continue to solve problems with more problems. Sometimes you just got to get to the root of it, and then start from the beginning. If you keep using those older systems, at some point, they just fail. You can't just continue to use the outdated problem because you just solve it with continuous problem-solving.

Daylighting the sidewalk, putting in daylight pavers and things like that could have easily brought natural daylight into some of these stations. That's one way to do it. They involve some infrastructure and obviously, some constructions but they're things that will last, you're talking about century. The system right now is outdated from 1919, the existing system. The new Second Avenue Subway's great, but it's just a few stations.

Brian Lehrer: What was your role?

Peter: We thought about all those things in that account probably really, really well.

Brian Lehrer: Stephen, I'm going to defer to you as the resident transit wonk here, if you have any questions for Peter as one of the designers of the Second Avenue subway.

Stephen Nessen: Sure, I guess I'm curious would any of the things you implemented

for the first phase also be replicated in the second phase, because it's a little bit different because the tunnel's already dug. Could you still do some of those things in the new phase?

Peter: Lighting, I think is an easy fix. That definitely needs requires new training for the MTA staff and obviously, that's something that needs to be done, but that's one quick fix. Power's already there, lighting is a quick thing that can improve the visibility and that mood that's in the underground system, which is terrible today. Then in that protective wall on the platforms is another quick thing that can be done that give people that feeling of security and also keep some of that dust and terrible fumes out of the platform.

Stephen Nessen: I guess my other question is the next phase is just another 1.5 miles, a lot of it's already dug. Does it really need to cost over $6 billion?

Peter: This is something I guess like we've been faced, it's something that continues to change and there's no clear answer for that.

Brian Lehrer: Peter, thanks for calling in. We really appreciate your expertise and your perspective. Thanks a lot. As we continue with our transportation reporter, Stephen Nessen, we mentioned at the beginning of the segment that one of our topics would be this massive redesign of the bus routes in Queens that they're contemplating, and we're getting a call on that from Irene in Flushing, big terminal point. Hi Irene. You're on WNYC.

Irene: Brian, hello. Great to hear your voice. Yes, I used to live on the Q28 and the Q13. I can't do it that well because I have a new hip. The problem as you know, is that Queens is on Long Island, which is oriented east west. The difficulty remains going north-south, north-south because of, I think there are only two terminal points in Queens if I'm correct [crosstalk][

Brian Lehrer: Flushing is one right at the beginning of the number seven train there and Jamaica, where the [unintelligible 00:22:18] F and the LIRR are.

Irene: Exactly. Is there any way to have another terminal point in order to feed these buses into various places?

Brian Lehrer: Interesting, but what would be the point, and I know it's more than in the effort to make station, but Irene, what would the point of another terminal be? The reason that those are the terminal stops is that there are those mass transit hubs, those train hubs to connect you to go into the city or out to the island.

Irene: I'm thinking Long Island Rail Road someplace in mid-Queens, and I'm not sure of the mid-island or the mid-Queens. I'd also like to know if that prejudice against picking people. Remember there used to be an Elmhurst stop on the Long Island Rail Road, remember that? It was right down the street from Elmhurst Hospital. They closed it down.

Very often I wind up or used to wind up taking the Long Island Rail Road into Flushing on the Port Washington line in order to get on a bus or something to go to another place in Queens or go into Woodside. Woodside is a minor terminal point, I believe. There are buses that go from Woodside down along those avenues to Queens Boulevard. I suppose you have to depend upon the you know what I'm getting at?

Brian Lehrer: I do know what you're getting at and Woodside is another connector for the Long Island Rail Road, a lot of the different lines stop at Woodside before they go to Penn Station. Irene, thank you. Stephen, that's an interesting point, the larger point that she's making. I wonder how much it's the source of the impetus to redesign the Queen's bus routes. If they go east-west, like a lot of transit in New York and New Jersey, everything points toward Manhattan, but people also need to go north-south in the borough of Queens. Is that part of the reason we're even having this conversation?

Stephen Nessen: I think part of the reason we're having a conversation is because the bus route hasn't been redesigned more or less since its creation. It's not necessarily designed at the moment to address all the different neighborhood hubs that have cropped up in the last 5, 10, 20, 50 years even.

I think the bigger concern is just how to reach the new neighborhoods that are bustling and full of people. As the MTA says, Queens is the biggest and the toughest bus route redesign. It takes into account a lot of that stuff where neighborhoods are, what the old roots are, what people relied on, as well as what the new residents need to get to train stops, which is really key to the redesign.

Brian Lehrer: This is WNYC FM HD at AM New York, WNJT FM 88.1, Trenton, WNJP 88.5, Sussex, WNJY 89.3 at Netcon, and WNJO 90.3, Toms River. We are New York and New Jersey public radio and live streaming at wnyc.org at eleven o'clock, a few more minutes with our transit reporter, Stephen Nessen on all kinds of transit news this week. Stephen, we mentioned at the top that one of the items is apparently 14 different alternatives now for a new line of some kind that would get people from LaGuardia Airport into Manhattan, but Molly in Brighton Beach is calling, I think to say, "Hey, what about me?" Hi, Molly. You're on WNYC.

Molly: Hi. I was calling with a suggestion for the Queens bus redesign. I'd like to see it connect to Southern Brooklyn because I realized today in trying to get to JFK Airport and my options are either an 18-minute car ride, and I don't have a car, or two hours on public transportation. I'd have to go to Atlantic Avenue and then take the LIRR and all told it would extend my commute to the airport by two hours. Having some kind of connection from Queens to Southern Brooklyn, I think would be wonderful.

Brian Lehrer: Wow. Stephen, there's no express bus or anything from that whole stretch along the water in south Brooklyn, and the neighborhoods just north of there up to the airports.

Stephen Nessen: I don't believe so, off the top of my head. It is a challenge. It is a challenge. That's the thing, the built part parkways right there, so they can zip along fast enough when there's no traffic, but when there is traffic, I could see that being a nightmare.

Brian Lehrer: I think zip along and Bell Parkway are not words that usually go together, but that's the good solution. Molly's talking about if she can't afford a taxi or can't take a car, get a ride, the public transit options are terrible. I think we have no immediate solution for that, but you can put it on the table the next time you're talking to the MTA board members at one of those meetings you cover.

Molly, thanks for raising it. As far as getting from LaGuardia to Manhattan, Cuomo had this plan where there would be what, a light rail that would go to the Citi Field, fill its point stop, and people would take the subway or the LIRR from there.

Stephen Nessen: Right. You take the 7 Train or you could take the LIRR, which I think he thought it would be the fastest, although it doesn't have the regular hours that someone flying might have to rely on. That plan more or less was totally killed when Hochul took office. She immediately called for a review of that idea anyways, of how to improve transit to LaGuardia. Lo and behold, there are 14 new options on the table, as you mentioned. I should add Bloomberg's former transportation commissioner, Janette Sadik-Khan is involved now.[00:28:30]

She has certainly a lot of transit bona fides behind her leading this effort. I think that bodes well for whatever the solution is. As I said, there's 14, but I think the one that a lot of folks favor is some combination of express bus, which can be up and running within a week, really. You just need to paint the lines and make the space. As you also mentioned, some extended subway to the airport is also a favorite option from a lot of transit advocates.

Brian Lehrer: We're still getting callers who want to talk about allowing the open strollers on the buses or not, and whether they would get in the way too much of people in wheelchairs or senior citizens who also need that accessible seating area near the front of the bus, that's a wider part of the bus. Let's take a few more of those calls. Allison in Manhattan, on WNYC. Hi Allison.[00:29:37]

Allison: Hi, Brian. I think I feel like we're family because I have been on a couple of times, I love your show so much and I'm a loudmouth New Yorker giving you my opinion. I have two kids myself, I raised on the [unintelligible 00:29:46] side. I took the bus because I needed to take the bus, but I had a small stroller back in the day. I folded it up and I like hoisted my kid on the bus. I don't understand--

I'm very against this mom group. By the way, I'm part of a Facebook group, and this one mother who's very active in it is part of that group and [unintelligible 00:30:09]

Brian Lehrer: You're the first caller against open strollers in the bus. Tell us why?

Allison: First of all, it's in the way of everybody else. I also feel this mother is saying that it's for safety reasons. It is not good, and other parents have said this on the Facebook page. It's like a projectile. It's better for you to hold your kid. Especially an infant, you put them in a carrier and you hold them, and a toddler, you sit on your lap. I feel that a lot of these moms are doing it out of their own convenience.

I can't even tell you, I don't want to go into a whole thing. How these parents line up across the sidewalk with their Mack Truck strollers and block everything. Myself, I watched children, and I am a caregiver, and I have kids, but I'm also courteous. I'm thinking of others, not just myself.

Brian Lehrer: The other callers who we had who were pro-open strollers were saying they had umbrella strollers, the smaller strollers. I wonder if the size of stroller that's allowed on the bus could be a partial solution to what you were saying.

Allison: Absolutely. I agree. I can go and on but I don't [crosstalk]

Brian Lehrer: Who do you see it getting in the way of? As it exists, who's disadvantaged by it?

Allison: Disadvantaged by the open stroller?

Brian Lehrer: Correct.

Allison: Everyone. Older people who take the bus. Older people who can hardly stand up. Listen, back in the day, pre-COVID, when the bus was jam-packed, you're not going to expect someone, the same thing with those carts. When the people have their carts, everything should be folded, period. The only good thing is this redesigning of the bus, which I read an article of. I believe the MTA is redesigning because apparently European buses have spots for strollers. That's great. You have a couple of spots for strollers and open carts. That's it. You solve it that way.[00:32:27]

Brian Lehrer: Allison, thank you for putting the phrase Mack Trucks strollers into the conversation.

Allison: You're welcome, Brian.

Brian Lehrer: We're going to take one more con on open strollers, I think with a story from San Francisco, Blanche, who's in New York now. Hi, Blanche.

Blanche: Hi, thank you for having me. I live in New York. I'm a die-hard New Yorker but I work in San Francisco and San Francisco already had this happen. Everything happens for us in San Francisco, I feel. They had the open stroller, and it's been a nightmare. I have emails even from SF Muni, acknowledging that it just simply was a good idea but it didn't work because in theory, like the previous caller said, there's a little bit of stroller dysmorphia that everybody thinks that their stroller is actually smaller.[00:33:23]

Not very many people have MacLaren fold-up strollers with a slim silhouette. You cannot disadvantage older people and physically challenged people by letting these huge open strollers come in. What has happened is that they take the seat, and they even made a dedicated stroller area. It's kept older people from actually sitting down, and then they're standing up and falling over the stroller. I also would like to repeat that having an open stroller with a mother or a nanny on their phone is also a recipe for disaster.

What it does for the bus driver, the bus driver in San Francisco per their union contract doesn't have to actually arbit or monitor anything. This is not something that is up for a bus driver to have to negotiate. They're negotiating traffic safety. This is a huge issue. It's already played out in San Francisco to no effect.

If it physically doesn't work, meaning an old person in a walker and a stroller is a battle that doesn't just [unintelligible 00:34:31] It goes down to everybody on the bus having to take a side whether you're with a child, or whether you're with an old person. It brings up the ugliest atmosphere on buses. I really do hope that the MTA has this working group that they have strong advocates not only for the physically challenged but also for older people. It really makes them feel [unintelligible 00:34:57] Thank you.

Brian Lehrer: Thank you so much for that report from the Left Coast. How are they going to resolve this? We've heard from the smattering of callers, earlier and just now, that they're really strong feelings on both sides of this. Stephen, who's going to resolve the open strollers on buses question and how?

Stephen Nessen: We've certainly got a good taste of the debate, how it is playing out right now. I can say I know the members of the working group. Some of the fiercest most dedicated disability rights advocates in New York City are part of it, as well as, advocates at the MTA for improving service. I'll be keeping an eye on it. I will keep you abreast. I don't know how this is going to play out.

Brian Lehrer: Read him on Gothamist, hear him on the radio or transportation reporter, Stephen Nessen. Thanks as always, Steve.

Stephen Nessen: Thank you, Brian.

 

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