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Bus stop, no bus
Sounds about right. For years there have been complaints that the bus, which is supposed to run every 10 minutes on weekdays, is constantly late, showing up around every 20-30 minutes... and usually in multiples like the bus depot dam just burst open. That is when you hope the empty bus stops for you, which it never does.
To make matters worse, our ticked off tipster says, "Residents of Greenpoint are almost stranded due to changes in the G to 7 transfer at Court Sq. combined with hardly arriving 61 bus service. Tonight when I arrived from the 7 to LIC, about 30 people were waiting for the bus to show up. I'm hoping you can post this photo so that we can get the issue out there that we are being horribly disserviced by the MTA."
Will the B61 line splitting in two make for a smoother ride? The change is set to take place early next year, and in the meantime, feel free to send us your complaints, photos and videos from the frontlines. If nothing else, the B61's sordid history will be archived so we can tell our children's children how when we were trying to get to IKEA, it took 20 extra minutes.
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I wait at that stop every night and when possible, try to run to the stop ahead of it (further into Queens) just to ensure I get *on* the bus. Sometimes we miss 3 green traffic light cycles at that stop just waiting for everyone to board! It's insane!!!
they need to investigate the dispatcher at the bus depot. you can't blame this kind of consistent lateness on traffic. you just know the operators are just chatting until someone notices the time & then 3 of them leave at the same time.
I live on the Brooklyn end of the 61 line and was consistently waiting thru multiple schedules before the bus shows up... and at least once a week the bus shows up with one or two other buses (more often two!) right behind it.
This is why I now bike everywhere. Screw the 61.
i wait at that queens stop by the pulaski also and when there is a huge crowd getting on an already crowded bus
an empty one will drive right by. it's disgraceful.
it's enough that this is missing the "williamsburg" tag, but can we get an "irony" tag in there too? isn't convenience of transportation *the* reason hipsters wiped out williamsburg?
spoiled brats.
the b61 doesn't just run in williamsburg
yeah, but who are we talking about here? "greenpoint residents"? give me a break. people complaining about this would more likely than not be fringe-williamsburg yuppies or hipsters invoking their famous sense of entitlement. not to mention that the heart of the 61's route runs right through the heart of williamsburg proper.
but hey, i mean, they forced the former residents farther out into the boroughs fair and square, right? and god forbid they complain about their 90+ minute commutes.
This is such a mundane argument. Gentrification is happening, period. The same "hipsters" were squeezed out of the LES by high end condos, and were only in the LES because they were squeezed out of Soho and son...and so on... They are hardly the root of the problem.
But hey, if you want to continue to bitch about the hipsters in Williamsburg, go for it. I'm sure there's lots left to be said on the subject. How about the way they dress AMIRITE? WHAT'S THEIR PROBLEM? *eyeroll...
You beat me to it. Why does she constantly post as if northeast Bklyn is the center of NYC? Another hipster who 'discovered' Brooklyn, undoubtedly.
duckumu, don't feed the trolls. i repeat, don't feed the trolls. if these people are so angry about williamsburg/greenpoint, for whatever trite reason, then why do they feel the need to read this post and comment on it?
...because they are trolls. don't feed them.
Come on Gothamist, didn't you ever read Why Do Buses Come in Threes when you were a kid?
I've found it especially bad on the commute home from work. I've often walked from the JMZ to north Greenpoint without a bus passing me. And when they do come, it's like a swarm of 5 buses in a row.
so true!!
hopefully the new British guy who took over the president position can step into it and change the quality of the service!!
He's not British. He's actually from Queens but was the president of TfL for awhile.
it's like this on the Q10 Bus that runs through Kew Gardens, Richmond Hill, Ozone Park. There are usually 3 or 4 buses sitting there while the drivers are bullshitting with a dispatcher who looks like Large Marge. People wait in lines that snake around the corner. It's like winning the lottery if you can actually fit on the bus. i feel for those who rely on buses to get around. These streets are not that congested-it is the fault of the lazy union workers at the MTA.... Fuck the MTA
If you're trying to get to the 7 from Greenpoint, I have good experiences with the B24 - of course, it goes to Woodside, so it's a little less helpful if you're trying to take the 7 to manhattan.
I am so glad you finally raise this issue. I am sooo mad at B-61, which never comes on time. But strangely enough, sometimes, 2 buses come at the same time. I think MTA doesn't deserve to increase the fare at all. yeah, fuck them!! But we have no choice sadly!
you could walk. or bike.
No! I'm not going to walk for 20 minutes in the morning every day! I want to sleep longer. You walk or bike in the snow.
I don't even bother with that bus anymore. They bunch up or are packed. Better to just walk to the F train from Red Hook. and that's not fun on days like today.
This is a pretty common situation for all city buses. The buses in Queens have this same problem - I once waited an entire hour for a Q59, and even called the MTA to ask what was going on. The MTA claimed there was no delay. I was able to find out what happened by asking the driver of a Q59 going the other direction - he said the driver of my bus was caught in traffic and trying to head to the depot to start his route. The dispatcher was protecting the bus driver by lying to the MTA.
The Q38 is late every morning and I regularly see people standing in line and griping about it.
So yeah, this is pretty common on al lot of bus routes, not just the B61. Weird you're targeting that line.
Also, a note on/for Jen Carlson - I, for one, appreciate your neighborhood coverage. However, I wish it more often focused on actual issues like this rather than on tiny culture pieces that you personally find interesting, as those do tend to come off as slight navel-gazing. I'd welcome other writers contributing on their different neighborhoods, as well.
I had the unfortunate luck of having to take the B61 four times during the course of the day.
In one instance: the bus driver was late at night by 30 minutes. To rectify this situation, he decided to take a ten minute break.
In three of four instance: buses bunched up in threes after the initial one was late by 10 - 20 minutes.
In one instance: Bus driver got into a verbal argument with a driver.
In one instance: Bus driver was stuck in a small street trying to make a left turn because a driver edged out too far blocking him from turning.
I sent this photo to gothamist. Grizzly, this is not a tiny culture issue--transportation is a major issue in greenpoint and williamsburg. Getting to work on time, so we don't lose our jobs, is an important topic. With a new head of the MTA, I think it's time that people stand up and say that the poor service and laziness of the MTA will no longer be tolerated.
I understand and agree, but it seems rather obnoxious to use a blog that gets a lot of attention to bring awareness to only the transportation problems in one's own neighborhood, when in reality the situation is widespread. While I know gothamist is not a newspaper and thus is not necessarily held up to the same standards of fair reporting, it would serve the wider New York community to step outside the Greenpoint bubble and point this out as a bigger issue.
Oh geez, I was replying to brooklyntype - not sure why it's appearing down here.
grizzzly said: "actual issues like this rather than on tiny culture pieces"
so you guys really agree. and we all lived happily ever after. the end.
Ok. My bad. Boo on me.
At least people there have tons of buses and a subway line. Go try living in Eastern Queens or Staten Island where a car is needed to get anywhere.
oh that's funny because today i waited for ten+ minutes before beginning my walk. in the rain. at 1030 am. by the time i finally got the 7 (the bus did not catch up with me once) the bus was just rolling into the vernon jackson stop. the only one i saw the whole time walking from norman street. oh, except for that B61 that FLEW BY ME at the original stop. thanks, MTA, for making my tuesday absolute shit.
I take it every day to work and back. This is all truth- its usually at least 10-15 minutes late. Seeing a bus pass before you can get on is always gonna equal at least a 20 minute wait for the next one. Always bunched up. No idea why they don't remedy this. Especially as it's getting colder now it's really annoying to deal with.
Some one has to investigate this horrible service . Its just plain old poor management. some one has to be accounted for this plain and simple. Fuck the t.w.u.
The T.W.U. is not to blame, it is all the car drivers in the city. Place your anger where it needs to go.
How about the m4? Especially arund 110th street. I have always said that is the worst goddam bus of all time. I often wait 40 minutes around 5pm. I mean, seriously, no buses at rush hour? I feel terrible for people in wheelchairs who need to get crosstown.
Anyway, b61 riders, we feel your pain in morningside heights.
Why not just take the G?
I live in Red Hook and the options are not the best most days, except for of course when I ride my bike which I have been doing increasingly more (probably about 75% of the time)
The B61 is okay until it hits Atlantic Avenue, from there it can take 10 minutes or more just to go four stops (folks we gotta realize here blaming the bus driver won't work, we need the city to discourage car use, that is the ultimate problem stopping our buses from moving fast)
Of course whether I try to take the B61 or B77 to get to some subway service, in the end I can usually walk it quicker (17 to 20+ minutes depending on mood).
I tell everyone I know that can, get on your bike (which it is obvious more and more people are these days.) Yesterday I had to take the bus/train combo to work and it took almost an hour. When I ride my bike it is usually around 25 minutes. Less stress, more reliable, healthier, easily the way to go.
I live on Vernon Boulevard in Queens, where there is supposed to be a bus called "103". I lived here for two and a half years, going in and out every day, before I ever saw one. It was, of course, empty. I am pretty sure it must have been Friday the 13th or the full moon. I am convinced it is a ghost bus. When the MTA decides to get rid of a driver, they can't fire him, so they assign him to the 103 and he disappears forever.
Then we have to wait until they manufacture another....
Wait a minute. All these responses about a Brooklyn bus???