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May 1 - May 14, 2013
Downtowners feel a Connection, but B.P.C. board debates bus service By T e re se L o e b K r e u z e r “Whatever happened with the bus service that was costing us a fortune?” asked Fernando Mateo, a member of the Battery Park City Authority board of directors at the board’s April meeting. “I didn’t know that was an issue,” replied Dennis Mehiel, the board’s chairperson. “The issue was that we are providing free transportation to all these corporate employees that work here and I felt that we should call the corporate accounts and ask them to contribute so that it’s not all coming out of the Authority’s pocket,” Mateo said. Mateo and Mehiel were talking about the Downtown Connection bus service, which is free and is run by the Downtown Alliance, a business improvement district that takes in much of Lower Manhattan south of Chambers St. It does not include Battery Park City, however, although the bus route goes through Battery Park City on its way between Water St. in the South St. Seaport and Broadway near City Hall. The B.P.C.A. has a contract with the Alliance that expires in August for the shuttle and other services at a cost of $632,000 a year. “The corporate entities that are here take the position that they are not part of the BID, therefore they are not in a position to be tolled for that service,” said B.P.C.A.
president Demetri Boutris. The Connection bus service runs daily between 10 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. except on Thanksgiving, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. Because of its starting time, not many people would be able to take it to work in the morning, though it is used when it’s time to go home — but not usually by people employed by corporations with offices in Battery Park City. One recent afternoon, for instance, Mike Morrissey checked the Downtown Connection bus app on his iPhone and saw that the next bus would be on his corner at Greenwich and Murray Sts. in four minutes. Closing the computer in his office, he hurried downstairs to catch the bus to his home at the southern end of Battery Park City. “It’s a great service!” he said. “My wife and I use it almost every day — half the time for business and half the time for social reasons like shopping or going out to dinner.” Sitting across from him, Eunice Becker was also taking the bus to go from her office on Broadway to her home in Battery Park City. She said that her son, who is in college now, used to use the bus all the time to come home from athletic practice, especially in winter when it was cold. As Morrissey got off, Sharon Steinbach got on. She takes the Connection bus fre-
Downtown Express photo by Terese Loeb Kreuzer
The Battery Park City Authority board is looking into cutting off financial support for the free Downtown Connection bus service.
quently, she said, to go from the Museum of Jewish Heritage in Battery Park City where she works, to Wall and Water Sts., where she catches a van to take her to the Upper East Side, where she lives. The Connection service debuted in 2003. Ever since then, ridership has steadily increased said Dwayne Jacobs, director of transportation services for the Alliance.
Weekdays, the Alliance runs seven buses on the route. On weekends, there are five buses. The round trip from the South Street Seaport and back again takes around 55 minutes, depending on traffic. Starting around 2:30 in the afternoon, the bus is full of school kids and their caretakers, Continued on page 7
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2013 ANNUAL MEETING Tuesday, May 14, 2013 at 4 P.M. Léman Manhattan Preparatory School Theater Auditorium, 21 ST Floor 1 Morris Street (between Broadway and Greenwich Street)
The meeting is open to the public and all registered members are eligible to vote. 120 Broadway, Suite 3340 New York, NY 10271 (212) 566-6700 www.DowntownNY.com