We’ve received several emails from commuters angry that the MTA moved a bus stop across Broadway, from the West to the East Side. The stop was moved to accommodate construction, but hasn’t been moved back in about a year, riders said. It’s apparently been confusing senior citizens and causing headaches to people who already have to hoof it over from Riverside to get to the bus.
“It’s only steps off the Amsterdam stop now, and the walk for those of us on Riverside is looooong,” one reader wrote.
“I am sure there are many people especially seniors confused by this situation,” wrote another reader who said he had tried to get Councilwoman Helen Rosenthal and Community Board 7 to help. “I have not been given much information of progress except that there were some meetings to resolve the issue.”
Community Board 7 manager Penny Ryan tells us that the board is close to announcing a resolution to the problem that would hopefully put the stop back on the West Side of the block.
“Construction is beginning a two weeks on the three mid-block buildings. We needed to develop a plan that would allow the bust stop and the construction to co-exist for the next 18 months.”
The M86, by the way, is the most griped-about local bus we’ve encountered, mostly because it takes so long to get across town.
Image via YouTube.
The 86 is so slow only between Amsterdam & CPW this is due to double parking on these two block often the bus will be sitting with an open lane of traffic except for a couple trucks blocking its route, the police must aggressively enforce the law. of course it’s a balance hundreds of regular folks trying to get across town or a handful of folks trying to get their townhouses remodeled.
“The M86, by the way, is the most griped-about local bus we’ve encountered, mostly because it takes so long to get across town.” ??
The M86 is one of the best lines in the entire system. Buses arrive extremely frequently. Wanna see a bus that takes a long time to get across town? Or one that hardly ever comes? Try the M72!
Agree, sort of. The M72 does seem slow compared to its counterparts, especially now that its run has been extended to Riverside Boulevard to serve that huge set of high-rises.
BUT,this all does seem like another example of ridiculous kvetching. Really! The UWS is blessed with EXCELLENT cross-town bus service: Besides the M72 AND M86 there’s the M57, M66, M79, AND M96 !!
There’s some cross-town bus available every eight-or-nine blocks, a fact that would delight the residents of some lesser cities.
Sometimes the kvetching sounds really unnecessary.
M86 is the worst line between M79 and M96… The commute to the East side takes forever. M86 is definitely the worse crosstown bus for us UWSiders.
When the stop was on the west side of Broadway, the drivers used to let passengers on even if they weren’t leaving for a while. Now they don’t do this. With the many cold days this winter, I have really missed this, though I guess most other people never get this benefit.
This line is truly awful. At subway stops it’s treated like a shuttle. They need to be running limiteds across town during rush hour times and allow people to get on / off any door. Thirty to forty people getting on at each stop. Literally 30 minutes to get from Broadway to York at 8:30a / 6p is unacceptable.
The commercial truck that parks next to this bus stop does not help. It is in daily violation of oarking rules and has many unpaid parking tickets on its dashboard. Why is this truck not towed? A car certainly would be.. This truck does not move for weeks at a time and seves as a warehouse for the curbside fruit vendor. Perhaps this can be given more press so addressed by NYPD?
Not so long ago, this bus actually stopped just east of West End. Then it moved to Broadway. Then across Broadway. Do they hate people who live on Riverside Drive? To which I must add: there is no shelter at the present bus stop. Just one of the places on this route that lacks shelter. Try 86th and 5th on a frigid day, with pathetic passengers trying to crowd into the shallow service door of the building on the corner.
I noticed this yesterday and found it completely absurd. I take the M79, M86 and M96 regularly in the mornings and afternoons. Without question, the M86 is the most regular and most pleasant of the 3 for the morning commute. But due to the double parking between columbus and CPW (that the city does nothing about), it’s frustratingly slow.
I’ll just note, while the M79 doesn’t have to deal with double parking as much as the M86 and M96 on the west side, the frequency is slower relative to the volume of passengers. It’s not uncommon to see a line of 50+ people at CPW and 79th at 7:50am. Similarly, the M96 is not doubled seemingly due to the turn on Madison and 97th. While the frequency may be as regular as the M86, the bus is impossible to get on at CPW (going east) and 5th (going west).
Double buses have been running on 97th and Madison to fifth and Madison and through Central Park. These buses are not used on the route but appear to doing the route, maybe in preparation for the next step? So the double buses can do the turns on the 96th street crosstown just as they do the turns on other routes.
The same situation has occurred with the M96 and M106 bus routes (West 96th street crosstown buses). The Broadway stop was moved from the West Side of Broadway to the East Side. Now all the subways commuters wishing to make the connection to the crosstown have to go east, adding to the frenzy of pedestrian traffic and danger on Broadway and 96th.
Also, what’s the point of having another stop on Amsterdam, so close to the Broadway stop?
And when is 96th street going to get those nice, new tandem buses like all the other crosstown buses? The 96th street crosstown buses get so crowded that they have to bypass stops with a bus worths of people waiting for the ride.
Also the speed of the crosstown bus suffers from the necessity to use the metro card inside the bus. Sometimes it takes 10 minutes for the bus to load. The ride would go faster if the ticket system like the SBS bus system was used.
What’s especially annoying is that the Trip Planner site through MTA has the bus stop listed as West End and 86th and often the bus is just sitting at that “stop” waiting for the route to start. I’ve missed the bus before because I’ve gotten to West End and 86th, only for the driver to point up to Amsterdam and drive away. Despite how slow it goes, I can’t walk/run fast enough to make it to the other stop.