By West Side Rag
You might want to bring your mountaineering gear if you have a city bus trip planned.
Snow banks at bus stops are still an issue Wednesday in New York City and on the Upper West Side, following the blizzard on Sunday.
As first reported by THE CITY on Monday, residents of the five boroughs and elected officials voiced concerns over the number of bus shelters that were still snowed in, forcing riders to take possibly dangerous journeys over the mounds to make it to the doors of the vehicle.
On Monday, city officials estimated that around half of the 3,400 NYC bus shelters had been cleared. In terms of who is responsible for the snow, the New York City Department of Sanitation is in charge of clearing the streets, and it is the Department of Transportation’s responsibility to maintain the bus stops with shelters, but it is the nearest property owner’s job to clear the snow or ice from sidewalks with bus stops that do not have a shelter.
On Wednesday, West Side Rag walked along and near West 72nd Street from Central Park West to Broadway, spotting multiple examples where bus stops were still snowed in.
In the cases where an Upper West Side bus stop had a shelter and the DOT had stepped in, huge mountains of snow had been created in the immediate area to clear the way for the bus.
Another snow storm may hit New York City this weekend, but forecasts as of Wednesday are still unclear.
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This has been the case in the past as well.
There is also an issue with some icy “pedestrian islands”
But bike lanes are clear
And when the “bike” lanes aren’t clear, the e-bike drivers just use the sidewalk. They especially like to “share” the breaks in the snow piles at crosswalks with pedestrians.
They planned ahead for the bike lanes and put no effort into clearing the bus stops. It’s always been this way, and my days of climbing over snow/ice hills are over. If snow plows in other areas are equipped to plow streets w/o blocking driveways why can’t we do that here?
As ever, a big F you to anyone who uses a wheelchair.
Sincerely,
New York City
We are literal prisoners because we cannot get out to access the busses (No, I will not wait in a wheelchair in the street. Cars rush by, trucks rush by and want to stop and park at bus stops ALL the time (they ignore the signs saying they cannot do so!) .
It is impossible to get around for people with canes or walkers, as well as wheelchairs.
Even able-bodied folks cannot surmount the huge mounds of ice and snow at curbs and at bus stops. Not to mention that steps in some subways stations have not been cleared, making them extremely risky to navigate.
People could care less if the mobility impaired, wheelchair bound or cane and/or walker users cannot get around. If these folks don’t have someone to shop for them, they have a real issue (Delivery services are not necessarily the answer based on cost or availability).
Meanwhile, you miss medical appointments and tests that could have taken months to get and then take months to reschedule. It’s a real problem.
Have to clear those bike lanes, keep those priorities straight.