Douglaston Residents Call for Bus Stop's Reinstatement

Community residents are calling on the city to bring back a bus stop that was recently removed from the corner of Northern Boulevard and Douglaston Parkway.

Douglaston’s Kathleen McGrath told Community Board 11 members during last night’s monthly meeting that she has a petition with 105 signatures to bring back the bus stop.

The city’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority removed it after local leaders requested for the stop to be relocated.

“Many senior citizens use this bus stop instead of the Long Island Rail Road because of the rail road’s great expense,” McGrath said. “Now, the only bus stops are at Northern Boulevard and 244th Street. I’ve felt unsafe in these areas. Neither have street lights.”

McGrath said Douglaston residents pick up the Q12, N20 and N21 as well as an express bus to Manhattan at the recently removed stop.

A number of residents, store owners and employees along Douglaston Parkway have signed the petition, McGrath said.

CB 11 Chairman Jerry Iannece said the board had called upon the MTA to relocate the bus stop near the parking lot of Italian eatery Giardano or at Zion Episcopal Church.

“Without discussing it with us, the MTA just removed it,” Iannece said. “It’s a commercial area that’s heavily trafficked and heavily used. Had they told us they’d remove it, we would have said to leave it like it is.”

Representatives from Services Now for Adult Persons (SNAP) stopped by CB 11’s meeting to discuss a new shuttle service for the elderly in northeast Queens.

Linda Leest, SNAP’s chief executive officer, said the senior center would soon be able to pick up residents in Douglaston, Little Neck and Bayside and transport them to the SNAP’s site on Queens Village’s Creedmoor Campus.

“We hope by the spring we’ll be able to pick people up,” Leest said.

The center includes health and wellness classes for seniors as well as arts and crafts. SNAP’s programming is meant for persons age 60 and above.

For more information, visit SNAP’s website.