City Hall’s latest anti-car crusade cleared its final hurdle this week, despite fierce opposition from actual bus riders, who accused community board leaders of being in bed with the city and private interests.
The wildly controversial plan to ban cars on 34th Street — a vital crosstown route for commuters from New Jersey and Long Island — to make way for a dedicated busway between 3rd and 9th Avenues, will take effect as early as the end of the summer.
Stacy Rauch, a lifelong Murray Hill resident who takes the 34th Street crosstown bus daily, says car traffic isn’t the problem.
“The bigger problem is we don’t have enough buses,” she said during a heated community meeting Wednesday night.
Rauch was among dozens of angry Murray Hill residents who said the plans were rushed through with zero data or traffic analysis, and that the rerouted traffic from motorists coming out of the Midtown tunnel will make their local residential streets unlivable.
City officials have drawn comparisons to 14th Street, where a similar car ban was implemented after a court battle. But Rauch notes 14th Street has four or five buses running in each direction during rush hour, while 34th Street only has two and doesn’t need the busway.
“I have waited for the 34th Street bus at Park Avenue for 21 minutes, to go to 10th Avenue,” Rauch raged.
“I got there in 10 minutes. How much faster do you want it to go?”
“Before you start telling me that this will fix it, you better get more buses,” she vented.
Arguments descended into a full-blown shouting match, with accusations about conflicts of interest flying.
“This is a sham!” exclaimed Samuel “Peter” Panuccio, a retired NYPD sergeant and Murray Hill resident, as he turned to the board. “We’re getting blindsided.”
Panuccio and other residents said they only learned about the major overhaul planned for 34th Street a week ago — and that private interests are pushing it through against the will of the neighborhood.
“I have a question for you people,” Panuccio continued as he addressed the board. “Are there people on this community board that are actually members of Transportation Alternatives?”
The powerful anti-car group, which critics say has an incestuous relationship with the DOT, wields a lot of power with progressive elected officials.
Jason Froimowitz, the transportation committee chair — a 35-year-old self-described bike advocate — has frequently promoted the group’s work and appeared at its rallies. Barak Friedman, vice chair of Manhattan Community Board 6’s transportation committee, is a former Volunteer Co-chair with Transportation Alternatives.
Board members didn’t respond to Panuccio’s question at the meeting.
When contacted by The Post, Friedman and Froimowitz both denied ever receiving money from Transportation Alternatives.
“My participation in events organized by Transportation Alternatives has always been publicly visible. It reflects my personal views and commitment to safer streets,” said Froimowitz.
“That’s not a conflict of interest — that’s a record of civic engagement,” defended Friedman.
But that did little to quell neighbors’ concerns.
“You have an activist that voted. That’s wrong!” Panuccio fumed at the meeting. “You think the community’s not mad?”
The board overwhelmingly passed the resolution in favor of the busway by vote of 31-5, ignoring arguments brought by residents.
“I’m disgusted,” Rauch told The Post. “I’m so angry.”
The DOT says it will talk with the community before sharing its final plan this summer, but the vote means the project is effectively a done deal, neighbors said.
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