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Proposed BoltBus Move to Chelsea Put on Hold

By Mathew Katz | September 23, 2011 11:26am
Crowds wait to board a BoltBus at West 33rd and Seventh Avenue.
Crowds wait to board a BoltBus at West 33rd and Seventh Avenue.
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DNAinfo/Jill Colvin

CHELSEA — A controversial plan to move a pickup spot used by bus company BoltBus from Midtown to Chelsea is on hold, according Department of Transportation officials.

"BoltBus definitely isn't happening," said Margaret Forgione,  DOT's Manhattan Borough Commissioner. Forgione was speaking to members of the Transportation Planning Committee of Community Board 4, which covers Chelsea and Hell's Kitchen.

Officials later clarified that they were actively searching for options for a new location for the stop, but could not say which areas they were looking at, or if the new stop would still be in Chelsea.

DOT officials infuriated residents and business owners last month by attempting to move the stop from the corner of West 33rd Street and Seventh Avenue to Eighth Avenue between West 24th and 25th Streets. Residents said that they weren't consulted on the move, and it was cancelled a day before it was supposed to go into effect.

The Bolt stop, and the lines, luggage and idling buses that come with it, has long been a source of complaints in Midtown. The bus was supposed to move after community organizations threatened lawsuits against the company.

"There's really no good place for it," said James McAughry, 62, who lives around the corner from the proposed Chelsea stop. "People will complain wherever it goes. But it shouldn't come here — we're a neighborhood, not a bus station."

Members of the community board in Chelsea have previously suggested the stop be put further west, potentially on 34th Street between 11th and 12th Avenues.

In a statement, a representative from BoltBus said the company was interested in finding a less congested location that is accommodating to passengers, but did not specify any potential new locations.