CHINATOWN — City and state officials, local business owners and neighborhood groups will come together to discuss Chinatown’s long-distance buses at a town hall meeting next month.
The public meeting is intended to find solutions to issues surrounding the buses like sidewalk and traffic congestion, air pollution and the enforcement of existing laws intended to regulate the number of operators in the city.
“The community has been struggling to deal with the impact of curbside bus loading for years,” said Karen Blatt, the chairwoman of Community Board 3’s Transportation and Public Safety Committee, which is hosting the town hall.
“We have reached a point of saturation and we want to solicit ideas from all the stakeholders about how to address these impacts.”
The town hall will be held on Dec. 1 at P.S. 124 The Yung Wing School at 40 Division St. The two-hour meeting will start at 6:30 p.m.
The event will include two panel discussions featuring State Sen. Daniel Squadron — who co-sponsored the bill that led to the current intercity bus permitting system — as well as Councilwoman Margaret Chin and representatives from the Department of Transportation and the NYPD.
Other confirmed panelists include CB3 District Manager Susan Stetzer and Emma Culbert, the president of Seward Park Around Canal East (SPaCE) block association, which has focused much of its attention on safety issues surrounding the low-cost services.
Interpreters will also be on hand to translate the meeting in Mandarin and Cantonese, Blatt said, although there will be a limited number of headsets available.
