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15 Bus Countdown Clocks, New Citi Bike Station Added to Upper East Side

By Shaye Weaver | August 4, 2017 12:13pm | Updated on August 7, 2017 9:57am
 Fifteen countdown clocks have been installed on five bus lines across the Upper East Side, officials said on Thursday, including one at Second Avenue and 94th Street.
Fifteen countdown clocks have been installed on five bus lines across the Upper East Side, officials said on Thursday, including one at Second Avenue and 94th Street.
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NYC DOT

UPPER EAST SIDE — Commuters will begin seeing new countdown clocks at more than a dozen bus stops in the neighborhood, as well as the area's final Citi Bike station, city officials said.

On Thursday, Councilman Ben Kallos and DOT Borough Commissioner Luis Sanchez announced 15 countdown clocks have been installed or will be at stops along the M15, M31, M57, M66 and M72 lines.

The clocks will appear at 70th, 72nd and 75th streets along First Avenue; on Second Avenue at 94th Street; on York Avenue at 72nd, 74th, 76th, 77th, 79th, 84th, 86th and 88th streets; on First Avenue at 57th Street; and on First Avenue at 67th and 72nd streets.

The clocks were provided through City Council funding and voted for by residents of the district during the participatory budgeting process, according to Kallos, who noted he's against recent planned cuts to the M31, M66 and M72 bus routes.

"Riders will finally know when the next bus is coming or if it isn’t coming at all, so they can make that crucial decision of whether it is faster to ride or walk," he said in a statement. "I hope that new bus countdown clocks will bring more riders back to our buses, as they walk by and see a bus on the way to help get them where they are going faster."

The DOT is currently studying the feasibility of adding more clocks on First Avenue at 64th Street; on York Avenue at 67th, 69th, 72nd and 82nd streets; and on 55th Street at Sutton Place and First Avenue, officials said.

Additionally, a new Citi Bike station with almost two-dozen bikes was installed Thursday morning at Second Avenue and 93rd Street, the last one in the neighborhood, Kallos said.

Credit: DOT

"We found that there were places that needed more bikes, and with the Second Avenue Subway across the street, we've added the last station of 28 stations on the Upper East Side," Kallos said.

The closest Citi Bike stations to this new one are on Second Avenue at East 91st and 96th streets. 

The bike docks have been controversial on the Upper East Side in particular — residents have complained about them taking up parking, sidewalk space, play space, and adding to the number of bicycles on the streets.