Dinowitz asks for paper transfers

Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz is joining a crowd of Riverdalians calling for the MTA to do something to save them from having to pay two fares to get where they’re going in Manhattan after cutbacks to the Bx20 line.

As of July 1, the bus is no longer running on Saturdays or off-peak hours on weekdays. Peak hours are 6 to 9 a.m., and 2 to 7 p.m., according to the MTA. The bus doesn’t run on Sundays.

In order for riders to get to the A train during those hours, they would have to either switch to the Bx7 to Manhattan and pay a second fare when they got to the subway, or take the No. 1 train on West 231st Street and to 168th Street and transfer there to the A, at no additional charge.

The passageways commuters would have to use at 168th Street stink of urine, Mr. Dinowitz said last week, and Riverdale bus maven Marc Sawyer agreed, and added that the elevator in the station is often broken. Mr. Sawyer also said that he believes the corridors, which are poorly lit, are dangerous.

Essentially, the change means that the MTA is “charging people double for the privilege of a longer commute,” Mr. Dinowitz said.

A suggestion the assemblyman made to the MTA in his letter is to issue paper transfers, at least in the short term, but that doesn’t seem likely to happen.

“They don’t want to do it,” he said.

— Jason Fields