Fury Erupts Over Bus Line Budget Cut

Outrage was the watchword on Wednesday night at the Westchester County Center, where over three hundred citizens came out to protest the county's proposal to eliminate the BxM4C Manhattan express bus.  Commissioner Lawrence Salley, along with a panel of four other representatives from the county, was confronted with heckling, shouting, and even an outright "screw you" from one angry commuter who stood up to object to the budget cuts. 

"If we lose this bus, the quality of life in our county will deteriorate tremendously," said Greenburg Supervisor Paul Feiner.  He added that he was "disappointed" that County Executive Rob Astorino had not showed up to the public hearing, saying that elected officials should be more responsible to the community. 

Other public officials in attendance included Yonkers legislator Bernice Speckman and PPLA spokesman Bill Mooney, who also denounced the plan.

The hearing began with a few remarks from Transportation Director of Planning Patricia Chemka, who explained the justification behind the proposed budget cut.  Getting rid of the 4C would save up to $4 million over the next two years and would affect around 1,600 people, Chemka explained, triggering loud boos from the crowd. 

Many residents threatened to move out of Westchester if the line was cut, saying that they had moved here for affordable and reliable public transportation.  The county has proposed alternate options to the 4C, but commuters complained that in many cases they weren't feasible.

"It'd be really inconvenient to get to school without the 4C," said Regis student Chris Gutierrez, who represented a number of students in the area, including several from Scarsdale.  "This would double both the cost and time of our daily commute."

NYU business student Paul Vega stood up and questioned the county's number-crunching, asking for access to the information that they used to calculate this budget cutting.  His economics professors would be willing to help come up with a solution to avoid cutting the 4C if they were given those numbers, Vega said, leading to a thunderous applause and standing ovation.

"If I chose to put my house on the market now, I would have to lie to the buyer, tell them I'm selling for other reasons," explained one Scarsdale resident, who pointed out the lack of parking at the Scarsdale train station.  "I moved here because of the 4C."

Other speakers at the meeting included elderly citizens, disabled commuters, and representatives from the bus drivers union.

"If you cut this route it's a possibility that I'll lose my job," said one bus driver, whose brief remarks silenced the raucous crowd.

Yonkers resident Lorraine Walker brought a bright red folder to the county representatives, saying that it contained the names of over 3,000 residents who signed to petition this cut.  When her comments went over the three-minute timeslot allotted to each person to speak, Salley asked her to wrap up and was heckled by the crowd with shouts of "let her finish."

"You just don't like what I'm saying," Walker said as she left the stand.

County representatives did not directly respond to any of the comments or speeches, but when asked, Salley said that nothing would be a sure thing until the end of April, when a final decision would be made.  Westchester residents called the event a "charade" and some questioned whether government officials were even listening to their concerns.

"I hope you go soon," one elderly commuter screamed at the commissioner.