Lean on me

EVG contributor Stacie Joy noticed the arrival of a new leaning bar at the M9 stop on Avenue C and Sixth Street...

These have been in circulation citywide, dating to at least 2016. Per the MTA, "Leaning bars offer a place to rest at bus stops while accommodating people who have difficulty sitting and standing up from a lower bench." 

We are trying to remember seeing any other leaning bars around the neighborhood. (They were promised with the new M14 SBS service.)

As Bloomberg noted in 2017 when they arrived at a few subway stations: "some New Yorkers saw the bar as the latest salvo in what could be called the 'War on Sitting.'"

Report: M9 service will be restored, expanded

[Avenue B, June 2010]

The Daily News is reporting that the M9 service will be restored and expanded starting in January ... this coming from Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver... and all thanks to the MTA's improved budgetary outlook ...

The MTA slashed the M9 service back in the summer of 2010. The M9 previously traveled from Union Square, east along East 14th Street, down Avenue B, then Houston, Essex, blah, blah, before ending up in Battery Park City.

Then came the eliminated lines and rerouting and lord knows where the M9 starts now (23rd Street?) ... but it eventually travels south down Avenue C, across Houston, down Essex ... before dumping everyone off at City Hall. (Hello Mr. Mayor!)

The article doesn't mention which part of the M9 service the MTA will restore... and what this really means for East Village residents who use the bus...

Meanwhile, there's also no word on whether Silver will restore service to the Rusty Knot Party Bus.

Previously on EV Grieve:
If you depend on the bus around here, then you're kinda screwed now

East Villagers face busageddon

The M9's route to Battery City Park this past week

Since the fire destoyed a section of East Broadway in Chinatown last Thursday night, bus lines from the neighborhood heading downtown — the M9, M15 and M22 — have been slightly rerouted to avoid the blocked-off destruction zone around East Broadway and Allen. Though the MTA isn't really communicating this.



I can't speak much on this topic, but the M9 Riding Friend of EV Grieve (M9RFOEVG) said there's little or no communication from the drivers headed downtown. In the five business days since the fire, the M9 has traveled three different routes. One morning, the M9 took a left on East Broadway, then a right on Montgomery, then a left on to Madison. "The [bus driver] seemed like he had no idea where he was going. Then he'd stop at an M22 stop on Montgomery and answer a bunch of questions from M22 riders. Like why in the hell is there an M9 here and where are you going?" M9RFOEVG claimed the alternative routes added an additional 20 minutes to the trip.

This morning, though, M9RFOEVG reported that the M9 route was nearly back to normal. The bus just does a quick hitch around the destroyed buildings on East Broadway. And hence, it provides an opportunity for blurry photos:







Check out BoweryBoogie for the latest on the Chinatown fire.