With Avenue A closed today, mind the sightseeing buses!

Avenue A is closed today and tomorrow so we can take photos of large cranes (plus Con Ed is putting in a new transformer at the substation between East Fifth Street and East Sixth Street)…

So the alternate route is in effect… traffic personnel are redirecting, uh, traffic down East Fourth Street … north on Avenue B … and west on Seventh Street… which means sightseeing buses might start stalking you… Wait, no McSorley's is the other way! Stop!

For anyone who thinks the East Village is turning into a big campus

On Avenue B near 12th Street.

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.