Emily F. Keller: Journalist

Late, Missing, Inadequate and Substandard Bus Service, Many Declare

    The New York City Transit Riders Council received an earful of complaints and few compliments at an annual forum to gather riders’ suggestions about bus routes and service at Brooklyn Borough Hall.

    The ten-member panel of New York City Transit and Metropolitan Transit Authority officials listened to tales of late and missing buses, routes that omit midday and weekend service, and insufficient service to the Gateway Mall, which is adjacent to the Brooklyn Developmental Disabilities Service Office on Fountain Avenue.

    Lyudmila Demikhovskaya (pictured), a disability rights activist and member of Disabled in Action, told the council that she prefers wheelchair entrances that are at the front, rather than in the middle of buses, which she finds very difficult to use.

    Published in Courier-Life Publications. Read the story.

    Read another story about the New York City Transit Riders Council here.

 

New York City Transit Keeps Disabled Riders In a Holding Pattern

    Activists are voicing their frustrations with New York City Transit for moving too slowly to make the Kings Highway subway station on the B/Q line accessible to people with disabilities. Published in Courier-Life Publications. Read the story.

Many Question Why Much of MetroTech Is Still Off-Limits

    With the five-year anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks just three months away, Brooklynites are still waiting for an explanation for the street closures around MetroTech Center in Downtown Brooklyn that followed them.

     The closures, made by the New York Police Department and the Department of Transportation in the interest of security, are marked by jersey barriers and about a half dozen stationary patrol cars staffed 24 hours a day at key intersections around the city’s 911 call center and Fire Department headquarters, located at 9 and 11 MetroTech. 

    Published in Courier-Life Publications. Read the story.

Former Gang Members Issue Sober Warning to Neighborhood Youths

    Two former gang members who describe themselves as former drug kingpins were among the panel members who spoke at a gang awareness forum held at the high school Benjamin Banneker Academy in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn. Published in Courier-Life Publications. Read the story.

Slow Station Rehabs Leave People with Disabilities in the Lurch

    Michael Harris of the Disabled Riders Coalition discusses subway accessibility challenges and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's obligation to make 100 high-traffic stations accessible to wheelchair users by the year 2020. Published in Courier-Life Publications on March 31 and May 18, 2006. Read the story.

Forest City Ratner Companies Mute On Atlantic Yards Security In Event of Terror Attack

    If terrorists decide to target the Nets basketball arena planned for Atlantic and Flatbush avenues, it is unclear how the 19,000 people that the arena is planned to seat would be evacuated. Forest City Ratner Companies, the developer of the Atlantic Yards project that includes the arena and 17 residential and office towers, says the company does not discuss security with the public.

    Published in Courier-Life Publications. Read the story.

What Shape Should Proposed Gowanus Tunnel Take?

    The Gowanus Community Stakeholders Group and the Department of Transportation are seeking community input on a nine-year-old proposal to move the Gowanus Expressway underground. The DOT’s latest proposal is to build a tunnel rather than replacing the expressway that Sunset Park activists say increases pollution in an area overburdened with industrial uses.

    Published in Courier-Life Publications. Read the story.

Local Woman Leads Charge Against Hepatitis C

    Betty Vega, a member of the Brooklyn Hepatitis C Task Force, is on a mission to educate New Yorkers about the Hepatitis C virus, which affects more than 300,000 people in New York City and five million people nationwide. 

    “What I’m doing is just trying to educate people and get people to participate in the march. It’s a major epidemic and nobody seems to be talking about it. What we’re doing is just trying to get it out there so people know there is a killer virus out there,” said Vega.

    The task force comprises representatives from a variety of health agencies, including syringe exchange programs, HIV prevention agencies, substance abuse treatment programs, pharmacies and academic institutions.

    Published in Courier-Life Publications. Read the story.

    Read more about Vega's fight against the Hepatitis C virus here.

Some Shut Down Shops In Solidarity With Immigrants

    Workers on Coney Island Avenue and Fifth Avenue in Sunset Park and celebrated International Workers’ Day by shutting down their stores in the middle of the afternoon. To show solidarity with recent immigrants who could be deported or detained if a pending House of Representatives bill becomes law, they joined hands to form human chains. Published in Courier-Life Publications. Read the story.

Brooklyn Lawmakers Target ‘Medical Mills’

    A New York City Council bill co-sponsored by two Brooklyn lawmakers threatens to put businesspeople in jail for up to a year for committing automobile insurance fraud. Published in Courier-Life Publications. Read the story.