Those Cemusa bus shelter/newsstand people strike like lightning.
Last Thursday night I was waiting for the (loathsome) B61 bus at around 7 PM. There was no bus shelter there, just a pole with a MTA sign on top as usual. The next night at the same time, I arrived at the bus stop and the above structure was in place. Just like a mushroom, it grew overnight, only needing a bench and the netting to be cleared away for it to be complete. Wham!
Does Cemusa put these things in so quickly because they pride themselves on efficiency? Or do they want to deflect criticism by driving the stakes in so fast no one has time to cry "stop!"? (A Robert Moses stratagem.)
I was OK with these bus shelters at first. They were sleek and quasi-European. And they gave you a place to sit down. But now that there are three or four of them on Atlantic, it's starting to dawn on me what the City will look like when Cemusa has taken over. "Bladerunner," anyone?
All you need is one cold winter in Far Rockaway and you'll see how differently you'll think about ANY bus shelter!
ReplyDeleteYou know, if this City was more like the one in 'Bladerunner', the money grubbers would not be in such a hurry to knock down classic old New York to replace it with the crap we readers of this blog hate. Cause they would want no part of that dark, dismal, always raining place. And I, dare I say, we, would love it.
ReplyDeleteSedge
You said it, Sedge. Which makes me wonder: when do those unending showers begin? Should be any day now.
ReplyDeleteI had thought the point of the new bus shelters was that you would see how much time until the next bus arrived. I've seen those digital readouts at 1 or 2 stops, but most don't have them. In which case, what was the point?
ReplyDeleteDigital readouts? That would have positively rocked! Has that been part of the design, my attitude toward Cemusa would be markedly different.
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