By SÍLE MOLONEY
Photo by Sile Moloney
Bronx Community College (BCC) students can now safely travel to and from their homes to college thanks to a new shuttle service made possible by a $325,000 State and Municipal (SAM) grant from State Senator Gustavo Rivera (SD 33).
BCC officials held a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the college on Nov. 2 to celebrate the new service to and from its University Heights campus, in addition to the official unveiling of newly installed outdoor fitness equipment near the main road of the college between Gould Hall and Ohio. Field, which was also funded by the same grant.
“Bronx Community College continually strives to provide resources that enable students to achieve their academic goals and enjoy their higher education experience,” said Rivera, whose current district includes all or part of the neighborhoods of Norwood, Bedford Park, Kingsbridge, Fieldston, Spuyten Duyvil, North Riverdale, Riverdale, Fordham Manor, Fordham Heights, Mt. Hope, Allerton, Pelham Parkway, Belmont, Little Yemen. , Van Nest, Indian Village and Morris Park.
Photo by Sile Moloney
Although he lamented no longer representing University Heights, since redistricting took effect in early 2023, the senator added: “I am honored to contribute to BCC’s efforts and support its students by securing state funding for their shuttle buses and outdoor gym.”
Shuttle service will be provided free of charge to and from three local transportation hubs, including the corner of Fordham Road and University Avenue (next to St. Nicholas of Tolentine Church), the corner of Fordham Road and Jerome Avenue (in opposite City MD), and at Burnside and Jerome (in front of 9 West Burnside Avenue).
According to college officials, the shuttles, accessible by the ADA, are expected to arrive at these stops on average every 20 to 30 minutes, except during heavy traffic or accidents. They said the service would operate Monday to Thursday from 11:00 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. when classes are in session, with no service from 3:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. daily or Friday. Pick-up and drop-off is in front of Meister Hall at BCC.
Photo by Sile Moloney
BCC Acting President Dr. Milton Santiago said of the service, “I want to thank Senator Rivera for making this possible. We are always looking for ways to help our students by easing the burden of juggling a busy home life and making traveling to and from campus less stressful. The outdoor fitness area will help provide our students with a convenient way to maintain good health. way of life.”
Student Government Association (SGA) President Krishta Fernandez and BCC Public Safety Director Saul Fraguada also attended the event. “We are pleased to be able to provide safe and reliable service to the college community, especially in the evenings and during inclement weather,” Fraguada said.
During his speech, Fernandez called the public college, part of the City University of New York, a diamond in the rough. “We are strong, we are resilient and I am happy that the light is shining on us again, and during my presidency,” she said, referring to the launch of the bus service. Fernandez added that she hopes the college continues to grow and show the rest of the world what BCC can do.
Photo by Sile Moloney
Norwood News previously reported about the heating problems at the college that BCC students and staff had endured in previous winter seasons. We asked Fernandez if the issues were now resolved. She responded, “It’s actually at the top of my list because it was actually something that I didn’t know about because at the time I wasn’t on campus. »
She added: “This is an issue that we are tackling first and foremost because we are actually expecting a very cold winter this semester. The boiler in question has been replaced. For the others, we inspect each one to make sure they’re working, and if any repairs need to be made or if they need to be replaced, that’s something we’ll look into.
Later, we also spoke to BCC student Nicholas Fernandez, who turned out to be the older brother of the SGA president. We asked Nicholas Fernandez if he had to travel far to get to college. “I’m normally a walker, but I know a lot of students, especially late students because I’m also a late student, who were waiting for the shuttles to return,” he said. “We were looking forward to it. Thank goodness they are here now.
Photo by Sile Moloney
Nicholas Fernandez, who is studying business administration with computer applications, said most of his peers (late students) have responsibilities throughout the day and having bus service at night was particularly useful for them in managing their schedule.
Given the emphasis on BCC shuttles being ADA compliant and the fact that the MTA is a state responsibility, we asked Rivera if he perhaps had any inside information on the date when the system installation begins. so anticipated elevator at the Mosholu Parkway subway station, which serves both North Central Bronx Hospital and Montefiore Medical Center. The senator said, “Well, that’s certainly one of the priorities that I have for the MTA for my district, but as you know, there are a lot of priorities that a lot of my colleagues have for the MTA as well, and we need to then to determine what can be done and what cannot be done,” he said.
Rivera mentioned that he recently helped facilitate the installation of an elevator at the Tremont Metro station. “The MTA has a broader goal of making the entire system accessible within a given time frame, but I know this (Mosholu Parkway) is one of the stations we’re trying to prioritize.” He recommended raising the issue again during the budget presentation as it would have more clarity on the resources available.
Photo by Sile Moloney
“But you can be sure that I will always prioritize things that have as broad an impact as possible,” the senator said. “I believe deeply in public transportation and we should make it a more effective and efficient system so that people can rely less and less on their personal vehicles and more and more on the public transportation system. If we want to ask people to abandon their cars, we need to improve and make the public transport system more reliable. So I certainly remain committed to this idea and will do my best to make this priority a reality when it comes to the elevator.
Returning to the topic of the shuttle, student Linmi Aviles was also excited about the new service and said, “Yes, in the fall semester it was a big blessing because I live near the botanical garden, so it It was direct contact. transfer and because it was cold and it was dark, you know, going home alone in the dark is scary. Aviles described the BCC shuttle driver as “an angel” who she said drops her off where she needs to be. “I know a lot of schools have (their) transportation, so that’s a blessing,” Aviles said. “I can’t wait to use it, let me tell you!”
