Office of Borough President James P. Molinaro
Staten Island, New York
B.P. Molinaro calls for common-sense resolution to school bus service problems
Says children’s safety should not be compromised
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – Borough President James P. Molinaro today expressed outrage over the delay of the school bus service trial, and urged the courts to take a common-sense approach when looking at the busing needs of children on Staten Island.
“While this is an issue that affects numerous parts of our City, nowhere is it making more of an impact than here on Staten Island,” Molinaro said. “Sixty-five percent of the 4,600 children who lost bus service in the entire City are Staten Island residents. Now take that astronomical number and add in the fact that we are the most underserved Borough in terms of public transportation, AND have an extreme problem with the lack of sidewalks in many neighborhoods, and you have a tragedy waiting to happen.”
“We have more land area without sidewalks throughout Staten Island than the other four boroughs combined,” Molinaro said. “And we are essentially being told that our children should walk long distances to school, not alongside busy roads, but in the roadbed itself, at the height of the morning rush hour.”
“This is not a matter of convenience for parents, nor is it an excuse to save our children the “trouble” of being slightly inconvenienced themselves. This is a matter of public safety,” Molinaro said.
“All of this arguing and back and forth over $1.6 million dollars, out of a budget of over $20 billion dollars. The price of our children’s lives and safety is worth far more than that, and I encourage the courts to act quickly and exercise some common sense as they prepare to decide this case,” Molinaro concluded.
September 14, 2010