Seniors: Don't cut B25 (life)line

BY ERIN DURKIN DAILY NEWS WRITER
Wednesday, February 4th 2009, 2:10 AM
Plans to ax a key bus line in East New York would leave thousands of elderly residents stranded - and scrambling for a way to get to doctors' appointments, shopping, church or the bank.
The B25, which runs from downtown Brooklyn to Broadway Junction, is one of six borough bus lines set to be eliminated unless the MTA gets a massive infusion of funds from the state.
Elderly riders rely on the bus to get downtown because there's no escalator leading to the A train at the Broadway Junction subway station.
"I'm old and arthritic," said Edith Stanley, 77, who takes the B25 to church every Sunday and to go shopping downtown. "I can't go up or down those steps with these legs. Leave the buses alone. We really need them."
Chris Banks, executive director of East New York United Concerned Citizens, estimated 2,000 to 3,000 seniors in Brownsville and East New York depend on the B25.
"We don't want the MTA to balance the budget on the backs of the less fortunate or the elderly," he said.
The MTA is urging the state legislature to approve a plan to raise $2.5 billion a year through a payroll tax and tolls on the East River and Harlem River bridges.
"We don't want to have to implement the service cutbacks," said MTA spokesman Aaron Donovan. "We are asking anyone who uses transit to contact their state legislators."
The agency faces a $1.2 billion budget gap this year. But Barbara Fisher, 72, who can't climb stairs because of upper respiratory problems, urged the authority to find savings elsewhere.
"I need that bus to get to the hospital, get my medicine and get some decent food," said Fisher. "I think it's very unfair that they're cutting that line."
Councilman Charles Barron (D-East New York, Brownsville) plans to lead a march along the route of the B25 on Feb. 21 to protest the cut.
"This cannot happen," Barron said. "Our seniors will have to take the B15 to the 46 to the 48 just to get downtown. That's absurd."
That prospect was daunting for Delores McCowan, 74, who takes the B25 downtown to get to doctor's appointments and to go shopping.
"I really don't know what I would do" if the route was eliminated, she said, adding, "I would be stuck in the house alot."