SL Green wants airport shuttles to move

Midtown-based SL Green Realty wants to petition the
city to move the Grand Central shuttle bus station of Airporter, which offers trips to LaGuardia, JFK and Newark airports, because the disembarking passengers are
interfering too much with the foot traffic in the area that is close to a building it owns, DNAinfo
reported. Retailers On Park Avenue between 41st and 42nd streets have
been complaining about the crowds on the block, Elizabeth Majkowski,
senior vicepresident of operations at SL Green, which owns 125 Park
Avenue, said.

At a recent Community Board 5 meeting, engineering
firm Philip Habib and Associates showed a video documenting the
gridlock. The firm suggests that Airporter move the Grand Central stop somewhere, like to
Vanderbilt Avenue between 44th and 45th streets, or to 43rd Street
between Lexington and Third avenues or to 41st Street between Park
and Madison avenues or Park and Lexington avenues.

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Airporter declined to
comment officially, but an employee working at the Grand Central location said
that there was still enough space on the sidewalk. Community Board
representatives at the meeting praised SL Green’s proposal, with one
suggesting that the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the airports and other bus terminals, should create a special bus depot
for airport buses. The city’s Department of Transportation said it had met
with Airporter to review its responsibilities to keep the area clear
and would continue to monitor the situation, but had no additional
plans to move the station at this time. [DNAinfo]