Dear Editor:
Unsightly bus stop shelters draw the attention of the media, sometimes municipal officials, citizens and, yes, graffiti artists. All except the graffiti artists are appalled and feel helpless in the face of the seemingly unstoppable onslaught of such doings!
This problem started when NJ Transit began a program, urged on by riders and officialdom to put up shelters (actually, erecting the shelters was mostly a local government job since NJ Transit did not want to incur additional potential lawsuits which inevitably come with such installations). Providing some protection against inclement weather, the shelters were quite welcome and applauded. However, some local governments placed the shelters in locations that had a high potential for exposure to out-of-control vehicles (Kennedy Blvd. in West New York comes to mind where, despite warnings, a shelter, was placed in a spot where vehicles frequently wound up on the sidewalk after a collision).
It is not difficult to see that removal of these attractive nuisances is an easy way to mitigate, if not solve, the problem. This problem did not exist before shelters became so numerous.
On Paterson Avenue in East Rutherford, the shelters are placed on the south side where New York bound buses pick up well dressed riders going to some white collar job. There are no shelters on the north side which generally picks up clerks, blue collar workers and other similar categories which are not regarded as deserving of such protection. Though the workers returning from their New York jobs must alight onto that side, exposure to the elements is for a relatively short period of time.
Removing the shelters will be a positive step toward remediation and will reduce, not stop, the complaints and lawsuits now drawing media attention. Obviously, the graffiti artists will find new “palettes” for their deranged works of art (fortunately, they have not yet caught on to the possibility of dung artistry).
Warmest personal regards,
Frank X. Landrigan