A group of Woodside parents and school officials are separated by a great divide -- this one paved with asphalt and featuring vehicles veering off the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway.

The Department of Education told parents earlier this year that it will end transportation services for students between grades three and six who live in the Big Six Towers and attend P.S. 229. The news came much to the chagrin of the moms and dads.

The DOE has provided the transportation since at least 2001, even though the service wasn't necessary: the city does not have to provide buses for students less than a mile away from a school. In this case, the Big Six Towers are about eight tenths of a mile away.

However, the DOE granted a variance in the past because of what it considered a dangerous crossing along the route. Now the department has found a safe crossing, underneath the BQE at 61st Street and Laurel Hill Boulevard.

Parents, along with Councilman Eric Gioia (D-Sunnyside), held a rally Friday at the site to show the crossing is far from safe for children.

Patricia Cravotta is the mother of two students who attend P.S. 229, Cassidy, in sixth grade, and Nicole, in first grade. Cravotta was taken aback when she received the letter from the DOE stating that transportation would be eliminated.

"This crossing is atrocious," Cravotta said. "I've seen people get hit by cars here."

"The cars just go around so fast," added Cassidy.
According to the Department of Transportation, there have been no fatalities at the crossing. About one pedestrian accident occurs each year on average and none have involved children. Some say the only reason it's been safe is because there is a bus.

The section of Laurel Hill Boulevard in question serves as an off-ramp for the BQE. While the road is one-way, it has multiple lanes.

The United Federation of Teachers is backing the parents' fight to prevent the cuts. "Teachers want what children need," said Patricia Dunn-Yules, a representative for the UFT. "Children need to be safe."

"This is a situation of bureaucratic regulations trumping common sense," stated Gioia. "Times are tough, but jeopardizing our children's safety is not the answer."

The group Transportation Alternatives is pushing for the city to implement safety designs at the crossing to protect the students. Those would include traffic lights timed exclusively for pedestrians and better positioned crosswalks. "It's very clear that safety amenities for children are an afterthought," said Deputy Director Shin-pei Tsay.

Marge Feinberg, a spokeswoman for the DOE, said the department will soon be meeting with parents about what service it will be offering for the next school year.