New Bus Shelters Make Debut Across the Five Boroughs

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Some New Yorkers will finally have a place to sit while they wait for the bus, as the city unveiled the first of 3,300 sleek new shelters that will crop up around the five boroughs in the coming years.

The shelters come as part of a $1.4 billion contract the city signed in 2005 with a Spanish company, Cemusa, to provide and manage shelters, newsstands, and even public pay toilets.

Mayor Bloomberg presided over a ceremony at Queens Boulevard and 82nd Avenue to mark the installation of the first shelters, where officials praised a contemporary, transparent design of stainless steel and tempered glass intended to blend “seamlessly” in the city streetscape while enhancing visibility and protecting against vandalism.

Twenty-four shelters went up around the five boroughs yesterday, and the company says it plans to add 650 a year until it fulfills the contract.

Most of the shelters will have benches, and officials said a flexible design would allow them to be fitted with signs telling riders when the next bus will arrive once that technology is perfected.

The ceremony coincided with a legal victory related to the Cemusa deal — the largest procurement in the city’s history — as a state Supreme Court judge yesterday denied a challenge from a rival street furniture company claiming the bidding process was unfair.

“The hallmark of the process was its fairness and its devotion to obtaining the best possible terms for the city,” Judge William Wetzel wrote in his decision, which was quoted at the news conference by Deputy Mayor Daniel Doctoroff, who hailed the ruling.

The 20-year deal allows Cemusa to sell advertising on the shelters and newsstands in exchange for nearly $1 billion in cash and about $400 million worth of advertising for New York City on the company’s street furniture placements around the world. Cemusa is also taking responsibility for repairing current bus shelters, replacing broken glass, and getting rid of graffiti.

The city has tried unsuccessfully for decades to improve its street furniture, and Mr. Bloomberg billed yesterday’s milestone as a key step in enhancing quality of life. Much of the focus was on the 20 pay toilets that are part of the deal. The toilets should debut by June, officials said, noting that the city has been pursuing them since 1978.

The long wait prompted a slightly off-color riff by Mr. Bloomberg: “It would be tasteless and I would never make a joke about squeezing your legs for that long a period of time,” the mayor said to laughter.


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