As parents and residents in Ridge Hill center in Yonkers we’re requesting the assistance and aid of Mayor Mike Spano to address an issue we have all been facing since moving into the residential building located at 701 Ridge Hill Boulevard. We have been unable to get reasonably accessible bussing for our children to attend the Yonker’s public schools in the district. While Yonkers Public School Transportation Department is providing bussing for our kids, the bus stop assigned is not reasonable.

The Department of Transportation has been assigning the bus pickup location at Grass Sprain Road to our children. The issue with this stop is that in order to get to this location you’re forced to either drive to this location to drop off the kids, of which is not a reasonable option as there is no area to stop in the vicinity to drop off the kids. Or you’re left with the option to walk down the long winded road down the hill to cross over to the block where the bus would stop. However this walk is dangerous on the account that the sidewalk is exceptionably narrow, about 3 feet wide vs 4-5 feet on average. Add to the fact that the hill is about a mile long with only closely driven cars on one side and a cement wall to the other. In the wintertime the conditions are even more dangerous given the fact that the sidewalks and roads are not properly treated and are much more difficult to treat given the long stretch and difficulty to cover in its entirety. 

We have expressed our concerns and grief to the Yonkers Public School to which their replies has been systematically and routinely a flat out no in terms of addressing our request to add an additional bus stop near our building. I find this to be entirely unacceptable considering Yonkers already provides a public bus stop right in front of our building to the far end of our driveway. Why should our kids be subject to dangerous conditions? Many of the Yonkers Bus Company that provide transportation soundly agree with our request to add an additional stop near our building but require Yonkers Public School to create and allow the additional stop.

As such we’re left with no choice but to ask Mayor Mike Spano to assist us in our request to have Yonkers Public School hear our request and to add a Yonkers School Bus stop at Ridge Hill Boulevard. We simply ask that that given the circumstances of our location, and the conditions to get to the currently appointed bus stop, that Yonkers Public School strongly consider our request.