DISABLED FILE SUIT

DelMundo for News

Council member Peter Vallone Jr. (center, front) is joined by residents at rally in Astoria, Queens, to try to save V and W lines.

Ward for News

Jen Halbertand (l.) and Jean Ryan file lawsuit against MTA in an attempt to stop bus cuts.

TAKE OUR POLL

End of the line

The W and V trains are out of service for good. Will you have to reroute your commute?

	Yes
	No

RELATED NEWS

• It's the end of the line for numerous bus routes as MTA prepares to slash service
• Bensonhurst baker predicts business will nosedive once MTA cuts B64 bus
• Mind the $400M gap! Even with cuts, MTA reveals it faces multi-million dollar budget shortfall
• MTA service cuts: Some LIRR trains already get sacked
• New MTA review finds fat, 40M to be cut from projects that won't affect bus, subway and commuters

MTA bus and subway cuts and layoff plans remained on track Friday, but foes of the service slashes were taking their fight to court.

Lawsuits - including one filed Friday inBrooklyn Supreme Court and another being drafted for federal court - could ultimately force the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to restore a significant portion of the cuts, which transit officials maintain are necessary to close budget gaps.

More than 100 bus routes are being eliminated or scaled back. Some ran for the last time Friday, and others make their last runs this weekend.

"What are we supposed to do? Stay in our homes?" asked disabled activist Jean Ryan, who relies on bus service because none of the subway stations in her Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, neighborhood is accessible to wheelchair users.

A lawsuit filed on behalf of Ryan and two other disabled women Friday demanded that the MTA explain why cuts to 11 southern Brooklyn routes don't violate state law requiring equal treatment for the handicapped.

The judge refused to stop the cuts but set a July 22 hearing date, lawyer Salvatore Strazzullo said.

A lawsuit challenging bus service cuts across the city - also on behalf of disabled residents including the United Spinal Association - will be filed in Federal Court next week, lawyer Arthur Schwartz said.

Finally, Transport Workers Union Local 100 is expected to file a lawsuit Monday seeking to block layoffs affecting hundreds of bus drivers and mechanics, said Schwartz, who is also one of the union's lawyers.

The subway cuts sent the weekday W and V trains riding into the history books last night. Although all stops will be covered by other lines, many commuters next week will have longer, more crowded trips.

The demise of the two lines means new roles for two others: The N train will make more local stops in Manhattan and the M will be reconfigured.

More than 180,000 daily riders will have to make an additional train transfer, ride a train making more stops and/or stand longer on the platform waiting for a train, according to MTA estimates. Travel time increases will be minimal, the MTA sai