The long-running QM22 bus route to Manhattan has been saved by a private bus company - thanks to the efforts of one teenage rider.
Many straphangers have been taking the express bus from Jackson Heights, Queens, for more than 20 years. But it was 16-year-old Ali Fadil of Little Neck, Queens, who found a way to save the line, one of dozens discontinued by the MTA on Sunday.
"I've been taking this route off and on for the last 10 years, since I was very little," said Ali, who just completed his junior year at the Academy of American Studies in Long Island City, Queens. "This whole situation really got me going. I felt like it would be a good opportunity for me to serve the community."
After writing to local and state legislators with no success, he turned to Joel Azumah, the owner of a private bus company featured in the Daily News yesterday.
His company, TransportAzumah, took over four city bus lines axed over the weekend.
The bootleg QM22 picked up 26 people at its first stop in Jackson Heights at 7:20 a.m. yesterday. Ali guided the driver, making sure no one on the old route was left behind.
"Stopping a bus like this would have been like breaking up family," said Mary Apelian, who takes the QM22 to her job at a public relations firm in Times Square. "Ali, this young man, did this for us. He kept us all together."
The city Transportation Department sent Azumah a cease-and-desist letter Friday, saying he's not authorized to pick up passengers off the street.
Azumah ignored the warning, arguing that he is operating a private charter bus and is exempt from city regulations. He requires riders to join his Apple Core transportation club.
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