NICE weekend bus service coming soon Glen Cove

Glen Cove riders taking the N21 NICE bus will have Sunday service as of May 26 and those taking the N27 may see additional service beginning this fall. Prior to NICE’s announcement, there wasn’t any weekend service on the N27 and no Sunday service on the N21 line.

The changes will come not a moment too soon for residents like Doris Harris. The 68-year-old is a daily commuter on the N27 bus, which connects Glen Cove and Hempstead. Battling cancer, she used to see her doctor at Jamaica Hospital on weekends but can’t afford to do so anymore.

Without weekend bus service, residents have been forced to rely on the Long Island Rail Road’s Oyster Bay line, making their trips longer and more expensive.  

But even with a reduced-fare card, riding the train costs commuters like Harris five times as much as she pays aboard a bus.

“Sometimes I have to call a cab to compensate for a train delay,” she said. “I am tired of this situation.”

Glen Cove residents already take the N27 and N21 NICE buses to travel throughout Nassau County during the week. Both shuttle between Bridge Street, in Glen Cove, and the Hempstead Transit Center, via Roosevelt Field Mall Terminal. The N21 line services Glen Cove and Great Neck.

But Haward Quann, a sexagenarian living in Sea Cliff, claimed the buses operate on a “ridiculous schedule.”

“The buses should run from Monday to Monday,” he said. “I have to pay a $20 cab to the train station, ride a train to Mineola and transfer to a bus, which costs a lot of money.”

Quann is recovering from a car accident that has left him with a broken leg, among other health concerns. He said he spends $40 in taxi fees on Saturday to meet his weekly appointment at Glen Cove Hospital.

Life will be much easier for him with the additional bus service as it will for people who wish to leave Glen Cove on weekends to work, visit family or attend church outside the city.

When the Herald initially reached out to NICE, a reply was sent by email saying the bus company was unaware of the issue.

“Though we have not received any formal requests for Sunday service on these routes, our current focus is ensuring robust Monday–Saturday service,” Mark Smith wrote on behalf of NICE. “As funding grows over time, we will work toward increasing the service footprint, especially on weekends and evenings throughout Nassau County.”

According to Smith, such a request should come from Nassau County’s government.

Nassau County Legislature Minority Leader Delia DeRiggi-Whitton said she shared her constituents’ concerns. “It’s just not fair” and “doesn’t make any sense,” she said.

The Glen Cove legislator sent a letter on April 1 to Jack Khzouz, vice president of operations for NICE, relaying her constituents’ complaints regarding the lack of weekend service on the N27 and Sunday service on the N21, which “impedes their ability to access employment opportunities, attend church services, visit family members, or participate in commerce within the community.”

“In the past,” DeRiggi-Whitton wrote, “collaborative efforts between NICE Bus, community stakeholders and my office have been fruitful in the pursuit of transportation solutions that meet the needs of our shared constituents.”

She offered to meet NICE representatives with members of the community affected by the lack of service. But the meeting did not have to take place because Khzouz emailed her on Monday.

NICE is able to “act quickly and add peak Sunday service on the N21 (as a pilot),” he wrote, adding the schedule will be finalized in the next couple of weeks and be available for riders at NiceBus.com.

“Additionally, we are in the process of studying the N27 in order to potentially launch some limited service beginning this coming fall, again, as a pilot,” Khzouz wrote. “Our hope is that both routes can sustain meaningful weekend ridership over the next six to 12 months in order to be viable in the long run.”