Long-term plans for Bally’s Throggs Neck shuttle unclear; Fernandez hopes for MTA takeover

The length of the trial period for the red and white Bally’s-branded shuttle bus is unclear.

Photo Aliya Schneider

Bally’s shuttle bus isn’t guaranteed for the long run, and one local leader hopes the route will be commandeered by the MTA down the road, the Bronx Times has learned.

The bright red shuttle, which is being fully funded by the Bally’s Corporation, was unveiled at a press conference at Ferry Point Park Monday morning. The corporation is seeking a full casino license to operate beside the public golf course in Ferry Point Park, which the company took over from The Trump Organization last week.

The bus, which will connect several East Bronx stops with the Throggs Neck ferry, was the brainchild of Throggs Neck Business Improvement District Executive Director Bob Jaen and a committee of local leaders he put together with Joe Kelleher, the former chair of the Bronx Chamber of Commerce, who died last year.

EXCLUSIVE: Free bus funded by Bally’s to connect East Bronx with Throggs Neck ferry

However, the longevity of the shuttle is unclear.

Bally’s Chair Soohyung “Soo” Kim told the Bronx Times last week that there was no time stamp for bus operations when asked whether it’s a pilot or here to stay.

“We don’t have an end date to it, but if people feel like it’s not that exciting to them then we’ll find something that can be,” Kim said last week in an exclusive interview with the Bronx Times.

But on Monday, representatives for Bally’s advertised the program as a three-month venture beginning in October.

Meanwhile, state Sen. Nathalia Fernandez, who helped bring the shuttle to fruition, told the Bronx Times that the arrangement is starting as a one-year pilot with service already underway, as of Monday.

If the service isn’t well-utilized, it may get cut after the pilot, Fernandez said.

“But there is full optimism and belief that this will be a popular program and we’ll see it needed and…