New Haven Independent

It all started when an Baltimore-based hotel developer decided that bus stops around the Green attracted the wrong kind of people to the area. City Hall followed suit in 1995 and removed the offending stops, citing the need to “create a more desirable ambiance” at the site of what has now become the Omni Hotel. Elderly and working-class people who depended on the buses were enraged; they organized a protest that was to last 12 years.

When Mayor John DeStefano agreed to return the last bus stop to Church Street earlier this year, the bus stop coalition became legendary among community activists for its sheer doggedness. Surviving members — some standing, some in wheelchairs — met in the basement of the New Haven Public Library Tuesday evening to share memories of their long struggle.

Joan Cavanagh, a historian with the Greater New Haven Labor History Association, presided over Tuesday’s discussion. After a brief introduction from the Coalition for People, which sponsored the event, Cavanaugh asked the group to tell stories about its unique experience with grassroots activism.

Shirley Rice, who was responsible for lugging around protest signs for 12 years, spoke first. She remembered reading about the removals in the newspaper, and then receiving a call from Mary Johnson, the (now) 86-year old leader of the bus stop coalition.

“She told me they were protesting the bus stop removals,” she said. “We hired a bus and went down to City Hall. It was full of people that were enraged. It didn’t stop then; it took 12 years. We protested through snow, through rain, through everything.”

Most of the people that assembled at City Hall were elderly or disabled, said Rice. In many cases, they had come against the advice of doctors and families.

“Many people had arthritis,” she went on. “They were worried that their kids would see them on TV when they were supposed to be at home, resting.”

Reverend Joe Stanford, another core member of the bus coalition, said he recalled how Mayor DeStefano reacted when he first saw the people picketing outside his office.

“The mayor of New Haven looked at us as though we were old people; people who would make a fuss and then get tired and leave,” he said. “But he didn’t realize we were like cockroaches! Every time they switched off the lights, we came back — and we didn’t leave!”

That protest was the beginning of an endless series of meetings and rallies that involved a number of community groups. Mary Johnson, the indefatigable people-mover, summoned her group time and time again, even when there seemed to be little hope that the bus stops would ever be restored.

“I would ask that the library be renamed the Mary Johnson Library,” said Seth Godfrey, who works there.

For Anna Aschenbach, who joined the protest movement in 1995, the city’s decision was motivated by discrimination against a “broad swathe” of New Haven residents. Removing bus stops from downtown caused hardship for the city’s poor and disabled — but also women, who were the main users of the service. Mary Johnson added that New Haven suffered a “terrible blow to democracy” because City Hall failed to consult the community before removing the bus stops.

“The outright deception was appalling,” she said. “City Hall never told us anything… A guy [David Brant] from the Connecticut Transit Authority fed us information when we needed it.”

Over the years, there were occasions when Johnson believed they were close to the goal. In 2004, the mayor told the group that there were “no further obstacles” to returning the bus stops. After meeting with several aldermen, he agreed to install temporary bus stops for 60 days. But sure enough, the decision was overturned weeks later. Why? Because the buses would protrude onto Chapel Street, causing a “security hazard.”

At the time, an alderman had pointed out that buses had been protruding onto the street for over 100 years, said David Hamilton, who helped organize Tuesday’s get-together.

As the meeting wound down, members spoke about the lessons learned over the years, and suggested reasons for their ultimate success. All agreed that persistence had proved their most valuable asset in taking on City Hall.

“They kept thinking we would go away,” said Johnson. “But we didn’t. The people knew injustice when they saw, and they wouldn’t let it pass.”

Johnson gave the final word at the end of the two-hour meeting:

“A very important lesson for tons of people is that you can fight City Hall — and win,” she said. “You win by persistence, team-work, organizing, and sticking together until the very end.”