Living in an outer borough and commuting into Manhattan is a bit of a nightmare. I spend up to 90 minutes (each way) commuting to work, for a total of up to three hours on some days. This is not because I drive and the roads are congested, it is because Republicans have gutted the mass transit system and privatized what little of it used to work. The cars are filthy, the schedules are ignored, entire lines have been eliminated or reconfigured to ensure delays during rush hour, all under Republican leadership.
One of the benefits of living in New York City, even in an outer borough, is the proximity to the cultural institutions in Manhattan. Most of us who work for a living and live in the outer boroughs make use of those institutions only on the weekends.
The mass transit system on the weekends is almost non-existent, so I often drive into the city by paying a five dollar toll to go through a tunnel, then I pay about thirty bucks to park. Then I can take my family to an over-priced museum, show or restaurant. Then I pay five bucks for the toll back to the borough in which I live.
All of this because using the subway (which barely works during the week) is a joke on the weekends.
I think the forty dollars I spend on tolls and parking is enough of a penalty for the privilege of being a New Yorker. The idea that the mayor (who knows nothing about commuting, the subway, parking, or surviving in an urban setting) and other elected officials think I should pay an additional fee for this privilege is absurd.
Michael Bloomberg, Maria Del Carmen Arroyo, Maria Baez, Gale A. Brewer, Inez E. Dickens, Simcha Felder, Daniel R. Garodnick, Alan J. Gerson, Eric N. Gioia, Sara M. Gonzalez, Robert Jackson, Leticia James, G. Oliver Koppell, Jessica S. Lappin, John C. Liu, Melissa Mark-Viverito, Miguel Martinez, Michael E. McMahon, Rosie Mendez, Hiram Monserrate, Annabel Palma, Christine C. Quinn, Domenic M. Recchia Jr., Joel Rivera, James Sanders Jr., Larry Seabrook, Kendall Stewart, James Vacca, Albert Vann, Thomas White Jr., David Yassky (all members of the city council) ought to be ashamed of themselves for supporting the congestion tax.
If they want a city of millionaires where we niggers are kept out, out of their museums, out of their restaurants, and out of their theaters, then they should just buy up all the property in all the boroughs, raise the rents so high that we all must leave, and keep this filthy shit-hole of a city that barely works anymore to themselves. But scum like this will just run the city into the ground anyhow.
Bloomberg and most of the rest of the crooks on that list have nothing to lose in this battle because they will be moving on to bigger office in the state or federal government when their respective elections come around. I encourage all New Yorkers to keep this list handy and vote against every single one of these officials. Bloomberg will get no vote from me, and I will work against any of these bastards who try to run for office again.
Fortunately, my local councillor voted against the congestion pricing plan, and for that I am grateful.
Congestion tax!
Idiots!
Council Votes 30-20 for Traffic Fees
Dick Mac Recommends:
Ethics for the New Millennium
Dalai Lama
1 comment:
I've only visited the fair city once, for a conference at Columbia U June 2006 on a Thurs-Sun stretch, made it a point to hit some jazz clubs in the evenings. But my commutes were limited and safe to say I didn't get a lot of time to explore. The subway is the most efficient mode of transportation there(as a Texan, it was a great experience)...though I can imagine how things would be if problems compounded. 3 hour daily commute time? Yowza.
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