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| Friday, February 20, 05:20:39pm | [ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, [6], 7, 8, 9, 10 ] |
| Subject: MTA swipes straphangers set to wallop the city with the largest fare hike in New York history. | |
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Author: March 03 |
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Date Posted: Saturday, May 03, 02:31:03pm In reply to: http://www.ozestock.com.au/MessageView.aspPostID=226683&Symbol=ERG 's message, "My understanding is that NY & NJ tender process will commence later" on Monday, April 28, 07:17:14am http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ideas_opinions/story/64481p-60093c.html ----------------------------------------------------------- MTA swipes straphangers ----------------------------------------------------------- Tomorrow, the board of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is set to wallop the city with the largest fare hike in New York history. The 50-cent increase on buses and subways will be coupled with smaller increases in commuter rail fares and bridge and tunnel tolls. Angry? You have a right to be. ----------------------------------------------------------- It's not just the shock of a 33.3% subway fare increase, which hasn't been justified. It's how the agency went about it. MTA board members knew an increase was coming but sat on it for at a least a year to help their boss, Gov. Pataki, get reelected. ----------------------------------------------------------- To make matters worse, since it takes a CIA code breaker to decipher the MTA's financial records, the public still doesn't know where the money is going. Neither do the city and state controllers. ----------------------------------------------------------- Not that the MTA cares. There were 10 public hearings - in each of the five boroughs and in surrounding suburbs - on the fare hike. Attendance by the 23 board members was miserable. Even the chairman, Peter Kalikow, went to only two sessions. What greater duty could the members have than meeting with the public? ----------------------------------------------------------- At the very least, the new fare should be balanced by a new board. One that doesn't disdain the riders. Fat chance of that, though. Pataki appoints every member. He's not about to get rid of his lackeys. ----------------------------------------------------------- The fare increase is proportionately higher than the hikes for commuter railroads and bridges and tunnels. While the base cash fare for subways and buses is rising 33.3%, Metro-North and the Long Island Rail Road are getting 25% hikes. Bridge and tunnel tolls are rising only 14%. Making the longstanding discrepancy between the subsidies granted city and suburban riders even worse. ----------------------------------------------------------- Why boost fares much more than bridge and tunnel tolls? Don't we want to encourage mass transit and discourage auto use? ----------------------------------------------------------- Ah, well, straphangers will just have to dig deeper. And be expected to swallow their anger. This, while the same MTA board members who took them for a ride benefit from free lifetime MetroCards and E-ZPasses. Yes, free. Yes, lifetime. Being a lackey has its benefits. ----------------------------------------------------------- Too many cooks ----------------------------------------------------------- Last week, in anticipation of the announcement that Daniel Libeskind's design had been picked for the World Trade Center site, this page wrote, "It is certain that, in the end, the plan will be molded to serve so many agendas that Libeskind's visionary concept will be barely recognizable." Sometimes we hate being right. ----------------------------------------------------------- In case you hadn't noticed, the Port Authority - unfortunately abetted by the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. - had already started ripping the heart out of the design. ----------------------------------------------------------- Perhaps you were one of the tens of thousands who visited the Winter Garden to view the models of the nine finalists and offer comments. That was a waste of your time. What you saw wasn't what you'd get. The Libeskind proposal, as conceived, featured the "great slurry wall," the surviving foundations of the twin towers, in a 70-foot-deep, down-to-bedrock pit. The pit will now be just 30 feet deep, with only a small part of the slurry wall visible. ----------------------------------------------------------- The other singular element, a garden in the sky, is kaput. The 1,776-foot glass tower that was to house the flora remains - as a television antenna. Libeskind had added gardens as "a constant affirmation of life." They'd flourish in a skyscraper that would be "an icon that speaks of our vitality in the face of danger and our optimism in the aftermath of tragedy. Life victorious." Now TV is victorious. ----------------------------------------------------------- Reportedly, gardens eventually might be included in a restaurant and/or observation deck in the structure. Sure, if they don't infringe on PA commercial space. You'll be lucky to see a potted plant up there. And the PA will form a committee to decide who waters it. ----------------------------------------------------------- Build the bunker ----------------------------------------------------------- The city needs a new emergency command center in the event of not just, God forbid, a terrorist attack, but also for more mundane urban traumas such as blizzards and transit strikes. So when the City Planning Commission votes today on whether to site a new bunker in downtown Brooklyn, it should ignore the BANANA (Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anything) crowd. ----------------------------------------------------------- The $100 million federally funded facility at Cadman Plaza would be convenient to City Hall and lower Manhattan. Also, the Brooklyn Bridge and the new federal courthouse. That has some locals fretting about being a terrorist target. Don't they know all N.Y.C. is a target? ----------------------------------------------------------- The last bunker, in 7 World Trade Center, was destroyed 9/11. The city runs a temporary operation on Brooklyn's waterfront. A permanent home is needed. Downtown Brooklyn is the best spot. ----------------------------------------------------------- You can e-mail the Daily News editors at voicers@edit.nydailynews.com Please include your full name, address and phone number. The Daily News reserves the right to edit letters. The shorter the letter, the better the chance it will be used. ----------------------------------------------------------- [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ] |
| Subject | Author | Date |
| Fare or not, hikes stand Judge nixes restraining order fare hikes that go into effect tomorrow at 12:01 a.m. | Originally published on May 3, 2003With MetroCard fare deals, the MTA says the average cost of a bus or subway ride will be $1.32. | Saturday, May 03, 02:37:05pm |