Brooklyn! We have to triple our guard. This is their season and they’re dribbling through our legislatures trying to sink tolls on our bridges.
You look around at the old−time siloogie game. Talk to our brethren (and sister’n) in Staten Island as they point to the $10 buck tolls they’ve got to pay, comin’ and goin’ to their brother boroughs in this divisive city.
Some people, like our mayor even get confused − or they slip−up, like Mayor Mike Bloomberg, when he said, on his weekly visit to Radio WOR, “It has to be the cost of coming into the city…”
We blustered, as we dialed radio WOR to refute that Mayoral statement. “What do you want to tell the mayor?” their operator asked.
We replied promptly, “We wanted to remind him we are a five−borough city…” we were greeted by a dial tone, in his censored radio−promo show.
The guy came into our town lugging his riches, and he plastered our lamp−posts at every poll, with a big blue cardboard sign, hailing, “Elect Mike Bloomberg Mayor.”
He swept into office, took off his Boston shoes and sat down at the helm of Manhattan’s City Hall; not knowing, or little caring that there was a City beyond Wall STreet.
But our City, during the twilight of his 2 terms has slid down into the throes of an economic downfall. Sure, the rest of our nation is suffering too, but Wall Street led us to this national abyss.
While Congress now hastily tries to put blow−out patches on the national economy our Mayor joins the in−tolling us down, down, “drown Brooklyn, you too Queens.”
Radio WOR’S aim is headed to Conservatism − not conserving its people who combat the national recession. They’ve shifted their agenda, bringing in the Limbaugh imitators to a station that had a historic heritage.
State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver bravely defied the MTA’s efforts to toll our bridges last year, against a $5 toll − but this year, rumors from Albany say “Silver might compromise with a $2 toll.”
No way, Sheldon. Don’t start by giving away the freedoms of a 5−borough city for 2 bucks. It’ll only be a ten dollar bill in short time.
That up−east sider honoree is waiting, Silver. Give him $2 and he’ll raise it to ten−bucks.Beware, and be wary of an MTA that cannot produce or operate.
Since the late Governor Rockefeller led us from our own TA to his MTA, packed full of “un−astute politicos” we have watched them operate on ‘hieroglypics.’
The MAT spent fortunes on each subway car, putting on large medallions hailing the name MTA on every car on evey train. Riders now knew it was not the Atcheson Topeka and Santa Fe. That way we knew that our old Sea Beach was now an “N” train. Our West End became a “B” Train.
If they changed the name they could have simplified train and bus logos. The Sea Beach could have been SB. The West End has no “b” so they hiegrolyphiced it. The B instead of the Brighton Beach Express being the BBE, they made it the Q. Confusing their riders.
We tried to explain it to the original Chairman John A. Gilhooley at a public hearing, Your name is John A Gilhooley and your initials are JAG. How did you get these confusing misnomers? Why can’t the 86th Street Bus be the 86 or the 5th Ave and 8th Ave buses be the 5 and the 8?
Our tirade was met by silence − and annual short−funded needs of money. We New Yorkers are one. We live in various boroughs but are all together as New York citizens. The MTA has built parking for suburbanites in distant parts of their realm. We city−citizens have paid for some of those. But the MTA has loads of space above many of our Brooklyn subways, where parking facilities could be constructed to faciliate parking when we, the people have to move our cars so the ‘broomer trucks’ can sweep our curbs.
The same MTA owns stores adjoining our many stations. Too many have closed. Why doesn’t the Governor’s Ravitch Commission hang up ‘For Rent’ signs to sweep the subway entrance, and bring in more revenues and safety.
More important the Mayor who encouraged the City Council to violate the two term law passed by vote 4 years ago, has to recall that this was a five borough city when he took office and no mayor must be allowed to plan all major facilities in Manhattan and then suck the monies out of the other 4 boroughs to support public transportation’s big−time operators who ride our city streets in limos paid by the MTA.
