Dear Mr. Bloomberg: Stop Scapegoating and Get Movin'
The state-run subway system here in Gotham is a mess -- no , a BIG mess. Everyday it seems to get worse -- delays, noxious smells, peripatetic vagabonds everywhere, and sometimes even full blackouts.Now the state is finally on the Mayor's ass- they want to pass control of the MTA to the city from where it is now - Albany. The Albany guys also accused Mayor Bloomberg of shortchanging city voters by not sticking up for them as subway service has visibly and steadily deteriorated this year. I agree with the Post who said Monday that they
hit upon an issue that really does affect all New Yorkers...he's carving out voters from a soft spot Bloomberg can't afford to lose: Affluent and middle-class outer-borough residents. The mayor is often characterized as out of touch with the needs of real New Yorkers — and on mass transit, he is: Bloomberg expects people to realize that he's not in charge of the subway system — and to leave it at that.Fact of the matter is that taxes have gone way up — but not because we're receiving more or better city services. Middle-class voters are reminded twice a day that the one thing they expect to get for their thousands each year in city and state tax dollars — a reliable, tolerable commute from the Bronx, Brooklyn or Queens into Manhattan — is NOT HAPPENING. Mike -- do something about the godamm subway -- modernize it, invest in it, shit just ride it for a day and see what this circle of hell is like -- just DO SOMETHING to make it a more reliable creature. Right now, it is dead end -- a political Bermuda Triangle swallowing tax dollars and Bloomy is the Satan of it all, revelling in our immolation.
At City Hall last week, Bloomberg mused that it's "disappointing" that Gov. Pataki continually starves the MTA for cash — and noted redundantly (for those who ride the subway every day) that "if you don't keep your technology up to date — if you don't keep replacing things — you will have more and more breakdowns." The mayor is not sufficiently outraged on behalf of riders. He should realize that voters aren't reading the organizational chart of the MTA — they want the mayor to feel their pain and to use his power to do something.
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