Another reason to hate the MTA

The "doomsday" budget plan was approved by the MTA today, which calls for an increase in fares from $2 to $2.50 and service cuts, including cutting over 30 bus lines and the W subway line. 

This is dire news for people like me, who can barely afford to take the subway as it is. It bothers me to see MTA employees standing around on platforms not doing anything, while I'm being squeezed for a fare hike. The colossal waste in MTA operations is staggering to me. Case in point: the other day, I had friends in town who wanted to buy a Metrocard. They put their cash in and the machine didn't spit out a card. They took it to the man in the booth, who told them to call the 1-800-METROCARD number. Well, we got home and called and they spent 10 minutes asking us questions about what happened, only to tell us to go BACK to the station and get an envelope from someone in the booth so that we could mail in the receipt. Was this really necessary?? Poor organization and employees who don't give a shit about their jobs conribute immensely to the fact that I'm now going to have to pay $2.50 to ride the subway.

Some people argue that NYC has one of the cheapest mass transit systems in the world, so we shouldn't be upset about paying more. My feelings on this are many:

1. We also have by far the dirtiest mass transit system I have ever seen. That's gotta count for something. Yeah, we pay about 40% less than Metro riders in Washington D.C., but have you ever seen how clean their system is? I never smell pee there.

2. NYC is also the least car-accessible city I've ever been to. Living in Midtown, I effectively have no choice but to ride mass transit because there's no way I can afford to garage my car and it's illegal to park on my street about 75% of the time. If the city is going to make it illegal for me to park a car on my own street, then mass transit needs to be as accessible as possible.

3. There should be no free bridges with access to Manhattan if the MTA doesn't have enough money and it's quite clear that Manhattan doesn't need any more cars coming and going.

If I didn't think I'd get flattened like a manhole cover, I'd start searching Craigslist for a bike.

An open letter to Mr. Bloomberg

Dear Mr. Bloomberg,

We've never met, and even if we had, I doubt you would have taken my 5'4" stature and my perky strawberry blonde curls too seriously, but believe me, I know what I'm talking about.

Banning trans-saturated fats from menus in the city was a pretty shocking move, I've got to tell you. I mean, if people want to cause their own cardiac arrest, it's their perogative, in my humble opinion. I could almost see where you were coming from with that one, though.

This new low-salt initiative, on the other hand? What the fuck? Oh sure, for now it's completely voluntary that restaurants comply. For how long, though? I happen to like a lot of salt in my food. In case you were wondering, I also go to the gym 3-4 times a week and am in great shape. I don't have a sodium problem. And I don't need you telling me (or anyone from whom I choose to purchase my food) what I can and cannot eat. 

I'll give it to you that you have balls, Mike. Getting term limits voted down just to serve your own needs? That took skill. But leave my food the hell alone.

Sincerely,

One of your newest politically-interested residents.