Don’t ever say that some of the female members of Brooklyn’s city council delegation are soft: they aren’t. There was a raucous public hearing last Wednesday evening at the Brooklyn Museum (near Grand Army Plaza), that was aimed at getting the general view on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s proposed service cuts in the next fiscal year; at this event, NYC council members Darlene Mealy and Tish James -both from Brooklyn- made outstanding oral presentations which captivated the loud crowd of attendees. Throughout the procedures scores of teenagers outnumbered the elderly, in openly expressing their disenchantment with the proposed cuts by the MTA’s board members. Eventually four arrests were made amongst the spirited -but at times rowdy- youngsters; as police officers had to be called in to help maintain order.  read more »

Do you notice how few politicians have the cajones to raise taxes on people who make half a million or more a year (keep in mind, that means half a million dollars a year INCOME, not net worth), but they will all, with a great show of reluctance, let people who depend on NYC's subways and buses get screwed over every single time?

Our city DEPENDS on good transit more than it depends on anything except maybe effective garbage collection. Yet fare hikes and service cuts are the politically easy thing to do if times get tough. Even though the MTA has proven itself completely unreliable right down to fraudulently keeping two sets of books, they are allowed to continue to function without adequate oversight or punishment for their shady practices.  read more »