Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Open letter to the Public Advocate of NYC

Hi, I hope I end up with something more than the boilerplate response I got from the MTA. Just was waiting with eighteen other people for the local bus - on 71st and second Ave. Two limited service buses passed empty. I now know why the Mayor loves this new express service program. In one fell swoop he can claim his buses get downtown quicker, so what if they are empty half of the time and especially on Weekends. So what if they leave little local service. Love to know how much these consultants at the MTA and in the Mayor's office get paid to come up with these strokes of genius. I guess they are trying to get older people who can't walk far to leave the city so they won't have to bother dealing with irate customers. Then they can raise the fares again to fewer and fewer users. At least those of us who tough it out will be able to get a seat.


Because, of the construction for the new Second Ave. subway, the buses no longer stop at 72nd street and Second Avenue at all going West and going East you have to go half way down the East side of Second Avenue - might as well walk. They of course have eliminated the bus shelters to expedite construction of the subway. Never be available for use in my lifetime if ever so we can't sit down. And on the East side of the Second Ave. stop you have to run into the middle of the street to flag down a bus, which can't see the temporary sign, which is too short and partially hidden by snow right now. By the way no shoveled path to the street. I don't jump so good any more, but on the bright side if I break my leg I can sue the City - I know, good luck. While we're at it the York and 72nd uptown 31 bus stop shelter is still there and you could sit down and wait for the bus, but it is snowed in - 3 feet. Guess the Mayor only wants us going downtown. What is going

on downtown?


Why can’t they get rid of the ice in front of the 72nd and York 31 bus stop? Year after year no one clears it. This is right in front of a nursing home and diagonally across from a hospital.


While I'm at it, I would like to know what brain trust came up with these outside bus receipt stations for mandatory use to get on a limited, which are now snowed in and mostly out of paper for the receipts any way. No alert in the machine like I'm running low on paper, but they’re pretty good at eating monthly bus passes. Really speeds things up—not. That would be too sensible, too twenty first century.


If this ever gets anywhere, please tell the Major that a bunch of my friends and I who used to have some respect for the way he was running the City would love to see him avoid term limits again so I could vote for any one running against him.


I think I'll wait a few days for your response, which I probably won't get, and then I'll post this email on line as an open letter to the Public Advocate. I'm a writer, or can't whoever or whatever is reading this tell? Am I dealing with a machine? Am I going to get an automated response?


Thanks in advance for your kind attention, I hope,


Arthur Levine
http://johnnyoops.blogspot.com

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