Hey, transit users — we're invisible to Gov. Hochul.
On Tuesday, with the heatwave bearing down on the Big Apple, the Gridlock Gov told all drivers that they should head to the nearest state beach, where she decided to waive the normal parking fees.
That prompted a pretty obvious question: What about the majority of New York City residents who don't have cars and instead use transit (which will now be stuck in even more traffic) to cool off?
We weren't the only people asking that, as the replies to the governor's tweet showed:
But we still have to pay for the bus & subway to go to the beach? And our buses will now compete wmany more single occupancy cars to get to our beaches. Wow you are so tone deaf to NYC residents.
— JimRockaway (@JimRockaway) June 19, 2024
PLEASE STEP DOWN & save yourself the embarrassment of a crushing election defeat.
Never mind that the heatwave is, in part, caused by overuse of the automobile — a trend that will continue due to the governor's cancellation of congestion pricing — but the only explanation for giving drivers a heatwave subsidy yet ignoring transit riders is simply that we're invisible to the governor, who gets driven, helicoptered or flown everywhere.
Parking at state beaches is already subsidized: It's only $10 per car to park at Jones Beach, no matter how many people you cram into the vehicle. But if four Manhattanites want to hit the beach, it'll cost $11.60 for four subway rides, plus $92 for four round-trip Long Island Rail Road tickets, plus another $11.60 for the return subway.
Do the math: That's $115.20 just to get to and from the beach. No wonder people buy cars — we're encouraging them to.
In other news from the quiet Juneteenth holiday:
- The editorial board at amNY opined that Hochul is living in "fantasy land" because she "has yet to announce any serious effort to find an alternative funding plan, but continues to insist the funding will eventually be there."
- Can't we all agree that city pools need to open earlier in the year? (Astoria Post)
- Finally, it's hard to understand what's happening in this video of a massive SUV driver taking out his aggressions on a line of parked cars in Flushing:
Here it is from another angle:
I suppose it's no surprise, but the driver of that SUV has gotten two camera-issued speeding tickets since mid-May, according to city records. Apparently, they'll give anyone a license ... and let him keep it.
