For over a year now, I’ve slammed City Council member John Liu for his sheer lack of MTA acumen. As the head of the council’s transportation committee, he should get it. He should understand the dire financial straits in which the MTA finds itself and the city’s need for mass transit, but he just doesn’t.
Unsurprisingly, he’s at it again. This time, the City Council is going after the MTA for its proposed bus cuts, and Liu’s public statements again show that he is thinking only about his public image and not the transit authority’s long-term health. Reports The Post:
Six City Council members blasted the MTA yesterday over proposals to cut bus service in upper Manhattan. Councilwoman Inez Dickens (D-Harlem) said “the MTA wishes to strangle us” with its plan to eliminate the M10 line, which runs from Harlem to Penn Station along Seventh and Eighth avenues.
Cutting that line, she said, would force elderly riders to walk to Seventh Avenue and board a bus that takes them east of Central Park. “We don’t rely on fancy vehicles to take us places,” said Franc Perry, chair of the community board for Central Harlem.
The agency said the M10 is on the cutting block because the A, C, B and D subway lines duplicate its route. “The subway isn’t accessible for many elderly and disabled riders,” said Councilman John Liu (D-Queens). “The MTA doesn’t get it.”
The MTA gets it, John, but you don’t. The MTA is faced with a legal mandate to balance their budget, and until he and his fellow councilmembers decide to take the unpopular position of imposing bridge tolls or higher car registration fees or simply writing the authority a blank check, the agency will continue to do what is within its power to do. They will cut services; they will raise fares.
Now, I understand that Liu is a politician and wants to be re-elected. But at some, politicians are also responsible for the policy decisions they make and the areas of their expertise. Liu oversees transit for the City Council, and yet he refuses to take responsibility for finding a better solution to the city’s transit woes. In the end, he’s just as much a part of the problem as the MTA is, and until he accepts reality or vacates his position, I fear for the future of fully-funded transit in New York City.
9 comments
Maybe he thinks the MTA can make cuts in other areas. It’s already been reported that job cuts save more money than service cuts. I’d like to see the MTA prove it can’t make any more job cuts before cutting any service.
There’s a common perception that elderly and disabled people cannot (will not) ride the subway if it’s not accessible, thus the bus lines that duplicate subway service should remain. Many city council constituencies include these people and they’re quite vocal. Liu, Dickens and others, seemingly, are fighting on their behalf.
When your knees aren’t like they used to be, going down subway steps is at best a hassle and at worst painful. This should not be much of an issue when there are (working) escalators and elevators.
I’m still young and able-bodied so service cuts on bus lines don’t affect me, but I can somewhat relate whenever I injure a foot or get tendonitis.
Still, the REAL issue is whether or not our politicos have the courage to pass the Ravitch plan and get the MTA back on track to prevent these cuts in the first place.
I’m getting to the age where aches and pains are starting to settle in and I can easily imagine the trouble that the subway poses to senior citizens, especially in areas like mine where there are *no* elevators or escalators. I live in Bay Ridge where there are lots of older people, especially right around the 3rd Avenue bus that they’re going to eliminate. Now it’s a walk down to 5th Avenue? Not cool.
Again, I call on the MTA to prove that they’re doing what they can to cut costs in other areas before they cut service. And prove that the service cuts aren’t just a scare tactic.
Last I heard, Liu was planning on running for Public Advocate. I hear he’s planning on changing the job title to Public (except for subway riders) Advocate.
Also Liu won’t advocate for the horse nyc carriage horses. On Jan 30th there was a hearing on banning NYC carriage horses, which is a cruel and a public safety issue. Yet Liu didn’t seem to have any compassion. He did score a zero in the humane scorecard.
http://www.youtube.com/user/horsesinnyc
Please save the M10 line. It is well used, and mass transit is the life blood of this city. The MTA leaders are just full of it…they’ve been mismanaging it for DECADES. Cutting bus lines practically saves the agency nothing, produces incoveniences galore. Duplication with subway lines? Try getting on the C / B line during the weekend, and tell me how functional it is. These guys are total bums. By the way, how’s the 80 year, 30 billion dollar 2nd Ave subway coming along? Or the billion dollar new headquarters? I’m Sure there’s no fat to cut there….
How much ignorance is it possible to cram into one post?
Don’t bother, Marc. As I learned from the fare hike hearings, the vast majority of New Yorkers are ignorant about the real problems at the MTA and couldn’t bother to take ten minutes to educate themselves about the way the authority is run. It’s a lost cause.