oped letters & comments
BY SARAH E. FEINBERG
While most of us are eager
to leave 2020 behind, this past
year will never be far from my
mind. Turning a new page on
the calendar can’t erase what
we have been through: losing
friends and colleagues, surviving
illness, and our city
changing forever.
I took over as interim president
of New York City Transit
just as the COVID-19 pandemic
gripped New York and
we have been battling it ever
since. But the men and women
of New York City Transit have
been a relentless source of inspiration
through it all.
When so much of normal
life disappeared, the Transit
workforce stood strong. They
came to work and did their
jobs day after day, putting
their own fears aside to serve
essential workers and other
New Yorkers.
And as if that wasn’t
enough, they also delivered
on a truly impressive slate
of projects against all odds –
from adapting our system to
the realities of COVID to refi
ning countless schedules to
fi nishing 11 ADA accessible
stations, the list of accomplishments
is long and varied.
I couldn’t be prouder.
And I know New Yorkers
are proud too. Our year-end
customer surveys showed an
incredible 7-point increase
in overall satisfaction with
subway service compared to
the year before, with an overwhelming
76% of respondents
saying our unparalleled cleaning
and disinfecting efforts
make them feel safe when using
mass transit.
I have no doubt Transit
will continue to step up in
2021. We’re starting this year
off with a massive campaign
to vaccinate our workforce,
who last week became eligible
for inoculation under Phase
1b of the State’s distribution
plan. It is our goal to ensure
that every employee who’s
willing and able can get the
COVID vaccine in the coming
weeks, starting with those on
the front lines.
The MTA is working hard
to set up on-site vaccination
centers where workers can
receive their shots, similar to
our nation-leading diagnostic
testing program.
But for this to make a difference,
we need everyone to
get vaccinated. Simply put, it’s
the best way we can protect
ourselves and our families going
forward.
Ensuring the safety of our
workforce and the safety of our
system has been my highest
priority since taking the helm
of Transit almost one year
ago. In addition to the vaccine
rollout, most recently these efforts
have focused on securing
additional NYPD presence in
our system following a string
of disturbing attacks on workers
and customers. I’ve also
asked the city to do more in
response to the mental health
crisis that’s playing out across
the fi ve boroughs, and by extension,
our transit system.
There will always be more
that we can do to improve security,
and I promise to do everything
I can in 2021 to create
a more positive environment
underground and on our
buses. New Yorkers deserve
nothing less.
Sarah E. Feinberg is interim
president of MTA New
York City Transit.
***
Note: The views and opinions
expressed by any op-ed
author refl ect their viewpoint,
and not necessarily those of this
publication.
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, JAN. 22-28, 2021 13
LET US HEAR FROM YOU
Letters to the editor are welcome from all readers. They should be addressed
care of this newspaper to Laura Guerriero, Publisher, the Bronx Times Reporter,
3604 E. Tremont Ave., Bronx, NY 10465, or e-mail to bronxtimes@cnglocal.com.
All letters, including those submitted via e-mail, MUST be signed and with a
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Note that the address and telephone number will NOT be published and the
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No unsigned letters can be accepted for publication. The editor reserves the
right to edit all submissions.
Dear Letters Editor:
Let’s all come out and support
NYC $20.21 Take Out
Restaurant Week January 25
– January 31. In these diffi -
cult economic times, it is especially
important to patronize
your neighborhood restaurants.
With indoor dining banned,
take out and catering are their
only source of income. When
ordering take out, why not
tip as if you were dinning indoors?
My wife and I don’t
mind occasionally paying a
little more to help our favorite
restaurants survive. Don’t forget
your cook and server. We
try to tip 20 percent against
the total bill including taxes. If
it is an odd amount, we round
up to the next dollar.
These people are our neighbors.
Thousands have already
had to permanently close their
doors. The remaining restaurants
are barely hanging on.
Who knows how many more
weeks or months will go by,
before they can reopen indoor
dinning with 25%, 50%
followed by another return to
full 100% capacity?
There are over one hundred
thousand NYC residents
whose livelihood depends on
restaurants that are still out
of work. This includes bar tenders,
waiters, bus boys, cooks
and cashiers. Wholesale food
sellers, distributors, delivers,
linen suppliers are also at a
loss. There are also construction
contractors and their employees,
who renovate or build
new restaurants.
Our local entrepreneurs
work long hours, pay taxes
and provide local employment
especially to students during
the summer. If we don’t patronize
our local restaurants,
they don’t eat either.
Sincerely,
Larry Penner
Great Neck
Dear editor,
Sadly, we recently lost a
friend of the community who
provided music for our summer
park venues. He passed
away at home. It is believed,
but not yet confi rmed, that the
cause was Covid 19. He was
found at home, where he lived
alone, having sustained a head
injury from a fall. His friends,
who could not contact him as
usual, raided the alarm and
the police made entry, only to
fi nd him deceased.
You will remember him,
Bob Coleman, as part of the
Larry Chance & the Earls
group, which often entertained
for the Bronx and
Westchester Departments of
Parks at various venues with
1950s and 1960s music. Very
fun loving and friendly, Boib
will be making music with the
angels now. RIP.
Your friend and neighbor,
Mary Sheehan
COVID-19 vaccine effort underway
for NYC Transit workers
WSZIO DECORATES WESTCHESTER
SQUARE LIBRARY WINDOW
The Westchester Square Zerega Improvement Organization recently
decorated the Westchester Square Library window. Photo by Sandi Lusk
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