BRONX TIMES REPORTER, JAN. 15-21, 2021 13
letters & comments oped
Dear Editor,
I have recently learned
that all the private religious
retirement facilities
of our dedicated priest,
brothers and, sister who
have dedicated their lives
to teaching many generations
are not eligible under
the same category as nursing
home residents. This
in my opinion is religious
discrimination! I have
had the pleasure of working
part time with the
Christian Brothers at St
Joseph Care Center in-
New Rochelle for the past
25 years, and they do not
accept any public assistance
they depend solely
on donation and their organization
as do ALL religious.
The Brothers
have taught boys in high
schools, elementary and
college level. Their entire
life dedicated to pray and
teaching. I’m sure that
some of our elected officials
have benefited from
the Brothers and Sisters
teaching, and they need to
step up and protect them
as they have protected the
most vulnerable in nursing
homes.
Carrie Ewen
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 verifi able address and telephone number included.
Note that the address and telephone number will NOT be published and
the name will be published or withheld upon request.
No unsigned letters can be accepted for publication. The editor reserves
the right to edit all submissions.
BY PATRICK J. FOYE
The MTA is starting off
the new year with renewed
vigor, energized by the inclusion
of $4 billion of federal
funding and the upcoming inauguration
of “Amtrak Joe”
Biden. The president-elect is
a longtime champion of mass
transit, and so is the incoming
Senate Majority Leader,
Chuck Schumer. As a New
Yorker, Senator Schumer understands
how vital a strong
MTA is to the region and the
national economy. Having
this kind of federal support
should allow us to maintain
vital service as New York recovers
and jump start projects
that will help improve our system
for decades to come.
We’re not wasting any
time. Last week, MTA crews
began the fi nal phase of work
on the Rutgers Tube rehabilitation
project – the last
of our Superstorm Sandy-related
tunnel repairs. Once
this critical work is fi nished
this spring, riders on the F
line from East Broadway in
Manhattan to York Street in
Brooklyn can enjoy a more reliable
commute thanks to new
track, power and signal equipment.
Plus, there will be cellular
service throughout the
tunnel, along with improved
resiliency features and new
ADA station components at
East Broadway.
We’re not letting up on our
commitment to increasing
systemwide accessibility. We
just fi nished our most recent
ADA elevator installation at
the Gunhill Road 5 station
in the Bronx – the 12th subway
station we’ve fi nished in
the last calendar year, and
we have plans to complete at
least eight more in 2021. On
the Long Island Rail Road,
we’re about to cut the ribbon
on three new elevators at Floral
Park.
But even with this promising
start to the new year, we
are clear-eyed about the challenges
facing the MTA in the
months and years ahead. At
our January meeting, the MTA
Board is scheduled to discuss
fare adjustments, followed in
February by similar review
of tolls. These meetings follow
a lengthy process where we
meticulously laid out various
scenarios at eight public hearings
in December that drew
record participation from the
public.
From this outreach, we
know that any increase will affect
New Yorkers and our goal
is to minimize the impact as
much as possible. But the truth
is fare and toll hikes were
baked into our fi nancial plan
long before COVID struck. The
budget accounts for increases
on par with prior adjustments.
They are not intended to address
losses caused by the ongoing
pandemic.
And to be clear, our fi nancial
problems did not disappear
with the end of 2020. The
federal aid directed to the MTA
in the latest COVID relief bill
gets us through 2021 without
devastating cuts to service and
layoffs of over 9,000 colleagues,
but our projected $8 billion outyear
defi cit remains. Without a
doubt, we will need additional
funding from Congress to survive
the impact of the pandemic.
Until we get it, we’re
facing an inevitable fi nancial
collapse; though with a new
President, Senator Schumer
leading the Senate, and House
Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who
have been great supporters of
the MTA, we are more hopeful
we will receive the support we
need from the federal government.
We’ve proved time and
again that our system is well
worth the investment. Public
transportation has kept the
city and region functioning
throughout this crisis, and
we’ll carry it into recovery,
too. New Yorkers of all incomes
and backgrounds depend on us
to get to work, school and so
much more – especially essential
workers during COVID.
We’re dedicated to providing
them with the safe and reliable
service they need, but we can’t
do it without our partners at
the federal level. Now that
we have the strong support of
both houses of Congress, we
can make 2021 the start of a
new era for the MTA. Let’s get
to work.
MTA Chairman Patrick Foye.
Dear editor,
The events of January
6th, 2021 will reverberate
for decades to come. Encouraged
by the demagogue
in the White House,
his supporters stormed
the Capitol, invading the
heart of our democracy in
an act of sedition, aimed
at disrupting the process
that would offi cially
end his hold on the Presidency.
The BTR “think
tanker” recently decried
the rise of a “mobocracy”.
Well now we have
seen a demonstration of
the real threat to American
democracy, the radical
right. Trump and his
enablers have refused to
recognize the 2020 election
results, as if elections
only count if their
party wins. The scenes of
violence in Washington
D. C. will be used by authoritarian
regimes such
as Russia and China to
buttress their claim that
democracy is inherently
unworkable and without
value. This loss of credibility
will harm our
stature world wide and
forever tarnish the idea
that America is the beacon
of freedom, an example
of what is possible to
the rest of the world. All
this damage infl icted to
assuage the ego and ambitions
of an amoral, narcissistic
individual aided
by his hoodwinked acolytes.
What a disgrace! I
wish to thank Mr. Weiner
for his kind words in
last week’s edition, however
I disagree with his
opinion regarding the effectiveness
of my criticism
of the resident right
wing columnist. The editor’s
disclaimer recently
attached to the “think
tankers” musings attests
to the value of my
criticism. I fi nd offensive
the ad hominem attacks,
false dilemmas
and sweeping generalizations
that characterize
the columnist’s weekly
offerings. If political opponents
cannot agree on
the facts and resort to
fallacious tactics to discredit
their adversaries,
neither common ground
nor solutions are possible.
BTR readers should
hear a countervailing
voice that offers a more
reasonable approach, an
approach grounded in reality.
Pasqual Pelosi
MTA ready to welcome Joe
Biden, longtime champion
of mass transit
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