op ed BTR letters & comments
Patriotism
in reverse
Disrespecting
subway riders
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, D BTR ECEMBER 6-12, 2019 13
Unlit roadways
are drivable
Dear editor,
I totally agree with letter
writer Lawrence Cooper
(“Street lights are always out,”
11.29 - 12.5 BTR) that government
should fulfi ll its obligations
to its citizens re: street
and highway lights.
I also agree it is easier to
drive on a highway that has
working lights. But as a driver
of over 40 years, I have driven
many stretches of unlit highways.
I recently drove two
hours in the dark to Vila Roma
Resort in the Catskills, and
probably drove more roads
that was unlit than lit.
That is what headlights on
cars are for, and someone who
fi nds it so diffi cult to drive an
unlit highway at night should
refrain from driving at night,
or possibly, even at all.
N.F. Weiner
Dear editor,
Recently a writer cited
a number of the Presidents’
‘accomplishments’, which
mainly consisted of signing
Congressionally passed bills
into law and then claiming
credit for the ideas contained
in the legislation. There were
a number of inaccuracies in
the contributor’s fawning testimonial
to the current White
House occupant, for example
claiming that the 45th President
enacted the Veteran’s
Choice Program when it was
actually created in 2014, before
he took offi ce. No mention
is made of the additional two
million Americans without
health insurance or the exploding
federal debt (caused in
part by the tax cut for the 1%).
Also unmentioned is the recent
30% increase in the trade
defi cit, which the President
promised to reduce.
More troubling is the contributor’s
notion that opposition
to Trump is disrespecting
the presidency and our
great nation. The individual
bringing disrespect to the offi
ce of the President is the current
President. Opposing this
manifestly unfi t President is
a patriotic act designed to restore
America’s reputation in
the world and to renew the vision
of our founders, namely
that America is a nation of
laws and that no man is above
the law.
Pasquale Pelosi
Cuomo Bridge
toll to increase
Dear editor,
Motorists and taxpayers
are concerned after learning
that the construction contractor
for the new Tappan Zee
Bridge is suing the New York
State Thruway Authority for
$900 million in additional incurred
costs for work not paid
for. This includes overtime for
project schedule acceleration
and change orders to the base
contract for additional work.
Toll hikes anticipated to start
after 2020 may now have to be
even greater to cover these
costs. This is how Governor
Andrew Cuomo always intended
to fi nd several billion
to pay for construction. The
fi nal price tag will go up even
more.
The Citizens Budget Commission
previously reported
that tolls on the new bridge
will likely increase from $5.00
to $10.50 after 2020.
Cuomo made a cold political
calculation by promising
not to raise the tolls when
running for another term in
2018. To pay back the $1.6 billion
dollar Federal Transportation
Infrastructure Finance
and Improvement Act (TIFIA)
loan and $1 billion Thruway
Authority Bond, as well as the
up to $900 million in fi nal bills
to the contractor, tolls may
have to double or more starting
in 2020. The well-respected
Moody’s Investment Services
estimated the tolls will go up
to $7.60 by 2021 and $15 by 2026
for the Thruway Authority to
be able to pay back the loan,
bond and now up to $900 million
more in contractor fi nal
payment claims.
Cuomo will exit Albany
leaving taxpayers and commuters
paying higher fares,
taxes and tolls in coming years
for a fi nal project cost closer to
$5 billion than his promised
$3.98 billion to cover his tab.
There ain’t no such thing
as a free lunch or in this case,
construction of a bridge. At
the end of the day, someone
has to pay.
Larry Penner
Dear editor,
This past weekend and this
week the Transit Authority
again unnecessarily inconve-
nienced the riders on the #5
Dyre Avenue line and the riders
who use the Morris Park,
Pelham Parkway/Esplanade
and Gun Hill Road stations on
the #5 line.
This past weekend the
Transit Authority had to do
track work, apparently between
149th Street/Grand
Concourse and Manhattan
on the #2 line and the connection
between 149th and 138th
Street on the #5 line. So, the
Transit Authority stopped
the #2 at 149th and the #5 at
180th. That meant #5 line riders
had to take three trains to
get to the East Side of Manhattan.
The fi rst, a #5 to E.180th
Street, then the #2 to 149th and
then to switch to a #5 or #4 upstairs
to continue to Manhattan.
Why couldn’t the #5 have
stopped at 149th the same as
the #2 train?
Then to rub salt in the
wounds, this week the Transit
Authority is skipping the
Baychester Avenue, Gun Hill
Road, Pelham Parkway/Esplanade
on the downtown side of
the Dyre Avenue line during
the midday hours, forcing the
downtown riders to fi rst go to
Dyre Avenue and then go back
downtown. This is the same
ridiculous situation that happened
last week. Why can’t
those downtown trains stop at
Pelham Parkway/Esplanade
going downtown? That station
now has four tracks, two each
on the downtown and uptown
platforms. This, theoretically,
allows for uptown and downtown
trains on each platform
when one platform or track
cannot be used. This week
again, the NYCTA is failing to
use that second track, which it
has installed, and runs trains
on in both directions.
There is no reason why
that second track on the uptown
and downtown platforms
could not have been
used for the downtown trains.
The Transit Authority has
run downtown trains on that
track but they just skip the
Pelham Parkway station.
Why not have the trains just
stop there even if they can’t
do the same at the Morris
Park, Gun Hill Road or Baychester
stations? While not
super convenient, the Pelham
Parkway/Esplanade station
is close enough to the Morris
Park and Gun Hill stations
that many riders who use
those stations would use the
Pelham Parkway/Esplanade
station instead of traveling to
Dyre Avenue and back.
Kenneth S. Gelnick
Our schools need
more social workers
BY COREY JOHNSON
Poverty. Housing instability.
Food insecurity. Bullying.
Gang violence. Complicated
family dynamics. Imagine
battling with these stressors
while trying to focus on your
algebra or chemistry assignments.
All of these issues can
have a traumatic effect on
students, and we must recognize
and address that trauma
if we expect them to focus in
school.
Part of making that a reality
is ensuring that every NYC
student has access to school
staff who can provide the necessary
social and emotional
support they need.
Students are bombarded
with confl icting ideas on social
media on a daily basis,
and they are also grappling
with ever increasing everyday
societal pressures. All of this
can and does spill over into a
student’s school life, with adverse
consequences that can
include absenteeism, failing
grades and student-to-student
confl ict, among others.
Teachers do an amazing
job juggling all these different
concerns, but doing so often
takes away time from instruction.
Teachers need support
from other professionals who
are experts in addressing
these challenges.
Students need access to
social workers. Social workers
are pivotal to creating a
healthy learning environment.
Research shows that social
workers, guidance counselors
and school psychologists are
benefi cial to students’ social
and emotional health, as well
as their academic outcomes.
The comprehensive services
that social workers provide
can address many barriers to
student learning. And, currently,
too many schools don’t
have a social worker or too few
social workers.
Social workers provide
critically important services
directly to students and sometimes
to teachers and staff.
They help address many of
the out-of-school needs that
can hinder a student’s learning.
They help bridge the gap
between school, home and
community for students. They
work to prevent school violence,
improve school climate,
provide early intervention for
students and assist teachers
NYC Council Speaker Corey Johnson.
Photo courtesy of Jeff Reed 3
with better classroom management.
But these professionals do
more than create healthier
and happier students. In some
cases, they make the difference
between life and death.
This is what happened to
me.
As a teen dealing with depression
and feeling scared
about coming out, a guidance
counselor helped me sort
through my feelings and gave
me the confi dence to talk to
my football team.
I’m not sure what would
have happened if that guidance
counselor had said, ‘I
don’t have time to talk to you.’
I was lucky, but so many
are not. Suicide rates are too
high, and students are suffering.
They need support.
This year, the Council
heard teachers, staff and students
loud and clear: our
schools need more social
workers.
So we fought for and secured
$29.7 million to support
269 full-time social workers
in schools, up from 200 last
year. This includes 100 Bridging
the Gap social workers in
schools with the highest numbers
of students experiencing
homelessness. But our school
system serves 1.1 million students,
and they all would benefi
t from having social workers.
An investment in our children’s
futures is an investment
in the future of our city.
We are heading in the right
direction, but we absolutely
must do more.
(Corey Johnson is the
Speaker of the New York City
Council.)