Readers: Less parking? Why?
COURIER LIFE, MARCH 13-19, 2020 43
The Department of Transportation
is seeking to roll out its “neighborhood
loading zones” program in
Park Slope after pushback from motorists
forced the agency to yank the
zones in Clinton Hill last summer.
The plan involves axing a dozen
parking spots along Second and
Third Streets between Fourth and
Eighth Avenues, giving trucks a
spot to pull into while also supplying
residential deliveries and rideshare
vehicles a place to drop off
safely, instead of double parking or
idling in bike lanes.
Readers experssed themselves
online:
That sounds like a really bad idea.
The whole point of using ride-share
share vehicles and limousines is that
they pick you up and drop you off right
in front of your house, not half a block
away and most defi nitely not two or
three blocks away. I also doubt that
UPS/Fedex/FreshDirect etc would
want to park in a “loading zone” that’s
a couple of block away from where
they’re delivering to. And I most certainly
wouldn’t want to have a loading
zone in front of my own house!
Marc Sewtz
Do you realize how hard parking
already is and now your bright idea is
to take away all that parking space so
people can park there temporarily to
deliver food, adding to the burden of
fi nding a space for your car. Another
not so bright idea.
Valery Rizzo
Yup! That is why I go to Long Island
to shop!
Mitchell Rentzler
Ridgites drive too fast!
A motorist struck and killed a
man walking his dog on Fourth Avenue
in southern Brooklyn on Thursday
night.
Police said Frank Delcovenaere,
66, was crossing 101st Street
against the crossing signal around
7 pm when he was mowed down by a
19-year-old driving a 2011 Mercedes
Benz. Cops say the driver was traveling
southbound on Fourth Avenue
when he made a right turn through
the intersection and struck Delcovenaere,
immediately killing him.
Delcovenaere is the 24th pedestrian
killed in a car crash within
the city’s borders since the onset of
this year.
Readers experssed themselves
online:
I live in this neighborhood and i
have been almost run over twice, at
the corner of fort hamilton and 86 st
where drivers eat the red light all the
time, and the drivers are young entitled
people whos parents let them drive
their expensive vehicles. They do not
care for anyone here. Let the city put
up more speeding cameras at least and
fi ne this people severely. careless drivers
will never learn. and we the pedestrians
are in a world of hurt.
Marcos Garate
Let the pros run the MTA
A Park Slope legislator is pushing
to bring control of the city’s subways
and buses to the New York City
government, arguing that the current
structure of state-run transit is
ineffi cient and overly bureaucratic.
Carroll plans to introduce a bill
into the Albany legislature that
would wrestle control of the city’s
transportation system away from
the governor, and put the responsibility
for its management into the
hands of the mayor.
Within the 1953 master agreement
between the City of New York
and NYC Transit is an escape clause.
NYC has the legal right to take back at
any time control of its assets. This includes
the subway and bus system. In
1953, the old NYC Board of Transportation
passed on control of the municipal
subway system, including all its assets
under a master lease and operating
agreement to the newly created NYC
Transit Authority.
The master lease and operating
agreement was subsequently amended
over time to include various NYC private
franchised bus operators and
former B&O Rail Road Staten Island
Rapid Transit Railway Company.
Regaining control comes with fi -
nancial liabilities. City Hall will have
to negotiate with both the Governor
and State Legislature over how much
of the MTA’s $40 billion long term debt
and billions more in employee pension,
health insurance and other liabilities
come with the package. NYC would
also inherit a series of union contracts
and work rule agreements. Development
of a plan is required for turning
over management for billions in hundreds
of ongoing capital improvement
projects.
Larry Penner
LET US HEAR FROM YOU
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LETTERS AND COMMENTS FROM OUR READERS
The greatest defi nition of
fear, we believe, was described
by Franklin D.
Roosevelt during his fi rst inaugural
address in 1933.
People recall his famous
line that we have “nothing to
fear but fear itself,” but his
words immediately thereafter
perfectly describe the impact
of fear as being “nameless,
unreasoning, unjustifi ed terror
which paralyzes needed
efforts to convert retreat into
advance.”
It’s easy right now to fall
into the trap of fear. Coronavirus
has cultivated a culture
among many afraid of an invisible,
microscopic enemy
that can cause grave illness.
The fear has seeped into
our economic markets; the
Dow Jones plunged 2,000
points Monday, causing fi -
nancial losses in the trillions
of dollars.
But it’s incredibly important
for all of us to keep things
in perspective. It’s natural to
be fearful, but it cannot put
us, as FDR said, into a state of
retreat or paralysis.
Nobody wants to fall prey
to coronavirus; the health
risks are indeed high. Thankfully,
the city and state are doing
what must be done to contain
the threat in our midst.
Public and private institutions
are taking the overly
cautious approach, which is
the right call right now. Even
so, most New Yorkers are going
about their daily lives, albeit
with abundances of caution.
It’s important that we continue
to live our lives so long
as we use common sense.
If you’re feeling ill — if
you’ve got a cough, a fever
and/or shortness of breath —
stay home and get medical attention.
But if you’re healthy,
keep doing what you’d normally
do — just make sure to
clean your hands frequently
to protect yourself.
As for the stock market,
we will be tested economically
yet again the way we
were in 2008, the worst fi nancial
crisis in recent memory.
The Dow Jones recovered and
soared during the Obama
years and went higher beyond
them.
Recovery will happen
again once we resolve to end
the panic and move forward
toward relief.
The de Blasio administration
has launched programs
to help small businesses impacted
by business drop-offs.
Similar programs should be
enacted on the state and federal
levels to do the same.
But it’s also important that
individual New Yorkers also
receive fi nancial aid to get
through these tough times.
City, state and federal lawmakers
must not leave them
behind.
Together, we can overcome
coronavirus and fi nancial
crises. We’ve done it before;
we will do it again.
EDITORIAL
Overcoming the paralysis of fear
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