FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM APRIL 15, 2021 • THE QUEENS COURIER 25
OUR REPRESENTATIVES
NEED TO BE BETTER
INFORMED BEFORE
THEY CAST VOTES
Th e four Queens legislators who
voted against the marijuana legalization
and benefi ts bill, the Marijuana
Regulation and Taxation Act, seem to
have danced to a diff erent tune than
their constituents’ wishes.
It is regrettable that, in these harsh
times, they did not seek out the opinions
of their constituents and community
leaders on this issue. Th e
“NO” vote of state Senator Joseph
Addabbo and Assembly members
Brian Barnwell, Stacey Pheff er Amato
and Jenifer Rajkumar, which aligns
with the Republican vote, sends the
wrong message to their constituents
that they are out of touch, or that they
do not care about lift ing them out of
the doldrums of the pandemic.
Th ey also seem to ignore the
research that estimates project that
marijuana sales will generate $350
million in tax revenue for the state
each year, billions of dollars in annual
sales, create 60,000 new jobs, which
will be a real windfall given the present
pandemic, bring producers out of
the shadows, and ensure better quality
control in an open market.
Moreover, the legislation ends the
harsh criminal penalties and lingering
collateral consequences like
deportation, family separation, ineligibility
for public housing and
employment disadvantages that marijuana
convictions have wrought long
aft er victims, most of them young
men of color, have served their sentences,
and paid their debt to society.
Legislators who voted “NO” seem
oblivious to the reality that these consequences
force ex-off enders back to
a life of crime, thereby re-entering the
criminal justice system and increasing
correctional costs in an inhumane,
recurring cycle. Constituents,
many of whom are struggling, have
been complaining that they were not
consulted, nor considered, and that
their representatives only voted to
“protect their seats.”
Th is new law is not solely about
regulating marijuana. It is also about
the overdue righting of the social and
economic injustices that have disproportionately
aff ected communities of
color and that have been seething for
decades; appreciating where we went
wrong; and implementing legislative
action to correct our society’s cruelty.
It is simply not true that people
of color are the exclusive off enders,
or that “constituents skew whiter
and more conservative than elsewhere
in the borough.” Th e fact is
that law enforcement has discriminated
in enforcing the law more
against people of color, compared
to white neighborhoods, hence the
skewed statistics. Th ere is no compelling
reason to vote “NO.” It misses
the mark for what is good for the
community, as a whole, and representative
democracy.
Moreover, the sole argument
advanced that accidents may increase
due to marijuana use can be off set by
introducing and implementing legislation
to increase penalties for driving
under the infl uence of marijuana,
which will face little opposition
for safe passage.
Albert Baldeo, Ozone Park
MANY UNANSWERED
QUESTIONS SURROUND
CONGESTION PRICING
News from Washington that the
Federal Highway Administration has
instructed the MTA to develop and
submit an Environmental Assessment
(EA), rather than a more detailed
and time consuming Environmental
Impact Statement (EIS) to support
congestion pricing is not necessarily
a cause for celebration.
Th ere is still much to do and many
other unanswered questions.
Since November 2019, Governor
Andrew Cuomo and NYC Mayor
Bill de Blasio have delayed announcing
their appointments to the MTA
Traffic Mobility Review Board.
Details of who will pay what can
never be resolved until this board is
established and completes its mission.
It was announced that they will be
meeting behind closed doors. Th is is
inconsistent with both Cuomo’s and
de Blasio’s promises of open transparent
administrations under their
watch. Tolling pricing recommendations
were originally promised to be
made public by November 2020.
Th is process is politically sensitive.
Congestion pricing may not kick
in until January 2022 or later. Final
details of who will pay what have
never been established.
Elected offi cials will lobby for discounts
or exemptions for police and
fi re department personnel, teachers,
low-income outer borough residents,
seniors, small commercial delivery
businesses, and users of electric vehicles
or other special niches.
Exemptions will be adopted to placate
the constituents of elected offi -
cials running for reelection in 2021 or
2022. You can’t capture fi ve years of
toll revenues ($15 billion to support
MTA’s $51 billion 2020-2024 fi ve-year
capital plan) when you implement the
program two to three years late.
Late start for implementation,
downturn in the economy and more
people telecommuting will result in
billions of lost anticipated revenue.
Larry Penner, Great Neck
oped letters & comments
A historic investment
in public transport
BY PATRICK FOYE
What a diff erence just a few
months can make. Two months
ago, the MTA’s fi nances were facing
a calamity of unprecedented proportions
and our plan to establish
the nation’s fi rst Central Business
District Tolling Program (CBDTP)
was in limbo.
But thanks to President Biden, the nation’s biggest
supporter and most famous user of mass transit,
and our tireless hometown champion, Senate
Majority Leader Schumer, the federal government
came through with a new COVID-19 relief package
that has helped the MTA avoid widespread cuts in
service and layoff s that would have decimated the system
and devastated New York’s economy.
And then last week — just two months into the new
administration — the president unveiled a massive $2
trillion infrastructure plan that outlines a bold vision
for historic investment in public transportation.
We also received long-awaited federal guidance on
how to proceed with CBDTP, also known as congestion
pricing. Th is critical program will help ease gridlock,
promote mass transit usage, and raise $15 billion
for our historic 2020-2024 Capital Program to reinvest
in our transit system while improving health by
reducing air pollution.
While implementation of congestion pricing won’t
happen right away, this direction allows us to hit the
ground running to conduct the review and broad
public outreach necessary to move forward.
It’s been a long two years of waiting to get to this
point. During that time, our team, led by Allison L.C.
de Cerreno, has been working hard to lay the groundwork
for congestion pricing, hiring TransCore to
begin the preliminary design process and later build
and operate the program.
Th ankfully President Biden and Transportation
Secretary Buttigieg saw the need for urgency and
acted quickly to advance our application. Th ey rightly
recognized the wide-ranging benefi ts of congestion
pricing.
We’ve seen in other cities how tolling programs can
help to signifi cantly reduce carbon dioxide emissions
and fossil fuel consumption. According to the Federal
Highway Administration, those metrics fell by 20 percent
in London aft er the city enacted a congestion surcharge.
Singapore’s tolling system prevents the release
of an estimated 175,000 pounds of carbon dioxide
into the air every day, and Stockholm’s policy has led
to a 10-14 percent drop in emissions in its city center.
We now have a historic opportunity to follow their
lead here in New York and advance our climate goals.
Th e Central Business District Tolling Program will
also ensure that we have a critical element of funding
for our $51.5 billion 2020-2024 Capital Program.
Congestion pricing will raise $1 billion a year that we
can leverage by issuing bonds to provide $15 billion
toward critical infrastructure projects that will fortify
our system for decades to come. We need a strong
and robust MTA more than ever as the region looks
to recover from the pandemic. Mass transit is also the
great equalizer, and by investing in and improving
our network we can improve equity for New Yorkers
across our service area.
As we work to aggressively implement this vital program,
we know it will serve as a model for other cities
across the country. We’re committed to doing it right
so that the MTA can again lead the nation and spur a
new golden age for mass transit.
Patrick Foye is the CEO of the New York Metropolitan
Transportation Authority.
GREAT EGRET AT MAPLE GROVE CEMETERY//
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