Quote:
Originally Posted by lustylad
This is what I don't get - why do you view everything in terms of us versus them? My team versus the "maggies"? Why not try to listen to everyone carefully and objectively, then pick & choose the best ideas from both sides?
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The number of nut jobs who post in this forum make the “Us vs Them” viewpoint the default. The best chance of having a rational discussion hereabouts can only be achieved if the OP clearly states it in the opening post and even then it’s more likely than not to degrade into name calling and trash talking.
But as I stated in my earlier post I believe affordable housing in NYC is a true oxymoron. It might be more efficient to upgrade or subsidize public transit to the burbs and build affordable housing at a more reasonable cost further away from the city center.
An opinion piece on the benefits of free public transit.
https://archive.ph/gBRoW
Something Surprising Happens When Bus Rides Are Free
Free buses? Really? Of all the promises that Zohran Mamdani made during his New York City mayoral campaign, that one struck some skeptics as the most frivolous leftist fantasy. Unlike housing, groceries and child care, which weigh heavily on New Yorkers’ finances, a bus ride is just a few bucks. Is it really worth the huge effort to spare people that tiny outlay?
It is. Far beyond just saving riders money, free buses deliver a cascade of benefits, from easing traffic to promoting public safety. Just look at Boston; Chapel Hill, N.C.; Richmond, Va.; Kansas City, Mo.; and even New York itself, all of which have tried it to excellent effect. And it doesn’t have to be costly — in fact, it can come out just about even.
As a lawyer, I feel most strongly about the least-discussed benefit: Eliminating bus fares can clear junk cases out of our court system, lowering the crushing caseloads that prevent our judges, prosecutors and public defenders from focusing their attention where it’s most needed.
I was a public defender, and in one of my first cases I was asked to represent a woman who was not a robber or a drug dealer — she was someone who had failed to pay the fare on public transit. Precious resources had been spent arresting, processing, prosecuting and trying her, all for the loss of a few dollars. This is a daily feature of how we criminalize poverty in America.
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Click the link above to read the full article.
