Electric Buses in NYC???
Dear Editor:
The Port Authority promises of electric buses using the new $10 billion 42nd Street bus terminal facility left out some critical information. The estimated cost of an electric bus can range from $1 to $1.4 million per vehicle or $200,000 or more over the price of a standard clean diesel bus. The price depends on if it is a standard 40 foot, articulated or over the road coach model. Each operator would also have to modify their own respective bus garages to install plug in electric and other features to accommodate electric buses. This could cost millions for each garage. None of these costs were included in the most recent $10 billion overall project cost estimate.
Who is going to come up with $1 to $2 billion more for these two additional tasks? How much will the Port Authority contribute to NJ Transit and various private operators to pay for electric buses and facility conversions? Buses have a useful life of between 12 and 15 years. It would take all bus operators fifteen to twenty years before they could convert 100% of their fleets assigned to Port Authority Bus Terminal routes to be all electric.
Sincerely,
Larry Penner
(Larry Penner is a transportation advocate, historian and writer who previously worked for the Federal Transit Administration Region 2 NY Office. This included the development, review, approval and oversight for billions of dollars in grants which provided funding for capital projects and programs to the NY MTA, NYC Transit, Long Island and Metro North Rail Roads, NJ Transit and over 30 transit agencies in NY & NJ).
Cop Haters & NYC Mayoral Candidates
Dear Editor:
If you are a resident of NYC and are fearful for the safety of you and your loved ones…bail out, scram, take a powder and leave for safer environs before the next Mayoralty election coming up in November. Last year’s murder rate in the Big Apple zoomed up 43% over 2019’s horrific figures and with the certainty of another cop-hating Democrat occupying City Hall in 2022, a safe but sorry bet would be a continued rise in civilians slaughtering civilians.
Why is this so? Why the lack of reality on the part of our local biggees to understand the crisis our citizens face daily? Our current mayor may have his face mask on too high and cannot see reality when he boasts that his city is the “safest big city in America.” Nonsense. His own appointee, NYPD Police Commissioner, Dermot Shea, came clean back in June, 2021, with his statement: “You have to step back and look at this. You have a criminal-justice system that is imploding!” He’s on the mark, but from the lips of the crowd of Hizzoner Wannabees, that are vying for the top seat, they all see it differently. “It’s the cops!” they scream out. “They are the problem,” they tell ordinary citizens who shudder and push their kids under kitchen tables when they hear gunshots in our Wild West streets.
Andrew Young wants to hold police “accountable” because of their civil rights violations in arresting culprits too vigorously but at the same time accuses them of “not doing their jobs hard enough.” Figure that one out. Scott Stringer and Ray McGuire both want to defund the police and hire mental-health practitioners to answer 911 calls involving mentally-ill criminals. Good luck! And duck! Shaun Donovan claims the problem is that “the police perform too military-like and are overly armed.” Is he aware that Our Finest suffered nearly 500 injuries during the George Floyd riots and a total of nearly 2,000 during the year?
NYC is plunging into disaster. Over 300,000 known residents have left for Covid-19, physical safety precautionary reasons and to avoid soaring taxes. The vacuum they and the ongoing stream of other “fleers” will create will be hard to fill. And from what we can gather from any of those politicians running to govern New York City, none have a clue of how to win them back. For them to continue to bash New York’s Finest is, in our minds, total lunacy. NYC is on the brink, with no happy ending in sight.
Sincerely
Alan
New Food Pantry in Queens
Dear Editor:
As part of both organizations’ continued efforts to help feed New Yorkers during this COVID-19 pandemic, Met Council and Chazaq have partnered to open a new food pantry in Kew Gardens Hills on Thursday. The Lev Aharon Community Food Pantry will be supplied by Met Council’s citywide food distribution network and run by Chazaq staff and volunteers who are best equipped to serve the Bukharian community in Queens.
Chazaq and Met Council held a socially distanced grand opening and ribbon cutting at the food pantry on Thursday afternoon. The food pantry, located at 141-47 72nd Ave. in Flushing, provides kosher food tailored to the Bukharian Jewish community in nearby neighborhoods, but the food pantry is available to all families in need and is completely confidential.
“The crisis of hunger and poverty exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic continues and Met Council is proud to partner with Chazaq to open this new food pantry,” said David G. Greenfield, CEO, Met Council. “Food pantries are vital to supporting the struggling families, seniors, and working men and women of this city who have fewer and fewer places to turn to.”
“Building a stronger future for our children is only possible if we also provide for them in the present,” said Rabbi Yaniv Meirov, the CEO of Chazaq. “Through our partnership with Met Council, Chazaq will be able to provide reliable access to healthy, kosher food to thousands more in our community. Our seniors, our children, and anyone who is vulnerable to this pandemic should not and will not go without this winter.”
“Food insecurity has been a real threat to so many Queens families for a long time,” said Queens Borough President Donovan Richards. “This threat has only been exacerbated by the pandemic, and we are grateful that the Met Council and Chazaq are helping address the problem by opening the Lev Aharon Community Food Pantry. We must not rest until all Queens families have the adequate food they need.”
Sincerely
Met Council & Chazak
