Stories like this make me sick to my stomach.
So this 25-year-old girl was saving a vacant spot for her boyfriend, when some guy (Oscar Fuller of Jamaica, Queens, if you want to find him and let him know how you feel about his actions) drives up and he wants the space. When she wouldn't move, he got out of his car and punched her in the face. This punch knocked her out, gave her permanent brain damage, put her in a coma, and may end up killing her. And now the schmuck's lawyer says he should get off with a misdemeanor assault. According to this random website, it's only a misdemeanor if he only intended to frighten her. Punching her in the face sounds like he wanted to injure her, which is aggravated assault. A felony.
And seriously, dude. Really? You got out of your car to punch a woman? In the face? Over a parking spot? There is no possible situation where ANY of that is ok. Ever. I just can't even wrap my head around that happening. This is New York. We're civilized here.
To me, getting out of your car would have been extreme. Yeah, yell at her from the driver's side window if you really want the spot, throw some expletives in there if you're crass and ignorant, but then drive off and find another spot. But you got out of your car? That's crazy. And I don't care what she may have said to you, you NEVER punch a woman.
This guy belongs in jail. Where he can be some other dude's woman. And they can take him to their favorite parking spot.
Showing posts with label new york city. Show all posts
Showing posts with label new york city. Show all posts
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Friday, October 8, 2010
MTA is More Expensive than Buying a Car
This just isn't good news for anybody - Back in March, we heard the MTA had an $800 million budget gap they need to fill in, so in July they slashed service across the City and laid off/eliminated 3500 employees. Somehow, after all that, they STILL have an $800 million gap. How is that possible? What did they use all that money for? TV's in subways? Whatever the reason, they decided to pass the buck to us, approving another fare increase (that's three straight years now) with another increase scheduled for 2013. Mass transit has always been the cheapest way to go (I've been buying 30-day unlimited passes for years). But now that it's up in triple digits (it's $104 now if you hadn't heard), I started doing some math.
My wife and I both work and both buy the month-long pass. $104 x 2 = $208/mo x 12 months = $2496. And since they're charging $1 per new card, and you can't re-use an unlimited card, that's an extra $24/yr. So we're looking at more than $2500 per year for transportation now, for service that is sometimes painfully (and always annoyingly) slower than before.
I just checked Craigslist and we could buy a decent used car for under $1000. And assuming I use my dad's Westchester address to save on insurance (because hey, who doesn't?), after about two years, even with gas and parking, it's less expensive for us to drive ourselves around City than take mass transit. Seriously MTA, how did you manage to make that possible?
Now I'm not going to buy a car because I'm too lazy to search for one and shopping for car insurance doesn't take 15 minutes, no matter what Geico says. But if 2013's fare hike hits the monthly pass, I may have to reconsider. And maybe I won't be the only one.
According to the US Census, more than 54% of NYC's workforce commutes to work (and we all buy the monthly pass), AND we already have the longest average commute of any city in America (39 minutes, and that was before the cuts in July). If it becomes less expensive AND faster for us to just drive to work, don't expect us to have any loyalty to the MTA just because we've used you for years. Seriously MTA, don't mess with the monthly MetroCards any more. Screw with the tourists. Make the fare $5 per ride for all we care. I think your main concern should be the 54% of riders who come back month after month and make up the bulk of your revenue. Don't push us too far or you'll lose us all together.
My wife and I both work and both buy the month-long pass. $104 x 2 = $208/mo x 12 months = $2496. And since they're charging $1 per new card, and you can't re-use an unlimited card, that's an extra $24/yr. So we're looking at more than $2500 per year for transportation now, for service that is sometimes painfully (and always annoyingly) slower than before.
I just checked Craigslist and we could buy a decent used car for under $1000. And assuming I use my dad's Westchester address to save on insurance (because hey, who doesn't?), after about two years, even with gas and parking, it's less expensive for us to drive ourselves around City than take mass transit. Seriously MTA, how did you manage to make that possible?
Now I'm not going to buy a car because I'm too lazy to search for one and shopping for car insurance doesn't take 15 minutes, no matter what Geico says. But if 2013's fare hike hits the monthly pass, I may have to reconsider. And maybe I won't be the only one.
According to the US Census, more than 54% of NYC's workforce commutes to work (and we all buy the monthly pass), AND we already have the longest average commute of any city in America (39 minutes, and that was before the cuts in July). If it becomes less expensive AND faster for us to just drive to work, don't expect us to have any loyalty to the MTA just because we've used you for years. Seriously MTA, don't mess with the monthly MetroCards any more. Screw with the tourists. Make the fare $5 per ride for all we care. I think your main concern should be the 54% of riders who come back month after month and make up the bulk of your revenue. Don't push us too far or you'll lose us all together.
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