Archive for February, 2010

[Ann] Public Hearing March 4, 2010 6 p.m.

Thursday, February 25th, 2010

Dear Manhattan Resident,

In December the MTA unveiled a package of service cuts that is a slap in the face to millions of New Yorkers across the five boroughs. Your borough now faces critical cuts in service that will negatively affect the commutes of thousands of Manhattan residents each day. Please click here <http://council.nyc.gov/html/action_center/mta.shtml> to sign our petition and oppose these cuts!

Also, please attend the MTA’s public hearing in the Manhattan and the NYC Council’s oversight hearing on these cuts. Details are below:

MTA Public Hearing
Thursday, March 4, 2010
6 p.m.
Fashion Institute of Technology
Haft Auditorium, Seventh Avenue at 27th Street, Manhattan

NYC Council Oversight Hearing
Thursday, February 25, 2010
10 a.m.-1 p.m.
Council Chambers, City Hall

(For a complete list of public hearings by the MTA, click here <http://www.mta.info/news/pdf/hearings.pdf> .)

Among the proposed cuts to your borough are:

* Elimination of Student MetroCards
* $40 million in cuts to Access-a-Ride
* Buses to be Eliminated: M6#, M18, Bx20*, X25, M27, M30, B39, B51 and X90
* Buses to be Eliminated on Weekends: M8, M21, M22, M50 and Bx33
* Buses to have Overnight Services Eliminated: M1, M8, M16, M22, M50 and M66
* The following trains face reduced service, which will result in longer waits and more crowded subway cars: A, L, N, Q, 1 and 7 trains.
* The W and M trains will be eliminated.
*Service would be retained during weekday peak periods

#Service partially or entirely replaced by another bus route

To Take Action …

* Help us collect signatures for our petition, which we will deliver to each of the MTA’s public hearings. You can find our petition online by clicking here <http://council.nyc.gov/html/action_center/mta.shtml> .

* Sign up to volunteer! If you would like to volunteer, please contact Nick Rolf at NROLF@council.nyc.gov<NROLF@council.nyc.gov> .

* Urge the MTA to find alternative ways to prevent these terrible cuts. To contact the MTA by phone, dial (212) 878-7483. To contact them by e-mail, click here <http://www.mta.info/faqs.htm> .

The NYC Council and the Straphangers Campaign have proposed an alternate budget solution that will allow us to avoid these painful service cuts. To read more about our plan click here <http://www.straphangers.org/servicecuts/> . Or click here <http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2010/01/31/2010-01-31_mta_is_running_off_the_rails.html> to read our Op-Ed in the Daily News.

With your help we can stop these drastic cuts and ensure greater input from Manhattan residents in the MTA’s budget process.

Sincerely,

Christine C. Quinn
Speaker
New York City Council

James Vacca
Chair, Transportation Committee
New York City Council

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[PR] Richard N. Gottfried Health Committee Chair

Thursday, February 25th, 2010

NEWS FROM
Assembly Health Committee Chair
Richard N. Gottfried
 822 Legislative Office Building, Albany, NY 12248 – Tel: 518-455-4941
GottfrR@assembly.state.ny.us

Contact:                                                        For Immediate Release:
Ryan Streeter 518-455-4941 (office)     Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Family Health Care Decisions Act
Approved after 17-Year Struggle

Each year, about 75,000 people die in a New York hospital without a health care proxy and lacking the ability to make their own health care decisions. The State Senate today joined the Assembly in passing the Family Health Care Decisions Act, to enable a patient’s family member to make health care decisions when the patient is not able to do so. The bill, sponsored by Assembly Health Committee Chair Richard N. Gottfried and Senate Health Committee Chair Thomas K. Duane, passed the Senate today by a vote of 55 to 3. It passed the Assembly in January 132 to 4. The bill now goes to Governor David Paterson, who is expected to sign it into law.

“It has taken 17 years of tortuous struggle to get to this day,” said a jubilant Assembly Member Gottfried.  ”It has been a long effort to overcome the technical, ethical, religious, and political hurdles of this issue.”  Mr. Gottfried first introduced the bill, A. 7729-D, in 1993, when it was submitted by the Governor’s Task Force on Life and the Law.

“New York is one of two states whose laws give no legal authority to a spouse, domestic partner, or other family member to make health care decisions when the patient lacks the capacity to make those decisions and did not sign a health care proxy,” said Gottfried.  ”And because family members have no decision-making role, Federal law makes it difficult for doctors to even share medical information with them to get their advice.”

A decision to place a patient in hospice care is one of those decisions.  If the patient is one of the 75% of the population with no signed health care proxy, and did not previously provide ‘clear and convincing evidence’ of his or her wishes, in New York there is no legal way to get that patient into hospice care.

“Incapacitated patients are being denied appropriate treatment, while others are subjected to burdensome treatments that violate their wishes, values, or religious beliefs,” Gottfried added.

The bill is supported by:


1199/SEIU
AARP
Alzheimer’s Association
American Cancer Society
American College of Physicians of NY
Association of the Bar of the City of NY
Cerebral Palsy Association of NYS
Consumers Union
Continuing Care Leadership Coalition
Empire State Pride Agenda
Excellus BlueCross/BlueShield
Family Planning Advocates of NY
Friends  Relatives of the Institutionalized Aging (FRIA) of NY
Gay Men’s Health Crisis
Greater NY Hospital Association
Healthcare Association of NYS
Hospice and Palliative Care Association of NYS
Interagency Council of Mental Retardation and Development Disabilities Agencies
Medical Society of the State of NY
Mental Health Association of NYS
NY Academy of Medicine
NY Assoc. of Homes and Services for the Aging
NY Civil Liberties Union
NYS Academy of Family Physicians
NYS Bar Association
NYS Breast Cancer Network
NYS Family Decisions Coalition
NYS Health Facilities Association
NYS Nurses Association
NYS Right to Life Committee
Statewide Senior Action Council
Visiting Nurse Service of NY
Westchester End-of-Life Coalition
Women’s Bar Association of NY

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[Ann] CAll to Action: Build the 41st Street Subway Station

Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010


Click to view this email in a browser

                  

9thaveheader.jpg 

CALL TO ACTION
: 

Tell our Elected Officials and Congress to allocate Job Stimulus $$$$ to 

Build the #7 Subway station at 41st Street and 10th Avenue 


The Hudson Yards rezoning plan approved in 2005 included an extension of the subway line # 7 with two stations:  41st  Street and 10th Avenue as well as 33rd Street and 11th Avenue. The city indicated in the past that there are not enough funds to build the 41st Street station but they would be building a shell to retain the option to complete the station later at low cost. 

This option has been discarded as well. This makes it  prohibitively expensive to build the station in the future. In the meantime 14,400 new residents are moving in the neighborhood with no transit options, generating thousands of taxi and shuttle-bus trips on an already congested 42nd Street corridor.

 

Speak Up at Community Board 4’s Public Session 

Wednesday, March 3, 2010 @ 6:30 p.m.

Fulton Center Auditorium, 119 Ninth Avenue (17/18)

 
 

This
project is literally "shovel ready" since the boring machines are
already digging the tunnel underground. It will create 1,500 jobs
over its duration.  And
a new jobs stimulus package is being voted on by the Federal
Government. The time to Speak up
is now!

 

 

 
www.chekpeds.com   –   www.buildthestation.com

                           
                                                                        

Forward this message to a friend

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

 

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400 West 43rd Street, #33N
New York, NY, 10036


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the VerticalResponse marketing policy.

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[Ann] Public Meeting March 1st, 2010 6:30 p.m.

Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010

Public Meeting

Monday, March 1st, 2010 6:30 p=2Em=2E
Just east of Tenth Avenue:
454 West 35th Street -
in the downstairs conference room

Please join your friends and neighbors at an informal
get-together to discuss local issues=2E

We’ll have a special guest=2E

We’ll talk about traffic, retail, trees, a SECOND stop for the No=2E 7 subw=
ay
and anything else that impacts our ‘hood=2E

Please bring your wants, questions and suggestions=2E

Everyone welcome=2E
Light refreshments served=2E

Hell’s Kitchen Neighborhood Association (HKNA)=20
454 West 35th Street
New York, NY 10001

Telephone: 212-501-2704 or 212-714-0186
Email – information@HKNAnyc=2Eorg
Webite – hknanyc=2Eorg

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Save St. Vincent’s Day of Visibility-Sunday February 21st, 12 p.m

Sunday, February 21st, 2010

St. Vincents

Sunday February 21st, 12 p.m.-3 p.m.

At McBurney YMCA, 125 West 14th Street

Come Together to Cover the West Side of Manhattan

With “Save St. Vincent’s” Posters

As a visible and tangible way for the communities affected by the potential closure of St. Vincent’s Hospital to show their support, State Senator Thomas K. Duane and other elected officials are organizing an event on Sunday, February 21st from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the McBurney YMCA (125 West 14th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues). Concerned New Yorkers can pick up “Save St. Vincent’s” signs to post in the areas of Manhattan that will be without access to a full-service hospital and emergency room should St. Vincent’s close.

Volunteers will take the posters to display in the windows of businesses and residences of Chinatown and Lower Manhattan, and on the West Side from Tribeca to Hell’s Kitchen to show their concern about keeping St. Vincent’s Hospital open.

The more businesses and windows that have these posters in their windows, the greater the opportunity we have to show support for our neighborhood hospital!

The event is co-sponsored by New York City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn, New York City Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, New York City Comptroller John C. Liu, Manhattan Borough President Scott M. Stringer, United States Rep. Jerrold Nadler, New York State Senator Daniel L. Squadron, New York City Council Member Margaret S. Chin, and New York State Assembly Members Deborah J. Glick, Richard N. Gottfried and Linda B. Rosenthal.

For information or to RSVP, please contact Eric Sumberg of Senator Duane’s office by email at eric@tomduane.com or 401-374-3974 (cell).

***Please Copy and Distribute Widely***

T

Sunday February 21st, 12 p.m.-3 p.m.

At McBurney YMCA, 125 West 14th Street

Come Together to Cover the West Side of Manhattan

With “Save St. Vincent’s” Posters

As a visible and tangible way for the communities affected by the potential closure of St. Vincent’s Hospital to show their support, State Senator Thomas K. Duane and other elected officials are organizing an event on Sunday, February 21st from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the McBurney YMCA (125 West 14th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues). Concerned New Yorkers can pick up “Save St. Vincent’s” signs to post in the areas of Manhattan that will be without access to a full-service hospital and emergency room should St. Vincent’s close.

Volunteers will take the posters to display in the windows of businesses and residences of Chinatown and Lower Manhattan, and on the West Side from Tribeca to Hell’s Kitchen to show their concern about keeping St. Vincent’s Hospital open.

The more businesses and windows that have these posters in their windows, the greater the opportunity we have to show support for our neighborhood hospital!

The event is co-sponsored by New York City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn, New York City Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, New York City Comptroller John C. Liu, Manhattan Borough President Scott M. Stringer, United States Rep. Jerrold Nadler, New York State Senator Daniel L. Squadron, New York City Council Member Margaret S. Chin, and New York State Assembly Members Deborah J. Glick, Richard N. Gottfried and Linda B. Rosenthal.

For information or to RSVP, please contact Eric Sumberg of Senator Duane’s office by email at eric@tomduane.com or 401-374-3974 (cell).

***Please Copy and Distribute Widely***

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Plan to remodel Dyer Ave. would ease traffic, add parks By Diane Vacca

Friday, February 12th, 2010


doc4b61d6e1480a9267929613.jpg

The proposed elimination of an on-ramp that allows southbound traffic from Ninth Ave. to access the Lincoln Tunnel (shown at right, just west of Ninth Ave. between 37th and 36th Sts.), would nearly double the amount of green space slated for 36th St. (shown at left). (Photo by JB Nicholas)

Published: Thursday, January 28, 2010 1:50 PM CST

The concrete labyrinth of access ramps that snake under and through the streets of Hell’s Kitchen connecting to the Lincoln Tunnel will make room for trees, grass and park benches while also improving traffic conditions in the area, according to a new plan being floated by Community Board 4.

The myriad cars, trucks and buses that wind through the neighborhood and make life for pedestrians difficult would circulate in new patterns that could yield up to 27,800 square feet of parkland and relieve congestion as well. The board’s transportation committee discussed aspects of the proposal at its meeting on Wed., Jan. 20.

Dyer Ave., which runs north and south from 30th to 42nd Sts. between Ninth and 10th Aves., is an integral part of this maze. Contrary to expectations, when its two northbound lanes between 34th and 35th Sts. were closed for repaving last fall, everyone noticed that the traffic flow in the area improved. Consequently, one northbound lane remains permanently closed, and the other continues to be closed during peak hours.

In view of this development, the Board 4’s transportation committee would like to have both these northbound lanes permanently closed to traffic. Doing so would not only continue to tame the flow of traffic, but also yield a bonus of 6,000 square feet that could be inexpensively converted to green space and is conveniently located next to large residential buildings. The southbound lanes would remain open and operational.

The most radical and innovative of the committee’s proposals, however, is the elimination of the semi-circular Ramp C between 36th and 37th Sts., which connects to the Lincoln Tunnel. The ramp, which accommodates the southbound traffic on Ninth Ave., winds west around a large residential building until it meets Dyer Ave., where it heads north and merges with northbound tunnel traffic.

Instead, the committee wants to extend that loop by having vehicles continue down Ninth Ave. past the on-ramp, turn right on 35th St. toward Dyer Ave., then turn right on the avenue and continue north to the tunnel.

The benefits from this change would be manifold, according to the committee, as tunnel traffic on Ninth Ave. should ease somewhat with roughly another block and a half to queue before turning. More important, traffic would flow easily onto Dyer Ave. without the need to merge, because no traffic would be heading north on the closed section of the avenue between 34th and 35th Sts. The merge of the current ramp and the below-grade access route, a source of bottlenecking, would also be eliminated.

Furthermore, the soon-to-be-created 36th St. “Greenstreet Island Park” would no longer be sandwiched between eastbound traffic on 36th St. and tunnel traffic on Ramp C directly behind it. Better still, the space vacated by the newly emptied ramp, which abuts the mini-park, could be incorporated into the green “canoe”—nearly doubling its size from 9,730 to 17,200 square feet.

The redirection of tunnel traffic away from 36th St., a residential block, to 35th St., where cars would pass between a parking lot on the north side of the street and commercial property on the south side, also provides safety benefits to the area.

“No ramps belong on residential streets—we’re not through-highways,” said committee member Martin Treat. “One thing the Port Authority hasn’t done is pay attention to the queues in our neighborhood,” he continued. “They pay more attention to backed-up traffic in New Jersey.”

Although the board has been discussing these ideas with both the city Department of Transportation and the Port Authority of NY/NJ, only the island park on 36th St. will definitely come to fruition this year. The DOT has agreed to green the “canoe,” as the area is informally called, which will include the parking lane on the north side of 36th St. Last month the board asked the DOT for a pedestrian crossing at the ramp entrance so that pedestrians walking down the west side of Ninth Ave. would be able to reach the new green space without first having to cross to the east side of the avenue. The DOT hasn’t approved the request and is unlikely to do so while Ramp C remains in use, acknowledged committee co-chairperson Christine Berthet.

Now the committee will ask that Dyer Ave.’s northbound lanes be permanently closed between 34th and 35th Sts. It will further request that both the Port Authority and the DOT study its plan for eliminating Ramp C and redirecting traffic to 35th St. and Dyer Ave.

“This is a win-win,” added Berthet. “Everybody has more space.”

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[News] HKNA Newsletter Vol. 1 – 2010

Wednesday, February 10th, 2010

It’s been a while since our last communiqué. There is much going on in our ‘hood: from Related Development’s latest non-payment to the MTA for the Hudson Yards to mammoth new apartment buildings to yet more bars and a Bank Street College sponsored Head Start for needy pre-k kids. The Head Start program is housed at the Metro Baptist Church on 40th Street west of Ninth Ave. (212) 353-2532 Extension 232

HKNA’s next meeting will be at 6:30 pm Monday, March first downstairs at 454 West 35th Street, just east of Tenth Avenue. Please mark your calendars and plan to attend. We want to hear your views on community goings-on. Guest TBA.

We’re sad to relate the recent death of Alice Parsekian, long-time resident of West 34th Street who tended the garden there as well as the flower beds at Midtown South precinct house. Alice will be remembered at St. Michael’s Church February 13 at 11 a.m.

The threatened closing of Saint Vincent’s hospital presents a dangerous future for us all.

St. Luke’s-Roosevelt hospital is neither large enough nor equipped to handle everyone on the west side south of Columbia University. Fortunately we have our elected officials in our corner. Their neighborhood liaisons are in parentheses:

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn at 212-564-7757 (Amanda Younger)

(Christine is Hell’s Kitchen/Clinton’s representative on the City Council as well as the Speaker)

NYS Senator Tom Duane 212-633-8052 (Seth Berliner)

Assembly Member Dick Gottfried 212-807-7900 (Jeffrey LeFrancois)

Borough President Scott Stringer 212-669-2258 (Sandy Myers)

to find out what you can do to help. The state has promised $6 million and another $2 million is coming but that will keep the hospital afloat only a few weeks. Urgent solutions are needed now!

Community Board 4 has a new website: www.nyc.gov. Type CB 4 to get to the site and sign up for their informative e-messages and monthly calendars. CB4 Office: 212-736-4536 – 330 West 42nd Street, 10036, across from historic Holy Cross Church.

If you are concerned about the proliferation of bars here, to the exclusion of anything else, express your concern to the chair of Community Board 4 and co-chairs of the Business License Committee. Bear in mind that just between 49th and 50th Streets in and around Ninth Avenue there are 20 liquor serving establishments. Landlords are charging exorbitant rents only bars can afford;

HKNA Winter Newsletter 2010/Page Two

which means bakeries, family-oriented retail; book and stationery shops, virtually ANY small independent business, cannot compete. HKNA thinks it is time for the Community Board to represent the community on this issue by saying NO to more bars. Bring down the rents to let others in!

John Weis, Chair, CB4 – John Owens, Chuck Spence, co-chairs of CB4’s Business License Committee. Write to them at the address above or e mail them at:  info@manhattancb4.org

For those who are new to the City, help from our government works like this:

First contact

Your Block Association , then your Community Board, then your New York City Council representatives: Gale Brewer and Christine Quinn

For Albany issues, your New York State Senator Tom Duane; New York Assembly members Linda Rosenthal and Richard Gottfried; Congress: Jerrold Nadler (all have web sites)

Bearing in mind that Community Boards, which have all volunteer memberships, are ‘advisory’ only. That said, CB4 is one of Manhattan’s strongest.

Here are addresses for block associations in Hell’s Kitchen:

44th Street:  west44nyc@yahoo.com

45th Street   west45thstreet@gmail.com

46th Street – west46ba@yahoo.com

47th/48th Streets:  aefearshk@earthlink.net

50th/51st Streets:  HK5051@gmail.com

55th Street:  west55ba@gmail.com

The Hell’s Kitchen Neighborhood Association (HKNA) membership is open to all. We are entirely volunteer-led and charge no fees. Let us hear from you:  information@hknanyc.org

Good news! Community Board 4 has unanimously approved part of HKNA’s plan for a “Green Necklace of Parks” between 34th and 42nd Streets. Thanks especially to board member and planner/architect, Meta Brunzema. As well, Community Board members unanimously passed a resolution to help small theatre companies stay open here. Bravo!

More good news. The City has planted several trees here and more are promised. But it is up to us to buy top quality steel tree guards. Without guards trees are vulnerable to – well, you know. We’ll be contacting business owners along the route for contributions.

Head’s Up: A new branch of the celebrated Housing Works Thrift Shop(s) has posted signs at the World Wide Plaza 9th Ave strip. Profits go to HIV-AIDS programs.

Here’s a useful site to check weekly: www.chelseanow.com

We look forward to seeing you Monday evening, March first.

Best wishes from Kathleen McGee Treat, Chair

Hell’s Kitchen Neighborhood Association – 454 West 35th Street, NYC 10001

212-501-2704    -    www.hknanyc.org

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MTA’s Service Cuts

Monday, February 8th, 2010
In December the MTA unveiled a package of budget cuts that is a slap in the face to millions of New Yorkers across the five boroughs. Under the MTA’s proposal, transit riders who were hit last year with a 10-percent fare increase will be forced to pay more for less.
Like many New Yorkers, we’re unhappy with this proposal, and we need your help.
Working together with transit advocates, the NYC Council has proposed an alternate budget solution that will help us to avoid these drastic service cuts by:
Reallocating 10 percent of direct stimulus aid to MTA operating expenses ($91.5 million);
Using budgeted PAYGO capital funds for operating ($50 million); and
Reallocating 10 percent of additional stimulus transit aid to State to operating ($30 million).
To read more about our plan, view this link http://www.straphangers.org/servicecuts/
We have also been collecting petition signatures and raising awareness about these service cuts and the impact they will have on our communities. In fact, just this past week, we were at the Buhre Avenue subway station in the Bronx collecting signatures and handing out flyers.
Finally, we have called on the State to fully restore their share of funding for reduced-fare student MetroCards on City subways and buses. The City must also play a role in saving this program, and we will make funding for student MetroCards one of the Council’s top priorities in our budget negotiations with the Mayor this spring.
Now we’re calling on you to join us in sending a very strong, unified message to the MTA:
Don’t Leave New Yorkers Stranded!
Take Action:
Help us collect signatures for our petition, which we will then deliver to each of the MTA’s public hearings. You can find our petition online http://council.nyc.gov/html/action_center/mta.shtml
Help us pack the MTA’s public hearings!
View this link for dates, times and locations. http://www.mta.info/news/pdf/hearings.pdf
Please attend these hearings and let the MTA know how these service cuts will affect your life.
Organize your own event!
Stage a leafleting action at a transportation hub near you. We will help you with volunteers and resources.
Urge the MTA to find alternative ways to prevent these terrible cuts. To contact the MTA by phone, dial (212) 878-7483. To contact them by e-mail, http://www.mta.info/faqs.htm
Let Governor Paterson know how these transit service cuts will personally affect you.
To contact the Governor http://www.state.ny.us/governor/contact/index.html
Sign up to volunteer! If you would like to participate in any of the events that we’re organizing around this issue, please contact Nick Rolf at NROLF@council.nyc.gov
Follow these links for recent press clippings on this issue:
MTA is running off the rails: Stimulus money would prevent devastating service cuts
http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2010/01/31/2010-01-31_mta_is_running_off_the_rails.html
MTA Revises Doomsday Plan
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/bronx/mta_revises_doomsday_plan_adCREggRPOFcFmcbqkmEeN
Student MetroCard funds are ‘priority’ in City Council budget talks
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/01/06/2010-01-06_saving_pupils_free_rides_student_metrocard_funds_priority_in_council_budget_talk.html
Lawmakers gather signatures over MTA cuts
http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=resources/traffic&id=7240423
New Yorkers Rally Against MTA Budget Cuts
http://www.wpix.com/news/wpix-protest-mta-budget-cuts,0,5425915.story
With your help we can stop these drastic cuts and ensure greater public input in the MTA’s budget process.

In December the MTA unveiled a package of budget cuts that is a slap in the face to millions of New Yorkers across the five boroughs. Under the MTA’s proposal, transit riders who were hit last year with a 10-percent fare increase will be forced to pay more for less.

Like many New Yorkers, we’re unhappy with this proposal, and we need your help.

Working together with transit advocates, the NYC Council has proposed an alternate budget solution that will help us to avoid these drastic service cuts by:

Reallocating 10 percent of direct stimulus aid to MTA operating expenses ($91.5 million);

Using budgeted PAYGO capital funds for operating ($50 million); and

Reallocating 10 percent of additional stimulus transit aid to State to operating ($30 million).

To read more about our plan, view this link http://www.straphangers.org/servicecuts/

We have also been collecting petition signatures and raising awareness about these service cuts and the impact they will have on our communities. In fact, just this past week, we were at the Buhre Avenue subway station in the Bronx collecting signatures and handing out flyers.

Finally, we have called on the State to fully restore their share of funding for reduced-fare student MetroCards on City subways and buses. The City must also play a role in saving this program, and we will make funding for student MetroCards one of the Council’s top priorities in our budget negotiations with the Mayor this spring.

Now we’re calling on you to join us in sending a very strong, unified message to the MTA:

Don’t Leave New Yorkers Stranded!

Take Action:

Help us collect signatures for our petition, which we will then deliver to each of the MTA’s public hearings. You can find our petition online click here

Help us pack the MTA’s public hearings!

View this link for dates, times and locations. Click Here

Please attend these hearings and let the MTA know how these service cuts will affect your life.

Organize your own event!

Stage a leafleting action at a transportation hub near you. We will help you with volunteers and resources.

Urge the MTA to find alternative ways to prevent these terrible cuts. To contact the MTA by phone, dial (212) 878-7483. To contact them by e-mail, http://www.mta.info/faqs.htm

Let Governor Paterson know how these transit service cuts will personally affect you.

To contact the Governor http://www.state.ny.us/governor/contact/index.html

Sign up to volunteer! If you would like to participate in any of the events that we’re organizing around this issue, please contact Nick Rolf at NROLF@council.nyc.gov

Follow these links for recent press clippings on this issue:

MTA is running off the rails: Stimulus money would prevent devastating service cuts

http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2010/01/31/2010-01-31_mta_is_running_off_the_rails.html

MTA Revises Doomsday Plan

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/bronx/mta_revises_doomsday_plan_adCREggRPOFcFmcbqkmEeN

Student MetroCard funds are ‘priority’ in City Council budget talks

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/01/06/2010-01-06_saving_pupils_free_rides_student_metrocard_funds_priority_in_council_budget_talk.html

Lawmakers gather signatures over MTA cuts

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=resources/traffic&id=7240423

New Yorkers Rally Against MTA Budget Cuts

http://www.wpix.com/news/wpix-protest-mta-budget-cuts,0,5425915.story

With your help we can stop these drastic cuts and ensure greater public input in the MTA’s budget process.

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