Posted on 12/22/2005 9:15:58 AM PST by logician2u
One of the principal elements of civil society is the rule of law. Society depends upon most people obeying the law most of the time, together with tough sanctions for violation. In this spirit, the full strength of any and all sanctions of the Taylor Law should be imposed upon the leadership of New York's illegally striking bus and subway workers.
At the height of the holiday shopping season, the strike by bus and subway workers could not be a more ill-timedand antagonistic affront to its customers. Under New York's Taylor Law, enacted specifically because of a previous transit strike, it is illegal for public employees (sometimes called public servants) to strike. But these are not public servants. Public servants do not violate the law.
It should be clear that this is not a strike against the New York City Transit Authority. It is rather a strike against both the riders and taxpayers of New York City, not to mention taxpayers of the state and nation who provide lavish funding for the system. By any reasonable standard, NYCTA and its unions have been stiffly resistant to the types of reforms that have contained or even lowered the operating costs of transit systems from Stockholm and Copenhagen to London and Tokyo. New York's transit workers are hardly among the poor and downtrodden — though many of the customers they today victimize are.
The strike is a serious inconvenience for city residents, and commuters from the suburbs who need to transfer from their buses and trains to get to their final destinations in Manhattan. But crippling New York and Manhattan is no longer enough to cripple the New York metropolitan area. Now, nearly two thirds of the population and 60 percent of the jobs are in the suburbs, outside New York City. Residents of Mount Vernon commute to their Stamford jobs, in confidence that Interstate 95 is not on strike. And no one needs to fear that the entrances to Interstate 287 in New Jersey or the Cross-Westchester will be closed.
The Taylor Law was enacted because the state leadership realized how important transit is to New York City. There are no close parallels anywhere else in North America. But laws are of little use if they are not followed and of even less use if they are not enforced.
There is a sad lesson, both for transit and those who enjoy New York's unique urban lifestyle. It is the lesson of New Orleans and Hurricane Katrina. Those who suffered most in New Orleans were dependent upon transit to get out of town, because, generally for want of income, they did not have the cars that provided the avenue of escape for almost everyone else. This large population of the forgotten poor learned that their incompetent city administration was not there when they most needed it. Throughout the New Orleans area, it was those fortunate enough to own their own cars that got out.
It is similar, with a twist, in New York. Of course, there are many households with insufficient income to have cars and, like in New Orleans, they are dependent upon transit. However, unlike anywhere else in the United States, New York has a large number of households choosing not to have a car even though they can afford it. They enjoy a high-quality urban life, at least in part, because of the service provided by the New York City Transit Authority. But today they, like less affluent transit riders, have been abandoned by a local transit labor movement out of control.
For decades, households have been leaving the crowded urban cores of American, Western European, and Japanese cities, moving to the suburbs. There are many reasons, from crime and taxes to the quality of life in the suburbs, that this is so attractive to most people. New York City has done better, having gained one out of every ten new residents in the metropolitan area. The transit unions have just given New Yorkers another reason to vote with their feet.
— Wendell Cox is principal of Wendell Cox Consultancy, an international public-policy firm in the St. Louis metropolitan region. He was appointed to three terms on the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission and serves as a visiting professor at the Conservatoire National des Arts et Metiers in Paris.
The unions are the bad guys to most of us in flyover country, while residents of New York City tend to excuse their excesses, just as they hold public officials blameless for natural and man-made disasters.
Sell the subways, eliminate the subsidies, and bust the unions and New York might even become a livable place (although still not one I'd want to live in).
Large numbers of us do not excuse their excesses. My only basis of comparison is the private sector. A great deal changed after 9/11. Outsourcing escalated, staff was cut and there was tremdous pressure upon corporate management to increase earnings - ie. return on investment. There have been rampant layoffs and the job stats are lies. You are replacing $50 - $100K jobs with service jobs - waiters, bartenders, etc. and calling that resumption of employment. The unions are out of touch. What these transit workers have now is a better deal than most of the private sector. They should just shut up and appreciate what they have or, hopefully, the legislature will step in and cut them down to size, but I doubt it in this state.
I respect your not wanting to live here. However, I come from the mid-west (here since the 60's) and have found this town to be culturally rich with tremendous opportunities albeit the fact that we take public transportation. I'm very happy not to have the burden of a car. I've also met and interacted with a quality of people that I doubt I would find in most of the differently colored states. There are smart people everywhere, but this town is a cut above the rest.
Care to explain?
I've always considered a car the key to personal mobility, privacy, freedom -- only a burden when it's not running right. But then it's my responsibility to have it fixed.
When the subways aren't running, whose responsibility is it?
Owning a car in NY is a huge burden. Manhattan is not car friendly, parking is hard to find, expensive and its usually easier/faster to get out and walk to a location rather than drive during peak hours. The subway and train system is the easiest way to get around, into and out of the city.
Also wanted to point out that the Taxis and trains are the private alternative to publicly owned transit systems , although not always the best alternative.
You obviously are very naive as to urban living. I've had opportunities and challanges presented to me here that I would be hard pressed to find in many other towns. The burden of a car is the maintenance, intspections, breakdowns, traffic, parking, etc. Of course it's your responsiblity but who wants it. The public transport system in NYC works very well and is very comfortable. I also can hail a cab or call up a car service. Most of what I need is within easy walking distance. You do understand the concept of walking? If the weather is bad, I can get on the phone and have my laundry delivered, get a meal, buy my groceries and do pretty much what I please, all from the comfort of home. I don't mow a lawn and I don't shovel snow. What's not to like about this scenario. I also, as a result of the tremendous opprortunities that exist in this city, have been able to buy a home in the Carribean where I can go on the slightest whim. I just arrange with my car service to pick me up when I leave and meet me when I return. So, you see, owning a car is truly a BURDEN. It's a true pleasure if you can avoid that.
bump
Like I said on another thread . . . living in an urban environment under these conditions carries an inherent risk of chaos/bedlam when public services break down for any reason. I think a strike like this may not be such a bad thing -- if only to remind people that flexibility and ingenuity in difficult circumstances are far more useful than b!tching and complaining.
Good point, a work associate has been biking (yes, a bicycle) in from NJ. He showers at a nearby gym before going in to work. Takes him 30 minutes each way, which is still much faster than driving a car that distance during those hours.
It's amazing how inconsequential most "crises" in New York became after I spent a lot of time in other parts of North America where nature and other circumstances can be quite harsh. For example . . . While most people struggled through the aftermath of the famous blackout a couple of years ago (the summer of 2003), I made my way home knowing full well that if the power was still out I was simply going to put together my camping gear and spend a few days away from all human contact.
Your point or experience is very relevant. My next move is to my Carrib place where I will be less reliable on the gov. dole. My wife is from there and is very astute as to how to get things done. My income level will be reduced, but so what. It doesn't snow and where we are doesn't get direct hits from the major storms. I have some business opportunities there and I'm close to SS if it continues to exist. And, yes, we do own a car and I've been driving for 46 years. God bless all of you guys and have a Happy Holiday, whatever your flavor.
My wife's grandparent's where coal miners in WV and are in their 90s now. The grown most of their own food and rely on no one for survival. If electricity went off tomorrow, they would just flip on the cesarean lamp. When I visit them, I always learn something new ( and I grew up in a small FL town ).
I think people who live in NYC and other large metropolises have other types of survival instincts, like knowing when someone is trying to con you or figuring out the best way of doing something with the resources at you immediate disposal. Its just a different perspective, based on the environment. Should modern civilization collapse, I think the smart city folks would quickly adapt to country living if they had to.
"They've grown most of their own food ..."
"... at your immediate disposal"
Which island? Is it a nice place?
http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/59303.htm
Jim Meek has only one leg. But he has a wife and a son to support, so he walked three miles to work yesterday. Using crutches, the determined 52-year-old TV engineer trudged over the Brooklyn Bridge from his home in Park Slope to a free-lance job at 14th Street and Fifth Avenue. "The cold wasn't pleasant," he said. He downplayed his torturous trek by saying he wore "long underwear and good winter clothes" to keep warm. "I'm comfortable walking — I'm used to it," said the native Midwesterner, who walked across the bridge for the first time yesterday. "I do it to keep myself in shape. But it's not the way I want to get to work." Meek, who lost his left leg in an electrical accident 30 years ago, said he usually takes the F train. Although he's not the type to complain about his handicap, he was happy to gripe about the transit union's decision. "What's the point of this strike?" Meek asked. "Elderly people can't get home care. Their nurses can't get to them. Meek, who took two hours to get to work yesterday, said he's also disturbed by the union's insistence that workers be permitted to retire at 55. The strapping 53-year-old said that would mean he'd be close to retirement — and he'd never consider throwing in the towel so young.
THE TWU is going to come out of this looking pathetic for a long time. We wont forget.
And also the blackout turned out to be a fun night. My husband was stranded in Manhattan and camped out at a friends in the dark. He tells me how the pizza places were making pizzas in the coal ovens until it got too dark to do so. Here on Long Island we had a lot of fun during the blackout. Thank god it was summer.
The sad part about the timing of the strike is the cold. People can handle a lot but the cold is making people angry.
Footage of all the workers getting home is calm and orderly.
NYC is one hell of a city : )))and the people that keep it running are all walking this week and they deserve a lot of credit.
The workers complain that the riders show them no respect. They ain't seen nothin' yet!
..and the sad part is the idiot leaders are letting the workers say this crap about respect. I am telling you....the fallout to the transit worker is not going to be good and when you compare them to the NYPD or FDNY they are even going to be getting crap from those unionites.
Weird Strange Week.
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