Things that interest me.

Dear Assembly Member O’Donnell:

Thank you for taking the time to reply to my email. Naturally, I am extremely disappointed to see the proposal, supported here in my own city, die in Albany with your help.

In the email below, you note we “can do better.” I can’t disagree with that notion, nor with some of the flaws that you outline. You know as well as I do, however, that politics is never a matter of perfect policy: not what “can” be done, but what “will” be done. If this measure dies this week in Albany, we won’t see a reduction in congestion in this city for another decade or longer. That decade matters to my health and wellbeing, and to the health and wellbeing of my family.

I agree that despite the rhetoric, this does not do enough to improve public transportation in New York. We can do better. But this does not mean you should block a measure that will improve the health and livability of our city, merely because it is imperfect. Pass it now, collect federal funding, reduce downtown traffic, and build on that win.

This is a time for change, please help make that change happen.

Sincerely,

Alex Halavais