Local Lawmakers To Take To Subways, Hear New Yorkers' Concerns
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- New York City lawmakers will be riding the rails this week to get firsthand feedback on the city's subway system.
As WCBS 880's Rich Lamb reported, elected officials are volunteering to get an earful from straphangers this Thursday and Friday as they ride the rails with subway passengers.
"We're going to hear what's on their minds, not just what we've already seen and know, but probably a lot of other things that we don't know," said state Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz (D-The Bronx).
"If we lose the subways, we lose our economy," said city Comptroller Scott Stringer. "We cannot let this happen."
Brooklyn City Councilman Carlos Menchaca (D-38th) emphasized the importance of talking to straphangers.
"So I want to make sure that everyone's voice is heard," he said. "Yes, we need money, but we also need vision, we need leadership and we need your voices to fuel that."
Upper Manhattan Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez (D-10th), whose idea the Riders Respond Transit Tour was, said New Yorkers are fed up and their voices have been lost over the past few months.
The lawmakers will take to the subways on Thursday and Friday of this week.
On Thursday, they will tour Manhattan and the Bronx – starting at Van Cortlandt Park-242nd Street on the No. 1 train on Thursday morning, and heading south to Lower Manhattan, back north to Mosholu Parkway, and south again to Times Square by the evening.
On Friday, they will visit Queens, Brooklyn and Staten Island -- starting out at Queensboro Plaza in the morning. They will work their way through Queens and Brooklyn to south Jay Street-Metro Tech and farther south to Coney Island, and will also travel to the Stapleton Staten Island Railway station before wrapping up at Union Square.