Unfair congestion fee and more: Letters to the Editor — July 2, 2023

Unfair motorist fee

Driving on New York highways and city streets is like driving on the moon — terrible (“Another pothole on road to ruin,” Michael Goodwin, June 28).

With all the fees and taxes that motorists pay, why the hell should we have to pay congestion pricing to bail out the MTA? What do motorists get out of that?

The suggested pricing is exorbitant and will cost the average motorist upward of $5,000 a year to cover the MTA’s bloated salaries, political patronage and more employees than necessary. Why should motorists pay for trains and buses? It’s ridiculous.

If the city has all of this money to spend on illegal immigrants, why can’t it put that money toward helping citizens, who already pay exorbitant amounts of money to live here?

All I can say is that if this does come to pass, every New York state and city politician will be held accountable come Election Day. Mark my words.
Joe Kowalczyk, The Bronx

Chill out on LGBT

Memo to Bruce Bawer: Using the words “ordinary,” “normal,” and “decent” to try to assuage the fears of conservative heterosexuals about “gay Americans” totally overlooks the fact that plenty of straight people aren’t aiming to be any of those things, either (“Fight for gay rights hijacked by far left,” June 26).

Why? Because they’re boring and predictable. Also, gay humans aren’t created by propaganda and persuasion, but biology. You can’t talk any child into being gay — and LGBTQ people aren’t coming for your innocent spawn when they chant what is clearly meant to be a joke ribbing right-wing hysteria.

I should know — my two adult children, with partners of the opposite sex, both have gay godfathers and have been around our queer “chosen family” since birth.

So calm down and let the drag queens read stories — the kids will be just fine, no matter their ultimate preference. (You’re not going to be able to control that, anyway.)
Katherine Dieckmann, Manhattan

Chair charlatans

I commuted weekly for more than 30 years from Florida to New York (“Wheel ‘fakes’ in ‘boarding scam,’ ” June 29). Over that time, I have seen everything.

Word got out once in Century Village that if you took Southwest and requested a wheelchair, you could get on first. Blame Southwest for this, since you do not get a reserved seat. When you book, you must confirm 24 hours before the flight, and then you receive a boarding number.

To me, it is bad karma to fake needing a wheelchair.

As head of the South Florida Airline Commuters Association, I have argued that reserved seats would be better for passengers, management and Southwest. Some of its own employees believe in reserved seats. Southwest refuses.

Even now, when the flight arrives at its destination, these same wheelchair recipients run like O.J. Simpson off the plane — without a wheelchair. That said, Southwest is still a great carrier.Steve Landes, President, South Florida Airline Commuters Association, Boynton Beach, Fla.

Subway surfers

While I sympathize with Norma Nazario over the loss of her son after he died subway surfing, why is it the responsibility of the MTA to monitor the behavior of her son or anyone else (“ ‘Stop surf carnage,’ ” June 24)?

I would think that any relatively intelligent person would know that riding on top of a train is not a good idea.
Kathryn Ruskin, Boynton Beach, Fla.

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