Bronx Reaper

The Traffic is Killing You
be afraid, be very afraid ...

The things I do for my job. Actually this one was fun job I didn't mind at all. While some New Yorkers were enjoying the debauchery of Halloween or enjoying the Greenwich Village parade, I instead dressed up as the Grim Reaper to testify at the congestion mitigation hearing in the Bronx. The mayor set up a commission to evaluate the congestion pricing zone put forward as one component of plaNYC 2030. Congestion pricing is being used in many cities as a means to put a value on the peak road use coming into central business districts. Since smart New Yorkers use public transit, walk or bike, it only makes sense to charge drivers for the roads and space they consume and the pollution they belch. I have no problem with the concept of charging drivers and funneling that revenue into better public transit. Why should polluters, be they drivers or power plants, be allowed to kill and sicken us with their pollution yet we individually or through taxes pay for the health problems and environmental damage they create. Where is the moral and ethical justice in that? So I gave a ripping good speech that was well received. If only Brodsky would listen to reason.