Greens turned out on July 24 to support the NYC Transit Forward rally to restore MTA services
that had been harshly cut in 2010. We must continue to support organizing of Transit Workers Union Local 100 and allied communities around this issue! Sign petitions calling for the restoration of station personnel booths and the B37 and X28 bus lines. and
A bold transit expansion strategy is necessary element to any Green New Deal.
NYC Mayoral Candidate Tony Gronowicz testified before the MTA:
As the Green Party candidate for New York City mayor, I call on the MTA to fully restore service cutbacks. While city homelessness is at a record, the stock market is at record highs. The stock market once paid a stock transfer tax that was in effect from 1905 to 1980. Its restoration would yield billions of dollars in added revenue for pubic services.
Historically, MTA cutbacks stem from the financial relationship of the MTA to the biggest banks. Recall that the MTA was created in 1967 by Governor Nelson Rockefeller to merge transportation authorities, and allow his brother David’s Chase Bank (acting as chief trustee for MTA bondholders) to ultimately sacrifice public interest to private gain because, by law, interest on these bonds must be paid before workers salaries and transit service.
A better system would be to have the TWU run the transportation system. Their worker members represent the 99% while the MTA represents the 1%.
Transit workers can do a better job than the MTA that fronts for the private banks that are responsible for the current greatest disparities in wealth and income in this city since the 19th century. Private interests should serve the public, not vice-versa.
State party co-chair Michael O'Neil also spoke to the crowd on the need to prioritize rider service over debt service, and to tax Wall Street and the 1%:
Stay plugged in for more updates on the Transit Justice campaign!
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