Governor determined to destroy public #transit

ANALYSIS: What Cuomo’s Tax Bill Says About Transit | Transportation Nation: "the Governor’s office initially assured us the $250 million hole to the MTA budget would be plugged by a dedicated stream from the $1.9 billion reaped by the tax on the super-rich – but when the bill was finally presented — minutes before it was voted on — there was no such provision"

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Governor must be stopped from stealing #transit funds

Concerned About Cuomo, Transit & Environmental Adocates To Meet: "The original lockbox bill, sponsored by Assemblyman Jim Brennan and Sen. Marty Golden, made it more difficult for the governor to unilaterally divert MTA dedicated transit funds, and required an impact statement on transit service if dedicated funds were taken.

This was a reaction to the diversion of $260 million in dedicated transit funds over the last three years, which according to advocates, contributed to the worst metropolitan-area transit service cuts in memory."

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#occupyhomes is in the house

#oiltroll governor has become a comic figure

#occupywallstreet is working - pressure is on to tax the rich

The supercommittee’s 13th member: Occupy Wall Street - The Washington Post: "As Occupy Wall Street gained traction during the course of the supercommittee’s deliberations, it emboldened the Democrats to reject compromise and stick to their demands for a trillion-dollar tax increase. They seemed perfectly willing to let the supercommittee fail if those demands were not met. Why? Because the Democrats seem to believe that the Tea Party movement, with its calls for limited government and spending restraint, is waning. They believe it is being supplanted before our eyes by a new grassroots movement in favor of bigger government, higher taxes and more spending."

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Behind the Curb - Center for an Urban Future

Behind the Curb - Center for an Urban Future: "This report finds that a disproportionate share of the city's recent job growth, transit ridership gains and population growth have occurred in the four boroughs outside of Manhattan, yet transit service in the boroughs has not kept pace-and the biggest losers have been the city's working poor. We argue that New York's bus system could step in and fill the gaps, but not without major improvements."

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Cars are making you crazy

Why Traffic Jams Are Bad for Your Health - WSJ.com: "New public-health studies and laboratory experiments suggest that, at every stage of life, traffic fumes exact a measurable toll on mental capacity, intelligence and emotional stability."

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Nobel Peace-Prize laureate warns against arresting peaceful protesters

Cuomo throwing in his lot with #oil -- bad choice

Activists object to planned TZ bridge with no transit | recordonline.com: "Transit advocates are expected to protest the state's decision to build a new Tappan Zee Bridge without adding new bus and rail services at this week's public briefings on the revised project.

"Many groups are uniting around the loss of public transportation," said Kate Slevin, executive director of the Tri-State Transportation Campaign. "If transit isn't added now, we worry it never will be."

Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the federal government announced two weeks ago that replacement of the Tappan Zee Bridge was among 14 infrastructure projects selected for expedited approvals in a national competition designed to spur job creation.

The Federal Highway Administration estimates the new environmental review and permitting process could be accomplished within a year, allowing the state to advertise for bids as soon as August 2012.

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Cap'n Transit Rides Again: The Tappan Zee Bridge is a sprawl-generating machine

Cap'n Transit Rides Again: The Tappan Zee Bridge is a sprawl-generating machine: " just because you can do something doesn't mean you should. We have a word for the style of residential development that's been built in Orange, Rockland and Bergen counties over the past fifty years. We have a word for the style of commercial development that's been built in Westchester and the north Bronx since 1960. That word is sprawl.

There are several reasons why sprawl is a dirty word among environmentalists, and they're listed at the top of this blog. Car-centered development pollutes the air, causing asthma and global warming. Incessant driving kills people, pets and wildlife. Sprawl wastes a tremendous amount of space, separating people from each other and causing obesity. Driving everywhere uses energy much faster than our planet gets it from the sun."

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