To the Editor:
Re “M.T.A.’s Congestion Fees Will Launch on June 30” (news article, April 27):
Any congestion pricing plan must be implemented responsibly, with full consideration of its effects on vulnerable communities and the environment. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s plan promises anything but that.
The projected increase in traffic and pollution along the F.D.R. Drive, concentrated in an area with many low-income residents that is already designated as an Environmental Justice Area by New York State, is deeply concerning. The loss of mature trees because of a similarly ill-conceived coastal resiliency plan only exacerbates the issue, as it will take decades for new trees to provide the same level of pollution mitigation.
It’s also troubling that while compensation has been offered to New Jersey and the Bronx, officials have neglected to address the harms already identified that will be felt by those living directly within the congestion taxation zone. If this plan is to be truly transformative, its effects must be thoroughly studied and mitigated.
The M.T.A.’s resistance to a proper environmental impact study and its urgency in pushing this plan forward are alarming. Rushing forward without proper due diligence is irresponsible and risks irreparable harm to already vulnerable communities.
In addition, comparisons with the London congestion pricing plan show the problems that city is having. Time to destination has not declined.
The communities along the F.D.R. and everyone who will be affected, including the working poor from all boroughs, deserve a transparent and equitable approach to this significant policy change.
Will Murphy
New York
To the Editor:
Starting a controversial program like congestion pricing, the first in a large U.S. city, before lawsuits are resolved — and installing overhead electronic fee collection stations before public hearings on the proposed program were completed — violate the process of open public participation.
Depending upon its outcome, a lawsuit filed by New Jersey officials may cause irreparable damage to the interstate relationships with the Port Authority, which could affect the proposed reimagining of the bus terminal in Midtown Manhattan or reconstruction at Newark, Kennedy and La Guardia Airports, among other projects.
Beginning congestion pricing just before the Fourth of July holiday and the summer tourist season will also confuse travelers from out of town when they are billed by mail for a program they may not be familiar with. A mid-September start date, if pending lawsuits are fully resolved, would offer more valid traffic counts and make much more sense!
Floyd Lapp
New City, N.Y.
The writer has 55 years of city planning and transportation experience and was transportation director in the New York City Planning Department.
How V.P. Hopefuls Treat a Dog and the Truth
To the Editor:
Re “Kristi Noem Suggests Biden’s Dog Should Have Been Killed, Too” (news article, nytimes.com, May 5):
Is how we treat our dogs predictive of how we would treat people? Research says yes. “Seventy-five percent of abused women who have companion animals report a history of their companion animal being threatened or intentionally harmed by their intimate partner,” according to an article published by the F.B.I.
Sometimes animal abuse precedes abuse of humans, sometimes the order is reversed, but in either scenario, the connection is well documented.
Cricket was shot by Gov. Kristi Noem for being a poor hunting dog who was untrainable. As vice president, would Governor Noem support Donald Trump’s incitement of violent actions and threats?
President Biden humanely addressed Commander’s biting of Secret Service staff not by shooting him but by removing him from the scene.
The contrast is clear.
John Miraglia
Old Bridge, N.J.
To the Editor:
This past weekend we were able to see two Republican vice-presidential hopefuls on the major Sunday news shows.
Kristi Noem was asked about referring, in her new book, to a meeting with Kim Jong-un — which apparently never occurred (“Kristi Noem’s New Book Falsely Says She Met Kim Jong-un,” nytimes.com, May 3). She was simply unwilling to admit the lie, telling us instead that she had met a lot of foreign heads of state. Not to mention the bit about executing the dog and the goat.
Senator Tim Scott, who voted to certify the 2020 election, was unable to state that he would accept the outcome of the 2024 election regardless of who wins. And despite stating a few months ago that he favored legislation for a federal 15-week abortion ban, he refused to acknowledge his own stance, or state whether he had changed his mind to align with Donald Trump.
Both candidates seemed to be trying to out-Trump Mr. Trump in terms of disdain for the truth.
Lawrence Levy
Los Angeles
An Immunity Amendment?
To the Editor:
We need an amendment to the Constitution that says simply:
“No person who holds a federal or state office at any level, in any branch of the federal or state government, whether elected or appointed, shall have immunity from prosecution for crimes committed before, during or after their tenure.”
Let’s get a petition started now.
Frank Mitchell
Seattle