As New York residents, most if not all of us spend too many hours a week on the train. For those of us who moved from cities where the traffic was unbearable but a personal car was the only option, the subway can be great. It's fast, it's efficient, you don't have to fight traffic, you're warm in the winter, cool in the summer.
Then there is the downside, we all have our pre-Covid stories of being packed in like sardines with people who don't respect rules or boundaries. Having some weirdo pet your hair, or the guy two people over from you loudly enjoying porn on his phone. (Gross dude, there were kids on that train car). Stabbings, muggings, people so tense from work that being smashed together on a crowded car with blaring music (often vulgar) makes them violent, people trying to hustle you for money when their clothes and shoes are more expensive than your own, that annoying “preacher” guy proselytizing about a god few people believe has any vested interest in their well-being, the obnoxious vegan lady trying to crucify anyone who eats meat, the frat boys getting drunk (open containers) catcalling and trying to grope the females on the train, and that sulky emo-chic who insists on vaping with the excuse that it isn't cigarettes.
Never did any of the buskers, those dancing, playing music, singing, etc... cause me any issues. Some of them are immensely talented and make the trips back and forth less monotonous...even fun! And rarely, did any of the homeless who come into the stations seeking shelter from the weather, ever cause me or my children any safety concerns. The very few who have were drug users or struggling with other types of mental health issues. Yet, these are the very people that Mayor Adams and Governor Hochul have chosen to attack, to deem “cancerous”. (Does anybody regret yet, the false accusations that were leveled against Governor Cuomo?).
In all of my rides on the subway though, the most dangerous encounters I've had were with transit cops and MTA employees themselves. One such employ intentionally rammed into me with a metal cart, knocking me down on the platform, breaking my foot, fracturing my wrist and chipping my elbow. Transit cops have harassed my family for no reason on multiple occasions. But when I report actual crimes, they do nothing. I've heard “what do you want me to do about it”, “can't take your report if you don't give me all of your information” (which is a violation of their own policy of being allowed to report anonymously).
Now, Adams and Hochul, a nightmare team are criminalizing homelessness. Adams is not a friend to minority people. As we are all distracted over culture wars, however justified we feel they are, we are missing the class war that is being waged across the United States, which affects an overwhelming number of minority communities.
As Covid continues to wreak havoc, many New Yorkers have not returned to work, some have refused to send their children back to school. It seems across the city New Yorkers are saying no more to an ant-like existence under the life-crushing thumbs of Corporate America. As we are still battling Covid,
Hochul callously lifted the rent moratorium as of January 15th,, 2022, driving more New Yorkers into poverty and homelessness. This seems more like a measure to force citizens back into the slave labor they woke up and realized was controlling their lives, damaging their health, stealing their freedom, and happiness and ruining their families than to “revive New York”.
In the brief time since Adams has taken office, I have seen homeless people needlessly accosted, assaulted by police, which in fairness happened sometimes during de Blasio's leadership. Adams has made police brutality acceptable and written policy. Adams and Hochul both seem to be under the mistaken assumption that all or at least the majority of homeless people are mentally ill, and addicts, clearly these two have never struggled much, if at all, to survive.
The real cause, the leading cause behind homelessness is lack of affordable housing! Governor Hochul, just made that worse! And now she's labeling homeless people as mentally incompetent and criminals, further stigmatizing not just minorities, and the homeless, but also those living with mental health issues. The second leading cause of homelessness is low wages or not having the resources and education to earn a living wage. Mental illness and addiction do factor into some cases, but only because there is a lack of affordable healthcare and effective addiction treatment.
As Adams and Hochul tag team on some of the most vulnerable in our society, they ignorantly or intentionally are turning a blind eye on the real problems-uncontrolled rent prices, and failed education and economic systems, pushing blame off on those whose voices go unheard, unable to defend themselves.
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