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Hypocrite Politican Wants To Ban Alcohol Ads

Posted by
on October 6th, 2007 at 12:05 pm

This week’s “Hypocrite Of The Week” winner is none other than Brooklyn Assemblyman Felix Ortiz. Earlier this week the Sunset Park based democrat who is best known for authoring the nation’s first state law prohibiting the use of hand held cell phones while driving, announced his desire to see a law passed that would ban advertisements touting alcoholic beverages on buses & subways. Mr. Ortiz had these comments relating to why he feels such a law should be created:

“We have so many problems in our society with underage drinking that we don’t need this kind of advertising in our public transit systems. They are spending all this money on advertising featuring beautiful young women and handsome young men because they want us to believe that if you drink, that’s what you’re going to look like. But if we can pass this in New York, I think the whole nation will pay attention.” He also said the industry is targeting a “vulnerable population.”

Mr. Ortiz’s idea has already received instant support from New York’s Office Of Alcohol & Substance Abuse Services whose spokesman Joe Morrissey said this plan would be “consistent with our strategy of preventing alcoholism across the state.” However not everyone is in support of Mr. Ortiz’s proposal. A Washington D.C. lobbying group, The Distilled Spirits Council shared their feelings through spokesman Frank Coleman which argues “Blanket bans are not effective.”

However Mr. Ortiz is not just targeting companies promoting their alcoholic products. His bill also includes the ban of ads from alcohol makers that encourage people to drink responsibility. Mr. Ortiz shared his feelings on such ads by saying:

“We don’t need Captain Morgan & Anheuser-Busch to tell us to drink responsibly.”

As far as the MTA is concerned, such a ban could hurt their bottom line. The MTA earns about $100 million a year in advertising revenue. Alcohol ads account for $3-5 million dollars of that revenue yearly. For an agency that can use every dollar it gets, losing such money due to the brainstorm of a hypocrite can’t be seen as a good thing. This leads to the burning question as to why I feel Mr. Ortiz is such a hypocrite!

I am calling out Mr. Felix Ortiz as a hypocrite due to the fact he is flip flopping on his beliefs. He feels that alcohol advertisements in mass transit showcase themselves in a bad light especially to those who don’t need to see such a message. However can he explain why as chairman of the Assembly Committee On Alcoholism he is pushing to lower the legal drinking age in New York from 21 to 18!

How can he stand there & preach about alcohol makers showcasing the drinking lifestyle in a harmful way to commuters yet feel the drinking age should be lowered? When he came up with this hypocritical brainstorm, did he forget that many of these so called commuters who don’t need to get this message actually are young, lets say around the age of 18? The same age he feels is the correct age to be able to responsibly handle such a dangerous thing. There is absolutely no way he can play both sides of this issue & come out ahead of the curve.

The last time I checked if anyone is going to be tempted into activities like drinking alcohol it would be minors & teenagers who are about to become legal adults at the age of 18. I would love for him to explain how he is so concerned about people getting the wrong idea from ads when the majority who would do such a thing happen to be around or at the age of what he feels should be the legal drinking age. Talk about pulling a “John Kerry” (for all my Republican readers out there)!

One thing he seems to be forgetting about is that if someone gets into drinking from seeing an ad on the bus or subway, they have bigger issues to worry about & a ban won’t come close to fixing them. I plan on contacting Mr. Ortiz to share my feelings on his showcasing of hypocrisy. I am sure it will be hard to get a response but I will not let that stop me from expressing my concerns!

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Opinions, Transit News
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4 Train Service Alert

Posted by
on October 5th, 2007 at 1:38 pm

The MTA has posted a service alert regarding 4 train service. The alert is:

Due to a police investigation, 4 train trains are bypassing the Mount Eden Station in both directions.

Please expect delays in service on the 4 train line at this time.

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Service Alerts
2

J & Z = Subpar

Posted by
on October 5th, 2007 at 5:34 am

The title of this entry is quite accurate if you ask me. Forget the fact that the latest rider report card grades are in for the J & Z with an outcome that won’t please the MTA. I felt these lines were subpar for years & it seems most J & Z riders agree as both lines got an overall grade of a C-.

The full results will most likely be released later today but some of the results have been leaked to the public. From what we know so far, this is hands down the worst grade out from the report cards so far. Out of the 21 individual category grades, the J & Z earned a D+ or lower in 38% of them (8 out of 21)! They also earned a C+ or above in only ONE category. Ouch! The highest grade was a B- for Metrocard Vending Machine (MVM) availability. The lowest grade was a D for the ability to hear station announcements.

The 3 top issues riders had with the J & Z were:

    Wait times for trains
    Trip delays
    Sense of security aboard the trains

In my opinion these three reasons are dead on & cover most of why the J & Z are subpar lines. It is funny that security was one of the main issues as I recently read a topic asking about it on the J train. The topic in question was posted on The Straphangers Campaign’s Rider Diaries forum.

I personally try to stay away from the line unless absolutely necessary. While I feel it serves as a superior alternative to the E train for Queens residents going to Lower Manhattan, it does have its share of sketchy riders. I sometimes ride the line for a couple of stops when I am trying to get back home from the lower east side & need the Lexington Avenue lines. I always notice how sketchy some of the riders look at those times of the night. I have heard from friends who live along the line that they don’t like to be on the train past certain stops at certain times of the night. I hear the line is notorious for its share of muggings which does not surprise me based on what I’ve seen.

As far as comments go, some have chimed in about the results. Gene Russianoff of The Straphangers Campaign had this to say:

“If the next two or three reports show the same kind of numbers, it will be disappointing. The similarity might just reflect the fact that, in the view of the public, the transit system is performing about average or below average.”

NYC Transit president Howard Roberts seemed confused by the results based on what he has seen. Here is what he had to say:

“The news riders are giving us doesn’t reconcile with the statistical performance standards we are currently using. Clearly we need to take a harder look at not only what we’re doing but how we’re doing it.”

I do want to quickly address how disappointed I am about the amount of votes received for this report card. The MTA handed out more than 58,000 report cards & they only received approximately 2000 replies! I’m sorry but that is completely unacceptable from riders who constantly complain about the service they receive from the MTA. Considering that some of the cards were probably filled out online, hardly any physical cards were mailed back in.

How can people expect change when they sit back & not say a word to the right people? The lack of effort from riders really disgusts me when you know these are the same riders who are first to criticize. So you have the energy to complain until the cows come home but can’t fill out a card to backup your complaints? Shame on you!!!!!!!!

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Rider Report Cards
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Tell Us Something We Did Not Already Know…

Posted by
on October 5th, 2007 at 4:51 am

There are more riders depending on the NYC subway to get around. Wow, who would have guessed? The captain obvious news comes from the American Public Transportation Association’s report that was released yesterday. According to the report, the NYC subway had the fifth highest jump amongst major subway & railroad systems throughout the U.S.

The NYC subway has seen a 3.9% increase in ridership over the first half of 2007 compared to the same period last year. The amount of rides taken so far this year is around the 1 billion mark. Yes, I said 1 BILLION! I have to admit the number made me take a step back & think about it for a minute. I would love to get the final tally for this year. Hopefully that information will be made public one day.

However the NYC subway was not the only form of local mass transit to make the list. The Port Authority’s PATH service finished second with a whopping 7% increase in ridership. Not to be forgotten about, the MTA’s Staten Island Railway checked in third with a 6% increase in ridership. The one form of transportation in our area that saw a decrease was bus service. Bus service dropped by half a percent during the first half of the year.

NYC Transit spokesman Paul Fleuranges chimed in with a few comments about why we have such a drastic increase in ridership:

“Each day, New Yorkers vote with their MetroCards to the tune of 7.2 million ride. We are carrying more customers today than we have in 35 years.”

This pretty much shows why the MTA must step up its game & provide better services & facilities for an increasing ridership that helps run this city.

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What One Hears……..

Posted by
on October 4th, 2007 at 8:22 am

So the doors to our cages opened & I was able to walk across the platform for an uptown 6 train. I stood there anxiously waiting for the next train as I was dying to get home. As I waited, a 4 train pulled in & let off a ton of riders who were mainly transferring to the 6 train as well. Two young Hispanic guys stood by me & seemed to be chatting away to themselves. As this was happening, my scanner started to beep in my ear as if another transmission was coming. I didn’t think anyone could hear that but one of the guys did as he made a comment about the sound being a “Super Nintendo”.

The train finally arrived & unfortunately I had to stand as the car was quite packed. As I stood against the doors, I noticed two young African American women who were sitting across from each other. The two of them stood out due to their actions. Since I was listening to my scanner, I could hear everything around me during the breaks between transmissions.

I heard them talking & making gestures about a wide range of things including men on the subway jerking off while holding a newspaper. I also got the privilege of hearing one of them who sounded like a man talk about how the train was so quiet. She seemed confused as to why such a packed train was quiet. So her friend looks at her & they start alternating lyrics about the train being quiet & why it should maybe stay that way among other things. The last thing I noticed was their discussion about not seeing our express passing a local so they would have a long wait to get to their destination. The manly sounding one of the bunch wondered if they should go to Parkchester & come back down. Her friend thought that was a dumb idea.

Thankfully the Hunts Point Avenue station came & they departed with a number of others. I was glad for two reasons, one I didn’t have to hear them anymore & secondly I could sit for a couple of minutes. So much for me saying nothing interesting was happening so far!

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Personal Stories