I haven’t set tire in Manhattan in ages, and have no intention of ever doing so again. No matter where I’d go, I’d be in a bus+train zone if I needed to get to Manhattan. If I didn’t want to drive to work (Queens), it’d take me 2 buses (single fare w/ transfer), but to Manhattan, bus to train.
I was a subway rat from college on, and all this “crime” is just the Big Publicity Events, like getting set on fire, being pushed onto tracks, etc. That happened forever, but a spate of idiots doing crazy shiite like that is what’s making headlines.
All you need is common sense and good situational awareness. Don’t wear all your blang-blang for Bad People to see and covet. Take your head out of your ass and see what’s around you. Stop doomscrolling incessantly, take off the earmuffs, and LOOK to see what’s going on around you. even the crazies will stay away from someone who’s eyeballing them back just waiting for them to try something, and go pick on someone who’s in his own little universe oblivious to reality.
Even late at night, when you just miss your train and there’s like noooooooooooo one around, and you can hear every little drip-drip-drip from a leaky pipe, every candy wrapper rustling in the breeze, and can practically hear your own heartbeat, it’s a little unnerving, but once a few people start piling in, it’s fine.
The solution is for people to just stop coming into Manhattan. Live in Joisey? Push for remote work. Or find a different job if possible. People who can already afford the gas, plus bridge tolls, private-lot parking, etc., will have just Yet Another Expense to get to work in Manhattan, and it probably won’t be a huge hit, percentagewise.
Teachers, deli workers, etc., who don’t have a choice, yeah, they’re gonna get hit hard. There was this music teacher who had to drag her instruments, etc., with her by car to come to school (work) each day, so people in that situation are gonna get hit hard, maybe enough to quit or at least get a job elsewhere.
But if everyone who objected could do so, turn Manhattan to a no-fly zone. Stop delivering to that area without adding on a surcharge. Couriers already do that. Taxis would add tolls on top of regular fares. If enough cabs would avoid picking up fares that would go to that zone, even better. Refuse to work on-site in Manhattan, and if denied, look for another job. They want no congestion? Give it to them, in spades. When enough people are affected by that blanket avoidance that it costs them, maybe then they’ll complain to the right people. Pollies don’t care about outsiders, but when people in their districts start rearing up on their hind legs and howling loud’n’long, they’ll start to listen.
