MESSAGE
| DATE | 2008-04-04 |
| FROM | Ruben Safir
|
| SUBJECT | Subject: [NYLXS - HANGOUT] Congestion Tax Wars II
|
New Fight the Tax Site
Write a Letter to Your Elected Officials With TWO CLICKS!
This easy-to-use form is designed to contact via e-mail your State Aseembly Member, State Senator, City Council Member, the leadership of the State Legislature and City Council, and the New York City Public Advocate about your opposition to the Congestion Tax. To write the Governor or Mayor, click here.
New York State Residents (outside NYC): Your opinion will be conveyed to the leadership of the New York City Council and to the New York City Public Advocate in addition to your State representatives.
Residents outside New York State: Skip Section I, and your opinion will be conveyed to the leadership of the New York State Legislature, New York City Council and the New York City Public Advocate. Do not select any of the representatives in the drop-down box.
Part I: Your Representatives
Note: A handful of representatives are not listed because they do not have e-mail addresses. If you cannot find one of your representative, check for contact information here. However, you may still use the form to contact the rest of your public officials.
State & City Leadership
Select the following leaders of New York State and New York City government whom you would like to write. By default, all are already selected.
State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-64)
State Assembly Democratic/Majority Leader Ron Canestrari (D-106)
State Assembly Republican/Minority Leader James Tedisco (R-110)
State Senate Republican/Majority Leader Joseph Bruno (R-43)
State Senate Democratic/Minority Leader Malcolm Smith (D-14)
New York City Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum
New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn (D-3)
New York City Council Democratic/Majority Leader Joel Rivera (D-15)
New York City Council Republican/Minority Leader James Oddo (R-50)
State Assembly Member (Don't know?)
State Senator (Don't know?)
NYC Residents Only
New York City Council Member (Don't know?)
Part II: Your Message
For your convenience, we have already placed a form letter into the message box, simply outlining that you are opposed to the Congestion Tax and for what basic reasons your elected officials should oppose it. You may edit it or write your own if you would like, but you must keep your message under 3,000 characters. * = Required
Subject:*
Message:* I am a deeply concerned American who wants to ensure that the streets of Manhattan remain free for drivers and pedestrians alike. Therefore, I sincerely urge you to OPPOSE the adoption of any CONGESTION TAX on Manhattan's streets. The congestion taxation plan, as recommended by the New York City Traffic Congestion Mitigation Commission, is simply a bad deal for New Yorkers and other Americans who have to drive to Manhattan to work for a living, for doctor's visits, for picking up their children from school, for purchasing goods or services, or for simply traveling around their own city for any reason! The tax system mentions that drivers will have to pay about $2,000 extra a year to drive into the Tax Zone (and trucks at about a whopping $5,000 a year). Meanwhile, the Independent Budget Office has found that the median income of car commuters living in New York City who work in Manhattan is only $41,209, and for all commuters, $51,021, most of whom are either married or have families. This tax will only adversely hit middle class and working families. How can this be a fair mechanism to generate revenue? While we all need to do our part to help the environment, placing a stifling financial burden on those who have chosen the 'lesser of two necessary evils' and drive into Manhattan south of 60th Street everyday is a grave injustice. Besides, the City's 2007 Emissions Inventory shows that CO2 emissions from vehicles have decreased 6% from 1995 to 2005. We're already cleaning up the environment without having to punitively tax working families more! It also says that there will only be an estimated 6.8% decrease in traffic, and only a measly 1.4% of current drivers will decide to stop driving into Manhattan altogether. Therefore, the benefit to the environment and to drivers seems to be significantly dwarfed compared to the cost imposed on the individual drivers, businesses and customers. Furthermore, while our mass transit and transportation systems desperately need dramatic improvements, we oug!
ht to fi
nd a way to make better use of the resources we currently have. For instance, London's tax has almost doubled in the two years that it started, and the size of the zone double in size in the tax's fourth year, despite heavy public opposition to these expansions. And yet, London still had to increase mass transit fares by 10% two years after the tax began! New York State is already the highest taxed state in the nation, and we are losing jobs and residents to less financially burdensome locations. Adding to the already oppressive cost of living in New York State and New York City, this tax would serve as yet another reason for families and young people to begin their lives somewhere else. I truly want to see New York City remain the world's greatest, most populous and most successful place to live, work and play. However, I do not see a CONGESTION TAX helping us achieve that goal by any means. So, once again, I strongly urge you to OPPOSE the adoption of any CONGESTION TAX. I thank you in advance for your consideration of my opinion in this matter. Sincerely,
Part III: Your Contact Information
Please fill out all the required fields . In addtion, you may also opt to sign our online petition against the tax by checking the box below. * = Required
Prefix:*
First Name:*
Middle Name/Initial:*
Last Name:*
Address 1:*
Address 2:
City:*
State:*
Zip Code:*
Phone (optional): ( ) -
E-mail:*
Also, I would like to add my name to your online petition, which would be displayed in the following format:
John S., Brooklyn, NY
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