Photo: Event Flyer
Today, New York City Comptroller and NYC Mayoral candidate Scott Stringer attacked Andrew Yang on the issue of tax breaks and buses in New York City’s transit system.
Stringer called Yang’s proposal to give tax breaks to some of New York’s wealthiest corporations misguided.
“Far too many New Yorkers have been unable to pay rent and make ends meet for more than a year,” Stringer said. “Small business owners have been struggling to keep their doors open and stay afloat. Thousands of New Yorkers have lost their jobs. Meanwhile, Andrew Yang wants to give tax breaks to Fortune 500 companies that have made billions during the pandemic. That’s wrong. We should be focusing city government’s work and investment on hard-working New Yorkers.
“New York City will come roaring back when we invest in our small businesses, make our schools the best in the nation, generate new green jobs, create more world-class parks, and deliver well-run city services. We need tax revenue to do all of that, and giving tax breaks to wealthy corporations will make it harder to lead the comeback that will get our economy working again. Mr. Yang’s proposal is the municipal equivalent of trickle-down, Reagan economics.”
Stringer also today took a ride on the M14-SBS bus and call out Andrew Yang’s for uninformed comments about busways and his suggestion to put more cars on the streets of New York City and to highlight a key part of Stringer’s transportation agenda: delivering frequent and reliable bus service to all New Yorkers, especially low-income New Yorkers who disproportionately ride the bus.
“New York City needs a mayor who’s going to stand up for what’s right, and Andrew Yang is showing that he’ll put pandering over good policy,” said Comptroller Scott Stringer. “I’ve been active in the fight for transportation alternatives, and I won’t fold when the going gets tough.”
Stringer added: “Working people and essential workers have relied on buses through this pandemic, and we owe them a bus system that works as hard for them as they’ve worked for us. I’m going to make that happen, because New York deserves a mayor who has a real progressive vision and the courage to fight for it.”
Stringer’s transportation agenda includes plans to build 35 miles of new fully protected bus lanes and busways across New York City every year. Stringer says he will be the “Bus Mayor,” by introducing improved lane enforcement, more bus shelters, better designed curbs, more transit signal priority, all-door boarding, and more frequent off-peak service.
Stringer’s office has also reported the following regarding the city transit service:
The 14th Street busway has been wildly successful, with travel times improving up to 47 percent and weekday ridership growing 24 percent. New York currently has just over 100 miles of dedicated bus lanes along the city’s 6,000 miles of roadway — and the separated lanes that do exist remain woefully under-enforced.
Essential workers, who have been on the front lines throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, make up nearly one-third of regular bus commuters. New York City bus riders also tend to be seniors and lower-income New Yorkers. The median income of bus commuters ($30,374) is far lower than that of car ($47,132) and peak-hour subway ($50,783) commuters.
