LETTERS: Able-Ride, helicopter routes and more
Able-Ride cutbacks ignore spirit of ADA
The Long Island Council of the Blind strongly objects to MTA's proposed Able-Ride service cuts . These cuts will cause undue hardship for passengers who need paratransit to get to doctors, schools, jobs and community activities. Cutting service to the legal minimum disregards the spirit of the Americans with Disabilities Act and will have a disproportionate impact on disabled customers.
Comprehensive paratransit is a necessity given Nassau County's sprawling complexity. Those who cannot afford private transportation will have no alternatives. Significant portions of Nassau County will lack accessible public transportation.
Efficient scheduling, training and recruitment of drivers could realize the $1.2 million that these cuts may save, a small fraction of the MTA's alleged deficit and less than 5 percent of the $27 million fare beaters stole last year.
Balancing the MTA's budget on the backs of fare-paying customers with disabilities is unacceptable. Doing so with no Nassau County representative on the MTA board is unconscionable.
The MTA and Nassau County share a responsibility to facilitate access to all county programs and services regardless of their location by maintaining Able-Ride service as it has existed for more than two decades.
John Jeavons
Editor's note: The writer is president of the Long Island Council of the Blind.
New chopper route risky for whom?
I read with amusement that helicopter pilots consider sending single-engine helicopters over water to be a safety issue . As a resident of Glen Head and a longtime sufferer of the helicopter flights, I have to wonder exactly whose safety they are concerned about.
If a helicopter goes down over Long Island Sound, the safety issue will be for the pilot and the passengers. If a helicopter goes down over one of the communities in the old flight path, not only is it a safety issue for the pilot and passengers, but also for those of us on the ground who might be unfortunate enough to get hit by the debris. Personally, I'll take my safety over theirs, especially since I gain nothing but noise from having all of these flights overhead.
Robert G. Schaffrath
Glen Head
Charities overdo it on address labels
Help, I'm drowning! Drowning under the amount of address labels the charities send daily. Even if I wanted to use them, half of them misspell my name or use the name of my husband, who passed away four years ago.
What a waste of money, paper and ink! I believe that most of us give to the charities because we want to help, not because we want to be rewarded.
Hannah Herrmann
