Letters

Dear T.A.:
What your March/April issue's negative item on AAA lacks in accuracy is equaled only by its positive bias and hostility. AAA has grown into a 40 million member organization distinguished since 1902 by its public service activities as well as its direct member services. Perhaps your readers might be interested in impartially judging AAA for themselves, especially in the light of these facts:

• No private organization in the United States had done more on behalf of pedestrian safety than AAA.
• The distinguished record that AAA clubs have compiled in promoting bicycle safety nationally, in states and at the local level is a matter of record.
• AAA has long been identified with the principle that taxes on motorists - which were levied for highway purposes - should be dedicated to that objective. Today, AAA leads the fight to use these revenues to rehabilitate our crumbling infrastructure and to stop their diversion to programs having little or nothing to do with this very important need.

Your characterization of Auto Club of New York as ranting and obstructionist on traffic issues probably reflects your petulance that our views on traffic engineering are professional and usually are endorsed by agencies and communities which often reject the more radical views of your organization.

It is true that we have harshly criticized the ever-increasing toll rates on local bridges and tunnels. When MTA treats them as cash cows, motorists and those who represent them have every reason to protest! Moreover, when MTA uses toll revenues to subsidize commuter rail fares, City straphangers have vigorously protested. MTA operates under a legislative mandate that hasn't changed in 30 years. We think it's high time for a change and we have detailed our position to the Legislature. You quote Tri-State Transportation Campaign's comment that AAA is "running a disinformation campaign." But in other circles, it is still called telling the truth and acting responsibly.
Dennis J. Crossley
Vice President
Public & Government Services
Automobile Club of New York

The New York Chapter of AAA deserves credit and thanks for supporting stronger law enforcement and laws to curtail dangerous motoring, and for supporting rail freight improvements that reduce the number of trucks. That being said, the organization nationally stands out for its extreme, motoring-at-all-cost perspective.

AAA is a core member of the Highway Users Alliance (HUA) which is aggressively campaigning to gut bicycling, pedestrian, safety, transit and environmental planning, funding and regulatory in the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act. When Mr. Crossley speaks of fighting "taxes on motorists-which were levied for highway purposes" and whose "diversion to programs having little or nothing to do with this very important need, " he is talking about Federal Enhancement and CMAQ funds which are the mainstay of bicycle and pedestrian funding.

In general, AAA safety campaigns consist of educating cyclists and pedestrians on how to get out of the way of motorists. Indeed, AAA has probably done more to steer the national safety agenda away from proven pedestrian safety improvements like speed humps and sidewalk extensions than any other organization. Until AAA drops their aggressive political lobbying and becomes only a motorist service organization, environmentalists should look elsewhere for road-way services. -Eds

Dear T.A.:
I have two questions for you. One: At the beginning of January, I was listening to "On the Line," the call-in show on WNYC's AM station. One segment featured a guy with the title "New York City Bicycle Coordinator," or something like that. He struck me as a pretty weak cup of tea. Has T.A. dealt with him, and does this position actually help promote bicycling in the city?

Second question: I love to read about your Commuters of the Month. I myself, a TA member, live in Elizabeth, NJ and work in Newark. It can't be more than ten miles and is easy, flat terrain, but everyone at work tells me I'd be mugged, or worse, getting from home to work. Do you know of any group or person who might know of a way to bike in safety between points A and B?
Rachel Boylan
Elizabeth, NJ

Dear Rachel:
We have been frustrated with DOT'S poor progress on bicycling are frustrating to all of us. There is plenty of blame to go around within DOT. But it is up to us to mobilize the public support to make bicycling a mayoral priority (as it is in Chicago.) As to your second question: how does everybody at work "know" you 'II get mugged riding to work ? Our experience is that bicyclists rarely get hassled or mugged in even the worst areas. Go for it. Anybody who can ride with Rachel should give T.A. a ring and we'll try to hook you up. Or call Bicycle Touring Club of Northern New Jersey (201-284-0404) for a safe route.

Dear Rudia:
I was most impressed with your adorable "chutzpah" in Victor/Victoria, a Republican pretending to be a Democrat pretending to be a Republican.

Now that you're out of the grease paint, let's get out the neon yellow paint and redo the lines on the Brooklyn Bridge to divide the cyclists from the pedestrians. Otherwise, it's unsafe for all of us. Thank you.
Burnette Herrick
Brooklyn, NY

Dear TA:
The letters this Administration writes in response to the TA postcards make me sick. It makes me not want to send in the cards. But I will.
Gail Boorstein
New York, NY

Dear Mayor Giuliani:
As a lifelong resident of Brooklyn, I am appalled by the increasing lawlessness that pervades our city streets. Motorists in increasing numbers seem to be grossly exceeding the speed limit, regularly passing red lights and ignoring stop signs. This cannot help but result in increased injuries and fatalities for pedestrians and cyclists.

I urge you to actively support New York State Assembly bill A3969, introduced by Assemblymember Deborah Glick. This bill would allow New York City complete control over city speed limits. With such a law, our city could set a 15-mph speed limit which would reduce drastically the number of cars that now traverse our streets as if they were highways. Of course, to be truly effective, the lower speed limit would have to be accompanied by increased driver education and stricter police enforcement. But first, let us set a speed limit that would give our streets back to the people of New York. For too long, cars have dominated and taken priority in our city. If drivers are unhappy about being stuck in traffic or not being permitted to drive at unsafe speeds, I say: let them walk or take mass transit. We'll all be better off! I hope you agree.
Matthew Weinstein
Brooklyn, NY

Dear Commissioner Lynn:
My daily, all-season bicycle commute from Far Rockaway, Queens to JFK Airport requires a terrifying trip down Rockaway Turnpike, a.k.a. 'The Speedway," This flat six-lane section is bordered to the south by the Airport and to the north by Brookville Park. If I'm daring I'll ride the roadbed near the curb; the speeding maniacs terrify me.

The northern sidewalk edging the Park is in good repair but is garbage strewn, weed, glass, tick, and mice infested, often blocked by downed trees, dead dogs, and recently, a newly smashed refrigerator that fell off a truck! Can't anything be done to clear the sidewalk? I use it only sometimes but have to walk around the obstacles I see. I'm guessing creating a bike path would be too hard.

After calling the Dept. of Sanitation four times, January's dead dog is there as is the fallen tree of two years ago that still blocks the path. How or why the smashed refrigerator got removed, I can't say. I've filled out the sidewalk complaint form at the DOT in the Queens Courthouse around February, 1995 and I understand the lack of concern for what is considered a little used sidewalk, but it is the only access to that corner of Queens unless one chooses Brookville Boulevard, known for many car accidents.

The sidewalk is there and might be used more if it were more accessible. I've seen a lot of people using it! Maybe something can be done. Thank you.
Charles Kazanjian
Far Rockaway, NY