this post was submitted on 07 Jan 2025
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traingang

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LANDLORDS COWER IN FEAR OF MAOTRAIN

"that train pic is too powerful lmao" - u/Cadende

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Gulag for anyone doing this. Five years at least.

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[–] thethirdgracchi@hexbear.net 87 points 5 months ago (2 children)

All this hysteria over a charge of $9 btw. In a city where parking for the day will cost you ~$50.

[–] hexaflexagonbear@hexbear.net 60 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (3 children)

There was a guy who lives near Central Park and drives to see his kids who live near another part of Central Park that was crying about the toll, lol. I was like if the $9 is killing you, you could save thousands a month by living literally anywhere else.

[–] regul@hexbear.net 33 points 5 months ago

He's a real estate investor and his home is worth $20m.

[–] Saeculum@hexbear.net 23 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Or simply walking. Central park isn't that big

[–] RangeFourHarry@hexbear.net 14 points 5 months ago (1 children)

East to west it’s not, north to south is pretty far

[–] Saeculum@hexbear.net 10 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Still only about a 40-50 minute walk. A bit long, but hardly unachievable. At the risk of sounding stereotypical, I walked that twice a day to school and back for years.

[–] MayoPete@hexbear.net 9 points 5 months ago

And it's healthier than sitting in a car dealing with clogged roads

[–] thethirdgracchi@hexbear.net 16 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I know exactly the thing you saw. That guy lived 15 blocks from his kids. That's a ~20 minute walk in one of the most pleasant parts of Manhattan. It would take him longer to find parking than walk to see his kids. Insanity.

[–] Saeculum@hexbear.net 7 points 5 months ago

Terminal car brain

[–] peeonyou@hexbear.net 13 points 5 months ago (3 children)

well.. would you rather pay $50 for the day or $59? sucks ass for folks who are forced to drive in and don't get reimbursed i'm sure

[–] hexaflexagonbear@hexbear.net 42 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I’d rather take the train

[–] peeonyou@hexbear.net 11 points 5 months ago (1 children)

of course, but sometimes its not an option.. like you can't exactly carry a bunch of equipment on the train if your job requires that sort of thing

[–] SeekPie@lemm.ee 20 points 5 months ago (2 children)

I'd think that if your job requires that, the company you're working for would be paying that not the driver?

[–] GarfieldOfficial@hexbear.net 18 points 5 months ago (1 children)

No offense, but you may not be familiar with the dismal state of employment in Amerikkka.

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[–] mar_k@hexbear.net 20 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

no middle class new yorker is choosing to commute by car to downtown manhattan on the regular, it's the upper class. most new yorkers and almost 80% of manhattan locals don't even OWN a car. this is a win for pedestrians who don't want to be perpetually surrounded by smog and honking overwhelmingly from rich assholes, tourists, and people going to the airport

[–] thethirdgracchi@hexbear.net 13 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Nobody is "forced" to drive in Manhattan. Nobody. Anybody who works in Manhattan can take the bus or train in, it has a tremendous amount of transit connections from all areas where people are commuting from. Any worker like a plumber or whatever will have the toll paid for by their company.

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[–] newmou@hexbear.net 45 points 5 months ago (2 children)

There should be daily pricing for any bankers entering the financial district

[–] sharkfucker420@lemmy.ml 24 points 5 months ago

Like we can buy the bankers?

[–] blunder@hexbear.net 8 points 5 months ago

Toll: one head gui-better

[–] GalaxyBrain@hexbear.net 44 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (2 children)

The only time chuds hate cops is when they get traffic tickets. Then they're full acab cause God forbid they can't use they're large machines that can kill people irresponsibly

[–] VILenin@hexbear.net 23 points 5 months ago (2 children)

It’s so funny watching chuds trying to rail against speed cameras without revealing their actual reasoning, that they should be allowed to speed.

I mean sure, American speed cameras are a privatized nightmare where half the money just gets taken by a private corporation, but seeing chuds try to pretend that this is the only reason they hate them is still funny.

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[–] CloutAtlas@hexbear.net 10 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I met a yank in Sydney circa 2023 (so post BLM protests) who was like "yeah I used to back the blue wholeheartedly except for the few bad apples, but last year when I called the cops for a welfare check on my neighbour they put her in a headlock! The system needs to be overhauled and they need to be held accountable" or something along those lines.

Like all the footage of police brutality and incompetence you can ignore, but it happens to an old lady you're friends with that's how you know it's time to change the system?

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[–] BobDole@hexbear.net 34 points 5 months ago

10 years GULAG for whoever tweeted this

[–] Hestia@hexbear.net 32 points 5 months ago (2 children)

Actually fare evasion in any form is based. I'm not certain about the specifics of this toll in particular, but alot of the tolls are privatized and even if this one isn't, dl you really think they're gonna allocate these resources responsibly, or would they just give it all to the pigs?

[–] FuckyWucky@hexbear.net 36 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

I think the pigs will get their money either way, it's the only part of the City Government that is always overfunded.

Its unfortunate that Governments (and esp private sector) see tolls as a way to squeeze money out of people rather than as a way to manage demand.

[–] Hestia@hexbear.net 25 points 5 months ago (4 children)

At the end of the day, fares only hurt the working class

[–] blunder@hexbear.net 32 points 5 months ago

Car owners in NYC make twice as much as non car owners on average: https://www.hunterurban.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Car-Light-NYC-Infographics-May-2024.pdf

The tolls are slated for repairs and expansion of the NYC subway system, which 1) already exists and 2) is now looking at a budget shortfall of billions of dollars because the toll was reduced from $16 to $9.

Finally, driving through lower Manhattan is not a God-given right, and it has real economic impact on the city. Traffic violence, air pollution, sound pollution, economic suppression of areas choked with cars...

Go rent an apartment right at the mouth of the Lincoln Tunnel and then tell me that an economic penalty for driving a private car instead of taking abundant public transit is a bad thing. I don't mean this in a hostile way but it honestly sounds like you do not know what you are talking about

[–] Grandpa_garbagio@hexbear.net 30 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

Eh people should be biking, walking, or taking public transit in big cities like this. All the cars create a lot of issues for working class non car commuters.

Like a good reason many people can even afford to live in a city is because you're trading off car ownership costs for higher rent. Which is mostly going to be the working class making those calculations.

Just straight up banning them from parts of the city would be better though

[–] Hestia@hexbear.net 3 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (7 children)

Imagine you're an independent plumber. You need a truck to transport your tools. Every time you pass through the toll booths in the city that's more money out of your pocket.

[–] egg1918@hexbear.net 29 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

They charge the client. Like literally any business expense.

Like they already do for the tolls they already pay

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[–] TechnoUnionTypeBeat@hexbear.net 24 points 5 months ago

Petit boug pro car apologia? In my Hexbear? It's more likely than you think

[–] combat_brandonism@hexbear.net 14 points 5 months ago (3 children)

an independent plumber isn't a prole

[–] edge@hexbear.net 8 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

A (truly) independent plumber is a worker that owns their own means of production. Literally the ideal.

Although it's more likely they're "independent" but working for some company using "independent contractors" as a way to avoid offering benefits and following labor laws.

Either way it's the worker that eats the fare, or has to pass it on to the customer.

[–] combat_brandonism@hexbear.net 4 points 5 months ago

Although it's more likely they're "independent" but working for some company using "independent contractors" as a way to avoid offering benefits and following labor laws.

That's called piece work, those are proles. Unusual in the trades afaik. In thoroughly unionized work like plumbing they'd be scabs. They should join their UA local 1 and get union jobs instead of scabbing.

A (truly) independent plumber is a worker that owns their own means of production. Literally the ideal.

They are an artisan, with different material interests than proles.

[–] Runcible@hexbear.net 5 points 5 months ago (1 children)
[–] CloutAtlas@hexbear.net 11 points 5 months ago (2 children)

I think in the west, independent contractors tend to be closer to petit bourgeoisie. Also depending on the industry, are used to cross picket lines during strikes and industrial action, like the freelance armorer that was in charge of the gun Baldwin used to kill that lady was there because the union film crew walked out due to unsafe working environments.

Fwiw I don't actually know if, say, NYC plumbers have a union and if/when there are independent plumbers, they would side with the workers. Although in my experience, small business owners tend to be tyrants just as often as big business owners.

[–] combat_brandonism@hexbear.net 7 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

Goes back to Marx too. Artisans are not proles, and have different material interests even if they aren't petty boug. They are not alienated from their labor, even if they don't exploit proles themselves.

OP should've used rideshare drivers as her example. But piecework taxi driving is inextricable from the problem congestion pricing is trying to solve.

The only solution is to ban cars.

[–] Runcible@hexbear.net 6 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I think "independent plumber" was intended to mean "self-employed" in this case. I am not defending small business owners outside of the owner/operator type setup.

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[–] Hestia@hexbear.net 4 points 5 months ago

I will not tolerate this Mario Mario slander

[–] Sauerkraut@discuss.tchncs.de 8 points 5 months ago

So make an exception for the work vehicles of essential workers. Policies should be refined and improved upon overtime, not scrapped the moment any short coming is found

[–] krolden@lemmy.ml 7 points 5 months ago

That's a bit different than taking a drive throughh the park on a Sunday afternoon

[–] Grandpa_garbagio@hexbear.net 6 points 5 months ago

Yeah I mean my field has workers driving all around the megalopolis and we just charge the client for costs like that

[–] CloutAtlas@hexbear.net 6 points 5 months ago

Wait can you not write those off as a business expense in Amerikkka? Lmao what a shithole country.

[–] FuckyWucky@hexbear.net 21 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

Yea, more workers should (and do) use public transport. It's New York, one of the few cities in the US where public transport is available, though it should be made free.

I wouldn't support such tolls in Houston because there is no other choice available.

[–] Sauerkraut@discuss.tchncs.de 11 points 5 months ago

In most places and situations I would agree, but NYC is a special situation. Car dependency and automotive congestion hurts everyone, so it can onlg be justified when effective public transit options do not exist. However, NYC is the only city in the US where the majority of people do not commute by car. So the vast majority of car traffic is completely unnecessary, the drivers just don't want to share a train with poor people

[–] thethirdgracchi@hexbear.net 35 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

This toll is actually a congestion charge to discourage driving in Manhattan. The proceeds of the toll go directly to funding the MTA so they can build more subway lines. Only wealthy people even own cars in Manhattan. I assure you this form of fare evasion is not in any way based, and the only people doing it are carbrained petite bourgeoise.

[–] came_apart_at_Kmart@hexbear.net 27 points 5 months ago (5 children)

just ban the cars. ambulances and trams only. police get bicycles and a swift kick in their porcine asses.

so much wasted space in NYC for these belching, noisy petroleum chariots to run and sleep and maim pedestrians so that the rich can be shuttled to and from secure locations.... which these fares won't even touch.

I think they keep cars around in big cities, refusing to even reclaim modest sections of streets as pedestrian only, because cars make it hard for large crowds to amass and march.

cars speeding through crowds--like they did in 2020 and do to this day--make our cities deadly, even if you're in a large group of allies looking out for each other.

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[–] DragonBallZinn@hexbear.net 27 points 5 months ago (1 children)

So much for law and order.

[–] blunder@hexbear.net 7 points 5 months ago

Guarantee you it's the pigs driving in from Staten Island, Long Island, and Jersey who are doing this

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