NLP: Transit Strike Edition

Posted by Lex Konrad in Dispatches | Dec 20, 2005

I find it hard to summon much outrage over the transit strike but neither does the union elicit much sympathy from me. From what I understand they have a pretty sweet compensation package already and they’re asking for substantial raises over the next few years. At any rate, the strike hasn’t affected either of us yet: Les walks to work every day and I work in my slippers (I had toyed around with the idea of renting a spare cubicle downtown—strictly to pick up office babes at the water cooler of course—and now I’m glad I didn’t). I just hope things get ironed out.

Nonetheless, today I need your help and your cash. No, not for me personally—I put up ads to avoid panhandling over the internet. There are other people who really need the money. You see, every Thursday, right down the street from my cheery Central Park abode, the local food pantry distributes necessities to people in the neighborhood. Some of these folks scrape by on minimum wage; some are disabled; some are elderly; many rely on this support to feed their families. This time last year the line of people with their little laundry carts snaked half-way down the block. This year the line stretches all the way down the block and doubles up on itself. Wages are stagnant. Heating costs are up. Rents, as ever, are up. As I strolled by last week with my three dollar cup of coffee, walking in the street to avoid the crush of people, I said to myself this is bullshit.

If New York is a city of unbelievable wealth, it’s also a city of mind-boggling wage disparity, where one in five people lives below the poverty line. The transit workers may have their moments in the spotlight but the urban poor carry on at a fraction of the average transit worker’s wages. They are the untouchables. They are invisible here—you won’t find much coverage in the local press, nor in the local blogs. Poor folks don’t drop a thousand dollars a night in the VIP rooms of clubs like Marquee or Bungalow 8. Unlike the young, pasty-white hipsters in Williamsburg, the poor aren’t doing it for the indie cred. That so many people struggle in isolation reflects poorly on our city and our so-called civilization as a whole. Even the plebs of Roman times had their free bread.

The dead tree version of the Times used to run these little interstitials to fill out their column-inches. Remember the neediest, they might have read. Well, that’s bullshit. How about doing something for a change? So I started a virtual food drive at the New York Food Bank. Feel free to give as much or as little as you want, but please do give something (I already put in some cash but like a dumbass I didn’t link it to the team totals). If you give now it’s almost immediately tax deductible and you’ll be helping one of the many charities whose fund-raising efforts have suffered as a result of all the natural disasters this year. Judging by the amount some of you spend on porn, I know you citizens of internetland are good for it.

A link in the sidebar will be up soon.

More: New York | Transit Strike | Charity | Food Bank

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