An open letter to City Councilman John Liu:
I offer you my hearty congratulations on your victories in the primary and runoff elections for city comptroller. I am confident you will continue to be a major contribution to our city and its people in your next elected office.
I also want to commend you for the positive remarks you made regarding the No. 7 train line manager (“Subway line managers make a difference: MTA,” Jackson Heights Times, Oct. 1).
So often public officials make hay with voters by criticizing government operations, so it really stands out when one such as you gives thanks for things done well.
I lived through the horrors of the 1970s and ’80s riding trains that often broke down or were crawling behind one being taken out of service, not to mention the graffiti all over the cars and walls of subway stations.
Today, as new cars come into service on the E and F lines in Queens, it is a pleasure to ride the subway. For example, I can count on getting from Jackson Heights to midtown Manhattan in about 10 minutes, platform to platform. Were it not for the river, it would be as though I lived in the center of the city.
True, the fare is high, but we continue to get value for the MetroCard we buy. It pays for the improvements put in place in the 1990s, which continue in this first decade of the 21st century and will continue with your oversight in the coming decade.
John Moran
Jackson Heights
