New York CIty Council Member Ben Kallos

Transportation

<a href="http://www.mta.info/nyct/index.html&quot; target="_BLANK"><strong>New York City Transit</strong></a>&nbsp;is the life blood of New York City, moving more than&nbsp;<a href="http://www.mta.info/mta/ind-perform/per-nyct.htm&quot; target="_BLANK"><strong>187.9 million</strong></a>&nbsp;passengers per month. However, the Lexington Avenue Subway Line is currently over 150% of capacity. As the City grows we must improve capacity and investigate transportation alternatives. We must find alternative transportation routes for residents of Roosevelt Island by modifying current subway service, trams, ferries, and even building additional subway stations.<br><br>While we are building any improvements, including the long overdue Second Avenue Subway, we must make sure that the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.mta.info/&quot; target="_blank"><strong>Metropolitan Transportation Authority</strong></a>&nbsp;(<a href="http://www.mta.info/&quot; target="_blank"><strong>MTA</strong></a>) is&nbsp;<strong>transparent</strong>&nbsp;by making its construction plans available to the people,&nbsp;<strong>open</strong>&nbsp;to review and suggestions from the community, and&nbsp;<strong>accountable</strong>&nbsp;should final decisions be made by the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.mta.info/&quot; target="_blank"><strong>MTA</strong></a>&nbsp;without public comment.<br><br>While the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.nyc.gov/mayor/&quot; target="_BLANK"><strong>Mayor</strong></a>'s&nbsp;<a href="http://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/congestionpricing/index.htm&quot; target="_BLANK"><strong>Congestion Pricing</strong></a>&nbsp;plan may not have been enacted, it is important not to let a greener New York fall by the wayside. As your City Council member I will work with you to implement initiatives that preserve our environment, improve transportation and make New York City a clean, affordable, and accessible place to live.

StreetsBlog City Council Candidates on the Issues: Ben Kallos, District 5 by Stephen Miller

City Council Candidates on the Issues: Ben Kallos, District 5

We continue our series on City Council candidates with a Q&A with government transparency advocate Ben Kallos, who’s running to represent District 5 in Yorkville, Roosevelt Island, and the Upper East Side. Yesterday, we ran a Q&A with Republican candidate David Garland.

NBC News 4 New York Bring Back Our Booths Petitions on Upper East Side with Ben Kallos for City Council by Chuck Scarborough

Bring Back Our Booths Petitions on Upper East Side with Ben Kallos for City Council

Some Upper East Side strap hangers say the MTA made a big mistake when it stripped their subway station of its manned booths. They say crime has increased at the uptown 86th Street station and vandals are damaging metro card machines and they are causing them to malfunction. Community leaders have started a Bring Back Our Booths petition demanding the MTA stop removing booths and agents.