Manhattan: Chris Schuyler writes in a Dec. 20 op-ed, “Congestion pricing = accessible transit” that congestion pricing has helped disabled people in the city get around, while also improving the air quality. As someone who lives in the congestion pricing zone, I can only say that congestion pricing has made getting around the city worse. Yes, the MTA may have fixed a few more elevators in the subway stations, but the trains themselves are almost always packed, no matter what time of day I choose to travel. Buses are also far less frequent than they used to be, even at midday or rush hour. When they do come, they’re often just a couple minutes apart and then another 15 or 30 minute wait. They are also usually packed. You’d think with more riders they’d add more buses, but it is just the opposite.

Fewer cars means more bicycles, including the dangerous e-bikes. The cyclists, often ride on the sidewalks, go the wrong way on streets and don’t stop at red lights, even when pedestrians are crossing. As a pedestrian, I feel less safe with all these cyclists. As for less congestion, that’s a joke at least on the East Side. From Third Ave. to the FDR Drive, the traffic is worse than ever. I think of the fumes I’m inhaling when I’m stuck just trying to maneuver my way past idling cars in jammed interactions.

I wish the Daily News would publish an article about the many downsides of congestion pricing for many of the people who live or work in the congestion zone, but I won’t hold my breathe. Miriam Applebaum

Springfield, Ore.: For the ideological sake of denying care for the tiny number of young people who require treatment to support their true genders, President Trump and his minion HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are ready to tank Mount Sinai and NYU Langone Hospitals and many others around the country. They want to stop all Medicare and Medicaid dollars to these medical institutions, critical to New Yorkers and centers of excellence for gender-affirming care.........

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