Business Not Minded

Dear Editor:

I’ve concluded that raging against the speed limit in Broad Channel, along with cameras dotting every nook and cranny across the peninsula, is akin to tilting at windmills. For the time being, there is simply nothing we can do about it. But when the government decides it wants to harass its citizens in such a way, is it not also fair for those citizens to demand that the government handle the little things competently?

For example, if you are going to enforce speed limits below the official city limit, it should be obvious that the lights ought to be timed correctly. Instead, you are forced to both drive at a snail’s pace and hit every other red light in the process, resulting in a herky-jerky, stop-and-go motion across the entirety of Broad Channel.

Rockaway is no less deficient when it comes to road conditions. I have to imagine that driving on the roads at the moment is comparable to riding in a horse-drawn carriage in the 18th century. I understand that winter has only just shuffled off, but how long must we wait before potholes the size of bathtubs are mended? And why is it that year after year we face the same issue? Is it the salt air? I’m genuinely asking: how is it that we still don’t have a solution for roads that must be plowed without being destroyed in the process? Is it simply a fact of life that if it snows, we’ll eventually have to repave our entire street system in the spring?

As long as the government is going to insist on sticking its nose into my business, I will insist on it acting with some measure of competence. And if it cannot, then perhaps it should mind its own business.

Gavin Meech