Opinion: Email from Mark Pine to the NYPD Transit Precincts. June 21, 2022.
Greetings NYPD Transit Police,
https://www1.nyc.gov/site/nypd/bureaus/transit-housing/transit.page
I’m a civilian.
I have been living in the street homeless for the past five years.
I don’t drink.
I don’t smoke.
I don’t party.
I don’t have a criminal record.
Some people I grew up with paid various law enforcement to sabotage my web marketing clients and now I’m homeless.
It’s that simple.
I have my issues with law enforcement but not NYPD Patrol Police.
Even though sometimes the higher ranking law enforcement has NYPD Patrol Police try and crash into me and pick fights with me, I don’t fall for it.
I’m not trying to make a bad situation worse.
People I know also had a bunch of women in their teens, twenties, and thirties try to “hook up” with me to set me up, I didn’t fall for that either.
They have people try and pick fights with me all day long.
Plus they have people blow weed smoke in my face ten times per day and then shove their phones in my face.
I have received so many tickets in the New York City subway I have lost count.
I have also received tickets riding a bicycle and on New York City buses.
I’m not exaggerating, if I had to guess I’ve received about $3,000 in tickets.
Thankfully I was able to pay them all except for one because of my student loans. I have a $100 ticket left to pay and that’s it.
I’m a full-time student at Baruch College.
You don’t hear about street homeless people like that too often.
I’m living in the street as a full time student at The City University of New York / Baruch College.
I’m a journalism major.
In my spare time I’m trying to launch startups.
I’m cold calling hedge funds asking for money while living in the street homeless.
If that isn’t never give up, I don’t know what is.
I read that NYPD transit cops now have to work in the subway alone without a partner.
https://abc7ny.com/nypd-subway-crime-transit-patrols-eric-adams/11984951/
In my opinion, that is the worst policy I have ever heard in my whole life.
In my opinion, the NYPD is doing a good job with keeping Manhattan safe.
I’m not sure about the other boroughs because I’m not there.
I just read that the yearly budget for New York City is about $100 billion.
In my opinion, there should be security cameras and panic buttons inside of every subway car.
Patrol Police should travel at least two at a time or more.
NYPD Transit Police traveling by themselves is a bad idea.
Sometimes I feel like people are purposely trying to run New York City into the ground.
A real money manager could do a lot better with $100 billion than the current leadership of New York City is doing.
I believe that anyone working in law enforcement in New York City that carries a weapon should earn a starting salary of $150 thousand per year.
I believe that New York City should incentivize developers to create more high rises in Queens and offer New York City employees the opportunity to live in the city for below market rents.
How the hell are you going to ask someone to protect a city they can’t afford to live in?
It makes no sense.
Regardless of what is going on, I always treat all NYPD Patrol Police with the utmost respect at all times.
Do I think that people I know pay the top law enforcement in New York to harass me? Yes.
Do I blame NYPD Patrol Police for that? No.
Thank you for keeping us safe while the city is being run haphazardly.
Sincerely,
Mark Pine