7:52 PM news By Sheila Anne Feeney Commuter crusader Gene Russianoff offers unexpected Rx to fix NYC

Photo credit: Photo courtesy of Gene Russianoff

Gene Russianoff, 58, the staff lawyer and public face of the New York Public Interest Research Group's Straphangers Campaign, lives with his wife, Pauline Toole, and their daughters, Jennie, 15 and Natalie, 13 in a Park Slope townhouse that they bought "seconds before it became impossible."

Q: We always ask, "what would you most like to see changed or accomplished in NYC?" You must have a great suggestion on how to improve public transportation!

A: The most important thing NYC needs is better schools. Im a parent before Im anything else and while my family has been lucky, the majority of schools are not what they should be. Schools need more resources - smaller class size, arts and music teaching and better teacher training. NYPIRG is a college-directed organization and students who can lead, create and think are the future for solving all our problems, including transit problems. It's an ugly word these days, but we may need higher taxes for this. In exchange we should be able to demand some kind of accountability.

Q: What do you think about the Albany bill that would ban eating in the subway?

A: Its not enforceable or practical. Is fried chicken not okay but Oreos from the newsstand permissible? Is there a constitutional difference between KFC and licorice? The MTA already has the arsenal it needs in the litter laws, but some responsibility rests with riders, too. If you see people littering, you should say something. We need to express community unhappiness with people who litter.

Q: How do you spend your 21-minute commute from Park Slope to City Hall on the R Train?

A: It's sacrosanct to me to read newspapers in the morning because it's the only time of day I'm not interrupted with phone calls. On the way back, I read short snippets of whatever novel I'm on in my book club. We just read "The Sense of an Ending" by Julian Barnes, which is all about how people remember themselves and how they really are, which I recommend. There's a great line in there "history is the intersection of diminished memory and faulty documentation."

Q: And how do you want history to remember you?

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Commuter crusader Gene Russianoff offers unexpected Rx to fix NYC

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