Both our governor and mayor need to place public service above political gain to save our mass transit system.

Charging drivers more could provide much-needed funding for public transit, while reducing traffic and making Manhattan a better place to live and work.

On New Year’s Day 2017, the impossible took place and the first phase of a new Second Avenue subway line in New York City was finally opened. Governor Cuomo demonstrated what visible, positive public leadership could accomplish.

The climate crisis and the extreme weather it brings will get worse before it gets better, and New York City’s very survival depends on our ability to finally respond to the climate adaptation crisis before us.

Disaster experts around the Columbia Climate School are available to answer questions from the media about hurricane physics, the role of climate change in creating strong storms, and more.

Let’s teach and learn humility, spirituality, and a reverence for the miraculous planet we have been given and must preserve for those who follow us.

Scientists are uncovering centuries of climate data and human history from giant old timbers saved from demolished structures.

It would be terrific if the next mayor leveled with us and recruited all New Yorkers to be part of a real effort at community building. Perhaps we might finally respond to this tale of two cities, and lift all of the city’s children out of poverty.

We should also be ready for a time when hands can be shaken and hugs can be given, and our tactile, social species is able once again to exhale.

Our human need for social interaction will influence our calculus and my hope is that when normal life resumes, we never again take it for granted.