As reported widely, the MTA has changed its tune on subway barriers, from "NO WAY, IT IS IMPOSSIBLE!!!" Congratulations!!!You and I have done it together! Make no mistake about it: We can "fight City Hall" and win. Not so long ago, I attended the sad vigil for Michelle Go, after she tragically lost her life at the Times Square subway station. I was so upset and moved that I was motivated to do something, so I started this Change.org petition. This became my life for a solid month, getting more and more signatures on this petition and talking to elected officials to get the MTA to put in subway barriers, which you and I know ARE a fixture in so many subway systems all over the world, and work! Believe me, I had recently retired after 25 years as a judge, and was not looking for another full-time job. But, like you, I was concerned about safety when taking the subway, and for my friends and family. Like you, I wanted to do SOMETHING to change things. As an ordinary New Yorker, I truly wanted to make this City better by doing something to make it safer. I am so happy that you joined me in changing things. Your signature, and the sharing of the petition, and the emails you sent made the difference! I was able to show every elected official that I chased after, every elected official or trusted aide that spoke to, that over 63,000 New Yorkers wanted this done! Thank you to the elected officials who exhibited leadership on this issue including: Mayor Adams, Governor Hochul, Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine and the Manhattan legislative delegation, Congress Members Grace Meng and Jerrold Nadler, and Senator Schumer. I am hopeful that this is just the beginning! A special thanks to change.org and its great Mimi Diallo, who strongly supported this effort. Thank you to all my friends who shared this petition and cheered this effort. You all are the best! So give yourselves a pat on the back! For New York City to become better, we all need to vote, roll up our sleeves and have our voices heard. I have been urged to continue to focus on the safety of all New Yorkers. I will seriously think about it. I do know this. In a divisive world, the issue of safety unites every group. And we can get more done if we join together on these issues that we can all agree on. We must never forget that each one of us has a right to be safe, to walk the streets, go to school and our jobs and take public transportation in safety. We must never forget that and think that living in fear is our new "normal". #safetyforallNewYorkers is a goal we must all work towards. In the meantime, I will be continuing my volunteer work helping Council for Unity. For those of you who are interested in making sure that kids in public schools stay safe and excel academically, I urge you to go to www.councilforunity.org and join me. Throughout this campaign, I signed the updates with "Just an Ordinary New Yorker", because that is who I am. Unfortunately, and sadly, some tried to take credit for this campaign, for their own agenda. I did not do this campaign to get "credit" but it is not right that others try to take credit for what you and I did, for their own agenda, so for the first time, in this last update, I will sign my real name. So my fellow concerned New Yorker, I thank you again for your help! Never doubt your power to change things! You proved it here, with me. Signed, Doris Ling-Cohan 999dlc@gmail.com aka "Just an Ordinary New Yorker" #rememberMichelleGo #subwaysafety #subwaybarriers #MTAworksForUS #stopallhate