City's Quid Pro Quo with MTA Over West Side

The MTA's board has revealed that the city will only fund the 7 line extension if the MTA approves its $500 million offer for the West Side railyards. And amNew York puts this on its cover, "The No. 7 Switch." This comes as the Mayor's previous statements indicated the project would happen somehow, so the lesson is "If it sounds good, there are strings attached." Still, the MTA's board seems surprised that the city is basically reneging on its word and making the expansion contingent on the West Side railyards deal, but they should talk to their chaiman, Peter Kalikow, who told reporters, "My mom says that if a guy is giving you $2 billion dollars. You should at least offer him a cup of coffee and sponge cake," which we think is a reference to Kalikow okaying the city's $500 million West Side railyard offer, though appraisers think it's worth $400+ million more than that.

Here are the MTA's 7 line extension plans. And all this "Will the 7 line extend or not?" fuss reminds us of last year. We say the 7 line's extension might be settled by the end of Bloomberg's term, but who knows?

Photograph from akbarsjah on Flickr