MTA Hired Many To Oversee Projects, Despite Delays And Costs

from Daniella Zalcman's flickr

As MTA megaprojects including the Second Avenue Subway and the 7 train expansion have fallen behind schedule and gone up in cost, salaries and staff at the department in charge of overseeing such projects have increased for five years straight. Under the guidance of the MTA Capital Construction department, the price of major developments has surged and setbacks have become commonplace—yet the department has grown from 39 employees in 2004 to 151 in 2009, and its payroll has ballooned by $10.6 million.

According to the Post, the department has increased in cost and size while the completion date for the long-planned Second Avenue subway line has been delayed to 2017, and the proposed extension of the Q line to 125th Street has been pushed from 2012 to 2015. Meanwhile, the cost of connecting LIRR trains to Grand Central Terminal has surged by $800 million, the Fulton Street Transit Center has reportedly gone over budget by as much as 90 percent, and the extension of the 7 train has increased in cost and been delayed from 2013 to 2014.

The cash-strapped agency—which is considering widespread service cuts and facing a deficit of about $400 million—says that under the approved budget for 2010, payroll at the MTA Capital Construction department was decreased by $1.5 million and the number of employees was cut by 21. "Stringent financial-control measures were put in place to keep expenses within the limited funding," said an agency spokesman. But transit activists like Gene Russianoff of the Straphangers Campaign say the situation at the MTA Capital Construction department is emblematic of agency-wide problems. "You just can't have bloated payrolls while you are proposing transit cuts for millions of riders."

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By Ben Muessig in News on February 8, 2010 11:55 AM

Comments [rss]

drloosen

Why is the 7 Extension being built, anyway?

whitecastlerock

His royal majesty wanted it...

GalBklyn

I am upset. $10 million dollar increase in payroll over the past five years and they want to cut the rides of children and retirees? They think that cutting 21 jobs is sufficient? The private sector is still cutting jobs to deal with the market downturn. What world is the MTA living in?

I saw the listing of salaries - and it is unbelievable how many MTA employees make over $165K. That and the way in which they got themselves into this mess - by investing in financial instruments they did not understand. This is a public agency whose sole duty is to serve the public. Guess they didn't get the memo.

Time for the our State Senate and Assembly to hold hearings on the factors that led to the shortfall and the individuals and policies responsible for it. It's time for some accountability before they get any more tax dollars or hit the public with the effects of their incredibly poor management skills.

Eugene

Yeah, because Albany had been doing a bang up job fulfilling their obligations--been following Gothamist at all lately? Gimme a break, crap like this permeates society at every level. Unless you're ready to pick up arms and reset this country, you should just quiet down and go back to your dead end 9-5, fast food, and latest electronic gadgets.

Ph

Until any of us see a breakdown of what people were hired and for what jobs, all the hand wringing that's going to go on in this thread will be amusing to say the least.

Don't forget to scoff at the notion that building several miles of underground tunnel beneath one of the most densely developed and populated cities on earth would take more than around 40 people.

longacre

In this case it might be legit, but they've been adding dozens of executive level positions in all branches of the MTA for several years, LIRR being one of the more egregious examples. Supposedly these people are hired to improve management, yet service goes downhill and no one is quite sure what all those people do.

WesleySnipesAlot

Has anyone else become so used to MTA bloat and mismanagement that stuff like this doesn't even faze them anymore? It's like being in on the front too long, you just get that thousand mile stare.