Gov's Plan To Fix MTA: Tax Cut In Suburbs, Tax Hike In City

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This is the kind of important, and complex, news story that affects almost all New Yorkers, in the City and the suburbs.

However, when you turn on your local TV news tonight, the vast bulk (if not all) of the program will be devoted to a close analysis of a topic more attuned to the mindset of a 6-year old - snow.

Our mass media fails us almost as much as our elected representatives.

You clearly don't watch enough NY1.

More like about the snowstorm tomorrow. Seeing Mike and Amber go buy a shovel because well it "never" snows here.

Besides the fact that I don't like the plan, it fails to address the following:

1) How exactly the MTA spends its money, and exactly how lazy, overpaid, and overstaffed the TWU workers are.

2) What the plan will be come 6 months from now when there is inevitably another $400 million shortfall.

*sigh*

There really isn't a big problem with how the MTA spends its money, BUT there is a huge problem in how our elected officials have continuously short changed the MTA and provided it with unsteady revenue streams.

There is a problem with how they spend their money. Every project they start hemorrhages money. Every single blessed project is either delayed or millions over budget-how is that NOT a problem?

Take that up with our good legal system. Just because they're a government agency doesn't mean they can skirt regulation and just what they want. This isn't China.

Every few months, the columns along the platform on my local #6 Spring St. subway stop are (re)painted. Judging from the peeling paint overhead, and the grimy walls all around, it seems to me that the columns really don't need a new shade of "MTA blue" so often. This practice strikes me as some kind of arcane union make-work requirement. Not to mention the application of the paint is so crude and slapdash, you wonder if the workers were drunk when they got out the brushes.

I don't think this is the best use of MTA funds and manpower.

There isn't a big problem with how the MTA spends money? Are you serious?

I'm serious and I'm not gonna type much more about it. Very few people on this board even bother to look at revenue streams for different government agencies before they jump on the "mismanagement" wagon. It doesn't help that elected officials jump on that same wagon AFTER continually underfunding everything other than their own bank accounts. How solvent can you expect something to be if it's constantly being shorted?

Maybe the MTA wouldn't have to worry about being shorted if it didn't keep wasting money. Like the renaming of the Triborough Bridge. What was the point? What did that cost? Like 5 million? The X25 bus from Grand Central to Wall St. What's wrong with the 4,5, 6 lines? 7 agency presidents who I'm sure have all their staffers and perks. That's different from their management where there's also a president and CEO. Why not just have 1 who overseas everything like every other company? The list goes on...

DECADES OF UNDERFUNDING!!!! What is so difficult to understand about that. This system was in shambles when it was purchased from the private sector and fares nor government funding ever increased enough to make up for the shortfall.

Damn. Do you people really think shit happens in a vacuum?

How much could the MTA raise if it increased the subway fares by 25 cents?

I nominate Bloomberg to run Earth.

Why doesn't NYC just withhold all of our money from NYS until all of our bills are paid first? As it is, NYC gives NYS more than we get back. Why don't we just put ourselves first like Albany seems to do for itself?

I don't see the issue with this. Why should the people who live upstate and never use the trains be forced to fund them? The businesses in the city that get the most use out of the rails are the ones that should pay for them.... not businesses in the suburbs that see zero benefit. The entire state isn't beholden to what's good for Manhattan, even though Manhattan thinks it should be.

If you have read other articles on this site, NYC provides a great deal of the money used to run the State of NY. So why exactly should we get taxed more when we already provide so much money for the state? And payroll tax? What does that have to do with the MTA whatsoever? It's not like Tolls/fare increase etc, which affects the user of the MTA directly, but it affects everyone in the city...by payroll, they mean every working stiff gets screwed...how do you like that? I don't.

Why doesn't NYS just withhold the city's water from all the reservoirs upstate until they get their check?

That's our local representatives NOT working for us.

also this:

"Long Island Railroad and MetroNorth costs to operate each rail car for an hour were much higher than the subway"

http://www.r8ny.com/blog/larry_littlefield/fta_2007_operating_cost_data_the_subway_is_cost_effective_but_will_have_to_be_more_so_or_die_with_the_res

Seriously.

So why should Rockland and Orange that get just 1 MTA sponsored NJT rail line, no subway, no buses, pay the same as NYC that has buses, subways, and rail everywhere?

Agreed. Putnam, Dutchess and Nassau counties have a bit more service, but it pales to what NYC has.

It's always the same argument in the city takes the burden from the suburbs or the suburbs take the burden from the city.

Meant to say Suffolk county, not Nassau.

yeeeaaaah, as if the city does not contribute enough to the state's coffers!! c'mon, are we expected to truly believe those extra tax dollars will go to a well oiled, slick and smoothly running MTA? please!

time to secede from the state.

Is this the BOMBshell the NY Times was referring to?

Why would they need to reduce the tax in the suburbs? Why not keep the suburb tax the same, that way they would actually be generating some money, rather than just pushing the funds from the country folk onto the city folk.

A lot of folks in those suburbs use MTA commuter trains to get to their jobs in the City. Those jobs allow those commuters to live in the burbs, and contribute to the health and well being of those burbs (cause there ain't too many jobs happening up there).

I can see the counties in Rockland, Putnam, Suffolk, Orange and Dutchess counties wanting a lower rate. Rockland has what 3 stations? Orange has more stations, but the trains run every 2-3 hours and it's not even a direct ride into Manahattan. Suffolk County the greenpoint line has like 2-3 trains a day.

To be fair the service in most of the suburbs doesn't even come close to what the city has. I don't understand why Westchester and Nassau counties got the lower rate. They have service very similar to the city. With tons of LIRR and MNRR stations, but Long Island Bus. If anything those counties should have the same rate as the city.

Ugh...just raise the darn fare.