Mayor: Feds Should Help Transit; We Already Gave; Tells MTA to Look to Albany

While Mayor Bloomberg Aug. 14 outlined a proposal for a national transportation infrastructure plan dependent on more government funding during a U.S. Conference of Mayors forum on the subject, he reiterated afterwards that the city was in no position to increase funding to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

The Chief-Leader/Michael O'Kane THINKS GLOBALLY, WON'T ACT LOCALLY: At the same time he called for more Federal spending on transportation infrastructure development and improvements nationwide, Mayor Bloomberg held firm that the city won't up its funding to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

Along with a dozen other mayors from around the country, Mr. Bloomberg introduced a national plan at the conference that would increase Federal spending to develop and improve infrastructure, something he likened to public works projects under Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Dwight D. Eisenhower.

'No Money and Not Our Job'

But speaking to reporters during a subsequent press conference at the W Hotel in midtown, the Mayor maintained that the MTA's current budget deficit — which it plans to alleviate through multiple fare hikes, labor cutbacks and other methods — was a problem for Albany, not City Hall.

"We have no money to [help], and it's up to the state government to find other sources," he said.

The Independent Budget Office in a report released that morning said that in terms of operating assistance to New York City Transit, the "city's annual grant matches a state appropriation, and has remained at about $159 million since the mid-1990s." Because of inflation, that represents a significant decrease in both city and state aid to mass transit.

The Mayor said that the city's funding of the subway system was paying off in terms of reducing crime, which he attributed to the work of the Police Department, but noted that this cost would rise due to an arbitrator's decision to substantially raise Police Officer pay.

'Zero Crime Carries a Price'

"There is virtually zero crime by almost any measure on the subways in this day and age," Mr. Bloomberg said. "As you know, our cost for a Police Department has just gone up because of a labor arbitration ruling that is really putting a bigger strain on our budget — an extra billion-dollar deficit just because of that one ruling. We've got quite enough to do to maintain our share of the services."

The IBO report explained that NYC Transit "pays for a small portion of police costs. The city later reimbursed the transit agency about $4.5 million annually."

The Mayor said that a gubernatorial commission headed by former MTA Chairman Richard Ravitch should be the body that addresses the MTA's budget woes.

"He's put together, I think, one of the more impressive groups of people to work together to try to find solutions," he said.