Councilman: Sell MTA Midtown HQ Before Raising Transit Fare

By ARI PAUL

A Queens City Councilman June 15 called on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to sell its midtown headquarters to address its budget woes rather than raise fares once again.

ERIC GIOIA: Sell the building, hold the fare.

Councilman Eric Gioia said that the MTA's 20-story headquarters at 347 Madison Ave. was valued at more than $200 million, and that proceeds from a building sale would help the authority avoid raising fares again, which it threatened to do earlier this month. Earlier this year, it raised the price of monthly and 14-day Metrocards.

'Who Needs MTA in Midtown?'

"New York's hard-working middle class need to know they are getting something back for the constant fare hikes - thus far they've received none," Councilman Gioia said in a statement after a press conference outside the building. "In this time of rising gas prices--with some pumps across the city over five dollars a gallon - our public transportation system is even more important. There is no reason why the agency's headquarters need to be in midtown Manhattan on some of the most valuable real estate in the entire world."

The MTA admitted earlier this year that falling profits on Wall Street and reduced revenue from real-estate taxes have drained its funding, causing it to force constituent agencies to reduce their budgets and to ask unions for givebacks when their contracts come up for negotiation in addition to raising subway and bus fares.

"The MTA has assessed its real-estate assets and sold a number of properties to support public transportation, including the billion dollar sale of the west side yards," said MTA spokesman Jeremy Soffin in an e-mail. "Just as importantly, we are cutting costs by 6 percent, consolidating back-office functions and integrating our bus companies to save money. We do not have plans to sell office buildings currently required for MTA use."