BLAZ TO GOV: IT’S YOUR JOB TO FIX SUBWAY
DERAIL. DELAY. DEFLECT.
Mayor de Blasio took to the rails on Sunday and urged Gov. Cuomo to “take responsibility” for fixing the subway. And Hizzoner said the city has no plans to kick in more cash.
“The MTA is responsible for the New York City subways,” de Blasio said, as he rode an F train to a campaign event in downtown Brooklyn. “It’s been that way for decades. The State of New York is responsible.”
De Blasio spoke out after Cuomo and the MTA chairman he appointed, Joe Lhota, claimed Thursday that a decades-old law makes the city solely responsible for funding the subway’s capital plan, even though the state has for years primarily funded the plan.
The mayor also claimed the state treats the transit authority like a “piggy bank.”
The current capital plan includes $8 billion pledged by the state and $2.5 billion from the city. Cuomo, who controls the MTA, said the state picked up the tab out of “moral” obligation.
De Blasio said Cuomo has offered no clear plan to fix the aging system.
“He needs to take responsibility. That’s the simple answer,” he said. “Give us a plan and fix the problem.”
Cuomo declared a state of emergency for the MTA on June 29 and vowed to add another $1 billion to the capital plan. He gave Lhota 30 days to put together a reorganization plan. And Lhota’s been tasked with prioritizing the MTA’s capital plan within 60 days.
The emergency declaration came days after a subway derailed in Harlem, injuring more than 30 people.
“What we need is leadership, not photo ops,” Lhota told the Daily News on Sunday. “The mayor’s comments today were completely disingenuous, knowing that the MTA is set to present its 30-day overhaul plan this week. We know we have a problem, and our job now is to fix it.”
The mayor charged the MTA’s money woes come not from underfunding by the city, but from the failure to efficiently spend the money it already has — in addition to state raids on its budget. “The State of New York has used the MTA as a piggy bank. They’ve taken almost half a billion dollars in money out of the MTA to use for the state fund,” de Blasio said. “That money needs to come back to the MTA so it can be used for the needs of everyday riders.”
De Blasio added that the MTA has not used 90% of the $2.5 billion the city put up for the capital plan.
“Read my lips — they’re not spending the money they have. They’re not spending it on the right things. Spend it on a signal, spend it on a new train, spend it on the electronics, spend it on more maintenance,” de Blasio said.
Lhota said the state has boosted funds for the troubled transit system.
“Since 2010, state operating aid to the MTA has increased by $940 million, or 23%, and its capital aid has increased more than $9 billion, or 350%, over the previous four plans combined,” he said.
The subway system is owned by the city, but leased to the MTA, which operates it. Cuomo and Lhota last week cited New York City Transit’s 1953 lease agreement with the city. That document says the city is on the hook for $5 million a year, a figure its contributions now far exceed.
De Blasio said he was surprised at the comments by Lhota, whom he defeated in the 2013 mayoral race.
“I’ve never heard anyone say that the city has an obligation,” he said. “There is no obligation.”