Everyone on the train
In testifying before the Legislature in Albany last Monday, Mayor de Blasio traveled quite a ways. And we don’t mean the 150 miles from City Hall to the Capitol. In speaking before lawmakers, de Blasio moved toward accepting a desperately needed funding plan for the troubled subways by making street-clogging vehicles pay to drive into trafficjammed parts of Manhattan.
Gone is the obstinate rejection of congestion pricing as proposed by Gov. Cuomo’s Fix NYC panel. The mayor even called to move up a key element of that plan, a new surcharge on taxis and Ubers for the MTA. Good and better, Mr. Mayor. The posturing is over. It’s time to make a deal. On Cuomo’s fair call for the city to pay half of the $800 million emergency plan put forth by MTA Chairman Joe Lhota, de Blasio didn’t outright refuse or demand Albany rebate the MTA for past financial finagling. He shifted to: “The city should not be required to pay half” for the short-term.
Note the word “required,” leaving open a voluntary payment, as City Council Speaker Corey Johnson is pulling for. Johnson must use his clout over the city budget to fight for subway money.
On the long-term funding, Fix NYC recommended three steps. One: In 2018, installing sensors and license plate readers, which will take 24 months. Two: In 2019, requiring a fixed surcharge on every taxi and Uber fare that traverses Manhattan south of 96th St. Three: In 2020, imposing a fee on all private vehicles driving south of 60th St.
De Blasio wants Step 2 to begin right away, to get the money flowing now. Excellent, provided that fares in all taxis and green cabs and Ubers and Lyfts and liveries pay the same modest surcharge, and provided it only applies to the Manhattan zone.
On the big enchilada, assessing a fee on private vehicles entering Manhattan, all of de Blasio’s objections have been satisfied.
He said he didn’t want tolls on the East River bridges. Check. He wants all the money just for transit in a locked farebox. Check and check.
He wants City Hall’s say-so on transit projects. Check. He wants accommodations for the poor and people with disabilities. Check and check.
In this new era of good feelings, Cuomo should agree to modify a budget measure letting the MTA collect a slice of city property tax when a transit project boosts a neighborhood’s value. Value capture can work, but the city must be fully onboard from the start.
And he should stand down on language that puts all of the subway’s capital needs on the city’s ledger, which he says is just a reiteration of a 1953 deal. The state is primarily responsible for running the trains.
Finally, a new Regional Plan Association report on exorbitant overruns on big projects should get Lhota on the stick to finish his own study on controlling costs.
Labor and the construction industry might howl, but never mind. The public needs to see that its money will be well spent — especially if it’s being asked to pony up more.