Gov: Not my fault MTA is ‘waste’ land

ALBANY — Gov. Cuomo on Monday said he opposes a mass transit fare hike the MTA announced last week it is considering.

Cuomo, during an interview on WNYC's “The Brian Lehrer Show,” said the MTA needs to first address financial waste within the system.

“I'm against the fare increase,” he said. “The MTA's first job is to look within. There is waste. There is inefficiency that currently goes on at the MTA that has to end. Period.”

Cuomo also reiterated his call for enactment of a congestion pricing plan that he said would create a permanent funding source for the cash-strapped agency.

Citing ballooning deficits, the MTA last week said it would need to raise fares in March for the first time since 2015. The agency outlined two different plans for subway and bus riders.

Fares would also go up for Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North riders.

Cuomo was asked by Lehrer why there is still waste and inefficiency after his eight years of controlling the MTA board, a notion with which the governor took exception.

Saying he has only six of the 16 board appointments — including the chairman — Cuomo insisted he does not control the body.

He called the MTA “the quintessential bureaucracy” that needs to be restructured “from the board down.”

An MTA spokesman declined comment.

The Governor again threw cold water on Mayor de Blasio's call to hike taxes on the wealthy to pay for needed subway improvements.