Ben Fried

Yesterday, after bridge tolls were officially ruled dead and before the latest breakdown in MTA rescue talks, the Working Families Party sent out an alert that its "Halt the Hike" campaign is back in full swing. In an email exchange with WFP spokesman Dan Levitan, I asked why, given the big income disparities between car commuters and transit riders, the party waited so long to join the fray. Does the Working Families Party oppose bridge tolls and road pricing? He wrote back:

The Fare Hike Four have absorbed most of the fire from advocates and editorial boards for derailing the Ravitch plan, and rightfully so. But by calling so much attention to themselves, they've also given cover to other members of the State Senate. So, what does the rest of the Senate majority have to say? Here's what Brooklyn's Velmanette Montgomery, re-elected on the Democratic and Working Families Party ballot lines in 2008 (with more than 96 percent of the vote), told her constituents:

If state legislators don't act to undo the outcome of today's MTA Board meeting, it would mark the second straight year that fares have gone up, which is already a departure from the norm. And it's going to get worse, say Gene Russianoff and the Straphangers Campaign:

If you're having a "mad as hell" kind of morning and want to channel your frustration over imminent doomsday fare hikes and service cuts, here's where you can track down the number for your state senator's Albany office. Those in the Union Square area can also drop by Transportation Alternatives' phone-a-thon, which will be going on until noon at the south end of the park.

Last week, some of the biggest unions in New York came out in favor of the Ravitch Commission's MTA rescue plan, including the bridge tolls that a handful of state senators refuse to support. So, what is the stance of the Working Families Party, which is closely aligned with labor? Founded in 1998, the WFP is a growing force in city and state politics. Its endorsement, and the ballot line that comes with it, has become a sought-after electoral commodity. In the current round of state budget talks, the party is widely credited for advancing higher taxes on wealthy New Yorkers, now viewed as all but inevitable.

This vid from Transportation Alternatives is a little loopy, perhaps a commentary on the State Senate's deranged MTA rescue plan -- the one riddled with faulty accounting that the Fare Hike Four were so pleased to unveil last week.

The Daily News published an op-ed today that highlights the broad coalition of labor unions, business interests, good government groups, transportation advocates and neighborhood activists who want Albany to adopt the Ravitch Commission's MTA rescue plan.

If you're the sort of person who just can't resist unscientific internet polls (and I am), there are a couple of good ones about the current state of MTA rescue talks. In NY1's who-to-blame poll, ineffectual Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith was getting off scot-free as of about 4:30 this afternoon:

If you're tracking the progress of MTA rescue talks, Jimmy Vielkind's Albany dispatches at the Politicker are a must-read. I had to highlight this exchange he had yesterday with Fare Hike Four member Pedro Espada, Jr., which pretty much sums up the current predicament:

Hat tip to Liz Benjamin at the Daily Politics for this snapshot of four state senators who’ve helped concoct a stopgap, toll-less MTA funding plan that does nothing to address the imminent decline of New York’s transit system. Lest they be accused of completely shortchanging the future, they say maintenance and expansion can be taken … Continued