MTA

This is rich. When Mayor Bill de Blasio told the Daily News he's wary of upping the city's contribution to the MTA capital program because Governor Andrew Cuomo has repeatedly raided dedicated transit funds, MTA Chair Tom Prendergast said don't worry, you can trust the governor:

On Friday, MTA Chair Tom Prendergast used the occasion of a G train derailment to badger Bill de Blasio about upping the city's contribution to the MTA capital program. His statement resembled the reaction from the TWU, beneficiaries of generous contract terms bestowed by Governor Andrew Cuomo last year. Prendergast delivered the same message on Sunday at the opening of the 7 train station on the far West Side.

Andrew Cuomo styles himself as a guy who gets stuff done. That's what muscling through the Tappan Zee Bridge double-span boondoggle and the multi-billion dollar LaGuardia renovation is all about. But when reporters ask Cuomo about funding transit by putting a price on NYC's free bridges, he likes to portray himself as a helpless bystander, stymied by politics.

Yesterday on WCNY's "Capitol Pressroom," Susan Arbetter hosted Governor Andrew Cuomo for a discussion of the MTA capital program. Lately, the governor has been pushing City Hall to fund a greater share of the authority's investment plan. Arbetter, pressing the governor, asked a simple question: "Isn't the MTA a state entity?"

In 1981, then-MTA Chair Richard Ravitch wrote to Governor Hugh Carey, pleading for action "to meet the increasingly desperate situation of public transit in New York." Carey responded by moving a suite of measures through Albany that led to the MTA's first five-year capital program. Investments made through the capital program brought the transit system back from the brink, leading to vast improvements in reliability and convenience, and the city flourished.

As the end approaches for the Albany legislative session, things are looking bleak for New York City transit riders. With no action from Governor Cuomo to close the $14 billion gap in the MTA capital program, the burden will end up falling on straphangers in the form of greater debt and higher fares.

Comptroller Scott Stringer came out with a big report yesterday about how New York City contributes more to the MTA than you might think. Add up all the fares, tolls, dedicated taxes, and public funding that originate from the city, and it comes out to $10.1 billion per year.

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