People

The MTA is still staring down a $10 billion hole in its capital plan, and the consequences of that deficit continue to roll closer. Unless money is found by the end of the year, transit expansions like the Second Avenue Subway will slow down and important maintenance will be left undone. But despite the approaching deadline, no one in Albany seems willing to step up and even begin to tackle the issue.

Remember last month when Council Member Eric Ulrich came out with the idea of creating a complicated new bureaucracy to register and identify New Yorkers who ride bikes, a proposal that would build an expensive and redundant personal identification system on top of our existing ID systems, opening the door to increased harassment of cyclists by law enforcement?

Reactions to Governor Cuomo's proposed budget are beginning to come in. The cuts to transit, which are being pegged at $100 million, are being portrayed as painful, though perhaps not devastating.

Governor Cuomo is coming out with his draft budget today, and some sort of transit funding raid is expected to be included in the package. The press release from his budget office includes these details about MTA funding:

With Governor Cuomo's first executive budget set to be released, tomorrow is an important day for transit riders. We'll find out whether the new governor will continue Albany's practice of stealing dedicated transit funds to plug budget holes elsewhere, try again to reduce the state's meager contribution to student MetroCards to nothing, or decide instead to balance the state's enormous deficit without putting that burden on the still-struggling MTA.

Erik Engquist at Crain's has the good news. Governor Cuomo will keep two widely respected managers at the helm of the MTA and the Port Authority:

Andrew Cuomo continues to leave the door open for cuts or changes to the NYC region's payroll mobility tax, which raises $1.34 billion annually for the MTA. Here's what he had to say about the tax after an event in Poughkeepsie yesterday (at minute 5:00 of the above video):

“By building more and more roads, we have made it almost impossible to solve our transportation problems”

Joan McDonald will serve as the next commissioner of the state Department of Transportation, Governor Cuomo announced this morning (after the General Contractors Association spilled the beans in its own press release praising the pick).