Skip to Content
Streetsblog Empire State home
Streetsblog Empire State home
Log In
Carl Kruger

MTA Doomsday Hotline: How to Reach Your State Senator

10:17 AM EDT on March 25, 2009

    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.

    For an extra jolt, read this statehouse dispatch from Politicker's Jimmy Vielkind, which includes the following exchange with Fare Hike Four member Carl Kruger about the MTA rescue:

    "Did you read the New York Times today?" He said. "There's going to be a fare increase regardless of whose plan we take."

    "What are their numbers? What's their plan?" Kruger continued. Glenn Blain from the Daily News said their plan was Ravitch.

    "They said they needed $5 tolls to finance their plan, now they saidthey can do it with $2. Maybe they can do it with a dollar. Maybe theycan do it with none. They have zero credibility. Zero."

    This from a Finance Committee chair whose alternative "plan" was branded "silly and probably illegal."

    Stay in touch

    Sign up for our free newsletter

    More from Streetsblog Empire State

    Friday Headlines: Bus Pilot Redux Edition

    An outgoing lawmaker has big plans for buses. And more news.

    March 13, 2026

    Hired Actors, Paid Media: Big Tech Has Already Dumped $8M Into Hochul’s Car Insurance Ploy

    Buckets of cash and ads with professional actors are boosting Uber and Hochul's cause.

    March 13, 2026

    New MTA Accessibility Advisory Panel Guidelines Bar Members from ADA Lawsuits

    Disability justice advocates the Advisory Committee for Transit Accessibility accused the MTA of marginalizing the panel, which ex-transit boss Andy Byford created in 2019.

    March 13, 2026

    MTA Demands Albany Deal With Toll Evasion Already

    A new analysis of toll evasion found that the amount of money owed by drivers who don't pay paper toll invoices has more than doubled since 2022, from $147 million in unpaid tolls to nearly $350 million.

    March 12, 2026

    Hochul’s Car Insurance Plan Blows Fraud Way Out Of Proportion: Stats

    Gov. Hochul's proposal to lower car insurance premiums is built on suspected fraud. But a body of evidence reveals that there really is very little.

    Thursday Headlines: Train Meets Canal Edition

    Upstate New York needs high speed rail. And more news.

    March 12, 2026
    See all posts