By TOM NAMAKO, NY Post
December 31, 2009
The state last night rejected the MTA's $28 billion budget for big-ticket transit projects like the Second Avenue Subway, sending agency officials back to the drawing board.
The two sticking points were a $10 billion funding gap in the plan, and the fact that the budget to finance upstate roads and bridges hasn't been finished yet.
Gov. Paterson's representative on the four-person board that oversees capital budgets, state Transportation Commissioner Stanley Gee, cast the sole "no" vote. But under MTA rules, his veto is enough to sink the plan.
6 comments:
Prepare for yet another fare hike and service cuts.
I say the second Ave subway is a luxury in these bad times. Let the construction stop and reallocate the money to subsidy the fare from being increased.
The second Ave subway is 40 years in the making and has not been missed or protested for by any group except those who live on the shores of the East River and wish to walk 2 block less than they do now to access the Lexington Ave. lines. No economic benefit is foreseen to be derived from continuing with this project at present. Pick up construction where left off in good times if ever to be seen again.
The Second Ave Subway is actually 80+ years in the making. If you've ever ridden the 6 train at rush hour, you wouldn't be calling its construction a luxury. More people ride the Lexington Ave line in a day than Boston's, DC's, and Chicago's entire systems COMBINED. It won't just be a benefit to residents of the Upper East Side, but to everyone who rides the subway.
If they could build the whole IND in the darkest depths of the depression, they sure as hell should be able to build 2 miles of new track today. We shouldn't have to sacrifice capital improvements to pay for operating costs. I wish the City, State, and MTA could get their acts together.
You can thank the MTA's sweetheart deals for developers for the mess.
Hey lets shout down the 9 express train on the west side and let everyone be local...If you ever did live on the east side the 2nd ave subway is a must so raise the fares another quarter...and get the damn subway built....
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you wouldn't be calling its construction a luxury.
Agree. We are short on cash. We waited 80 years for a secnd ave subway it can wait a little longer.
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