Missing From the MTA Board: New York City
Last June, with only a few weeks before the end of the 2015 New York State legislative session, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio nominated three fresh faces for the MTA Board of Directors, which were submitted to the State Senate for confirmation by Governor Andrew Cuomo. Within two weeks, the Senate voted to confirm one […]
Earth to the Region’s Leaders: Invest in Transit, Not Pipe Dreams
Following the Paris Agreement negotiations last year, leaders from around the globe will meet Friday in New York to memorialize a commitment to limit global temperature rise to 2°C by 2100. Since the Paris Agreement is a national-level commitment, subnational governments have created the Under 2 MOU, where they commit to making drastic greenhouse gas emission reductions. In […]
Earth to Governor Cuomo: Climate Change Heroes Don’t Encourage People to Drive
This Friday, April 22, will mark the 46th anniversary of the first Earth Day celebrations. On that day, the United States and China–who together emit a staggering 40 percent of global greenhouse gases–will sign and join the Paris Climate Agreement along with more 130 nations. It’s a critical step to reign in rising global temperatures within the 2°C mark–an increasingly elusive goal […]
MTA vs. New Jersey: Who Runs Out of Money First?
We’ve known for some time that New Jersey’s Transportation Trust Fund is running on empty and will become completely insolvent on July 1 — just 100 days from now. But it turns out the Garden State is not alone in its fiscal hard times. Gothamist reports: MTA Chairman Tom Prendergast told reporters on Wednesday that unless the State budget is finalized […]
NYC Independent Budget Office: Governor Cuomo’s MTA Funding Plan Is Shrouded in Ambiguity
New York City’s widely-respected Independent Budget Office (IBO) has weighed in on the funding plan for the MTA capital program offered in Governor Cuomo’s Executive Budget, and the verdict is not good. Despite a record commitment of funds, the key points of concern include the fact that the governor doesn’t specify the source of funds doesn’t specify […]
Looking Beyond the First Giant Step of the MTA Capital Plan Deal
This past weekend brought a collective sigh of relief to the New York metropolitan region. The “deal” brokered between Governor Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio will provide the transit system with a $26.1 billion investment in the 2015-2019 capital program. While substantially less than the $29 billion initially identified by the MTA as the floor funding need, once signed this agreement will […]
Former MTA Chairman Ravitch is Candid on Capital Plan, Calls for City and State to Work Together
Former New York Lieutenant Governor and MTA Chairman Richard Ravitch appeared on NY1’s Inside City Hall with Errol Louis last week to talk about the MTA capital plan. The full video is available here, but there were a few snippets in particular that were worth sharing: (1:28) “Historically, the State of New York has been responsible for designing the […]