Officials Worry MTA Budget Puts Subways On 'Chopping Block'

NEW YORK, NY — The MTA Board approved a $16.1 billion 2018 budget plan Wednesday over some members' objections to a provision that they say could hamstring efforts to fix New York City's ailing subway system.

In adopting the budget, the board empowered MTA staff to "recommend necessary changes" to Chairman Joe Lhota's $836 million Subway Action Plan so that it will "match available funding."

Lhota launched the action plan in July to stabilize the subway system amid a year of sometimes catastrophic accidents and delays. The plan calls for the state and city to each cover half the cost. Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who controls the MTA, has said the state will pay its half, while Mayor Bill de Blasio has resisted, saying the state should pony up more money.

De Blasio's four appointees to the MTA board said it's unfair that the Subway Action Plan would be first in line for possible cuts, given the subways' dire need for upgrades. So far the plan has boosted track-cleaning efforts and made repairs at stations, among other improvements.

"I just don’t agree with the contention that the subway action plan should be the only thing on the chopping block if we find ourselves, as I think we will, having to navigate some difficult fiscal waters," said board member Polly Trottenberg, a mayoral appointee who's also de Blasio's transportation commissioner.

The MTA faces lower fare revenues and uncertainty in the city, state and federal budgets, board members said. Trottenberg and others who voted against the budget called for MTA officials to determine where else they could save money to avoid compromising the action plan.

Lhota, a Cuomo appointee, rebuffed the idea that the plan would get cut. The work would still get done if the budget hits a snag, but would move at a slower pace, he said.

The board would also have final say over any changes that MTA staff recommend as necessary.

"Nothing in this budget is on the chopping block," Lhota said. "Incendiary words like that don’t help the discussion that we’re having."

Finding other ways to save money is an option, Lhota said, "but not one that I'm prepared to play out." He's already scaled back the pace of the plan due to budget constraints, he said.

Some Cuomo-allied board members said there wouldn't be any concern about funding the Subway Action Plan if the city would simply pay for its half.

De Blasio's appointees should find alternative cuts or revenue sources themselves if they're concerned about preserving the Subway Action Plan, some board members argued.

"To simply say we can’t do this because we can’t do this, that’s not good enough for me," said Fernando Ferrer, a Cuomo appointee and the board's vice chairman. "That’s a political conversation masquerading as a policy conversation."

But Trottenberg and others said that's the MTA management's job, not the board's.

Lhota's plan to revamp the subways appears to be working to some degree, he said. The system saw 64 major incidents that delayed 50 or more trains on weekdays in October, down from 81 in June. The average train traveled more than 123,000 miles between breakdowns, a 7 percent improvement from a year before.

(Lead image: New York City Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg, an MTA board member, is seen in 2014. Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images)