Gov. Cuomo Diverts $30M From The MTA
Photo: Mr. TinDC
The government giveth and the government taketh away and the latest victim is our very own MTA, which recently had 30 million big ones taken from them by the state.
According to the the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Governor Cuomo signed a bill on Monday night, which transferred a chunk of money from the MTA to other state organizations. An MTA spokesman told the Eagle that the money was “in excess of the MTA budget” and it was “in the purview of the governor or legislature to use it for something else.” How diplomatic.
What this means is that the $30M was extra money the MTA didn’t quite need, but, then again, when doesn’t the MTA need more money? The NYC metropolitan area’s population is growing exponentially (overtaxing a somewhat delicate transit system), most of the train stations are on the disgusting side, and as of yesterday, the scourge of Hurricane Sandy will now affect the A, C and F trains in addition to the R and G lines. And don’t even get us started on the inevitable fare increases.
According to the MTA and local pols (who have fought to institute a “lock box” law that would protect funds once they’re allocated to the MTA), the money definitely would have been used to address subway cleanliness and to restore bus routes that were cut in 2010, screwing over many a South Brooklynite. But, alas, there’s nothing we can do about it. The money is gone.
The only bright side is that we still have that $886 million (of $3.79 billion) for Sandy repairs coming from the feds–unless they, too, decide we don’t really need it.
Follow Nikita Richardson on Twitter @nikitarbk
