Mayor Bloomberg moved from warnings about the state of the MTA’s finances to an admission that the city may slash its contribution to NYC Transit’s budget last week.  Where the mayor previously had discussed the troubled state of the MTA’s budget, he now says New York City cannot afford its share of NYC Transit’s operating budget.

The mayor’s earlier comments dismayed transit advocates, who were concerned that he was throwing in the towel on a fare increase before debate and negotiation with Albany were even joined, and not sticking up for his bus and subway riding constituents.  Transport Workers Union Local 100 President Roger Toussaint wrote in an op-ed piece that the mayor “appears to have dismissed the idea of fighting for the transit funding the city deserves.” Toussaint took exception to the mayor’s statement that transit union wage and benefit requests may drive an increase.  He suggested a real estate capital gains tax dedicated to mass transit to stave off a hike.

“We need mayors to be champions.We like it when mayors try to get the best deal for riders,” the Straphangers Campaign’s Gene Russianoff told Newsday.

But as the week went on, Bloomberg seemed to withdraw even further from that role, saying that the city simply cannot afford to support mass transit.

A statement from the Straphangers Campaign noted that City Hall provides only $234 million towards the subway and bus systems $4.8 billion budget this year.   “By suggesting that the city’s already modest subsidies to transit be cut, Mayor Bloomberg is inviting disinvestment by the state. That’s what happened in 1995, when Mayor Giuliani cut $128 million for city transit.  That cut was rapidly followed by an equal state cut — and then the largest fare hike in city history and the worst service cuts in a decade, Straphangers said. 

Straphangers urged Mayor Bloomberg to fight for city transit’s fair share in Albany: “City subways and buses move 84% of the state’s transit riders. But NYC only gets 63% of state aid for transit coming from Albany.  That comes to $325 million a year the city is are shortchanged, about what a 30-cent fare increase would raise.”

Poll: Two to One, New Yorkers Prefer East River Toll Over Fare Increase
(July 22, 2002)

MTA Should Prepare Now for Variable Tolls (July 15, 2002)

Bridge Tolls Still on Bloomberg Agenda? (July 8, 2002)
 

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