The MTA has passed its "doomsday budget" this morning and a "punishing slate of service cuts" will now follow as the agency looks to make up for a $400 million shortfall in its budget. (Also coming soon: even more painfully crowded subways.) But considering your Metrocard will soon sport the word "Optimism" on the back, you should have no problem keeping up a positive attitude, right? [NYT, NY1, previously]
Hope you don't rely on the W or Z trains to get to work. As part of the MTA's effort to make up for the $400 million gap in its budget, it's proposing eliminating both those lines, as well as reducing subway service at off-peak hours, eliminating discounts for the disabled, and ripping the free bus passes that are given to city schoolchildren out of their tiny hands. [NYT]
The MTA may be forced to make deep cuts to bus and subway service next year as it contends with an estimated $343 million budget gap. But have you been on one of those super-advanced "experimental turbine hybrid" buses that the MTA is thinking about importing from New Zealand? They're as "quiet as a tomb" and bus drivers absolutely adore them! So at least someone is going to end up happy! [MyFoxNY, NYT]
The new $11 billion operating budget is actually just an ominous warning that in a year—or maybe a few months—the Transit Authority will once again cite the need to hike fares in order to strong arm Albany in finding a newer, more regressive way of funding operating costs.
New York City has picked its latest big public art project. And it doesn't involve setting up a water show in the East River or wrapping up Central Park in brightly colored fabric. It's going to be distributing seven million Metrocards with the word "Optimism" printed on the backs. It's cooler than it sounds:
Did you know cab fares are going up by 50 cents on Sunday? They are. (And the money that will be collected is going to fund the MTA, ironically.) But it seems the meters in some taxis malfunctioned on October 22, 25 and 26 and some passengers were assessed the surcharge even though it hadn't gone into effect yet. So you can get a refund! Assuming you kept your receipt, that is, which you probably didn't. So never mind! [NYDN]
The MTA won't be renaming Brooklyn's Hoyt-Schermerhorn subway station after Michael Jackson. City Councilwoman Letitia James first proposed the idea a few weeks back, since the station is where Jackson filmed his "Bad" video in 1987. But the MTA has taken a pass—even though it recently sold off naming rights to another subway station to Barclays for $4 million.
The MTA approved the deal that will allow Atlantic Yards developer Bruce Ratner to defer $100 million in payments to the state over more than two decades, instead of paying it all upfront. Critics took to the podium before today's vote to deride the deal as a "massive bailout." And, shockingly, the MTA didn't pay any attention to the last-minute counterbid that landed in its lap when the main Atlantic Yards opposition group, Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn, "tried to upstage the meeting by offering $120 million for the development rights over the Vanderbilt Yard." [Brooklyn Paper]
In 2005, Bruce Ratner agreed to pay $100 million to build his controversial Atlantic Yards on state-owned land. Under terms of a new deal that was revealed just this week (and goes to a vote tomorrow): Ratner will only have to pay the MTA $20 million upfront, and he'll get to spread out the other $80 million over the next 21 years. Critics of the deal are up in arms about the compromise, per usual, but there's some good news: Forest City Ratner, says it will cough up an extra $200,000 a year to stamp "Barclays Center" to the Atlantic Ave.-Pacific St. subway station. Small miracles! [NYDN]
As if the Dale Hemmerdinger, the chairman of the MTA, didn't have enough on his plate on the moment given the state of the city's transit system, two of his half-brothers are now suing him for allegedly siphoning off $2.2 million from 555 Fifth Avenue, a building that's part of the family's real estate conglomerate. [NYDN]
The MTA may be cutting back on staff and service, but there's one area where it continues to shell out big bucks: The agency reports it spends $30 to $60 million a year to settle personal injury suits and has handed out almost $1 billion over the past two decades. Despite efforts to close loopholes that make the transit system an easy target for people who have no one to blame for their injuries but themselves—such as the drunken teen who walked away with $1.4 million after he jumped onto the tracks, tried to outrun a train, and ended up losing both the race and his legs—the suits persist. Of course, if there weren't frivolous lawsuits against the city, about half of the MTA's advertising revenue would go up in smoke, so it probably all balances out in the end. [NYDN]
The MTA is making plans to get rid of the MetroCard. Outgoing MTA chief Elliot Sander—today is his last day on the job—says that an E-ZPass-like system will eventually be introduced, so you don't have to wait on lines or actually lift your wrist or anything. Instead, "sensors on turnstiles or near bus entrances would detect a card or key-fob-like device and automatically deduct the fare from bank or credit accounts." The system won't be in place in 2011, though, so you have plenty of time to pick up a Metrocard bikes and dresses before they become collectors' items. [NYP]
Some more good news has emerged from the otherwise bleak economy. The MTA reports that subway ridership was down for the third consecutive month in March as the city's unemployment rate continued to rise and fewer people had to use the subway to commute to work. This means finding a seat on the 4 train during rush hour has never been easier. Unfortunately, it also means the MTA is now predicting another budget shortfall, which means the agency could be forced to raise fares again. You never can win, can you? [NYP]
