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The idea of the city wresting control of the subways from the state-run MTA is something many aspiring mayors have used to launch their campaigns.
Former mayoral candidates Christine Quinn and Anthony Weiner proposed it in 2013. Candidate Joe Lhota suggested taking over the MTA’s more lucrative departments; the toll on city bridges and tunnels. And when it still seemed possible for City Council Chairman Corey Johnson to run for mayor, he pledged to do so in his 2019 State of the City address.
Most current mayoral candidates have expressed skepticism about the city’s takeover of the metro amid a tax crisis – at a forum on January 25, Scott Stringer said he was not “not practical” for the city to take on the debt service. Andrew Yang, however, is in favor of the high, but extremely complicated, proposal. At the same forum, Yang backed away from the other candidates, saying that while the numbers “aren’t pretty … it’s hard to get the city back on its feet if the biggest thoroughfare isn’t under your control.”
“In a vacuum, it’s not a bad idea. That’s good in the sense that it always indicates that a mayoral candidate is at least interested in the transit system, ”Nicole Gelinas, senior researcher at the Manhattan Institute, told Gothamist. “But it collapses a bit when you step into the very complex political economy of New York City.”
A point that is fairly easy to understand: the metro does not have to be paid for. The tariffs cover about half of the $ 17 billion in annual operating expenses. And they don’t even reduce investment costs. The MTA relies on Albany’s ability to levy a variety of taxes on all New Yorkers to pay for the MTA. Everything from the commuter transport mobility tax, gasoline tax, to the more recently enacted internet sales tax and tourist tax.
“You can’t really make the metro system work without all of these tax sources,” Gelinas said. “The only way to say that [mayoral control of subways] seriously, would be in an attempt to reform New York City’s property tax structure and give the subway a very large percentage of property tax.
While the MTA remains a state agency, lawmakers in New York states, many of whom rarely use the subway, retain considerable control over the system and have an interest in maintaining that control.
“Just during this week’s state legislative hearing on the MTA budget, lawmakers across the state urged the MTA to use more state suppliers for their capital plans. This includes big railcar builders like Bombardier in Plattsburgh, ”Rachael Fauss wrote, with the right government group Reinvent Albany, in a statement. “While municipal control of subways may be politically attractive, state funding and interest in MTA capital spending would be difficult to disentangle and Gov. Andrew Cuomo is unlikely to cede control entirely given its micromanagement of the agency.
The MTA declined to comment. Governor Cuomo’s office did not respond to emails for comment, nor did Mayor Bill de Blasio’s office.
President Johnson, who is a strong supporter of public transit, supports the Fair Fares program and has favored the mayor’s control of subways, said now was not the time to make sweeping changes to such a system complicated.
“I strongly believe in municipal control of subways and buses. It makes sense,” Johnson wrote in a statement. “But this pandemic has obviously put the whole future of transit in jeopardy, so the immediate concern must be to fight for the time being federal funding to save the MTA and quick vaccinations so we can increase ridership. and our economy as quickly as possible. My street master plan will do the trick. Finally, the most immediate thing is for the metro to reopen 24/7 service. “
Emphasizing how the Governor of New York is in control of the MTA, agency chairman Pat Foye has repeatedly stated that 24-hour subway service will only return when Cuomo declares the pandemic over.
One of Mayor Bloomberg’s most compelling arguments for the mayor’s control over the school system was a unique person in New York City who could be held responsible for a system that New Yorkers depend on. So why not the subways?
If New York was curious about how it works, we might turn to London, where the mayor has controlled both the subway, buses and streets for 18 years now. That’s why they’ve been enforcing congestion pricing for years, and New York City is still waiting. That’s why they have more dedicated bus lanes and can carry five times as many passengers each day on buses compared to New York City, according to Charles Komanoff, transportation economist, professor at Hunter College and ardent advocate of transit. .
“If, on the contrary, all that authority rested with the city council and the mayor, I think we could have a different outcome and we could also make sure that the public transport and the city streets are a number one problem,” two or three in New York. , rather than falling to the bottom of the pile, as they usually do, ”he said.
Yang’s co-campaign manager Sasha Ahuja told Gothamist on Monday that they are moving forward with research into the city’s control of the metro. “We can’t wait for Albany to deliver New Yorkers,” Ahuja said.
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