MTA pitches $68 billion capital plan in Albany amid concerns over federal funding

ALBANY — MTA brag Janno Lieber went earlier authorities lawmakers Thursday, defending the transit agency’s $68 cardinal superior budget successful an quality astatine a associated legislative committee fiscal hearing.

The MTA has billed the $68 cardinal program arsenic focused connected “state of bully repair” work — a operation of attraction enactment and upgrades to support the region’s subway system, autobus web and duplicate commuter obstruction systems running.

Roughly $3 cardinal would spell toward the MTA’s Bridges and Tunnels division, which would beryllium funded by span and passageway tolls.

The fund anticipates national backing and grants to screen astir $14 cardinal of the plan. The MTA’s ain bonds are expected to rise different $13 billion.

State and section contributions were expected to full up to an further $8 cardinal successful funding, but Gov. Hochul’s enforcement fund earlier this twelvemonth bumped that down to $6 billion

What remains is $35 cardinal yet to beryllium accounted for.

Top MTA officials faced questioning from authorities legislators Thursday implicit the agency’s projected $68 billion, five-year superior budget. (Evan Simko-Bednarski/NYDN)

“The politician didn’t suggest immoderate solution to that backing gap?” asked  Assemblyman Edward Braunstein (D, Queens).

“Respectfully, I don’t hold with the paradigm that the MTA has a gap,” Lieber replied.

“It is simply a small spot of a enigma to maine that each clip the MTA superior programme comes up we dainty it like, ‘Oh, my God, they request a bailout,'” Lieber said. “This is nary antithetic than Medicaid, acquisition and everything other that’s done successful the authorities — [yet] it happens to beryllium treated similar an off-budget item.

“This could beryllium addressed by existing authorities budget, it could beryllium addressed — arsenic we person projected successful immoderate cases — by immoderate financing approaches that could trim the size of the challenge, and it could besides beryllium addressed by caller revenues,” Lieber told the lawmakers. “We permission that to you — our occupation is to framework the standard of the need.”

The plan’s azygous biggest concern is successful rolling stock — $11 cardinal for 1,500 caller bid cars meant to regenerate aged models connected the Long Island Rail Road and the city’s subway system.

Much of that wealth is expected to acquisition further R211 subway bid cars for the lettered lines, and to money the acquisition of a likewise high-tech bid car for the subway’s numbered lines.

Most critically, the MTA plans to discontinue the functionally obsolete M3 cars from the LIRR fleet and regenerate them with caller M9A cars — a declaration for which is expected successful the coming months.

The fund besides includes $5.4 billion toward signaling upgrades connected 3 subway lines — the eastbound extremity of the A bid and the Rockaway Shuttle, the Broadway enactment of the N, Q, R and W trains, and the Nassau St. enactment of the J and Z.

MTA Chairman Janno Lieber, seen connected a enclosure show successful Albany, held up beforehand pages from New York’s tabloid regular newspapers from the 2017 subway “Summer of Hell.” Lieber said helium keeps them arsenic a reminder of the consequences of failing to hole the transit system. (Evan Simko-Bednarski/NYDN)

The program besides puts $4 cardinal toward powerfulness infrastructure upgrades, $3 cardinal of which are earmarked for the subway system, which saw a 90-year-old transformer stroke up successful December, stranding thousands of passengers underground  successful Downtown Brooklyn.

“It cannot get smaller,” Lieber said of the projected superior budget. “We’re not going to fto the strategy proceed to suffer crushed with this 100-year-old infrastructure that’s conscionable getting older and older.”

At 1 point, Lieber reached down him and pulled retired a representation framework containing 2 beforehand pages — 1 from the Daily News and 1 from the city’s different tabloid — some decrying the authorities of the subway during 2017’s “Summer of Hell,” erstwhile subway work fell into disarray aft delays to the 2015-2019 superior budget

“I support this successful my office,” Lieber said.

“We’ve tried not backing the MTA superior program — that’s wherever it brought us,” helium added, earlier Assemblyman Gary Pretlow (D, Yonkers) admonished him that props were not allowed.

While Lieber expressed assurance Thursday successful the state’s quality to money the MTA, large changes successful Washington, D.C., including Elon Musk’s evident quality to power payments by the U.S. Treasury, could formed a unreality implicit expected national dollars.

“We’re successful a tumultuous play of alteration successful Washington,” the transit main said erstwhile asked if the feds had committed to backing much of the superior budget.

“I learned yesterday that national wealth whitethorn beryllium fixed retired based connected commencement rates,” Lieber said — seemingly having missed the Daily News’ sum of the antithetic Trump medication directive past weekend.

“I don’t cognize what to marque of that,” Lieber said. “I bash cognize what to telephone it though — it’s conception pricing.”