A long, contentious political process has finally produced an approval for a massive capital investment program for the New York MTA. Some questions about funding remain, however.
"The Metropolitan Transportation Authority approved a program Wednesday to refurbish the region’s mass transit system, after scaling back the cost of the program at the insistence of Gov. Andrew Cuomo," reports Dana Rubinstein.
The approval followed months of public dispute between Mayor Bill de Blasio and Governor Cuomo. The "good news" about the compromise that brought he capital plan to approval is tempered, according to Rubinstein, by ongoing questions about some of the sources of funding included in the plan.
On the other side, some of the cost savings will be achieved through "efficiencies" and "reductions," including "$1.3 billion in cuts from New York City Transit subways and buses, $285 million from Long Island Rail Road, $232 million from Metro-North Railroad, and $200 million from bridges and tunnels."
Rubinstein also lists the projects and programs that will benefit from the spending program, totaling in the ballpark of $29 billion.
With regard to the quoted sum, other media sources are quoting the plan's price tag as $26 billion, including Danielle Furfaro in the New York Post and Andrew Tangel in the Wall Street Journal.
FULL STORY: MTA approves refurbishment plan, but questions remain
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