The Cover Story: Familiar fix for budget crunch — Raise fares and toll bridges
By Jason Fink
and Marlene Naanes
The commission that’s been working for nearly a year to find ways to shore up the MTA’s flagging finances is expected to endorse two familiar solutions tomorrow: Tolls on the East and Harlem River bridges and an 8 percent fare hike.
“They’re coming up with the same old tired solutions that the public has rejected already,” said City Councilman Tony Avella (D-Bayside). “We have too many bureaucrats who can’t think out of the box.”
The governor-appointed Ravitch Commission, which was formed in February to come up with recommendations for the state legislature, will also call for:
•A payroll tax imposed on businesses in the region
• Combining of some services
• Reducing administrative staff at the MTA
• A regional bus authority that would oversee lines in Long Island and Westchester
“I’m not sure how people are going to deal with paying those fares,” said Alex Muniz, a fragrance sales consultant from the Bronx. “Jobs are being cut, and businesses are cutting on employee hours.”
At a news conference today, Gov. David Paterson confirmed the 8 percent hike, which was first proposed by the MTA this summer, and expressed support for the payroll tax.
“The message we keep trying to deliver is that we are in a very difficult fiscal time, and so it’s either going to be fare hikes or it’s going to be tolls and a combination of payroll taxes, but it’s the only way,” Paterson said.
Tom Berger, 29, a stage director from Washington Heights, said he was dubious about the tolls and fare hikes.
“(It’s) a short-term solution,” he said. “Unless you can use that cash to look at the long game and invest in long-term solutions.”
Another critic of fare hikes, state Sen. Bill Perkins, (D-Manhattan), suggested the MTA sell some of its real estate holdings to raise money.
“I want to see some creativity,” he said. “I’m very concerned about that old idea that keeps coming back: Raise the fares.”
Perkins, a member of the Transportation Committee, called the East and Harlem River tolls a “Quixotic” idea that’s “been around for a while and never gone anywhere.”
Gene Russianoff, an attorney for the Straphangers Campaign who has been sharply critical of the MTA, said the Ravitch Commission appears to have struck a good balance.
“(It’s) asking everybody who benefits from the subways, buses and commuter lines to help contribute to their maintenance,” he said. “That includes drivers, riders and businesses.”
But Hector Gonzalez, 27, of the Bronx, expressed frustration at being subject to decisions made by the transit agency.
“It’s unfortunate that the MTA is pretty much a monopoly,” he said. “We have to pay one company to get from point A to point B. We really have no power against it.’
On the Dec. 16, the governor will propose the state budget, including any provisions from the Ravitch Commission. The budget will be approved by the legislature sometime afterward, but when is unclear.
(Aline Reynolds contributed to this story)
