According to YouTube, that's Spitzer in the subway.
Gov. Eliot Spitzer was on the hot seat on WNBC Gabe Pressman’s show yesterday. Complete transcript is here.
He promised no fare hike this year and put the blame for the budget woes on former Gov. George Pataki.
PRESSMAN: Metropolitan Transportation Authority has set the subway fare, the bus fare, at $2. Are you going to hold that fare down?
Gov. SPITZER: What I've said is that we will certainly hold it this year and the budget is difficult. We were bequeathed by my predecessor an enormous gaping hole in the MTA budget. We are predicting a deficit next year approaching a billion dollars. It may come in lower, there's still revenues that are increasing, thankfully, because the economy's doing quite nicely in the New York City region. But if we have a deficit of that magnitude, then we have to step back and say how do we close that deficit and simultaneously make the investments that we need, ongoing investments, extending the subway system. We want to build the...
PRESSMAN: Right.
Gov. SPITZER: ...Second Avenue subway, the East side access, the number seven line. These are all critical investments.
PRESSMAN: But the law requires a self-sustaining fare. Do you feel that it's going to become inevitable to raise the fare?
Gov. SPITZER: Well, I don't want to say anything is inevitable, Gabe. We are going to work awfully hard to control spending, to invest, see what we can do to bring efficiencies into the system. But the public expects a system that runs, that is maintained. That requires money. So we will look at this, certainly, as we approach the next fiscal year and see what we can do.
-- Chuck Bennett
