Johnson vows hearing for MTA reorganization plan
BY BILL PARRY
When the Metropolitan
Transportation Authority
approved a reorganization
plan for the first time in more
than half a century, Governor
Andrew Cuomo called it “a
good start,” but the leader of
the New York City Council
says the state-run agency is
on the wrong track.
The plan, which was
approved by the MTA Board
on July 24, would cut costs
by nearly $500 million a year
over the next three years
while eliminating as many
as 2,700 jobs that will prepare
the agency to “dramatically
improve service, end project
delays and cost overruns, and
finally establish the modern
system customers deserve,”
according to its press release.
“Now that the Board
has approved these
recommendations, the work
of transforming the MTA into
a world-class organization
that provides its customers
with the service they deserve
begins,” said Patrick J. Foye,
MTA Chairman and CEO.
“It’s a new day at the MTA,
our customers have demanded
change, and we’re going to
deliver it for the first time in
nearly 50 years.”
The MTA said the plan
would “institutionalize the
enormous success of the
Subway Action Plan, which
has proven to be working
and has increased on-time
performance to 81.5 percent,
marking the first time it
had crossed the 80 percent
threshold in six years.”
The controversial plan,
which was prepared by a
consulting firm in just three
months, was approved by the
Board in a 10-1 vote with one
abstention, and of the 42 public
speakers who testified to the
Board before the vote, not one
endorsed the plan.
While Cuomo said it “now
comes down to execution
and sound management,”
City Council Speaker Corey
Johnson, who called for
municipal control of the
MTA when he delivered his
first State of the City address
at LaGuardia Community
College in March, had
strong doubts about the
reorganization plan, which he
Council Speaker Corey Johnson vows to hold a hearing on the MTA’s
reorganization plan calling it “rushed and pushed through” without
proper public review. Courtesy of John McCarten/NYC Council
said would take power from
NYC Transit president Andy
Byford who launched the $40
billion “Fast Forward” plan
in May 2018 to modernize the
subway system.
“I am disappointed but
not surprised with the MTA
reorganization plan and the
process by which it is being
pushed through,” Johnson
said. “The plan creates new
layers of bureaucracy and
takes critical responsibilities
away from Andy Byford.
Byford is the one who is
actually showing us that
improvements in accessibility
and on time performance
are possible.”
Byford added his
endorsement to the plan
saying, “This reorganization
builds upon the progress
made and will transform
every aspect of our service
and deliver modern, fully
accessible transit to riders.”
But the City Council
Speaker remains skeptical
and vowed to hold a hearing
on the matter.
“This was rushed and is
being pushed through the
board without any real public
review,” Johnson said. “We
need real accountability, not
another opaque power grab.
We won’t really fix the MTA
until New York City controls
its own transit destiny. The
subways and buses are the
lifeblood of New York. Massive
changes to that system should
not be made in 90 days, so the
Council will hold a hearing on
the MTA’s plan. New Yorkers
deserve real answers and a
chance to be heard.”
The transit advocacy
group Riders Alliance said
the reorganization would be
judged by its impact on the
quality of public transit in the
city.
Read more at
QNS.com.
Reach reporter Bill
Parry by email at bparry@
schnepsmedia.com or by
phone at (718) 260–4538
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