Slush Fund Shortchanges NYC Riders
For those of us who live in the city, there is a familiar tune that repeats itself time & time again regardless of the subject. The tune I am referring to is the shortchanging of New York City residents versus their suburban counterparts. So it should come as no surprise that $190M of a $240M slush fund have gone towards suburban transit projects. Pete Donohue of the New York Daily News has more in this report:
State lawmakers have spent some $240 million on pet transit projects through a slush fund that has helped suburban rail riders far more than city straphangers, the Daily News has learned.
State legislators have directed approximately $190 million from the Customer Service Reserves to expand parking, renovate stations and make other upgrades along Metro-North and Long Island Rail Road lines, an MTA breakdown shows.
Only $50 million or so of the reserves has gone toward NYC Transit subway projects, the data show, even though subway ridership dwarfs commuter train ridership.
The suburban-city imbalance is partly the result of partisan politics, and how Republicans and Democrats divide the spoils in Albany.
It has gone unchallenged because the reserves are distributed in secrecy by majority leaders in the Assembly and Senate.
Click here for the complete report.
This comes as no surprise to me considering it is the battle of NYC vs Upstate. When upstate has the chance to shortchange NYC it will. The fact that funds are allotted in secrecy tells us all we really need to know. We can only imagine the type of corruption that runs rampant during such occurrences.
This is also another example of why so many feel politics is nothing but staged entertainment for people hungry for money & power. What NYC residents as a whole need is to find a way to function on our own. However in the meantime, a complete overhaul of our elected officials will have to do.
xoxo Transit Blogger
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