New York Gov. Hochul, top lawmakers demand 'fair share' of federal funds for MTA
NEW YORK (WABC) -- Amid an ongoing public feud over the future of congestion pricing, New York Governor Kathy Hochul is asking the Trump administration for more federal money for the city's transit system
Hochul sent a letter to the Trump administration on Monday, signed along with Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins.
It appears to be part of a three-pronged approach.
MTA Chair Janno Lieber was in Albany on Tuesday, asking state lawmakers for their portion of the MTA's new capital plan.
"Riders could be impacted because power systems are blowing up, or because concrete and steel that's been subjected to water, salt and chemicals for 100 years has not been touched or because signal systems from the Franklin Roosevelt era have not been upgraded," Lieber said.
When MTA officials announced the plan in September, they said state lawmakers would need to find new revenues to cover at least $33 billion.
Separately, the MTA asked the City Council last week for assurances that the city will pay $4 billion of the $64.8 billion 2025-29 capital plan.
Now, the MTA appears to be asking the Trump administration to consider increasing its contribution. The federal government provided roughly $13 billion for the MTA's last capital plan, which ran from 2020 to 2024. Hochul has already requested $14 billion in federal funds for the MTA's proposed 2025-2029 plan.
Hochul and the state leaders are demanding more money because the MTA carries 43% of the nation's mass transit riders while receiving a 17% share of funding through the federal transit formula.
"Mass transit must be federally funded at a level commensurate to its importance to our nation and New York must receive its fair share of that funding to keep up with the needs of New Yorkers who rely on it to get to work, school, and medical appointments," the letter reads.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy called Hochul's request for more money "outrageous."
"Before we make any changes to funding decisions, we'd like to see their plan to make the subway reliable, secure, and clean. The federal government is not a blank check," Duffy said in a post on X.
Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis was not sympathetic, either.
"If the mismanagement continues, if it allows to be run like a bloated, mismanaged bureaucracy-it's going to keep going down a black hole," Malliotakis said.
Lieber insisted that's wrong.
"Here's the truth, the MTA is running way more service than it did before COVID," Lieber said. "40% more service on the Long Island Railroad. Fourteen more subway lines have more service, and yet our budget is actually 3% less than it was before COVID."
MTA is warning that aging subway electrical systems, repair shops, and other rapidly crumbling infrastructure could soon lead to another "summer of hell" if the agency does not get this capital money.
All this comes with the clock is ticking on New York City's congestion pricing program, which the Trump administration says must end April 20.
The MTA said on Monday that congestion pricing has exceeded revenue expectations.
"February revenue was $51.9 million, that's $3.3 million higher than what we saw in January," said MTA Co-Chief Financial Officer Jai Patel. "The revenue breakdown is 66% is from passenger vehicles, 24% is from taxis and for hire vehicles, 9% from trucks and 1% from buses and motorcycles."
The MTA projects that the financial goal of raising $500 million will be reached if the congestion pricing toll remains in place.
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