July 31, 2006
City's Quid Pro Quo with MTA Over West Side
The MTA's board has revealed that the city will only fund the 7 line extension if the MTA approves its $500 million offer for the West Side railyards. And amNew York puts this on its cover, "The No. 7 Switch." This comes as the Mayor's previous statements indicated the project would happen somehow, so the lesson is "If it sounds good, there are strings attached." Still, the MTA's board seems surprised that the city is basically reneging on its word and making the expansion contingent on the West Side railyards deal, but they should talk to their chaiman, Peter Kalikow, who told reporters, "My mom says that if a guy is giving you $2 billion dollars. You should at least offer him a cup of coffee and sponge cake," which we think is a reference to Kalikow okaying the city's $500 million West Side railyard offer, though appraisers think it's worth $400+ million more than that.
Here are the MTA's 7 line extension plans. And all this "Will the 7 line extend or not?" fuss reminds us of last year. We say the 7 line's extension might be settled by the end of Bloomberg's term, but who knows?
Photograph from akbarsjah on Flickr
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So that extra $400M is basically being directed to support developers on the West Side instead of service improvements throughout the system. Nice! The poor subsidize the rich! Welcome to Bloomytown!
sounds like racketeering to me.
lol... sometimes the comments on this site are so amusing.
Ah, hate to be a party-pooper, but this story seems to be carrying water for the city, which is now using the 7 extension as a bargaining chip.
The MTA is a bureaucracy. No new subway lines will ever be built as long as they reign.
And even if something is built it'll be as shoddy as the Ted Williams Tunnel.
reading hurts my head. i finished at the first sentence. all i gots to say is taht it sucks.