Cuomo Offers $8.3B to Resolve MTA's Capital Program Crisis

In a seven-and-a-half minute phone call to a cable television news channel, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo made a deeper commitment to helping out the region's overburdened transit infrastructure than he had in more than four years in office. 

In an interview with NY1 Thursday, Cuomo said he accepted a proposal laid out earlier in the day by MTA Chairman and Chief Executive Tom Prendergast. The proposal called for the state and the city together to chip in the $9.8 billion dollars that the transportation authority says it still needs over the next five years.

The funds would go toward capital improvements such as signal upgrades, purchases of new cars and the next phase of the Second Avenue subway.

"I'm willing to do my fair share, and I accept their terms because I don't want to see a fare increase," Cuomo said. (Transcript here.)

Most of that amount — $7.3 billion — would be covered by the state (on top of $1 billion the state has already committed). The remainder — about $2 billion — would come from the city, with a possible additional small contribution from the federal government. 

But asking for that amount from the city is no easy task. The de Blasio administration maintains that 70 percent of the MTA's operating budget comes from city residents through tolls, tax surcharges and other revenues. In May, City Hall upped the city's commitment to the MTA capital plan by 25 percent, to $125 million annually. Still, the MTA and governor have repeatedly asked for more, arguing that the overwhelming majority of the capital plan would be spent within the city's limits.

"I understand they haven't paid much historically. But the city's financial condition is much different than it was," Cuomo said. "So I think it's fair and I think it allows us to resolve the matter and move forward."

Cuomo's challenge came amid continuing parrying by the governor and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio over issues as diverse as Uber and affordable housing. On Wednesday, de Blasio's First Deputy Mayor Anthony Shorris went so far as to suggest congestion pricing might be the solution to the MTA's capital woes. Then, early on Thursday, before the governor spoke, de Blasio said it was up to the state to close the capital plan funding gap.

After Cuomo made his remarks, a mayoral spokeswoman, Amy Spitalnick, said in a statement the city appreciated "the governor's commitment to — for the first time — start to address the chronic underfunding of this vital state authority." She added City Hall is "ready and willing to to have a comprehensive conversation on a sustainable funding stream for the MTA." 

It is also unclear exactly where the $7.3 billion that Cuomo has committed from state funds would come from. Presumably it would also require approval by the state legislature. There's been no response for a request for clarification from the governor's press office.

The entire capital plan is roughly $30 billion, but the MTA has found other sources of revenue for about two-thirds of that.

UPDATED: At 9:20 p.m. with comment from City Hall.