Setting aside their party line differences, the county executives of Westchester, Rockland, Orange, Putnam and Dutchess warn that unless there’s immediate financial help for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), it might be forced to end service to two Hudson Valley counties and decimate service in three more.
The county executives have joined forces in a push to get politicians in Washington to untie the government”™s purse strings and come up with immediate federal aid to save the MTA, and specifically the Metro-North Railroad, from financial collapse. Their warning about services is in a letter sent to the White House and congressional leaders.
The county executives, Democrat George Latimer of Westchester and Republicans Ed Day of Rockland, Steven Neuhaus of Orange, MaryEllen Odell of Putnam and Marcus Molinaro of Dutchess are urging President Trump, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to provide $12 billion in federal aid to the MTA beginning right away.
“Metro-North is in dire need of your support,” the county executives say in a letter to the president and congressional leaders. “State and county coffers have been emptied as our tax receipts plummeted alongside the fares, tolls, and other revenue streams that pay for transit service.
“Without emergency federal aid through a Covid stimulus package, the MTA is contemplating slashing services in half, eliminating service entirely in two of our counties and decimating it in the remaining three. In this unacceptable scenario, thousands of transit workers would suffer layoffs and hundreds of thousands of commuters would be left stranded or struggling onto chronically delayed, crowded, and poorly maintained trains.”
The letter did not specify which two counties might see the end of MTA service. The county executives did point out that as much as 10% of the nation”™s gross domestic product (GDP) is affected in some way by what happens to the MTA.
“Our region”™s suburban economy will be placed in the most serious jeopardy, with national and even global implications. Every $1 billion invested in transit nationally drives $5 billion in growth in GDP; the reverse is also true that the lack of this funding will be a multiplier in shrinking our national GDP,” the county executives said.
They warned that without new federal support the rug will be “virtually pulled out from under us, our counties will face severe hardship for decades. We know the value of bipartisan leadership in our region and, at this time of national crisis, we need bipartisan leadership at the federal level to deliver transit relief funding and preserve the integrity of our suburban communities. We urge you to act quickly and relieve us and our fellow Americans of the great anxiety such uncertainty and looming threats have brought us.”
In a separate statement, Latimer said, “Allowing the MTA to wither away will create far reaching economic consequences far greater than we are already experiencing today due to the Covid-19 pandemic. I am proud to join with my fellow county executives ”“ from both sides of the aisle ”“ on an issue of such regional importance.”
Chuck Schumer is intentionally killing a federal assistance package because he’s more obsessed with defeating Donald Trump by denying a bipartisan legislative agreement than helping his constituents that employ him –he’s basicly said “drop dead ny” its more important to me to defeat the President than help millions of new yorkers