MTA Officials Plead Their Case In Albany

Wall Street isn't the only location in New York that deals with bailouts. The M.T.A. wants one as well, only from Albany, not Washington (though both would be better). Some of the board members made their way up to the state capitol, by train no less, to tell lawmakers to show them the money so that straphangers do not have to carry the entire burden of budget shortfalls.

From The NY Daily News:

Chairman Dale Hemmerdinger and a contingent of MTA board members warned legislative leaders that massive service cuts and fare hikes await riders without state action.

"Hopefully, the legislators are listening very carefully because it's going to affect them because they get elected by those very same people," he said.

They listened - but offered nothing but more words for now.

"I'm hoping that there is something that we can do to help them," said state Sen. Martin Dilan, a Brooklyn Democrat and chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee. "I am going to be working toward that."

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) called the Metropolitan Transportation Authority doomsday plan unacceptable and vowed to help but also offered no specifics.

Both Speaker Silver and Majority Leader Smith represent areas with multiple subway lines underneath their constituents feet. Words and promises are not enough, especially when so many promises fail to deliver in Albany. Shelly Silver is right though, the current MTA budget is unacceptable, but he is one of the principal players in making sure that doesn't happen. A "bailout" of sorts is needed for the MTA or else at the rate prices are going up, soon no one is going to be able to buy a Metrocard.