Gov. Hochul declined to comment Monday on the MTA capital plan, hinting that maybe it could shrink, when asked by reporters how the massive investment in transit repairs and upgrades should be funded.
The transit agency proposed a $68.4 billion five-year capital plan earlier this month, and said it will need to find additional funding sources for $33 billion of that plan. That comes atop the errant $15 billion missing from the current capital plan, which was expected to be funded from congestion tolling.
Asked where the state expected to find $48 billion toward the MTA big-ticket projects — many of which involve repair and replacement of aging infrastructure and equipment — Hochul demurred.
“There’s not been a final number associated with the MTA capital plan,” she told reporters at an unrelated briefing. “I would suggest that we examine the normal course of business — that there’s a proposal, it’s approved by the MTA board, it goes to another board, that it goes to the legislature, so there is still a process to know what the final numbers are.
“It does not make sense for me to comment on specifics that are related to that,” she added.
An MTA logo is pictured on a subway train in this file photo. (Derek Reed / New York Daily News)
Regarding the $15 billion in projects that relied on congestion pricing, Hochul said her decision to stop the program — which would have tolled drivers a base rate of $15 to enter Midtown or lower Manhattan — was temporary.
“I suggest that everyone realize that the word temporary means temporary,” she said.
The comments came after a New York Supreme Court judge ruled Friday that two legal challenges against the governor’s pause — which Hochul’s administration had sought to dismiss — could go to trial.
Asked for her reaction to the ruling, Hochul said, “I’m assessing my legal options as we speak.”