Chairman Lhota Doesn’t Get It. New Yorkers Can’t Trust MTA with their Money.

Reclaim New York Initiative offered the following statement after the legislature’s joint hearing with MTA officials today:

“If MTA leadership put half the effort they spend blaming Mayor de Blasio, and scheming to get more money from taxpayers, into fixing the subway, we’d all make it to work on-time.

“Instead, after five long hours of testimony, commuters and taxpayers have no good answers as to how the MTA will fix the broken system.

“They want more money, but dismiss the mistrust created by their fraudulent power delay stats, and pretend their out-of-control construction costs aren’t that bad. Speeding up critical signal repairs is still being left up to a gimmick competition. Long Island Railroad riders got only vague promises that their terrible commutes will be addressed. It’s a disgrace.

“The MTA continues to talk about the mass transit crisis, without taking meaningful action. ‘We’re working on it’ is no longer an acceptable answer.

“Instead of a bailout through a congestion tax, or ‘value capture’, the MTA needs to address its fundamental mismanagement. New Yorkers who’ve had their daily lives turned upside down deserve accountability.”