By JAMES FANELLI, ANGELA MONTEFINISE, GINGER ADAMS OTIS and FREDERIC U. DICKER
June 22, 2008
Millionaire financiers, real-estate tycoons and government big shots make the decisions for millions of Big Apple commuters - and tomorrow they'll mull over billions more in cutbacks, the Post has learned.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority will present a draft proposal to these board members at a transit committee meeting on ways to make up an estimated $2 billion to $3 billion budget shortfall in its current capital plan.
An MTA spokesman declined to give specifics, but a senior state official told The Post "there will be some substantial cuts."
Sources said station renovations and upgrades throughout the city are on the chopping block. The agency spokesman said projects could be delayed to future capital plans.
The state official said "major projects" could also be affected.
Board members received a briefing plan on the proposal ahead of tomorrow's meeting, sources said.
The MTA board has been mired in controversy in the last few years, approving two new fare hikes since 2005 and considering a third while announcing cutbacks to service enhancements.
State Assemblyman Richard Brodsky said he feared tomorrow's budget deferrals were "the beginning of a pattern of coming disinvestment that's going to emerge because nobody has funded the system over the last 15 years."
Unless funding to the MTA increases dramatically, Brodsky said, "this system is headed back to the bad old days of the '70s and '80s."
Rising costs were blamed for the axed improvements - as the cash-strapped agency has given raises to MTA execs, including a reported $10,000 to CEO Elliot Sander this year, bringing his salary up to $350,000.
The collection of bigwigs will vote Wednesday on their own perks - a lifetime of free rides on MTA rails, buses and bridges. The members - all formally nominated by the governor, with four recommended by the mayor and one each by surrounding county executives - are considering watering down the freebies to serve only current board members on official business.
The current board members logged 2,228 trips with their free E-ZPasses between Nov. 1, 2006, and Nov. 1, 2007, according to MTA statistics, with the list of top users including multimillionaires Donald Cecil, Andrew Saul and David Mack.
Mack, a real-estate titan whose company reported sales of $800 million, defended the lifetime MetroCard and E-ZPass privileges and blurted, "Why should I ride [the train] and inconvenience myself when I can ride in a car?"
Mack has six free E-ZPasses that he used 585 times.
The controversy continued Friday when MTA CEO and board chair H. Dale Hemmerdinger sent an e-mail to members bragging about the board's successes and calling the perk controversy an "insignificant" and "little" issue.
He touted the "safe, efficient and economic service" provided to millions of riders. In April, 9 million commuters used subways, buses and commuter rails, according to MTA statistics.
The unpaid board members gather once a month in the MTA's Midtown headquarters - though some miss meetings.
Additional reporting by Patrick Gallahue, Cynthia R. Fagen and Kathianne Boniello
