(Newsday posted the following article by Luis Perez and Pete Bowles on its website on November 9.)
NEW YORK — Mayor Michael Bloomberg led a barrage of criticism against the MTA Tuesday, saying the agency should first eliminate “wasteful management spending” before sticking the public with higher fares and tolls.
“This is no way to run a railroad,” the mayor proclaimed at a hearing at the El Museo del Barrio in Spanish Harlem. He complained of “bloated payrolls, out-of-control spending and needless redundancies” at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
Bloomberg beseeched the MTA board — including four of his appointees — to vote against the proposed increases and to find ways to reduce expenditures.
The mayor said the city managed to overcome a $6.5-billion budget gap two years ago by cutting $3.4 billion in expenditures and by reaching agreements with its municipal unions.
“If the City of New York can do more with less, so can the MTA,” Bloomberg said.
The mayor was loudly applauded by the crowd of 200, many of whom carried signs denouncing the hikes. One sign proclaimed: “MTA to Riders: Get more, pay less.”
Talking about the mayor’s criticisms, MTA Chairman Peter Kalikow said: “We don’t think we can get to ‘no fare hike’ just on more with less. We’ve been trying, and we’re going to keep trying. But I think that’s something that’s probably going to be not doable.”
The MTA has said that the fare increases are necessary to help offset a $436-million budget gap.
Carmen Santiago O’Connor, a Manhattan secretary who commutes each day from Newburgh, joined the mayor in attacking the hikes. She said she was angered when she read about the proposed increases on a pamphlet given to her at the Beacon station of the Metro-North Commuter Railroad.
“I guess I felt defeated and had to do something about it,” she said, in explaining her decision to speak out. “People can’t take it anymore. I think they have reached a limit.”
O’Connor, who has been riding Metro North for 10 years, submitted a petition bearing the names of 1,000 riders she said don’t have the money to pay higher fares.
State Sen. Eric Schneiderman (D-Manhattan) said the MTA was “playing with fire” by proposing the hikes.
Referring to a plan to reduce the number of token booth clerks in the subway system, Schneiderman said: “This is a spiral of disasters that can’t happen.”