It goes with saying that it’s kind of a no-brainer to oppose a new tax, especially one that’s introduced draped in such blatant class-warfare rhetoric. However...
I do think it deserves to be said that when it comes to mass transit in this town, there is an X-factor that goes just a little deeper than knee-jerk reactions to taxation. Millionaires may not take the subway, but one could make a pretty strong argument that most millionaires likely have assets that are plugged into the financial services industry in one form or another. And that real estate values in this town, particularly commercial real estate values, have a little something to do with the ability of people to easily get to their jobs via mass transit.
The MTA is a sick, corrupt joke, but while I think we can live with Penn Station the sorry way it is since it’s been that way for so long, it’s pretty darned important that the Second Avenue Subway be realized. The conditions on the Lexington Avenue line are downright disgusting, if not dangerous, and if there’s one neighborhood in the city that investment banker-types tend to favor, it’s the Upper East Side.
Which is nearly 50% larger than the West Side, where there are two subway lines, to only one across town. Getting to work can be an extremely uncomfortable prospect, and rendering it more comfortable should pay dividends in spades. All those high-rises that went up after the Third Avenue El was dismantled are populated with quite a few people who dread taking the subway on a daily basis due to the ridiculous overcrowding—which would only get worse if the Long Island Rail Road starts running trains that terminate at Grand Central Station.
None of this is meant to let Bloomberg off the hook, but I do think the MTA is a far worse culprit here, having mismanaged projects up, down, backwards & forwards. The Fulton Street project is a fiasco possibly on the level of the Big Dig. On that basis alone the idea of a new tax is additionally repulsive. But I do think a few words are well spent pointing out that this city’s economy is tied to mass transit in a way that some may well take for granted. I happen to put a premium on providing the easiest way for financial services workers to get to and from their jobs as easily as possible. Does that justify this? Perhaps not, but I certainly want to hear a little more about it before I issue a blanket condemnation.
Define residence, and define “earned in NY.”
Truth is, the rich don’t have to move to avoid the tax.