Free Republic

Apparently, nobody’s watching the watchmen. Private security guards hired by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to staff subway stations, and act as deterrents to would-be turnstile hoppers, have instead been lending a helping hand to the Big Apple fare-beaters. The Post recently observed Allied Universal Security Services guards inside the Herald Square station holding the emergency doors open on two different occasions to let a stream of scofflaws through. ... Several commuters could be seen walking up to the gate, and exchanging words with the guard, who then let them in. Whenever the guard opened the door, other fare-evaders would make...

Penn station is no longer under the control of NYC itself, instead President Trump has seized control of Americas largest train station... which might be the best thing to ever happen to it. Journalistic report. Includes news footage and commentary. "the Trump administration is kicking the MTA off the 7 billion Penn Station reconstruction project and giving it to Amtrak which is federally funded with transportation secretary Shawn Duppy saying the MTA has a history ofinefficiency waste and mismanagement "

Next stop: Trump Station President Trump fired the MTA from the long-awaited revamp of Penn Station on Thursday, instead putting the feds in charge of a gold-plated makeover for the decrepit transit hub. Amtrak will spearhead the renovation as the feds champion a “public-private partnership model,” announced Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. “President Trump has made it clear: the days of reckless spending and blank checks are over,” Duffy said in a statement. “New York City deserves a Penn Station that reflects America’s greatness and is safe and clean.” Gov. Kathy Hochul had been engaged in tense face-to-face talks with Trump...

There’s going to be Hell to pay if the MTA doesn’t get its way — again. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority on Wednesday threatened another “Summer of Hell” if the Big Apple doesn’t continue ponying up big bucks — even as a recent watchdog study warned the city’s payments keep snowballing. Not to mention New Yorkers are set to get burned even harder with subway and bus fares getting hiked up to $3 in August. […] The proposed plan to fix the deteriorating, aging subway system assumes New York City will cough up $4 billion, but that amount could increase as...

President Trump will have to come up with $15 billion in federal cash to fix New York City’s subway system if he wants to cut congestion pricing, Gov. Kathy Hochul insisted Thursday — as their ongoing spat over the controversial Manhattan toll only continues to escalate. The Democrat said she gave Trump the so-called ultimatum during their White House sit-down late last week, telling him he would need to dip into US coffers to offset the billions the state is estimated to lose if the congestion toll is nixed. “You’re gonna have to give me $15 billion to invest in...

The U.S. Department of Transportation has pulled its approval for the MTA’s congestion pricing toll program, but the MTA is vowing to take the decision to federal court to ensure the plan will continue. In a release Wednesday, the DOT’s Federal Highway Administration said it sent a letter to Gov. Kathy Hochul informing her that the department had rescinded the agreement. “New York State’s congestion pricing plan is a slap in the face to working class Americans and small business owners,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. “Commuters using the highway system to enter New York City have already financed...

Gov. Kathy Hochul will unveil her most costly budget proposal ever Tuesday, with the $252 billion plan set to continue jacking up spending to fund new handouts. Hochul’s executive proposal is $19 billion, or 8.3%, larger than last year’s proposal and $36 billion, or 16% higher, than her first plan in 2022. The 2024-25 state budget is expected to cost $240 billion as of the end of the third quarter of last year. New handouts and tax cuts paired with continued boosts in school aid and Medicaid are driving the ballooning budget. “The big two would be Medicaid and school...

The MTA held a cheery celebration to unveil a new “Congestion Relief Zone” sign in Manhattan, just hours before drivers will feel the pain as the controversial toll goes into effect in the Big Apple. The agency’s CEO Janno Lieber seemed to have no concern for the many lawsuits and pleas from commuters aiming to stop the new $9 toll, as he personally unveiled a toll sign Saturday at one of the entry points to the zone at Broadway and W. 61st St. Video shared by the MTA on social media shows a small crowd of toll supporters and elected...

hey’re bending over backwards to waste cash on turnstile jumping. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is planning to spend up to $1 million in federal grant money on a study they hope will help them understand the mindset of the average fare evader, The Post has learned. The pricy research – which comes as the authority is crying poverty and pushing for a detested congestion pricing plan — is being blasted by critics as a huge waste that will only tell them what anyone with common sense already knows about scofflaws.

New York's Metro Transit Authority (MTA) was in the news last month for setting a world record for the sheer number of bus and rail patrons who refuse to pay a fare to ride. A full 48% of bus riders had ceased to pay the fare in addition to about 14% of subway riders. Now the MTA has approved a new capital plan, saying it needs $65.4 billion over the next several years to keep the system going.Much of the plan focuses on basic repairs, like upgrading decades-old electrical equipment and repairing elevated subway structures. There’s spending for new turnstiles...

This is the headline of an article published Aug. 26 in The New York Times: "Fare Evasion Surges on N.Y.C. Buses, Where 48% of Riders Fail to Pay."The article begins: "Every weekday in New York City, close to one million bus riders -- roughly one out of every two passengers -- board without paying."Fare evasion has led to startling financial losses for the M.T.A. (Metropolitan Transit Authority), the state agency that runs the city transit system. In 2022, the authority lost $315 million because of bus fare evasion and $285 million as a result of subway fare beaters, according to...

NYC congestion pricing plan shelved indefinitely The first-in-the-toll nation program was expected to be a financial windfall for the cash-strapped MTA. By Andrew Siff and Jennifer Millman The MTA announced Wednesday it will indefinitely pause its plans to implement a first-in-the-nation congestion pricing system amid concerns about current economic conditions in the city and the pace of midtown Manhattan’s recovery. News 4’s Romney Smith reports. What to Know The MTA is pushing "pause" indefinitely on New York City's first-in-the-nation congestion pricing plan, according to an official briefed on the plans. The toll program, years in the making, had been set...

Stand down — and fix this mess! Gov. Kathy Hochul on Thursday nixed the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s efforts to squeeze a $750,000 toll from the organizers of the New York City Marathon — after The Post highlighted widespread outrage over the “cash grab” move. “I’ve directed the MTA to fix this mess and allow the marathon to move forward as it always has,” Hochul said in a statement to The Post. “The marathon is an iconic symbol of New York City’s tenacity and resilience that unites communities across the five boroughs each fall.” Hochul’s decision to thwart the MTA’s latest...

The MTA’s latest congestion pricing scheme: Charge runners for crossing the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge. The transit agency is waging war against the organizers of the New York City Marathon, demanding $750,000 to make up for toll revenue lost during the iconic race. And if New York Road Runners doesn’t pay up, the agency is threatening to restrict use of the bridge, potentially reducing the number of runners who can compete in the wildly popular event each November, the New York Times reported Wednesday, citing internal memos. During hardball negotiations, the MTA initially said runners — who start the marathon on Staten...

Subway service on the A and C lines in both directions are running with severe delays due to a boycott by train crews following several violent attacks on transit workers, according to the Transit Workers Union Local 100. The service disruption left riders scrambling... The stalled service comes hours after a conductor on a Brooklyn A train was slashed in the neck — the latest in a string of high-profile attacks on MTA employees in the subway.

An MTA conductor was slashed in the neck on a subway in Brooklyn early Thursday, police said. The 59-year-old conductor was working the overnight shift on a southbound A train near the Rockaway Station when he was attacked just before 3:40 a.m., according to the NYPD. The MTA worker had stuck his head out the train cab window to look left and right, and that is when he was slashed in the back with an unknown sharp object, police said. The victim was taken to Brookdale Hospital Medical Center in stable condition, police said.

NJ Transit wants to hike fares an eye-popping 15% but may still face a massive budget hole in a year – a dire situation that has the head of the MTA mocking the Garden State’s governor. MTA chairman Janno Lieber roasted New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy on Wednesday over his transit budgeting chaos, taking a dig at one of the most vocal critics of the planned congestion toll in Manhattan. “Phil Murphy said he was gonna fix New Jersey Transit if it kills him,” Lieber told New York state lawmakers during a budget hearing in Albany. “I’m not sure. He’s...

MTA police officers fatally shot a parolee armed with a loaded Uzi machine pistol in the head as they tried to arrest him late Friday for groping a 19-year-old woman in Queens, authorities said. The armed parolee, identified by police sources as Bashe McDaniel, had done five stints in prison, mostly for weapons possession and was convicted of manslaughter in 1990, according to court records. The woman entered MTA’s Long Island Rail Road headquarters on 91st St. in Jamaica, next door to Jamaica Station at about 10 p.m. Friday and claimed that McDaniel had groped her, MTA Chief of Police...

Come on and take a free ride! Five Big Apple bus routes will be free starting in late September, in part to monitor ridership numbers on transit lines with high fare evasion. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s troubleshooting plan is part of a $50 million state pilot pushed hard by progressives in Albany. The funding also boosts the number of trains running on the No. 1, No. 6, C, N and R trains by 20 percent during the middays and on weekends. “The MTA is the lifeblood of New York City, and I’m proud of the tremendous progress we’ve made in...

The price of environmentalism has always concerned conservatives, but now even New Jersey Democrats are getting upset about the costs on taxpayers under the guise of helping curb emissions. Federal transportation officials have green lighted New York's plan to charge escalating congestion tolls for drivers entering parts of Manhattan and New Jersey Democrats are "outraged," Politico reported. Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., and Reps. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., and Bill Pascrell, D-N.J., expressed their disappointment the Federal Highway Administration has allowed the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority's congestion pricing to go forward without more review and environmental studies. The MTA is considering...