Paul: that project, which is not only the most important in the district you are running in but also for anyone who rides the B/D/F lines in Brooklyn, was fully funded in the 2000-04 MTA Capital Plan.

It was killed when that plan over-ran, due to (among other things) the MTA getting hosed on 2 Broadway. Much of that hosing ended up on the books of NYC Transit’s portion of the capital plan, even though it was MTA central’s real estate operation that got robbed.

I made an issue of this when I ran against the local lord in 2004.

It was later put back in, but nothing is moving. I didn’t see it on a list of projects killed due to the latest over-runs. It may be “undead” — too important to ordinary people to kill, to unimportant to people who matter to pay for. In any event, the design is almost certainly bid-ready.

If we can get a system where our elected officials can be held accountable, we will start winning.

For example, as Larry has pointed out here before (sorry, can’t find the link now), one of the projects shelved when Sheldon Silver killed Congestion Pricing was the transfer from the B/D/F/V at B’way/Lafayette to the Uptown 6 train at Bleecker Street. This project alone would have reduced the commute time of thousands of 64th Assembly District Residents (and countless more Brooklynites) by about 10-20 minutes daily.

Yet Silver still kills the plan. Why, because our elected officials are not held accountable because of the culture of secrecy that Silver presides over.

I cannot compete with Silver’s $3 Million in special interest and lobbyist money. But I can get my message out for a fraction of that price. Please consider donating a small amount to my campaign today. http://www.newellnyc.org/donate.html. It is the best chance we’ve got to get Albany to listen to us.

When our elected officials begin listening, no amount of cash from the parking garages will add up to the votes of New York’s transit-riding super-majority. Then we will see a transit policy centered on people, not machines and money.

Thank you,

Paul Newell
Democrat for Assembly
http://www.newellnyc.org/

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