Streetsblog New York City

I wanted to post this last week, but got caught up with something or other about a bike lane. The timing worked out, though, because today we can mark an anniversary… Can you believe it’s been two years to the day since we posted this picture?

Of the four State Senators who refused to put a price on NYC’s free bridges in March, 2009 — a decision that’s hurting transit riders to this day — three are now facing federal fraud, embezzlement, and/or corruption charges. This got me wondering: Is there something intrinsic to fervent defenders of free rides that makes them more likely to go crooked? Or is just about everyone in Albany corrupt, and the feds are sending shots across the bow to the ones who might mess with our transit system in the future.

Think about it.

The votes have been counted in the 2010 primaries, humbling three of the state legislators who killed major transit funding initiatives the past few years.

Richard Brodsky, ringleader of the anti-congestion pricing contingent in Albany, vacated his Assembly seat in a bid for Attorney General. He lost convincingly last night.

Bridge toll obstructionist Pedro Espada, who came to embody Albany dysfunction and corruption to a singular degree during his ascent to Senate Majority Leader, had just about every major constituency lined up against him — prominent Dems, the unions, and the reformers (though the Bronx machine stayed neutral). He went down to defeat by a 2 to 1 margin in his northwest Bronx district.

Espada’s disgraced Fare Hike Four mate Hiram Monserrate, having already failed to regain the Senate seat he was expelled from, lost again last night trying to get into the Assembly.

New York transit riders probably wouldn’t be coping with worse service and steeling themselves for the third consecutive year of higher fares if the funding plans these pols opposed had gained passage. The MTA’s finances remain ravaged by disinvestment — the agency has a $9 billion hole in its five-year capital plan, soaring debt payments, and an operating budget that the voracious state legislature can take a bite out of at any time. It won’t be long before Albany has to address the unfinished business of securing the future of the transit system.

Will they do a better job than previous legislatures? A lot will depend on the outcome of the general election, especially the balance of power between Dems and Republicans in the State Senate, but it looks like just a few Albany characters will be different. Despite the general anti-incumbent zeitgeist, Espada was the only NYC-area office holder to pay a political price last night.

So it’s especially important that the new faces in Albany stand up for transit and their car-free constituents. Gustavo Rivera, the first-time candidate who vanquished Espada last night, will represent a district where 71 percent of households don’t own a car.

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Last night’s 33rd Senate District transportation debate pitted two candidates against each other who are unlikely to ever appear on the same ballot: Democrat Daniel Padernacht and Green John Reynolds. Padernacht is running a distant third place in polling for the September 14 primary, after incumbent Pedro Espada Jr. and challenger Gustavo Rivera. Neither Espada nor Rivera showed up at last night’s debate: Espada refuses to debate his opponents and Rivera chose to attend an NAACP forum instead.

Unseating Espada this cycle is perhaps the top target of public transit supporters (and good government organizations, and tenants’ advocates, and labor unions, and… let’s just say he’s made some enemies in the last few years). The district, which covers the area west of Bronx Park and south of Van Cortlandt Park, has extensive transit coverage, including the B, D, 4, and 1 subway lines, two MetroNorth lines, and the Fordham Road Select Bus Service. Among all households in the district, 71.5 percent don’t own a car [PDF]. But even so, Espada led the opposition to tolling the free bridges onto Manhattan, all but dooming his constituents to fare hikes and service cuts.

Since Espada’s cardinal transportation sin was over transit funding, it’s worth asking if his challengers are any better. Though Padernacht said he’d fight for state funding for transit at last night’s debate, he told the crowd that he doesn’t want either road pricing or increased taxation to raise revenues. “The Bronx will become a parking lot for Manhattan,” he said of congestion pricing, and argued that higher taxes would only drive residents and businesses from New York.

I approached Padernacht after the debate to ask him how he would find the billions that the MTA needs, if those two revenue sources are off the table. “The first thing I would do is look to cut costs,” he said, suggesting that limited buses could be eliminated during midday hours and that smaller vehicles might be cheaper to operate on low-ridership routes. After that, he said, he’d have to “brainstorm the issue.”

In Rivera’s response to the TA/TSTC transportation survey, he rightly pointed the finger at Albany for cutting off transit funding over the past few decades and forcing the MTA to drop ever deeper into debt. On what to do, however, Rivera showed himself to be an expert hedger.

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Last week we profiled Igor Oberman, the challenger gunning to unseat State Senator Carl Kruger this September who's made support for transit, including bridge tolls, a centerpiece of his campaign. So, what's going on with the other three members of the Fare Hike Four -- Pedro Espada, Rubén Díaz Sr., and Hiram Monserrate. Their anti-transit obstinacy undercut the MTA's finances, leading to the sweeping service cuts about to take effect, but have they drawn challengers committed to improving subways and buses? In these three districts, it seems, unseating the incumbents wouldn't necessarily mean that the work of transit advocacy is done. 

Monserrate, of course, was expelled from the State Senate and then defeated in a special election for his old seat by Assembly Member José Peralta. Peralta was one of the leading opponents of bridge tolls in the Assembly and put his opposition to congestion pricing front and center on his campaign website. In Peralta's Senate district, 53.3 percent of households do not own a car [PDF].

Carlos "Charlie" Ramos, Jr., formerly an aide to Comptroller William Thompson, announced that he was challenging Díaz just a couple of weeks ago. Ramos told Streetsblog that he is "unequivocally opposed to raising fares to subsidize the commutes of suburban residents" and boasted that he "grew up riding the El train" through the Bronx, but was not ready at this point in his campaign to offer any solutions for how to keep fares low, given the MTA's fiscal condition.

In a press release tied to the Staten Island Ferry crash, Ramos announced his general support for sustainable transportation. "Innovative ways to relieve vehicular congestion in the city, such as the 'Yankee Ferry' here in the Bronx, should be explored in an effort to reduce our carbon footprint and thwart potential environmental hazards," the statement read.

In the district where Ramos is running, 67.0 percent of households do not own a car [PDF].

Desiree Pilgrim-Hunter, a leader in the fight for higher wages at the Kingsbridge Armory, has taken on scandal-battered Pedro Espada. Before she takes any position on MTA financing, Pilgrim-Hunter told us, she wants to "look at the books -- the real books -- to look at what's going on and how this money is being managed." 

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No, it's not April First.

The Daily News and the Times-Union report that the Bronx pol who played a critical role in derailing bridge tolls last spring has proposed, yes, tolling the East River bridges.

Espada's office says that more than $500 million could be raised annually from two-way $2 tolls on the East River bridges, funds that would be used to prevent service cuts and restore discount student fares. His proposal does not include tolls on the Harlem River bridges. According to the Daily News, the State Senate will not include the idea as part of its upcoming state budget proposal, which may be approved as soon as today.

So has Espada given new life to road pricing or is this too little too late? A back-of-the-envelope calculation by road pricing maven Charles Komanoff suggests that the revenue projections are too optimistic by a large margin, but the net gain -- about $240 million, at most -- would seem to fall within the range needed to cover the cost of maintaining service and student fares.

We have a request in with the Senate leadership for comment. The Assembly, where bridge tolls pegged to the subway fare apparently enjoyed majority support last spring, has been characteristically tight-lipped. "At this point Speaker Silver is still in conversation with all members of the Assembly majority," a spokesperson told Streetsblog this morning.

While Espada hasn't exactly endeared himself to other Democrats in Albany, his change of stance may signify the erosion of the bloc that killed bridge tolls last year. Note, however, that the proposed tolls won't affect downtown-bound car commuters from his district (only about three percent of his constituents, by the way [PDF]). And the Espada/Ruben Diaz, Sr./Carl Kruger alliance had already dissolved with the departure of their disgraced Fare Hike Four colleague Hiram Monserrate.

One thing to keep an eye on is whether any proposal for new MTA revenue also includes an ironclad "lockbox" mechanism to guarantee the money goes to transit. As we've seen, dedicated transit revenue is not, in fact, dedicated exclusively to transit.

Noah Kazis contributed to this post.

Thanks to the folks at the Tri-State Transportation Campaign for pointing us to this excellent survey from EPL/Environment Advocates. State Senators Pedro Espada and Hiram Monserrate are finalists for the "Oil Slick" award, given to the "public figure who has done the most to put New York’s environmental health at risk."

While we'd really like to see Carl Kruger and Ruben Diaz, Sr. share the honors too, we can hardly think of two more deserving recipients than these Albany clowns, who scuttled a golden opportunity to properly fund our transit system when they killed bridge tolls back in the spring. We'll never say this again: Vote Espada and Monserrate.

A few other points of interest heading in to the weekend:

• ClimateRide 2009 kicks off tomorrow, as hundreds of people begin bicycling from New York to DC, where they will personally ask their senators to support critical climate legislation. Organizers tell us that you are more than welcome to cheer the riders on as they start. In fact, you can ride the first leg of the trip with them down to Pier 11 at Wall Street. Show up at Fifth Ave and 58th Street by 8:45 a.m. to check it out.
  
• Streetsblog will be offline on Monday, observing Yom Kippur and recuperating from a vicious streetfight with the Westboro Baptist Church. So we'll post a reminder now: There's a big vote coming up on Tuesday, with the offices of comptroller and public advocate up for grabs. Turnout is expected to be extremely low -- make your vote count!
  

In case you've forgotten who's in charge these days, Governor Paterson's nomination of Jay Walder to succeed Lee Sander as MTA chief was quickly met with a joint statement from Malcolm Smith, John Sampson, and Fare Hike Four members Pedro Espada and Carl Kruger. In the interest of "transparency and accountability," the senators say they plan to put Walder in front of their committees before any decision is made. Kruger, for his part, tells The Daily Politics that he doesn't consider the backbone of the region's economy to be a particularly urgent agenda item.

"We'll look at it over the course of the next couple of months," said Kruger. ... "After that, we'll finish our vetting process, which hasn't even begun yet, and we'll have a better idea about the timetable (for a confirmation vote)."

When Liz Benjamin informed Kruger that Walder has already spoken of restoring public trust in the agency -- a task that will be much more difficult thanks to shameless hucksters like Kruger himself, the senator replied:

"I come from Missouri; don't show me, tell me. I mean, everybody says they're for oversight and accountability. What does that mean? What does it mean?"

I swear, this blog just writes itself sometimes.

After spending the last five weeks affirming Albany's status as the nation's most dysfunctional state capital, the State Senate will have one last extraordinary session this Wednesday before calling it a year. The chamber is not expected to pass much in the way of transportation bills. (The Assembly wrapped up its session last month.) Here's a short summary of unfinished livable streets business which the Senate and Assembly will leave behind until the 2010 legislative session.

• At the end of his coup, Pedro Espada made out with a $41,000 salary perk. New York City bus riders aren't smiling.
  
  Hayley and Diego's law. Named for two toddlers killed this January by a negligent van driver in Chinatown, this bill would stiffen penalties for drivers who injure or kill pedestrians and cyclists. The day before a major advocacy event in Albany, at which the children's mothers and other victims' relatives were planning to appear, State Senators Pedro Espada and Hiram Monserrate declared their intent to conference with Senate Republicans, throwing the legislature into chaos. The event didn't happen, and the bill is still in committee in both houses.
  
• Camera-enforced BRT routes. This is the same bill that Rochester Democrat David Gantt killed in his transportation committee last year. It would enable New York City to enforce 50 miles of exclusive BRT routes by mounting cameras on buses. Similar cameras have sped bus trips in London significantly. Between the protracted MTA funding debate and the Senate's utter collapse, however, the campaign to convince Gantt of the need for this bill never really got off the ground. Transportation advocates plan to push for the bill again in January.
• Complete Streets. There's a bill in both houses that would require transportation projects to include pedestrian and bicycle access. AARP and the New York Bicycle Coalition have campaigned strongly for the bill, which is sponsored by the transportation committee chairs in each house. The bill did not come up for a vote in Gantt's committee, however, so it looks like we'll be waiting until next year for any movement on this one.
  

There is one piece of legislation related to safer streets potentially en route to becoming law this week: The safe driving bill that passed the Assembly last month. Martin Dilan, chair of the Senate transportation committee, wants to move the bill this week, said his Albany office. Aimed primarily at young and inexperienced drivers, the bill would penalize distracted driving, including texting while driving, but it does not rise to the level of an outright texting ban. A provision inserted in the Assembly would prevent police from issuing a ticket for "inattentive driving" unless the driver was observed committing another violation at the same time.

Distracted driving contributes to more than 10,000 crashes per year in New York State. Apparently, Albany doesn't think that's a big enough hazard to justify pulling drivers over.

How's this for windshield perspective? One of the loudest foes of a sensible MTA funding solution, Fare Hike Four member Pedro Espada, doesn't even reside in the Bronx district that he represents. Rather than make his home in the transit dependent 33rd District, Espada lives in leafy Mamaroneck, reports Marcia Kramer of CBS2:

"He's there a long time. Yeah, he's there all week," neighbor Benny Protano said.

CBS 2 HD undercover video found cars registered to Espada parked in his Mamaroneck driveway at night and again the next morning, indicating that he slept in Mamaroneck.

Espada does own a co-op in the Bronx -- at 325 East 201st St.

Members of the co-op board told CBS 2 HD that while Sen. Espada owns an apartment there he doesn't live here.

I suppose this helps to explain why New York City's State Senate delegation seems so willing to saddle transit riders with half-baked schemes to fund the MTA. The taxi surcharge to fund out-of-town roads and bridges is even starting to make sense.

More than seventy percent of the New Yorkers whom Espada purports to represent don't own cars. That's not how Espada rolls, however:

He also said that when he is in Albany one of his cars is "always parked outside" Mamaroneck or the Bronx because he can only drive one car at a time.

But during the time CBS 2 HD watched Espada's Mamaroneck house both his cars were parked there.

This news probably isn't going over well with voters in the 33rd, and legally speaking, Kramer reports, Espada's choice of primary residence violates the state constitution. Still, with the State Senate's latest toll-less transit plan alive in Albany, on balance it's been a good day for Pedro Espada.

Well, here we are again.

One year after State Assembly Democrats killed New York City’s attempt to fund mass transit and reduce traffic gridlock, sustainable transport advocates find themselves suffering yet another huge defeat in Albany.

Fixing Albany requires volunteers dragging themselves out to the Kings Highway Q train platform in the middle of Carl Kruger’s district and handing palm cards to commuters explaining that the impending fare hike is the direct result of their state senator’s fine work.

On Wednesday the MTA Board approved the “doomsday” scenario – massive fare hikes and sweeping service cuts for New York City’s eight million transit riders. The State Legislature easily could have avoided doomsday by approving Richard Ravitch’s financing plan or coming up with a viable alternative of its own. But a handful of New York City State Senators, Carl Kruger, Ruben Diaz Sr., Pedro Espada and Hiram Monserrate – call them the Fare Hike Four – couldn’t bear the thought of imposing new fees on New York City’s motorists. In working to protect the free driving privilege of New York City’s armada of horn-honking, exhaust-spewing, road-clogging single-passenger car commuters, the State Senate has brought the city’s transit system to the brink of financial ruin. If you ride a train or bus in New York City you're going to pay the price.

The irresponsibility, the destructiveness and sheer lack of seriousness displayed by the Fare Hike Four is without question and we could spend all day heaping scorn on them. But the Senate Democrats are hardly any worse than the minority Republicans who were perfectly happy to sit by and watch the train wreck. And we could just as well place the blame for our current mess on the State Assembly members who killed congestion pricing last year.

Rather than pointing fingers at our feckless state government, advocates for livable streets and mass transit need to take a good long look in the mirror. Despite assembling a broad and seemingly powerful coalition in support of our issues, our advocacy consistently goes nowhere in Albany. That needs to change. So, how?

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