Comments on: To avoid service cuts, Council members urge reallocation

By: Alon Levy

Alon Levy — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 23:12:07 +0000

It was sold as a way of creating or saving jobs. Aid to local government saves jobs.

By: Kid Twist

Kid Twist — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 14:46:16 +0000

That’s not stimulus. That’s status quo. This stimulus bill of goods was sold to us as a way to spur infrastructure development and creat new jobs, not as a way to let local politicians off the hook.

By: Older and Wiser

Older and Wiser — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 09:07:31 +0000

That 10% pay cut will never materialize. Even Mr. Oystercard from London is savy enough to know that a pay cut of that magnitude would be a nonstarter for the upper 3000 those 6000 non-reps to tolerate. By April there will be measures in place to greatly accelerate attrition. When benefits are factored in, reducing headcount by 6% has the same budgetary effect as cutting pay by 10%.

By: Alon Levy

Alon Levy — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 08:33:09 +0000

It’s not just that. Part of it comes from inefficiency – the multi-conductor trains, the capital construction that costs 4 times as much as anywhere else, the deep-level station caverns, etc.

Another part comes from the fact that costs of living in New York are high, and costs of living for people who want a stereotypical middle-class lifestyle are especially high. This forces the city to raise salaries for public employees just to allow them to maintain their standard of living. Federal taxes aren’t adjusted for living costs, and the living costs of the lower and upper classes aren’t so high, both of which mean the city has to spend an unusually high proportion of money on public services.

A third part comes from the fact that New York provides more public services than most cities: public housing, welfare, subsidized school lunches, subsidized public transportation (roads are subsidized too, but the feds pay for them). And it does so while collecting low property taxes, forcing it to rely on income and sales taxes, which are more pro-cyclical. Back in 2006-7, it had windfall revenues, which Bloomberg wasted. Now, it has a shortfall.

By: Older and Wiser

Older and Wiser — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 08:13:23 +0000

It isn’t the union raises. It’s the MTA’s inability to control it’s penchant for empire-building. Even as they think nothing of axing 350 station agents who provide a reassuring presence to the riding public, they prepare to crown their 350th Senior Director. And for ever four or five SDs you can bet there’s a chief officer or VP tucked away somewhere.

And as for eliminating duplication of effort between agencies, everytime they attempt that, it somehow always seems to get accomplished by proliferating yet another new MTA agency, with it’s own president (of course) & requisite separate office building. And what other MTA on earth would build a separate new Grand Central terminal 200 feet beneath the existing GCT, just to serve a relatively miniscule number of East Side Access passengers? What’s the acronym for Money Thrown Away?

By: Chris

Chris — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 06:32:20 +0000

Funny you should mention that, Working Class, since 6,000 non-union employees at the MTA, including the executives at the top, are taking a 10% pay cut next year.

By: E. Aron

E. Aron — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 04:21:11 +0000

I’d actually say that good journalists like Ben, who spread facts, are part of the solution, and if you’re reading this blog, you agree. The fact of the matter is, some of the money is being used for union raises, and then he went on to say that this region of NY pays in taxes more than it gets in return from Albany, which is true.

By: Benjamin Kabak

Benjamin Kabak — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 03:08:29 +0000

I didn’t realize stating a fact was part of the problem. Is it not true that every public employee union with a contract up this year received a raise? I’m not being critical; I’m simply stating a fact of the New York economy. It costs more to live in this city because the city’s employees are earning raises. I didn’t pass a judgment on that.

You have to stop thinking that every statement is anti-labor. It isn’t.

By: Working Class

Working Class — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 03:04:19 +0000

Yeah union raises all of those WHITE collar public employees don’t get raises, right. People like you ben are more of the problem than the solution.

By: Benjamin Kabak

Benjamin Kabak — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 02:38:57 +0000

Some of it is going to union raises; some of it is going to upstate regions; and some of it stays in a city that costs more and more to run every year. It’s really the redistribution to areas of the state outside of the city that are quite problematic for New York City’s bottom line.