The MTA’s most wide-ranging subway security project in history is in shambles because the agency doesn’t have enough money to finish the project, a report said.
Only $59 million remains in the MTA’s coffers for a high-tech program that would have installed motion-sensor cameras and other equipment throughout the system – but it’s not enough, State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said Monday.
The system is considered a huge target for terrorists.
The project “is taking too long, costing too much, and there is no end in sight,” DiNapoli said.
The MTA already paid out $833 million on the system, up from the original $531 million price tag.
But securing the subways hit a huge road bump when Lockheed Martin the defense contractor that was managing the MTA project, pulled out and filed a lawsuit saying the authority didn’t give them enough access to the underground tunnels.
The MTA shot back saying Lockheed failed to deliver the super-system that was promised.
“The transit system is safer than before September 11, 2001, due in large part to the efforts of the MTA Police Department, but some security improvements are years behind schedule and the electronic security program may never be completed,” DiNapoli said.
The agency said they’re not waiting until the Lockheed lawsuit is settled to continue with the project.
We “will finish the project with available funds,” a spokesman said. “We have already installed more than 2,300 cameras in our subways alone and will continue our efforts to provide real-time alarms and situational awareness at key facilities.”