Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver is considering scaling down funding for the MTA’s big-ticket projects until the economy makes a full recovery, a source said yesterday.
“Maybe we should wait a few years before doing a full-blown capital plan to see how the economy is doing and see what the revenues are going to be like,” the source said.
“Then, if we have to, we can do something better to address capital.”
Gov. Paterson also acknowledged that the current version of Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith’s MTA bailout bill won’t immediately address the agency’s capital programs.
“The problem with this legislation is that it will not solve the entire problem. We’ve never addressed the MTA capital budget before the fall, after we passed the MTA operating budget. What we would be able to do immediately is to alleviate the concerns and the anxiety that commuters who would face skyrocketing fare hikes,” Paterson said.
The MTA voted to increase fares by 23 percent, unless Albany provides a bailout.
The rescue bill could come to a full Senate vote this week. If nothing is passed, fares will increase on May 31.
Additional reporting by Sally Goldenberg