Opinion

THE ORIGINAL DEAL — OR NONE

After pleading poverty, jacking up fares and squeezing $2 billion from Albany, the MTA is now flush with cash.

Or so one might think — if the agency OKs a plan to let a developer pay for air rights over the Atlantic Avenue rail yard on a 22-year layaway plan.

It better not. When its board votes today, it should nix the plan — and demand that Forest City Ratner stick to the old deal.

Forest City and CEO Bruce Ratner had agreed to pay $100 million up front for the rights. Now, it seeks to put just $20 million down, paying the rest over the next 22 years.

Plus, it wants a below-market interest rate. And it would scale back work to develop the yard for the agency.

This would be a bum deal even if the MTA was rolling in dough. It’s surely not a bank or finance company, able to peddle valuable property rights on the installment plan.

Indeed, the agency lacks funding for its own critical needs — like maintaining and upgrading equipment.

Sure, times have changed since the deal was reached in 2005.

But if the climate is so bad today that a major developer with a solid track record like Forest City can’t raise $100 million, what hope is there that it’ll be able to raise $4 billion-plus to cover the entire project’s costs?

Make no mistake: We backed the Atlantic Yards development, including a new basketball arena for the Nets and 16 new buildings, from the start. We still think investment there will benefit Brooklyn.

But the MTA needs to watch its wallet. It can’t afford to subsidize private developers, and it shouldn’t try.

A “no” vote on the revised plan today will send that message clearly.