Mayor, Governor Step Up War Of Words On Avoiding MTA Rate Hike
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - A war of words over an MTA fare hike is brewing between Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who promised to find a way to hold off on the price hike, and Mayor Bill de Blasio, who says he won't entertain it.
"No, I'm not falling for that," the mayor said in response to Cuomo's pledge during a debate with political challenger Cynthia Nixon on Thursday night.
When asked if he would cancel a planned fare hike for next year and have the state make up the short fall, Cuomo said he would "support cancelling the fare hike because the service is not what people deserve."
"It has to be a joint funding responsibility between the city and the state," he said.
The shortfall of $325 million would make the city's share $160 million, reports CBS2's Ali Bauman.
"We're not going to get $30 to $40 billion from the city budget," said de Blasio. "We need a permanent funding solution to fix the MTA."
But the governor isn't backing down. His office told CBS2 on Thursday, "If the mayor doesn't pay, he is saying fares have to go up and the governor thinks that's a terrible mistake and will do everything he can to stop it."
"As a NYC resident, does that mean I'm going to get hit with twice as many taxes or bear the brunt more than someone from upstate?" said Whitney Chapman of Hamilton Heights.
De Blasio claims the city already pays its fare share to the state-run MTA.
"Rather than constantly asking for more from all our riders and taxpayers, the governor should pass a millionaires tax to fix the trains he's run into the ground," said the mayor.
"Becoming more efficient would probably be a much better idea than a fare hike," said MTA commuter Molly Clowes.
City commuters tell CBS2 they're sick of the hot air, both on the trains and in the politics.
"If you have a problem, solve the problem," said Glen Alpert of the Upper West Side. "You really need to take care of what's important to people and what's important to people is how they get to work."
When CBS2 asked Cuomo's office exactly how far he is willing to go when the governor says he'll "do everything he can" to stop a fare hike, we're still waiting for a response.
