Good morning, I’m Lisa Daglian, Executive Director of the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA, PCAC.
First pitch for New York baseball is on deck! Yankee fans heading to the Bronx tomorrow, and Mets fans boarding the 7 next Friday, will be able to take vintage trains to the old ballgames at their stadium of choice. The Flushing Faithful, like me, are looking forward to the rare opportunity.
New York baseball and our transit system have a lot in common. It’s a challenging time of uncertainty for both, yet there is palpable excitement for what can be.
Each team already has unanticipated injuries. But, like true New Yorkers, they are brushing themselves off and moving ahead.
The MTA also faces uncertainty, but the consequences are far more substantial. Instead of millions of dollars in player salaries on the line, millions of riders’ daily commutes are at risk from the aging system that still uses switches and signals from the Prohibition era, with some train cars older than my kids – and I don’t mean the vintage train nostalgia rides. It’s a lot harder to rehab the aging components of our vital transit network, as we’ve seen through terrible periods – like the Summer of Hell – when disinterest and disinvestment overtake public interest and sustained investment.
It isn’t good for riders, our city, the region, or New York’s economy.
A fully funded 25-29 Capital Plan will help set the MTA on the path to the safer, more accessible and reliable transit network that riders deserve. Projections show that the proposed Plan would generate $106 billion in economic output and more than 72,000 jobs over five years across the state. It’s critical it is fully funded in order to realize those benefits and literally keep our region moving. We need Albany and DC to Play Ball.
New Yorkers love to complain about our subways, trains and buses – and our teams. We can change at least one of those things this year, starting with a fully funded Capital Plan. As for our teams? As a Mets fan, I gotta believe!