John Petro
Earlier this week I attended a conference on mass transit and the creation of manufacturing jobs in New York State. This connection is often overlooked, especially by lawmakers and others in government who feel that any government spending is inherently wasteful. But the fact is that New York State’s investments in mass transit do create jobs all across the state—38,000 jobs by one estimate—and many of these jobs are in the shrinking manufacturing sector.
For example, a representative from the company Alstom told the audience about how thousands of employees were at one point working in factories upstate to manufacture rail cars for the New York City subway. Now that the order for thousands of rail cars has been filled, however, the company now employs fewer than one hundred New Yorkers for rail car production.
At the same time, the MTA is putting off the purchase of new rail cars and buses because of a multi-billion dollar gap in it’s five-year capital program. On the MTA’s “C” line 55-year-old rail cars will continue to clunk their way down the tracks because of a decision to put off the purchase of new cars. The MTA doesn’t have enough money to make the investments they need. The result is less reliable service and the loss of manufacturing jobs throughout the state.
Why doesn’t the MTA have enough money? While many politicians may make sport by slamming the MTA’s management and labor, the truth is the responsibility for funding the MTA rests with the legislature and governor. A lack of state money means that the MTA is unable to make the investments that not only improve New York’s transportation system, but create the type of well-paying jobs that New Yorkers so desperately need.
The assumption is that the state is out of money and that the MTA, like the rest of us, will just have to do more with less. In this case, the MTA will probably just have to do less. That means fewer jobs.
With all this in mind, I sat at the conference and listened to a panel discuss just how we can come up with the money for transit investments. New York City’s Deputy Mayor Robert Steel was on the panel. Steel is an ex-CEO of Wachovia bank (now part of Wells Fargo) and serves as the Deputy Mayor for Economic Development.
When it came time for questions from the audience, I took the opportunity to ask Steel a question: given the vast potential for transit investments to create jobs and economic development, why are state leaders choosing to roll back taxes on New York’s wealthiest residents? This choice will deprive the state of $5 billion a year. I asked the Deputy Mayor if he could explain how the benefits of lowering taxes for millionaires outweigh the benefits of making investments in our transportation system.
As an example of the benefits of mass transit investments, I pointed to the city’s investment of $2 billion on the extension of the number 7 subway line. For $2 billion, an additional $15 billion in private investment is expected to take place along the extension. The fourth-largest business district in the country will rise adjacent to the new subway stop on the site called Hudson Yards.
If $2 billion can do all that, how is it better for New York’s economy to lower taxes for the state’s wealthiest?
The Deputy Mayor did not have an answer for me.
The fact is, there is no good reason to make this choice when the state’s needs are so great. Not only do we need $9 billion for rail and bus investments over the next two years, but a similar amount is needed to fix the state’s roads and bridges. Depriving the state of $5 billion so that the state’s wealthiest residents can feel a little richer makes absolutely no economic sense.
