{"id":436,"date":"2005-10-20T07:41:21","date_gmt":"2005-10-20T15:41:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com\/wordpress\/archives\/2005\/10\/about_that_nice_treat_whom_does_this_actually_benefit.html"},"modified":"2005-10-20T07:41:21","modified_gmt":"2005-10-20T15:41:21","slug":"about_that_nice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com\/blog\/archives\/2005\/10\/about_that_nice.html","title":{"rendered":"About That “Nice Treat” . . . “Whom Does This Actually Benefit?”"},"content":{"rendered":"

About that “nice treat”<\/a>, you do realize there is a big MTA bond issue coming up this November, don’t you? “Fare Cuts for Holidays Are Called Into Question”<\/a>:<\/p>\n

It may seem like a benevolent year-end gift, but fiscal analysts and watchdog groups from both ends of the political spectrum yesterday criticized as irresponsible the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s plan to give subway, bus and commuter-rail riders fare discounts during the holiday season.<\/p>\n

The discounts, which would be unprecedented in scope and cost an estimated $50 million this year in lost revenue, may secure some sorely needed good will for the authority, which is urging voters to approve a $2.9 billion state transportation bond act on Election Day.<\/p>\n

But the authority faces a grim fiscal situation in the near future, as rising debt payments threaten to devour its operating budget. The authority hopes to balance its books next year, but anticipates a net budget deficit of $128 million in 2007, rising to $880 million in 2009.<\/p>\n

Liberal and conservative analysts alike questioned the prudence of the temporary discounts.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Zagat version of this article would go something like:<\/p>\n

The MTA, already under fire for its murky bookkeeping, appears to be engaged in “feel-good, short-term gimmicks” and a “a yo-yo fare policy” to “secure some sorely needed good will” as voters will be asked to approve its $2.9 billion state transportation bond act. “Merely a Christmas present,” an “empty election-year gift” to the Mayor or “a nice gesture” that they can afford? The question of “Whom does this actually benefit?” is on everyone’s minds.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

< \/zagatreading><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

About that “nice treat”, you do realize there is a big MTA bond issue coming up this November, don’t you? “Fare Cuts for Holidays Are Called Into Question”: It may seem like a benevolent year-end gift, but fiscal analysts and watchdog groups from both ends of the political spectrum yesterday criticized as irresponsible the Metropolitan […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-436","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-i_dont_get_it"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=436"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=436"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=436"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=436"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}