The feds’ Penn Station takeover is ALL about defending taxpayers from NY pols’ seedy schemes
Perhaps the very best factor concerning the Trump administration kicking the MTA out of any Penn Station redo is that it places a stake by the guts of the Cuomo-Hochul plans — which might’ve assured the least bang for the buck and a undertaking designed to serve donors and different particular pursuits.
It additionally frees any undertaking from New York legal guidelines that balloon prices on main public works by enabling the more serious union featherbedding and mandating payoffs to “neighborhood” politicians.
In fact, the solely purpose to do something (past perhaps some track-extension work) at Penn now could be to offer money baths for the related and a pretext for politicians to fund-raise from monied pursuits — each bribes for these searching for a chunk of the motion and safety cash from these aiming to protect what they’ve.
The MTA actually has much better makes use of for any money that comes its manner; it was solely dragged into these plans as a pawn within the pols’ video games.
Penn Station is now simply high-quality as it’s. For the a whole lot of 1000’s of commuters who movement by every day, current initiatives have carried out greater than sufficient — NJTransit and the LIRR have completely high-quality new vestibules, entrances and exits, together with Moynihan Station.
Nor do commuters need recent disruptions for work that does nothing to hurry up the trains: No person spends extra time at Penn than they have to, as a result of they’re all on their manner some place else.
Which makes burning billions of {dollars} to show its central corridor right into a grand architectural masterpiece pointless aside from these trying to moist their beaks.
This growth isn’t remotely about President Donald Trump trying to put (but extra of) his stamp on the town; Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is simply defending federal taxpayers from one other New York rip-off. “The times of reckless spending and clean checks are over” was the important thing a part of his announcement.
Gov. Hochul is peeved as a result of it shuts down her scheming, however New York taxpayers (and the MTA!) can have fun their liberation from a nugatory white elephant.
