The Staten Island Railway ought to be stripped of promised new trains over the borough’s vocal opposition to the now-paused congestion-pricing program, an MTA board member urged.
Plans name for testing to start out in August on the state-of-the-art prepare automobiles, generally known as R211Ss, with producer Kawasaki set to ship 75, company officers advised the MTA capital committee final week.
Throughout the dialogue, Norman Brown, a nonvoting board member, urged the MTA set up the automobiles on the town’s subways as a substitute of the forgotten borough — in retaliation over the bitter battle Staten Island pols put up in opposition to the $15 congestion toll to enter Manhattan. Gov. Hochul put the plan on an indefinite pause earlier this month.
“For the reason that representatives from Staten Island on the state, native and federal degree don’t assist the capital plan, since they don’t actually care, might we run them on the A line?” requested Brown, a Metro-North labor rep.
MTA officers defined the automobiles would wish some modifications earlier than they may function on the opposite 4 boroughs’ subway strains — the Staten Island Railway is totally above floor — and MTA Building and Growth president Jamie Torres-Springer shortly shot down any railway revenge desires.
“The R44s on Staten Island are actually very outdated,” Torres-Springer mentioned, referring to the railway’s present rolling inventory, which dates again to the Nixon administration. “The SIR is a crucial a part of the mass transit system within the area and we’re working to guard protected and dependable service throughout your complete MTA system.”
Brown’s proposal to drive SIR riders to proceed counting on historic, failure-prone prepare automobiles incensed Staten Islanders.
“Reasonably than asking questions on how we are able to enhance the commute for individuals on Staten Island . . . their mindset is, ‘How are we gonna punish them and make it worse?’” Borough President Vito Fossella, who filed a lawsuit to hit the brakes on the $15 tolling program, advised The Submit.
Albert, 34, certainly one of practically 7,000 every day weekday SIR riders, slammed Brown for the “low-cost shot,” noting how Democratic lawmakers within the board member’s personal borough of Brooklyn, in addition to Queens, opposed the tolling program.
“Ought to the subway strains that run by way of these [lawmakers’] neighborhoods … not get new automobiles, too?” mentioned the irate lawyer, who makes use of the Staten Island Railway to get from the St. George ferry terminal to his house on the South Shore.
Final week, MTA board members voted 10-1 to approve Hochul’s delay for the first-in-the-nation tolling program, successfully gutting the company’s capital finances. The choice will drive the MTA to place off a number of main tasks, together with the Second Avenue Subway extension and sign upgrades, officers mentioned.
Brown insisted to The Submit he wasn’t trying to punish Staten Islanders, however was merely suggesting the MTA put new automobiles on its extra populated subways strains. “When it comes right down to effectivity, giving [Staten Island] the model new automobiles doesn’t make sense to me,” he mentioned.
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