NEW YORK—Candidates seeking the city mayor’s office gathered on Feb. 22 to discuss transportation in a public forum held by multiple groups, including New Yorkers for Safe Transit and the Transportation Workers Union Local 100.
In a hot, crowded room, the forum was introduced jokingly as being similar to the conditions on the Lexington Avenue subway line, highlighting how the city’s aging subway system is also overcrowded. In a city where more than 1.6 billion people ride the subway every year, public transportation is a prevalent topic.
Three Republican candidates were not at the forum: Joseph Lhota, George McDonald, and John Catsimatidis.
We have arranged what was discussed in the approximately two-hour forum in a clean format. Enjoy.
Transportation Funding
Question: Would you increase city funding for mass transit from 0.2 percent to 1 percent of the budget? (The proposed budget for next year is about $70 billion, making 1 percent around $700 million)
Sal Albanese (Democrat): Yes. “Mass transit is not a frivolous service; it’s essential to the lifeblood of the city. I don’t see how we cannot make this a priority—increase it by $560 million.”
Tom Allon (Republican): No. The budget has gone up $25 billion since Mayor Michael Bloomberg took office. “We’re going to have to make some tough choices.”
Adolfo Carrion (Independent): Unsure. “It would be nice to say yes, but the question is always if you take it from one place, you have to take it from somewhere.”
Bill de Blasio: No, citing unresolved labor contracts. They’re “going to hit us like a ton of bricks.”
John Liu (Democrat): Yes. “One percent is already a pittance.”
Christine Quinn (Democrat): Unsure. Unsure. “When you’re in my position—somebody who comes this spring and early summer of this year is going to have to negotiate the budget for next year—I can’t make commitments like that in a vacuum.”
William Thompson (Democrat): No. “Given the ticking time bomb that is being left for us with every union contract that will expire by the end of this year … there is absolutely no money being put on the side reserved against any settlement.”
Concrete proposals outlined during forum:
Sal Albanese:
