Office of Borough President James P. Molinaro
Staten Island, New York
B.P. Molinaro: “MTA ad promoting fast service for Metro North riders a slap in the face to Staten Islanders!”
Demands Immediate Bus Service Over Bayonne Bridge to Hudson Bergen Rail Line
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – Borough President James P. Molinaro today said that a Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) newspaper ad promoting speedy service for Metro North riders and out-of-state commuters is “a slap in the face to Staten Islanders.”
The ad that ran in local newspapers today touted Metro-North Railroad service running from Fordham to White Plains “in as little as 17 Minutes” in addition to “plenty of weekday half-hourly morning and evening service between those stations.”
Molinaro said, “This ad is a disgrace. Once again, the MTA is showing no concern or consideration for the people of Staten Island. Here they are promoting fast, convenient service for Connecticut commuters, when Staten Islanders have one of the longest commutes in the nation. When you consider that the Verrazano Bridge contributes 22% of all tolls collected by the MTA, the abuse is compounded tenfold.
“This is a slap in the face to Staten Islanders who voted for the Transportation Bond Act,” said Molinaro. “Tottenville residents who have a two-hour commute to midtown Manhattan now know that the MTA is taking good care of people in Westchester and Connecticut.”
During the last election, Staten Islanders supported the MTA’s $2.9 billion Transportation Bond Act, although it included no mass transit improvements for the Borough, such as increased bus service.
“Considering the already high tolls that Staten Islanders face, and our considerable lack of adequate public transportation infrastructure, the MTA has a
responsibility to Staten Islanders, especially now that we’re responsible for paying the $1.9 billion in interest for the Bond Act.
“The people of Staten Island have been more than patient in tolerating the abuse that the MTA has continually heaped upon our community,” Molinaro added. “The most recent increases by the MTA board resulted in a 25% increase for Staten Island commuters, and only a 5% increase for Metro North and LIRR commuters – those being catered to in today’s newspaper ad.”
At the Borough President’s inauguration ceremony on Sunday, he pledged to improve Staten Island’s public transportation services, including creating a link between the Borough and the Hudson-Bergen light rail system across the Bayonne Bridge in New Jersey.
“There are many ways the MTA can help Staten Island’s public transportation services,” Molinaro said. “For example, during the recent transit strike, I commissioned private buses to link Island commuters to the Hudson Bergen Line. In fact, I rode the bus over the Bayonne Bridge with them. This quick, easy connection worked. It gave our commuters a much-needed option.
“Unfortunately, the MTA continues to allege that there is a legal barrier against using bus service over the Bayonne Bridge,” Molinaro added. “After legally researching documents pertaining to the operation of the MTA, we have determined that the only meaningful restriction to bus service over the bridge is the opposition of the MTA. It is clear that there is no intention on the MTA’s part of providing Staten Islanders with the same standard of service that the other boroughs of this City – and Westchester and Connecticut -- receive,” Molinaro said.
“However, I will fight to make this bus-rail link permanent, and I will continue to petition for the creation of a rail connection over the Bayonne Bridge to the Hudson Bergen Light Rail,” Molinaro concluded. “This will connect Staten Island to the greater metropolitan region by rail for the first time in history. Staten Islanders deserve no less.”
January 12, 2006