U.S. Sens. Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) announced Monday that New York’s public transportation agencies would receive nearly $6 billion as part of the federal budget legislation passed in late December.
Schumer, the Senate Minority Leader, and Gillibrand, a member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, said they have long advocated for federal relief for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to help make up for massive revenue and fare deficits the agency has incurred because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I’ve said it before and I will say it again: mass transit is the lifeblood of New York and New York is the beating heart of the American economy,” Schumer said. “The MTA, for example, will need even more dollars to keep the system flowing, workers working, riders riding, and the economy running. Without more funds into the Biden administration for NYC, LI, Westchester, and upstate, New York will face an even harder recovery—and really—so will the nation. We’ll fight for those dollars just like we did these.”
As part of the Omnibus Spending Bill, Congress allocated $14 billion to help transit agencies across the country. Of that, the senators’ offices said, more than $5.6 billion would be allocated to New York’s metropolitan areas, including $28.4 million for the state’s capital district, $43 million for the Buffalo area, $172,210 for the Poughkeepsie-Newburgh area, and $5.5 billion for New York City, including the MTA. In all, the state will receive $5,687,828,630.
“Public transit is the lifeblood of New York’s economy, and for months, I fought to make sure our frontline health workers, first responders, childcare providers, and all essential workers would have a safe and healthy public transit system to get them where they need to go,” Gillibrand said. “I am glad that we secured this vital funding to help to avoid devastating cuts in bus, subway, and commuter rail service, which will enable us to combat the pandemic and help our economy recover in 2021.”