Re: My Op-Ed on Completing the Full Second Avenue Subway Now

[Scott Baker]

Dear Assembly Member Quart:

I couldn't agree more with your Editorial to complete the 2nd Avenue Subway.  And I am speaking as someone who would be directly effected from where I live on Manhattan's Midtown East Side.

A hint of the root of the financing problem can be gleaned from what happened from the extension of the Subway's #7 line (from slide 23 of my presentation made for the Henry George School 3X this year: http://www.slideshare.net/ScottOnTheSpot/case-studies-in-new-york-city-property-development-28203125):

“The (EDC’s) Industrial Development Agency is expected to clear a big tax discount for a portion of Related Cos.' vast Hudson Yards project…a 20-year long 40% property tax break for a 1 million-square-foot mall and 2.4 million-square-foot office spire.  Related could realize $328 million in savings from the exemption…Fiscal watchdogs say that the break is especially problematic given the city plans to use tax revenue from the Hudson Yards to pay off the over $2 billion cost of extending the No. 7 subway to the site.  Between 2006 and 2012, the city spent $137 million servicing the bonds for the No. 7 line, and is girding itself to spend…$155.6 million in 2013 and 2014.” – Crain’s

What we need for the Second Avenue Subway as well, is fewer tax breaks for developers, and more Locational Rent Collection for what is certain to be, after some initial inconvenience, a major economic benefit for the East Side.
It's very simple:

    Those who benefit the most should pay the most.

With proper assessments and rigorous collection, the Second Avenue Subway can pay for itself in perpetuity.  Fare-payers are paying about the max they can pay without negatively effecting ridership.  Albany can't be persuaded to care about East Side city dwellers.  And general revenues are stretched in too many other directions. 

Yes, rates to borrow are low, but they aren't zero, and the Principal must still be repaid too, adding to the city's already high debt burden for decades. 
It's time to look towards those who would receive a windfall to pay their fair share. 
Returning to the Hudson Yards/High Line Park area:

      “…the steady progress of the subway's 7-train extension and the northern encroachment of the High Line is turning the area around the Hudson Yards into one big real estate boomtown.  The Times reports that more than 5,000 apartments have been built and more than $5 billion in private development has been invested in the area between 28th and 43rd Streets west of 8th Avenue since it was rezoned in 2005.” - Curbed

The greatest source of wealth in the city is literally beneath our feet.  With over a billion dollars in GDP per square mile, New York City is the most productive place in the country.  It's time for those riches to make all of New York City even better! 
 
Members of my group, Common Ground-NYC, look forward to meeting again with you and your staff to discuss this with you at your convenience.

Thank you for all you do for East Side New Yorkers.

P.S. We set up this online petition to support your recent Bill A07326A: Assess NYC buildings using comparative properties
 

Scott Baker - President: Common Ground - NYC; NY State Coordinator, Public Banking Institute; Opednews Blogger/Senior Editor; Huffington Post Blogger; Author

Video Appearances & Slideshows here:
http://newthinking.blogspot.com/

Petitions:
-- Commemorate President Lincoln's Assassination with 1 Billion Debt-Free Lincoln $5 Bills
-- Replace Property Tax with Ground Rent in New York State
-- Assess NYC buildings using comparative properties
-- California Dreaming: Set up a State Bank with abundant CAFR funds
-- Complete the East Side Manhattan Greenway from 38-61 Streets and save bikers, help the environment, and clear up traffic
-- Tax Vacant & Unused Land to Return its value to the Community
-- Close New York State's budget Gap with money from its own agencies by setting up a State Bank
-- Defend the Clean Air Act
-- Produce debt-free United States Notes
-- Reclassify the FED's account, from private to public

On Tuesday, August 12, 2014 10:01 AM, Dan Quart <D...@danquart.com> wrote:

Dear Friend,   Don’t miss my op-ed in Gotham Gazette. I’m calling for the continued funding of the Second Avenue Subway construction. Today’s low interest rates make right now the perfect time to fund the next phases, preserving the project’s forward momentum.   Read the op-ed below, or at Gotham Gazette, and please share it with anyone who might be interested.   Complete the Full Second Avenue Subway Now By Dan Quart Gotham Gazette August 7, 2014   Ask a hundred people who live on the East Side what they love about their neighborhood and you'll hear a hundred different answers. Ask the same people what is their least favorite thing about where they live and you'll hear the same refrain over and over: it's too far from the subway!   New York neighborhoods live or die based on their proximity to public transit. The far East Side, from Third Avenue to East End Avenue, has always suffered due to its distance from the Lexington line, the only subway line operating in the 8 full avenue blocks between Central Park and the East River.The Lexington line serves an average of 1.3 million riders each day – more than the average daily ridership of any other entire transit system in the US.   The Second Avenue Subway offers the promise of public transit to the East Side to neighborhoods long isolated. When Phase 1 opens in 2016, the entire East Side will enjoy the same easy access to subways as the rest of Manhattan. New Yorkers who live and work on the far East Side will finally know what it's like to catch a train just a couple of blocks away.   Where, though, will that train take them?   As of 2016, not very far. The first phase of the Second Avenue Subway, opening in 2016, will only extend the Q line from 57th Street to 96th Street. While this will provide some much-needed relief on the Lexington line, it doesn't truly solve the problem: a dearth of subway access east of the entire length of Lexington Avenue.   Extending the Q train four stops only helps Upper East Siders travelling to destinations near Broadway (mostly on the West Side in midtown.); it does nothing to connect uptown and downtown on the East Side, the route where the need is most critical. True transportation equity requires a full build of the Second Avenue Subway, from 125th Street to Hanover Square.   It is unclear if the MTA is prepared to seamlessly move forward with construction. The MTA's Twenty-Year Capital Needs Assessment, released in October 2013, devotes only three paragraphs (out of 140 pages) to the Second Avenue Subway construction, noting that "[i]mplementation of future...phases will need to take into account MTA's ability to fund and plan each functional incremental stage." The decade old Environmental Impact Statement for the project has not yet been updated, one of the very first steps the MTA will have to take to plan for future phases. As of yet, no concrete steps have been taken to ensure that construction of the Second Avenue Subway will continue past Phase 1.   This is an enormous mistake.   It's a mistake to introduce a delay of any kind into this construction process. When Phase 1 concludes in 2016, the team of thousands that has made this project possible will disband without a new phase to move on to. Any pause between phases, no matter how slight, will result in a loss of institutional knowledge, equipment, staff and experienced contractors, and cause future delays.   It's also a mistake to miss out on the lowest interest rates we're likely to see for decades. Right now is a perfect time to raise capital to continue Second Avenue Subway construction. In order to take advantage of this, we need to build as much as we can, as quickly as possible. Rather than simply moving forward on only Phase 2, the MTA should finance and begin construction on both Phase 2 and Phase 3 simultaneously. We must build a subway that meets the urgent need that was the impetus for the 2nd Avenue Subway more than 80 years ago.   As New Yorkers, we all know the benefits that subway access can bring. We've already seen the far East Side spring to life in the last few years in anticipation of the opening of Phase 1. However, we also know that partially finished projects usually don't deliver any of the promised benefits – building half a bridge is just a waste of money.   Extending the existing Q line a mere 40 blocks does not fulfill the promise of the Second Avenue Subway. It's time to boldly move forward and begin financing, planning and building the next phases of this project. The East Side has waited long enough for transit equity.

Paid for by Friends of Dan Quart

39 Broadway
Suite 1740
New York, NY 10006

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