Bridge Tolls

It seems like only yesterday that the three men emerged from their room with vague talk of an emerging scheme to spare transit riders -- temporarily, at least -- the pain of fare hikes and service cuts required, minus help from Albany, to keep the MTA afloat. But as the Times reports, a new development would catch the triumvirate flat-footed.

Breaking news from The Politicker's Jimmy Vielkind:

Now that they've covered the all-important transit riders against bridge tolls angle, William Neuman and the Times are asking straphangers how they plan to deal with seemingly imminent fare hikes and service reductions. Commenter #1's response:

The MTA's doomsday scenario came closer to fruition today, as agency board members took a step toward implementing planned fare hikes and service reductions while state lawmakers appeared mired in stalemate. Here are a few tidbits.

Some residents of Inwood aren't happy with Assembly Member Adriano Espaillat's vocal opposition to bridge tolls on East and Harlem River bridges. On the neighborhood blog Inwoodite (maintained by yours truly), Espaillat constituents sounded off last week, with one pointing out the assemblyman's illegal parking habit -- as illustrated by the photo above, snapped last December by another Inwood blogger.

If you're wondering how MTA doomsday service cuts will affect you, you can now look them up by state legislative district and ZIP code, thanks to new maps from the Regional Plan Association.

There's MTA rescue news today from the State Senate, and none of it good. 

Communities United for Transportation Equity (COMMUTE) will hold a rally today at the office of Ruben Diaz, Sr., one of a handful of state senators whose opposition to bridge tolls threatens to sink the MTA rescue plan. Says COMMUTE:

As Albany lawmakers ponder which of a half-dozen Ravitch plan variations they might support, the possibility looms that no solution may come in time. New Yorkers could see their fares rise 25 percent while service is cut back -- a twin catastrophe in this tough economic time. Yet no big new ideas are being advanced to protect mass transit users, which is why I believe the time has come for consideration of Ted Kheel’s and my traffic plan.