Spending Money We Don’t Have

Now that The Paul’s media “bubble” has burst with the passage of the Finneran amendment, he’ll need a new topic to get more exposure from his lamestream media serfs. We should see a press release from him any day now based on the passage of the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) loan program by the Congress. The Paul is being a bit overshadowed by the recent Obamacare ruling by the Supreme Court. No matter, ABG knows The Paul is tenuous when it comes to his self-promotion. He’ll just keep submitting it and eventually they will publish it. Deflection is an art that The Paul has mastered. Unfortunately, as he discusses other issues, such as the Tappan Zee bridge, he ignores, as does the media, the debilitating issues within the Town that he has created. But for now, let’s discuss the bridge.


One way or another, ABG believes the Tappan Zee Bridge does need attention. It is also our belief that many who are divided on what we should actually build need to breathe, slow the arguing down to a rational, not political discussion, look at all of the alternatives and make a logical and informed decision based on criteria, not political expediency. A few of these solutions may include a tunnel under the Hudson River as well as repairing the bridge for far less money than the replacement pundits continually argue. A bridge with and without rail, bus, pedestrian and bike traffic needs to be part of the mix. Yes, we need to address these alternate issues regardless of how we proceed. Finally, after determining what we think offers a best solution, factor in the economic issues, both short and long term.


This project’s Achilles heel is the desire by many to have a public transportation element as part of the solution. Another is the use of Eminent Domain to further these plans which will forever cost some their homes and others their businesses, eliminating much needed ratables in the area forever. In fact, the County Legislators felt Eminent Domain was so detestable that they passed a resolution decrying and forbidding the use of Eminent Domain for the federal Housing Desegregation settlement implementation. If the County Legislature feels that strongly against it, shouldn’t we? AGB does!


Regardless of how we finance and proceed with a Hudson River crossing, the TIFIA passage does not guarantee New York State the funds necessary to embark on what ABG believes will be a $15 billion dollar exercise in governmental misinformation! ABG has reviewed numerous projects that were proposed at one cost and ultimately costs us three times the amount quoted. The Catskill Aqueduct piping and repair project comes to mind. A more blatant example is from the Journal News’ numerous scorching articles published last year decrying the inflated costs and overages with the I-287 projects that seem to have been underway forever. How can the projected $5 billion amount be believed? 


The operative political buzzwords of the day are job creation, road usage support for taxpayers, economic recovery, cash and increased revenue for surrounding businesses – assuming they are not unfortunate enough to be in the Eminent Domain Steamroller path! But it’s all moot for now because the application process, superficial as it may be, is still required to be fulfilled, with no guarantee of approval. Assuming the this grant does get approval, the amount NYS can receive could go up from 33% to 49% of the total anticipated project cost. What does that mean to the public? We, the under-taxed NYS taxpayers, will need to foot the bill for the other half, whether you use $2.5 billion or $7.5 billion as our final share. Where is this money going to come from? Isn’t it ironic how County Executive Rob Astorino is repeatedly trying to shut down bus routes (BM Express, Rye) because we can’t afford to operate them but insists we need new and expanded bus routes?


So what’s the answer? ABG has had numerous discussions in our office as to how to increase traffic flow and eliminate the need for more major construction. In no particular order, here are some points ABG believes might help the situation. First, put it to a public referendum to decide what we should do with all the choices on the table. Second, eliminate the tolls and watch the bottlenecks disappear, negating the need to increase the size of the bridge and roadways. Third, look to create a mass transit infrastructure throughout the County before trying to tie a bridge option into it. Fourth, look for a mass transit option that is not dependent on a new bridge that can run independent of it. Fifth, disallow any option to be created during an election cycle. Finally, limit the amount of input to the major players and the public and stop pandering to political press conferences designed to sensationalize and scare people into ill-conceived decisions by using “the sky is falling” arguments. The time to rationally discuss, competently design and implement long term solutions is now, before we spend money we don’t have. We can only hope.