Editor’s note: MTA needs $100 billion, but Janno Lieber will settle for $68 billion

Metropolitan Transportation Authority CEO Janno Lieber has been out stumping for the $68.4 billion the system needs to fund its 2025-2029 capital plan. This is money for MTA infrastructure projects, including the Interborough Express, a rapid transit line that will connect underserved communities in Brooklyn and Queens. After a state review board rejected approving the funding, due to a $35 billion shortfall, Lieber took his appeal directly to the Legislature, warning earlier this month that without the investment, New York City is heading for crisis that could rival 2017’s “summer of hell,” when transit disruptions crippled the subways.

So far, the funding gap hasn’t been included in the state’s budget negotiations. Lieber, meanwhile, has continued lobbying support for the money. At a 5BORO Institute event Wednesday held in the Tribeca home of the think tank’s board co-chair, Raj Goyle, Lieber said JPMorgan Chase was asked to look at Con Edison and freight railroads with comparable assets to determine what it would cost to get the MTA into a “state of repair,” where the system gets into a regular cycle of investment for its capital needs. “They said, you need $100 billion,” he said in a recording of his remarks obtained by City & State. He called the requested $68.4 billion “a minimum number,” that keeps the system from falling even further behind on capital improvements. “It's not going to magically fix the whole system, but if we don't make these investments, the consequences are catastrophic.” Lieber next delivers remarks at an upcoming Crain’s Power Breakfast and can be expected to repeat that dire warning the longer the Legislature drags its feet on addressing the shortfall.