New York City proposes extending subway to New Jersey

[struggle4progress]

(Reuters) - New York City wants to extend a cross-town subway line under the Hudson River to New Jersey, taking advantage of federal stimulus support and construction work intended for a canceled New Jersey commuter rail tunnel, a city official said in a statement late on Tuesday.

The idea offers an alternative to the $8.7 billion commuter rail tunnel project that New Jersey Governor Chris Christie killed last month when he said the cash-strapped state could not afford billions of dollars in likely cost overruns.

"Extending the 7 line to New Jersey could address many of the region's transportation capacity issues at a fraction of the original tunnel's cost, but the idea is still in its earliest stages," said Andrew Brent, a spokesman for Robert Steel, New York City deputy mayor for economic development in the statement ...

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6AG44V20101117

[JustAnotherGen]

1. Yeppers

I caught the story in the Star Ledger this morning. We had to know that with Cuomo in the Gov House - this was bound to happen.

[prodigals0n]

2. Add this amount to the $400 million Christie already threw away in Race to the Top

From the article:

"The New Jersey tunnel was to be the largest public works project in the country and had been awarded more than $3 billion in federal money at a time when the Obama administration has made infrastructure spending a cornerstone of its economic stimulus efforts.

The Obama administration has requested prompt repayment of more than $270 million in federal grant money. Christie has said the state is reviewing the request."

-$400 million - Race to the Top funding Christie lost
-$270 million - Requested repayment so far for canceling ARC tunnel
-------------
-$670 million - Total amount of funding Christie has lost for New Jersey so far on these two items alone

Christie has cost New Jersey $670 million so far on these two items alone and he's only been in office just shy of 10 months. And that amount doesn't include the loss of $3 billion if federal funds and $2.7 billion from the Port Authority of NY and NJ for the ARC tunnel plus the loss of thousands of desperately needed construction jobs right now and many, many more jobs in the future due to limited access.

And that's not all.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-11-03/christie-killing-new-york-tunnel-erases-wages-risks-montclair-property.html

Christie Scrapping Tunnel Brings $5 Billion Wage Loss, Threatens Montclair
By Dunstan McNichol and Terrence Dopp - Nov 3, 2010 6:07 PM ET

"Governor Chris Christie cut off New Jersey from $5 billion in New York-based salaries and diminished its future role in the world’s second-largest regional economy, according to government data and former state Commerce Commissioner Gil Medina, by ending construction of a Hudson River rail tunnel he said taxpayers couldn’t afford."

...

"Christie’s move means the state will have to repay the U.S. government $350 million already spent on the project, forgo $3 billion in additional federal aid and lose the 3,000 construction-worker openings the tunnel was projected to generate for the next decade. Canceling the tunnel will also cost New York and New Jersey 44,000 jobs and $4 billion in additional income that would have come through economic growth, according to a 2008 study by New Jersey Transit."

...

"The Regional Plan Association, a New York research group that supported the tunnel, said home values within 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) of train stations on lines running into the project would have increased by $18 billion, generating $375 million in additional property-tax collections each year."

...

"About 373,000 New Jersey residents already earn paychecks in New York, according to the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. The typical New Jersey commuter was paid $205,000 in 2007, the last year for which New York has statistics."

Much more at the link:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-11-03/christie-killing-new-york-tunnel-erases-wages-risks-montclair-property.html

This all while New Jersey reels from the effects of draconian budget cuts to everything from education to essential services like police and fire to property tax relief for seniors and disabled (he used that money for a tax break for millionaires) -- you name it, Christie has cut it drastically -- yet we still have escalating property taxes across the state.

This guy is a bigger (in more ways that one) screw up than Bush. An incompetent tyrant costing New Jersey billions.

[prodigals0n]

3. NY Times SLAMS Christie on ARC, Race to the Top, THE FUTURE

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/18/opinion/18thu3.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=a211

Bailing Out New Jersey
Published: November 17, 2010

"Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey is the darling of the Republican right for bleeding his state budget and rebuffing billions of dollars in federal funds. Back home, however, the picture is very different.

After Mr. Christie killed a much-needed mass transit tunnel under the Hudson River as too costly (thereby losing $3 billion from the federal government and untold future benefits), Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s transportation wizards are offering to come to the rescue. They are proposing an alternative tunnel at a much lower price as an extension of New York City’s subway system into New Jersey.

It’s nice to know somebody is thinking big about the region’s economic future."


Chris Christie = short-sighted, self-promoting, incompetent tyrant.

Read more at the link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/18/opinion/18thu3.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=a211