Video, Audio, Photos & Rush Transcript: Governor Hochul Highlights Budget Investments at MTA Board Meeting

Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul highlighted FY 2024 Budget investments at the MTA Board Meeting.

VIDEO of the event is available on YouTube here and in TV quality (h.264, mp4) format here.

AUDIO of the event is available here.

PHOTOS of the event will be available on the Governor's Flickr page.

A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:

Good morning, everyone. Really, really happy to be here today. And Janno, let me just acknowledge, it's easy to be a leader in good times, but you have come through some extraordinarily challenging times — getting us through the pandemic and beyond. And so I want to just tell you the depths of my appreciation as the leader of this State and from all of us who felt your calm and your willingness to innovate different ideas on how we can improve customer service so people want to come back on the subway. So, I want to thank you and everybody who's part of this team - you really have been through a lot, more than you perhaps signed up for, this Board. And I just want to thank you for being there when New Yorkers needed you the most. And so I want to give all of you a round of applause.

We have the Board of Directors here, I want to thank our Chief Financial Officer, Kevin Willens. I want to thank — it's got to be tough when the money starts heading out the door and you're saying, "Well, how are we going to do this?" So thank you. And Jamie Torres-Springer — we've had many meetings about construction and development. And of course, Cathy Rinaldi. We've been on many first trips together, a lot of opportunities to just showcase what went on in construction during the pandemic, and I applaud you as well. And John Samuelson, President of our TWU. It's great to see John again and all the members of this team here as well. And also the State Legislature, for supporting our plans.

I'm told I'm the first Governor to have ever delivered remarks at an MTA meeting. But now I guess I make history again because I've done it twice now. We'll put that one in the books. But I also took the 4/5 train down here this morning. I enjoyed the experience. People are very chatty, believe it or not. And I had a chance to comment on someone who says, "Yeah, she's really short." I said, "Okay. What's with short people? You got a problem with short people?" I responded like a typical New Yorker. Hey, we're okay, short people.

But we laughed a lot, and we showed pictures of children and we had a great conversation with about - I talked to probably 15, 20 people. They all felt really good. They felt positive. They felt safe. They told me they're heading to work. One woman, it was her first time back, heading to an office in seven months. So it's happening. And I want to thank all of you. It just made my heart burst with pride to see that we really are back. And the MTA has to be back to meet the needs of New Yorkers.

And you hear the phrase, "The MTA is the lifeblood of the City." It is overused. It is a cliche, but I can't think of a better one. That is so true because we don't function as a city or as a region without a robust, highly functioning MTA. And we connect people to their loved ones and their jobs and job interviews and getting our essential workers to their places of employment. I spoke to one woman who was telling me how she came in all the time when she was a health care worker during the pandemic. But we all know what happened. I don't need to bring back a case of PTSD for all of you who were just enduring the unthinkable - what do we do? People aren't riding.

The revenues went down to scary numbers. And we were just saying, "How are we going to maintain this? How are we going to run this?" And we had workers coming in, fearful for their own safety during the pandemic and what they might bring back to their loved ones at home. And it was just a really tough time.

But we also had to look at the fact that ridership did not come back for a long time. There was no way to know. Would they come back day one after the pandemic started abating? No, because people all of a sudden discovered remote work. The mom I was talking to was a lawyer, on the train this morning. She says, "My first day back in seven months," as I said. She said, "My office is now my basement." So we may not get her back. But we have to make sure that we still have the revenues to provide outstanding service to those who deal in this.

So we're not there yet. Number wise, I track the numbers like a hawk. I know they're going up - and it's good, it's good. They could have plateaued at a lower number. So I'm glad to see progress heading upward. But Janno and I had many, many conversations since I became Governor a little more than a year and a half ago — how are we going to keep it going? So we thought we needed a really bold, aggressive plan.

And of course, when you start your budget process in January and you're looking at all the demands on State government, all the expenses, there were some voices who said you can do this short term and then of course, the proverbial kick the can down the road. Now, I've been in government my entire life. I spent a time as a Member of Congress. They love kicking the can down the road because it's always easier and there'll be someone else to have to pick it up. That's irresponsible governing in my opinion. So we approached this with an all-hands-on-deck approach. We knew we needed fiscal discipline, but we had to say that this Budget — Fiscal Year 24 Budget - would need to be there to save New York City Transit.

And that's the plan we put forth. And these investments are long-term, continuing your high quality of service. But let me tell you a little bit exactly how we're doing. First, the payroll mobility tax. I know everybody said, "You can't do that." But it does allow us to bring in a billion dollars. It is levied on city businesses with wages over a million dollars.

And the increase is modest for individuals, but collectively it brings us a billion dollars a year. And we have to make sure we can convince our businesses that this is an investment in their ability to function. If we have to cut service or people don't feel safe, we don't make the investments, how are their employees going to get to their job?

So you have to tie it to their own self-interest. And we did. And they're not excited about it, but they're willing to go along, because they also don't know how many people are going to be coming back to their offices. So we think that the payroll mobility tax, increasing it from 0.34 percent to 0.6 percent, will help out.

Also, Janno mentioned, operating efficiencies, $400 million a year. Yes. We can take a look internally, find ways to cut costs, and I thank you for your leadership. It's always easier to increase costs. Cutting costs is a challenge, but you've answered the call to do that and I appreciate that. That helped us go to the legislature and say, "It's not just about more money." They're saying they're also reexamining their own operations.And you're taking a data-driven approach and finding ways to be successful without cutting service.

I also want to thank Mayor Eric Adams for his willingness to increase the share for paratransit services through 2025. Another exciting development I heard — is Danna Dennis still here? I used to — heard her from Riders Alliance. Hey, Danna. There you go. Good to see you out there. I love our advocates, I mean you guys, think what you want. I was an advocate my whole life. I went to meetings like this. I'd walk in the door, they're like, "Oh no, she's back." But we made a difference. And it's that willingness to work with boards like this and that spirit of cooperation that can really get us to a good place. And so I thank you for telling your story and what it was like when you made $10 an hour. Danna, that's now going up to $17 an hour - index for inflation is part of our Budget as well, so make sure people know that.

But she mentioned her excitement around congestion pricing and many of the people here were real champions of that.And right now, we have the environmental assessment going on, so we've moved it forward. And I want to thank Janno and your team for engaging in the community engagement part of it.If you want to take a trip over to Jersey, go have a good time engaging over there as well. It's a little harder. That's your job, not mine.

But we have to make this work. I just drove through the streets before I went to the subway for a little bit. The streets are paralyzed. Now, it's a lot better than the ghost town experience we had. You know, where you could - it was like a bowling alley. You could cross streets and never see a pedestrian or a vehicle. It was frightening. It was the antithesis of New York City. It wasn't who we were. So now we're back, but the traffic has followed at even higher levels than we had before the pandemic. So, we have a great option, everybody. That's what's called the subway and mass transit and the buses are all about. So, we are going to be making sure that we have the resources to build the Capital Plan around that as well.

So, congestion pricing should generate about a billion dollars a year as well for the program. And again, talking about some of the big capital projects we did. I mean, they don't happen on their own. You have to plan, you have to know you have the dollars, you have to have the execution.

So, we cut the ribbon on Grand Central Madison. That was great. I hope you've all seen that. I'm sure you have, but the first major train terminal built in 67 years — extraordinary. It is beautiful. We launched the Third Track on Long Island, getting rid of bottlenecks, and so, the commute in is a lot easier from Long Island. And the Metro North Stations, which we promised to do. And opening up barriers that are transit deserts, and expanding access to good jobs for people.

And I want to just take a minute to talk about Penn Station. I was just there a couple days ago. Janno and I took a nice walk around. Some parts are beautiful, and some are not. And I'm really glad we can build consensus around this. There's been a lot of conversations about this. There were earlier plans and sidetracked and, you know, is there the political will just to get it done? And the answer is yes. We have no alternative. We can't be the greatest city on this planet and have a sub-standard station — and that's a complimentary word compared to what it really is. I don't want to make it sound that bad, but it can be so much better.

Why don't we continue to dream big like New Yorkers have always been known for? That station can be spectacular. We are currently building consensus around a plan to renovate the building. And so, I'm having constant meetings, people have been begging for this for a long time. The LIRR corridor is a big improvement, so you have a taste of what can come, but we have to finish the job.

And I'm going to say this: we're going to finish the job in years, not in decades, because I'm the most impatient Governor you've ever seen. I want to get it done. I'm going to mobilize, I'm going to work with our community partners, the elected officials, and we're on the path to making sure that we put forth a plan that'll really transform the experience for our commuters and make them proud again. Make them proud just like those who come through Moynihan Station.

I worked for Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan back when he was on the Infrastructure Committee. I know all about the importance of infrastructure and connecting people and making buildings beautiful again. It gives you that sense of pride, that civic pride that sometimes we overlook as an important part of our identity. And we're going to change that, and it's going to be spectacular. I want to have it light filled, and so, instead of feeling like you're in the depths of hell, you can look up and see the heavens. It's going to be extraordinary. And that's exactly what we need as well as the reliable, safe service.

For those who like taking our buses — and they are everywhere - we're going to make it easier for our buses to get around. We're going to expand the automatic bus lane enforcement, okay? We've got to enforce it and cover more traffic and parking violations, like parking in bike lanes and double parking in no standing zones. You're all on notice out there, if you're going to violate the rules. We're coming after you, so make sure you follow them.

And it'll make bus service faster. You take the bus and you're saying, "I actually could have walked faster than this." We don't want that to be the perception, so we have to clear the bus lanes and let people know they are for the buses. And that'll increase road safety as well.

Also, we launched this last fall and talked about this, but cameras on the subways and ensuring that the police presence remains robust. When I was on the train this morning, I heard a few times that there's a train on there - and they weren't just there because I was there. There are police officers on the train with regularity.And people tell me that makes them feel more safe, that they know there's a police officer either on the train or in the station. It is starting to change the psychology around the safety of the subway.

So, we're improving subway service at the same time. We're increasing the lines and the ridership on weekends and all these other opportunities.And the way I look at it — yes, indeed. I like this crowd out here. Yeah, you've got to follow me around to all my events. But we also want to make sure that we know we need to increase fares. But there's a way to do it. I suspended it last year, there was an automatic fair increase scheduled to go in.

I'm sorry I did that to all of you, but I did it for all of them. It was a tough time. And I said, "As you're trying to sell a product to get people back on the subways when they've been off for so long, we cannot be increasing the price of that great product." And that's why we suspended that last year. But we're going to keep the base fare under $3.And the weekly pass is just going up $1. And the City ticket on the railroads at peak hours will be $7.

So, we're going to have — also this is exciting — launch the idea of one per borough, a fare-free bus route in the City of New York. And so, people can try that experiment. We'll see what that does to ridership.We'll see what it does to getting vehicles off the roads, and one line in each borough. And we're going to be figuring out where the lucky line is.

So, I want to send a clear message here: the success of the MTA is not negotiable. It has to happen. You must be successful, and you can't be always looking over your shoulder — do we have enough money to just keep the trains running — literally? So, my commitment to the MTA is a commitment to the future of New York. It's that simple. And I feel we have unlimited possibilities to continue the customer experience, to invest, to make sure that we do everything we can. And I'm going to make sure that we do this so every single person has the world class experience they're entitled to.

And I will say some of this takes guts, but I don't mind a good fight. I don't mind a good fight. And I know that there's a lot of people who are like-minded, who are impatient, who want to get it done, who've been waiting too long.And my friends, now is our time. This is our moment. Thank you all so much for listening. I really appreciate all of our advocates and all of you here for the incredible work you're doing, keeping New York City running. Thank you.