A Governor, a Piggy Bank and a Toy Store: Who is Paying $350m for MTA Bridge and Tunnel Decorations in the Middle of a Subway Meltdown
Under the law, the MTA and the NY Power Authority are governed by independent boards whose directors are obligated to act in the “public interest” and have to approve major agency expenditures, contracts and capital expenses. But a story in today’s Politico, and background research by Reinvent Albany, suggests that without the approval of the MTA Board, the governor has directed the installation of decorative colored lights and art decor towers on MTA Bridges and Tunnels that will cost between $350m and $500m. 
According to public documents the MTA board has never seen a full project budget for Harbor Lights and has not voted on the project. According to Politico, the governor’s office says the New York Power Authority (NYPA) will pay for the project — not the MTA. Yet, according to board minutes from March and January of this year, the NYPA board was told that the MTA would repay NYPA for the costs of the project. (See below.) In other words, NYPA’s board assented to paying for Harbor Lights based on the false promise of repayment. (We say “assented” because it is not completely clear that NYPA’s board actually voted for the expenditure, though they were briefed on it.) Additionally, the NYPA board was told Harbor Lights are a “lighting project to relight the bridges that the MTA controls in New York City” and “improvements to bridges and tunnels… ” involving the “addition of energy efficient LED lighting.”
To recap, the MTA board has never voted to approve Harbor Lights or seen a presentation on how much it will cost, yet the lights are slated to be installed on the MTA Bridges and Tunnels they are legally responsible for. The NYPA board “assented” to spending $216m on Harbor Lights based on the false promise of MTA repayment. Something is wrong here.
Anyone concerned about government accountability should be dismayed that the governor can act like a king with the Power Authority as his piggy bank and the MTA as his toy store.
Sources
Power Authority January 2017 Board Meeting
MTA bridge lighting project to relight the bridges that the MTA controls in New York City over the five boroughs. In response to a question from Vice Chairman Nicandri, President Quiniones said that this project would save the MTA money compared to using non-LED technology. If the MTA installed standard lighting rather than high-efficiency LED lighting on the bridges, it would be much more expensive than NYPA’s relighting project. In response to a question from Trustee McKibben, Ms. Anderson said the Authority is the overall Project Manager for the lighting project. NYPA will contract vendors to perform the actual installation. In response to a question from Vice Chairman Nicandri, President Quiniones said that the MTA will be paying the Authority for this service through a fifteen-year financial agreement.
Power Authority March 2017
Bridge Lighting It is anticipated that the Authority, through its Customer Energy Solutions program, will be responsible for implementing a plan to make improvements to bridges and tunnels in the New York City metropolitan region including the addition of energy efficient LED lighting in conjunction with the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority (“TBTA”), with costs, which are currently expected to be approximately $216 million, to be paid by or recovered from TBTA.