Reports and Fact Sheets
Issue: Accountable Public Authorities “Open MTA”

Reinvent Albany regularly writes and publishes on issues and legislation relevant to our core mission. Below is a complete list of our reports, policy briefs, and memos.

January 2023 State Still Keeping Nine Big Secrets About Vornado/Penn Station Deal ESD and the Hochul administration continue to hide basic information about the Penn Station redevelopment project. We call on them to be fully transparent with the public and release this critical information. Read more January 2023 TIFs: No Such Thing as Free Money Tax Increment Financing (TIF) schemes divert future tax revenue from special districts to government-backed projects intended to reduce blight or create jobs via redevelopment. We oppose TIFs because they are off-budget and put tax dollars at risk. Read more December 2022 Skipping Out: NYS Not Making $375 Million/Year in Payments Promised to MTA By ending budget scams, Gov. Hochul can immediately restore $375 million in MTA funds from the 18-b program and PMT replacement funds. Read more December 2022 PACB Vote Approving Penn Redevelopment Plan Completely Abnormal Analysis of Newly-FOILed Records Confirms July 2022 Penn Resolution One of Only Two of 1,017 “Applications” Voted on by the PACB NOT about Project Financing Read more November 2022 Ridership Down: The MTA Fiscal Cliff Is Real The MTA faces a fiscal cliff that could obliterate transit service when federal emergency COVID aid runs out and needs billions in new, recurring, state dedicated funding. Read more August 2022 Key Sources on Penn Station Redevelopment Plan Reinvent Albany has compiled a list of key sources on the Penn Station Redevelopment Plan. We will continue to update. Read more July 2022 Watchdog Report Uncovers $1.2B Tax Break for Vornado in Opaque Penn Station Financing Scheme Reinvent Albany published a detailed analysis of NYS’s secretive plan to pay for Penn Station upgrades. Read more June 2022 Double Jeopardy: MTA Capital Plan Imperiled by Congestion Plan Delay Two years in, the MTA has only 7% of the funds budgeted, or $4B out of $55B total. Read more August 2021 MTA Needs Congestion Pricing Money Now, Not in 2023 2020-2024 MTA Capital Plan Funding Coming in at Slowest Pace of Last 3 Plans: MTA Has Just $2B of the $55B Budgeted Read more June 2020 Investing in the MTA is Investing in America Analysis of MTA payments outside NYS shows it spent $8B across the country, in 47 of the 50 states from 2011-2018. This in turns created as many as 100,000 jobs. Congress must now step up to fund $3.9B in emergency aid for the MTA. Read more September 2019 Analysis Shows Huge Challenge for MTA to Spend $55B 2020-24 Capital Plan Analysis shows the biggest constraint is the MTA’s ability to spend, not find capital funding. Recommends honest and detailed implementation plan, as well as detailed, itemized lists of projects and changes to prior plans. Read more August 2019 Where is the 2020-2024 MTA Capital Plan? Review of past MTA capital plan processes shows 2019 is one of most secretive since capital plans began in 1982, diverging from transparency norms. Read more