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Report
Transportation
What to Look for in the MTA’s November 2023 Financial Plan
November 27, 2023
While the budget outlook is positive, caution is warranted. The MTA and stakeholders should closely monitor ongoing results because certain risks threaten its projected revenue and expenses.
Report
Transportation
Needs and Wants
What to Look for in the MTA's Twenty-Year Needs Assessment
September 21, 2023
Based on analysis of past needs assessments, this report recommends how the MTA should improve its forthcoming Twenty-Year Needs Assessment.
Report
Economic Development
11 Billion Reasons to Rethink
New York's Increasing Economic Development Spending
July 20, 2023
Despite improved disclosure about individual projects, State and local economic development spending continues to increase without sufficient evidence that these programs cost-effectively create jobs or are more beneficial than alternative uses of the funds.
Blog
Transportation
Stabilized, for Now
The MTA's Operating Budget's Long-Run Outlook
July 17, 2023
Taking steps now to start closing future gaps will ensure changes do not have negative impacts on services or the economy.
Blog
Economic Development
Shrink, Don’t Expand, the New York State Film Tax Credit
March 06, 2023
The current program already is overly generous compared to other states and should be phased out.
Blog
Economic Development
No Extension without Evaluation
Reject Proposed Extension of Certain NYC Economic Development Tax Breaks Absent Appropriate Analysis
February 23, 2023
Prior evaluations found two of these programs to be ineffective; the bar to justify their extension should be appropriately higher.
Blog
Transportation
How Will The MTA Fight Its Four-Alarm Fire?
July 13, 2020
Federal aid should be a significant contributor to solving this crisis. Yet, even if the MTA receives all the aid it has requested, its leaders face hard choices about how to manage the resources they control.
Blog
City Budget
Buoying EDC's Operating Budget
June 01, 2020
EDC’s recent decision to reduce service hours and recalibrate routes on NYC Ferry is a step in the right direction.
Blog
Transportation
How Much Do City Taxpayers Really Contribute to the MTA?
February 21, 2020
City taxpayers pay 71% on MTA non-toll, non-federal revenues.
Blog
Public Workforce
TWU Contract
Productivity Not a Done Deal
February 18, 2020
The agreements should include greater savings, including workrule changes, to offset the impact of these increased costs.
Report
Housing
Rent and Ride
Affordability is About Both
January 13, 2020
While housing is the largest share of spending for most households, a more robust picture of affordability also should include transportation costs.
Report
Transportation
Recessions and Revenues
The Case of the MTA
December 16, 2015
This policy brief considers the implications of a recession for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s (MTA) current financial plan.
Report
Economic Development
An Assessment of Performance Reporting by Regional Economic Development Councils
November 29, 2015
This brief assesses the performance of New York State's Regional Economic Development Councils over the past four years and offers recommendations for further improving data collected on projects and on the economic performance of the regions.
Blog
Transportation
Why We Should Go Slow on the Second Avenue Subway
November 03, 2015
Why delaying plans for the second phase of the Second Avenue subway is sensible.
Blog
Economic Development
Learning from Past Mistakes
Examining Changes to the Excelsior Jobs Program
October 20, 2015
In 2008, CBC called for the elimination of the Empire Zones jobs program amid concerns it wasted public resources. In 2010, New York State replaced Empire Zones with the streamlined Excelsior Jobs Program. Excelsior was designed to avoid the errors of Empire Zones but until recently it has been difficult to assess to what degree it achieves its objectives.
Blog
Transportation
Best (and Worst) Stations by Subway Line
September 14, 2015
identifies the best and worst train stations in New York City Transit-MTA system.
Report
Transportation
Sisyphus and Subway Stations
August 31, 2015
This brief examines why the subway stations of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority never reach a state of good repair and recommends how to address the challenge.
Report
Transportation
Taxis, Taxes, and the MTA Funding Gap
August 25, 2015
This policy brief suggests alternatives for taxes on services regulated by New York City’s Taxi and Limousine Commission as a potential source of filling the gap in the MTA's proposed 2015-2019 capital plan.
Blog
Transportation
Who Pays When “The City” Gives Money to the MTA?
May 05, 2015
Calls for “the City” to provide more funding should be clear about who is really being asked to foot the bill: New York City taxpayers already provide most of the MTA's revenue through the combination of local, regional, and state taxes.
Blog
Economic Development
Economic Development Bigger in State Budget, But Benefits Unclear
April 15, 2015
Since 2011 New York leaders have restrained growth in the state’s operating budget; in contrast, the scale and scope of questionable economic development programs continue to be expanded significantly. In 2014 state and local spending for these activities totaled $8 billion.