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Breaking Down The MTA's $5 Billion Hurricane Sandy Price Tag
By
Garth Johnston
Published Nov 28, 2012
Modified Nov 28, 2012
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MTA Photos
By
Garth Johnston
Published Nov 28, 2012
Modified Nov 28, 2012
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On Monday Governor Cuomo let drop that it would cost roughly $5 billion to get the MTA back to the position (and then some) it was in before Hurricane Sandy, and now the MTA has broken down those costs ($600 million to restore the South Ferry/Whitehall stations!). But don't worry, the cash-strapped MTA doesn't expect to pay for all of that with money from the imminent fare and toll hike. They believe that insurance will foot most of the bill. But first the Authority will likely have to borrow a few billion while they wait for the checks to clear.
MTA officials spelled out the situation saying that "it will cost $4.8 billion to repair the system with an additional $265 million needed to cover overtime and lost revenue." Further, they expect that FEMA and insurance will cover all but $950 million of the damages and that the rest can be made up by "cutting back on internal costs" (the unions are going to love that). However, while they wait for that money the MTA is going to borrow the billions to rebuild, adding an additional $125 million to the damages. We imagine those waiting for the R to get back to normal won't mind.
Bonus? The MTA says that it will not only be fixing broken systems, but improving them. "Even FEMA will tell you, don’t replace in kind if you can replace and harden and improve," Thomas Prendergast, the president of NYCT said yesterday. “And they’re willing to pay for that cost.”
To get a sense of the magnitude of the damages, look at the MTA's "impact list" below. If you were thinking that the A train might be back in the Rockaways sometime soon, perhaps that $650 million price tag will persuade you otherwise.
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