New York, NY —
As time runs out to avoid drastic service cuts to subways and buses, a leading lawmaker is telling WNYC he's confident the state will rescue the MTA in time. WNYC's Ilya Marritz has more.
REPORTER: Last year, Westchester Assemblyman Richard Brodsky was one of the most vocal opponents of congestion pricing, Mayor Bloomberg's plan to charge a fee to cars entering lower Manhattan. Now Brodsky says the legislature is having constructive conversations about an MTA rescue plan that would include bridge tolls.
Brodsky says he's still opposed to tolls, but he is certain there will soon be a compromise he can accept.
His comments came as the legislature holds two days of public hearings in New York City on how to close the MTA's $1.2 billion budget gap. Richard Ravitch, the architect of the rescue plan made his pitch yesterday.
RAVITCH: everybody is the beneficiary of this transit system and therefore everybody's got to contribute to it.
REPORTER: Hearings continue this afternoon in Harlem.