In this op-ed in the Gotham Gazette, the Center’s Adam Forman argues that as almost half of the MTA’s five year capital budget remains unfunded, Mayor Bill de Blasio and City Council should not only put pressure on Albany, but also allocate more city dollars in order to close the $15.2 billion funding gap. Forman points out that the city’s direct contribution to MTA has fallen from $950 million in 1989 to less than half of that in 2013, and suggests that de Blasio lead the way in meeting New York’s transit needs by tripling the city's current contribution to the MTA. He also calls on the Mayor to not let Albany off the hook, as the subway supports the state’s primary economic engine – New York City -- and discretionary state funding to MTA was cut by $30 million this year. Click here to read the full commentary.

Forman is the author of Caution Ahead, a Center for an Urban Future report published in March which provided a comprehensive examination of New York City's aging infrastructure: