25% of MTA workers earned six-figure salaries in '16
-New York Post 2015/07/16
2nd Ave Subway cost $2.5 billion a mile, the Line 14 extension in Paris is on track to cost $450 million a mile.
-NY Times 2017/12/28
5
25% of MTA workers earned six-figure salaries in '14
-New York Post 2015/07/16
2nd Ave Subway cost $2.5 billion a mile, the Line 14 extension in Paris is on track to cost $450 million a mile.
-NY Times 2017/12/28
3
Legalize marijuana and online gambling in NYS. The state is loss millions in tax revenue by not having online gambling
Legalization of marijuana? No, no, no! I can’t walk down any street in this city on any day at any time where I don’t see and smell pot smoking people walking down the street or the stench from people smoking pot while driving. While driving!
3
Make the most you can of the Indian Hemp seed and sow it everywhere. - George Washington
3
Here in Maine pot was legalized over two years ago, but the state has been unable to organize the legal structure it needs to bring it to the point where it is actually available in the legal market (though medical marijuana has been legal and available for years). However, since it is legal to grow and to possess, people who use it casually (initially thrilled at legalization) have drifted back to the black market. Nobody seems to care whether the state ever gets around to setting up the legal market since it's so easily available from other sources (and probably cheaper since it is not taxed).
6
The subway doesn't need more money, it's needs a complete overhaul. The main problem with our third world transit system in NYC is the power of the TWU, that's it...nothing more. The unbelievable inefficiency of work done in the subway system would stagger most New Yorkers. It's a system that rewards working as little as humanly possible and then threatening to shut down the system if they don't get what they want every year.
As much as I despised Reagan, his move with the air traffic controllers was spot-on; we need to to do the same with the TWU.
8
It could be that legalizing and taxing marijuana will cushion the city's coffers, but smoking the stuff won't in general do teenage brains very much good. In particular, the kids whose joints stink up the streets as they walk by any time of day probably aren't doing well in school and can't afford to do even worse.
(How do I know their work ethic and interest in education are sub-par? Oh, please. Where do you live?)
4
Listen - I inhaled. And you want to spark one up at home, great. Mazel tov.
But letting anyone bust out a blunt on the subway?
Is the MTA gonna give me a hall pass when I show up at work smelling like an extra from "Up in Smoke?"
'Nuf said.
6
Let's not forget that we already have tax dollars that are supposed to pay for the MTA, but which have been systematically defunded and reallocated towards other projects like roads. The money is there, we just need to manage it properly.
9
Decriminalization yes.
But before we make weed the next lottery for education case, we need a couple of things:
All publicly funded projects must have not to exceed budget clauses to avoid the scandal of our very expensive per mile of track cost MTA fiasco. And people need to be prosecutable for fiscal malfeasance like $111 per hour elevator operators on MTA projects as featured in that NY Times exposé.
Second, weed should not be allowed like smoking or vaping in public. People can drink it like bhang, sip it like an elixir but no smoking of it in public or buildings where prohibited. People have a right to clean air and the right to not get high. See the Dutch model of weed cafes as an example.
Third: maybe we should be reevaluating all of the tax abatements and discounts for people and shell corporations who don't live and work here to fund basic, ongoing infrastructure maintenance. They build buildings with tax abatements which get bought by speculators/investors and further dry up real estate inventory, which pushes up rents further. Meanwhile we residents foot the bill when we buy to live at a place with the sweat of our brows and our property taxes go up when the market rate goes up for all the luxury condos going up in our neighborhoods. Sickening.
4
@Lmca
Shell corporations are what keeps Cuomo and de Blasio in power. These two like to present themselves as implacable enemies, but in reality, they are both abject stooges to foreign money, developer money and the money that flows from their corrupt US backers. They are about as progressive as Putin. In my never-ending cycle of self-deception, I voted for Obama once and de Blaisio once before realizing they were both frauds, intent on only promoting themselves. Judge these people by their deeds, not their soaring rhetoric, and you will be wiser, though extremely disappointed.
Why is it always taken as a given that the MTA needs more money? No one ever dares suggest that they should trip their operating costs. No private company would ever function like the MTA. They get to continue increasing worker pay and pensions as their services crumbles. They still have 2 operators on EVERY train. No other major cities do this, so why does New York allow the MTA to waste an incredible amount of money and always bow to their demands of more more more?
Also, as a side note, marijuana should be legalized because it's immoral to throw people in cages for doing something to themself that harms no one else. Not because the state could possible make more money. Why is that always the argument?
7
Legalization is a no brainer. New York has always been a social leader; this should be no different.
1
How about they legalize marijuana use ON the subway? That way nobody would care about the delays.
2
@Hi Pylori
How about they legalize marijuana use, but ONLY on the subway? That would increase ridership and satisfaction.
6
I say place Slot Machines near the Metro Card machines.
When you raise taxes ever so slightly people go nuts but when it comes to gambling the suckers just give you their money.
8
@MIKEinNYC
The government runs lotteries. Why not this?
2
This is a fantastic idea, considering that anyone who's ever been to Williamsburg knows that marijuana is already legal for white people.
10
What a wacky idea.
Another benefit of legal pot: Some subway riders who have been irate over terrible service might become a little more relaxed.
My strategy for dealing with my three -subway line ridehome- it helps albeit marginally.
2
@LittlebearNYC
Didn't they used to have drinking cars as part of the subway (or maybe it was trains)? How about cannabis cars - for a slightly "higher" price - also to include snack vending machines in those cars.
4
It's always taboo to bring up the transit union. They refuse to make any changes that would make service a lot cheaper. For instance, there's still 2 operators on every subway in the city - one to drive, and one to open doors and make announcements. Other cities have one operator handle all that. It's really not crazy. Why doesn't New York make the obvious change? The unions oppose it. It's such a joke. The answer isn't to just throw more money at the MTA without forcing them to make serious changes. Right now they're planning to give themselves all raises, raise fares, and cut services. The answer isn't to encourage that.
14
If only it were so simple. Legalize state-wide with all new tax revenues going to NYC? Good luck with that!
They'll be a free for all over these taxes, just like in every other state where it's been legalized. Education is big but legislatures eventually reduce the amount of money appropriated by the amount raised by the new sin tax so there's not much of a net gain.
So construction projects make sense but it will have to be distributed state-wide. The subway system may get the most but they won't get it all.
5
Somehow tax money always seems to go anywhere except where the politicians say it will go. Where's the lotto money? In Florida the voters approved a bill that would allow a tax to buy land for conservation, only a tiny portion of that money actually buys land. Medical marijuana was legalized but the republican state senate is making implementation difficult. Both these laws passed by at least 70%. The republicans couldn't care less what the people want.
3
One thing that must be considered is that if taxes on marijuana are set too high a black market will thrive. Along with the black market comes the continued loss of forest and pollution which is still a huge problem in California.
3
How about making the subway free, and taxing corporations with more then 100 employees to pay for it. What is the use of Billionaire Bezos getting billions from NYC to expand Amazon if he can not chip in for the subway. Big Business will threaten to move. So let them. NYC is overcrowded. Why can't Universities like NYU and Columbia that hardly pay any taxes due to their tax status get hit with a bill. Stop creating a tax system where the wealthy get off for free. KKR, and all those hedge funds could easily chip in one hundred million. The subway after all these years should be free and corporate USA in NYC should pay for it.
15
@Ralph Petrillo I wholeheartedly agree with your sentiments, but I can't imagine what subway congestion would be like if the rides were free. Don't get me wrong, but it would take a lot more trains and a lot more tunnels to handle the increased number of riders.
1
Seems like a no-brainer.
Not only would NY gain massive amounts of tax dollars from a source where there is now none, but it would also gain the dollars being spent in neighboring states.
In addition to the tax dollars, it would take the money out of the hands of people who are currently selling it illegally and paying NO taxes on the profit.
It would free up money from the courts and jails where tax dollars are currently being SPENT to prosecute large and small dealers alike for "crimes" as small as possession of a joint.
The country is going in that direction. Why not, as a state, lead the way? It is not a gateway drug. It will not encourage most non-users to start using. It would simply take advantage of the fact that people who want to use, are using regardless. It could then take the money that is already being spent, toward something for the common good, legally.
60
if you vote to legalize marijuana I will not vote for you.
5
@me and you and your candidate will be alone in a boring, sober, room free of snacks.
8
There’s an enormous pot of money for subways no one is looking at: the 1.8 million free parking spaces --the most valuable real estate in America is being given away for free to store privately owned hunks of metal. A parking space is 10X20 feet = 200 sq feet. If someone lived there, the property taxes alone on almost $10k/year – which is $27 per day. Donald Shoup the famous UCLA parking guru has calculated the revenue from NYC’s 1.8 million free parking spaces: if the city charged $5.50/night for half the spots, it would generate $3 billion per year. (Revenue could be collected in a yearly parking pass or an overnight parking ticket).
As the price goes up, cars will leave the city. Entire blocks in NYC can be car free. Imagine a stunning tree lined street with no cars, just Parklets, bike paths and people enjoying life? And a beautiful subway to get there.
2
@E Simpson
You don't have to wait for a car-free city for the vista you crave. Just look at the architect's rendering for any of the glass towers that now infest Bloombergia. There is not a car in sight, the streets are lined with 100 year old oaks, the sidewalks, even on side-streets, are as wide as the Champs-Élysées, and each building sits in solitude, drenched in its own reservoir of sunlight.
1
If the NY legislature passes legalization, it will probably not take effect until a year later, at least. The smart way to do it would be to legalize possession immediately, which would allow people to buy pot in other states and not be in jeopardy of arrest in NY. Then allow local businesses in a year.
6
I'm all for marijuana legalization, as I've never understood the dichotomy between alcohol (widely accepted, promoted and even expected, at any/all venues/events) and pot (vilified, called a 'gateway' drug, its even-casual users attributed with negative stereotypes, etc.)
But it would be extremely naive to suggest that additional funding, regardless of source, is the solution to the MTA's woes. I mean, sure, money can't hurt; upgrades and improvements can only be accomplished with cash. But imho the main reason why the MTA is and has been such a mess, is a lack of effective management, oversight, supervision, vetting and training of employees, etc.
The MTA seems to prefer to focus on bells and whistles, which are more fun and sexy to implement and unveil at a press conference, than on fixing the boring but nevertheless essential basics, such as signal systems, tracks, and communication systems (both internal - so that MTA personnel understand, in real time, what is occurring throughout the system as well as in their own stations ... and external - so that riders clearly understand what is going on, whether it be a re-routed train, a delay, etc.) They also need to figure out a better system for handling 'sick passengers'. If these same passengers got sick within the Tokyo metro system, I can assure you, the particular metro line and those that feed into it, would not be paralyzed for more than 5 minutes, never mind 30-60 minutes, as can be the norm with the NYC system.
14
@Lisa As I understand it, alcohol has powerful lobbyists on its side, and cannabis was demonized for racial and political reasons: to punish hippies, imprison blacks and Latinos, and ensure the alcohol profits kept flowing to the politicians. It's a tragedy of global proportions; three million people die annually from causes related to alcohol.
3
I dunno...being stoned while stuck on a stopped train sounds like a new low in the already dismal state of the rider experience.
6
opioid crisis overtaking the country. so let's legalize the gateway drug. and you can tell me all about studies that say it isnt. but I had 5 friends who failed out or were thrown out of nyc private catholic HS and then didn't even finish nyc public HS. a couple did manage to get ged's. a couple didnt. all started with smoking pot.
6
@bored critic Nothing like annectdotal evidence.
3
@bored critic
Another factor they had in common was Catholic school. Maybe this is the root of their failure.
7
@bored critic
Getting expelled probably had more of a negative effect than the pot did. Schools are too quick to shut the door on so many kids. Especially catholic and private schools
6
So many states leaving money on the table. No brainer, but that seems to be the mindset of most politicians--brain dead
Really?
Like how the lottery pays for education?
I know we are suckers but please.
10
With apologies to the Grateful Dead:
"This old 6 train never makes on time.
Leaves Union Station at a quarter to nine.
Hits Grand Central at at seventeen two.
Legalize the weed
And it'll work for you."
5
I fully endorse legal cannabis. But I think it's a mistake for governments to become dependent on expectations of consumer "vice taxes" of any sort as a reliable revenue stream.
The most important result of a legal market in cannabis should be to cripple the illicit retail markets- particularly the youth market staffed by teenage sellers that all too often offers the temptation to favor the fast money of drug sales over the deferred gratification of improving literacy and numeracy, and advancing in academic studies. That goal implies that the retail price of legal cannabis must be cheap enough to make it difficult for illegal markets to compete.
I think it's also important to have legal cannabis products available at price points which make it a bargain choice when compared to hard drugs. Currently, $20 USD can buy about 4 joints of pot (about 1 gram), 4-6 crack rocks, 4-10 powerful heroin/fentanyl highs (for a new user), or enough meth to keep an occasional user up for 4 days. There's something wrong with that picture.
Imagining that legal cannabis will provide a cash cow to governments tends to support the misbegotten notion that prices for this relatively benign substance should remain at a premium. It also implies endorsement of the continuing existence of a stable, permanent base of regular (and heavy) consumers recruited with advertising.. That's a paradigm that elevates the interests of money and rent-seeking commercial interests over benefits to society.
1
The Subway should be paid for by those that benefit from it, the COMPANIES whose employees ride it.
2
While I am not opposed to the legalization of pot, I do think that clean, smoke free (cigarettes, pot or hash) air is the right of everyone - as is living in an apartment where there is no pot or hash odor from neighbors.
For people who are in recovery from substance abuse or for others who simply do not want to have to inhale such substances - they too are entitled and have a legal right to breathe clean, fresh air without the intrusive aura of pot or hash smoke. If pot or hash can be taken by orally - for example, as a pill - no problem whatsoever - but for those who choose to inhale clean fresh air - the odor of pot or hash is intrusive to their air rights, and, hopefully, the smoke element of pot or hash will be ruled as illegal.
10
@kkm Exactly! What about my rights to Not be around cigarette / marijuana smoke? It's disgusting!
4
@kkm
I feel the same way about perfumes. Make them illegal too?
4
Sometimes I think that people who live in New York are some of the most provencial people in America. Travel to the states that have legalized cannabis. Visit dispensaries. Talk to a "budista" about what you want to try. Buy or don't buy - use or don't use - they are your choices.
Don't forget to buy the t-shirt to wear when you get back home.
5
Smells good to me.
13
Rest assured that if it is legalized here, Gool Ol' Andy and the rest of them will do it in some half-baked way. There will be caveats, loopholes, red tape etc that will kill any substantial financial benefit to the taxpayer while also stifling any availability to the marijuana consumer. Don't worry, they'll screw it up somehow. You can depend on that.
1
"The subway’s leader, Andy Byford, has proposed a sweeping plan to modernize the subway that could cost $40 billion over ten years."
Aww, how cute! A play-size estimate of what is really needed to quote-unquote MODERNIZE THE SUBWAY.
Define 'modernize' please! And 'modernize' relative to what? The systems in Tokyo? Hong Kong? Seoul? Guangzhou? London? Madrid?
We are lagging so abysmally behind that it will take three times as long (as "10 years") and three times as much (as "$40 billion") just to catch up to any of the transport systems in the above named cities.
Does anyone who has lived in New York and experienced its 'infrastructure politics' really doubt that?
But Albany legislators believe the most important thing now is to pay 4 guys on a panel to double their salaries to 150K per annum.
14
Anything, anything but taxing millionaires, particularly the ones who only live here for several months a year and stole their wealth. When de Blasio suggested a millionaires tax, probably in jest, but to demonstrate his fraudulent progressive credentials, Cuomo ran the first three minute mile to assure his backers it was DOA.
“One source of funding is not going to be enough,” said Ms. Biaggi, who represents parts of the Bronx and Westchester County. “Why would we not try to include as many funding streams as possible, without having to raise taxes which a lot of people quite frankly are afraid of doing.” Sounds like a real fighter!
Who are these "lots of people"? The same people who determine everything else that goes on in this city and who have helped destroy it: the developers, the financial goniffs and now Jeff Bezos. Wouldn't want to put the slightest dent in their exploding-at-the-seams wallets, would we? Oh the humanity!
9
Legalize it. Treat it the same was as alcohol, i.e. You need to be 21 years old to buy it, no driving under the influence, etc., and tax it like crazy.
7
@MIKEinNYC
Tax it like crazy and keep the black market going.
2
Cuomo is an obstacle, as ever. New York is way behind its competitor states. Thank Cuomo's "Empire State" mentality.
1
I can already hear the ramblings of the anti legalization crowd to the effect that if it must needs to legalize marijana to save the subways then the subways should be closed permanently and thrown into the oceans.
How many people recall that Prohibition of alcohol caused a loss of 20% of the federal budget's income? Making of the sale of alcoholic beverages illegal may have caused , certainly worsened, the Great Depression in the US.
Nevertheless, the drys were so sure of their cause that they never even bothered to consider the issue.
The use of tax money from marijana legalization has been one of it's primary potential benefits since the beginning of NORML in the 70's. Sadly, in the absence of great demons, wars and evils to combat, police and preachers of all stripes have refused to give up their "green man" and all around whipping boy. Pot is too easy a target to allow it to just turn a new leaf and become the saviour of any of our decaying infrastructure.
4
In Rhode Island, we hoped that "Pot for potholes" might improve our highs and highways. We were the consumption per capita leader, but the opportunity to be ahead of the legalization trend has been lost.
New York State has the ability to raise badly needed revenue. Will legislators in Albany have the courage to do what other states have already done successfully? I hope so.
5
Decriminalizing marijuana is not a bad idea, but it has consequences. In states where recreational use of marijuana is legal, the incidence of car accidents has increased by 6%. Legalizing seems to give some people the idea there are no consequences to smoking in places where it is not legal and that pot does not effect the mind. Using this vice to pay for the subway is going to make the roads more dangerous. Most subway riders are also pedestrians.
1
Hi S.L. Can you share the source of the statistics you cite? That 6% is an extraordinary number. And is it attributable to cannabis, or just more drivers?
3
@S.L. Try looking beyond FOX for news:
https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/abs/10.2105/AJPH.2017.303848
Results. Pre–recreational marijuana legalization annual changes in motor vehicle crash fatality rates for Washington and Colorado were similar to those for the control states. Post–recreational marijuana legalization changes in motor vehicle crash fatality rates for Washington and Colorado also did not significantly differ from those for the control states (adjusted difference-in-differences coefficient = +0.2 fatalities/billion vehicle miles traveled; 95% confidence interval = −0.4, +0.9).
1
@Tony Peterson-https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/18/health/marijuana-driving-accidents-bn/index.html
The first study found that crashes are up as much as 6% in Washington, Oregon and Colorado, compared with neighboring states that haven't legalized recreational use of weed. Researchers estimated the frequency of collision claims per insured vehicle year, controlling for differences in other factors that could contribute to an accident, including age, location, job status and weather, and still saw an increase.
The second study looked at the number of police-reported accidents before and after the legalization of recreational use of weed. The findings were similar: a 5.2% increase in crash rates after legalization than before weed was legal in those states.
1
Marijuana is a drug that has positive benefits for public health, so its tax revenue should be used for that purpose. Use this money to subsidize mental health services and affordable housing in centrally located neighborhoods. Getting the homeless and mentally ill out of subway stations and into comfortable environments would obviously make life better for them, but also improve conditions on NYCT.
To fund the subway, the state doesn't need to get that creative, it just needs to disincentivize corruption by expanding the powers of its oversight board and increasing baseline wages. It can fund necessary changes via congestion pricing for cars, which Cuomo already did, but also by reintroducing a sales tax on many consumer goods, ending long-term tax abatements on luxury housing, reducing tax incentive packages for corporations like Amazon, increasing fares, and sharing the debt burden with contractors through P3 bond issuance.
To make these changes stick with taxpayers, the state will need to continue to raise the minimum wage. The City also needs to foot more of the bill by increasing property taxes on foreign luxury home buyers.
In the end, most of these changes will have the strongest effect on corporations and their executives, but serving a metro area of 22 million is a market too valuable to abandon; they can't have their cake and eat it too. Unfortunately, they are Cuomo's donor base - he needs to go before any real changes can be made.
3
Smoke a joint and save yourself and the world. Sure, the pot folks will restore that which we took not away to fulfill prophecy. Industrial Hemp means millions of JOBS, literally and figuratively, growing, producing and manufacturing hemp based fuel, fiber, food, medicine and the only civilized recreational substance know to humanity.
Let the gangs grow medical marijuana, they will make a lot of money and invest that money in their community. The gangs will become GrowOPs and the GrowOPs will become financial institutions. The cops and the gangs will become friends as they join together to protect a Good Thing.
4
Did Gov. Cuomo (before he was re- elected) say he was considering legalizing marijuana? I'll believe that when it happens.
2
Just Say Yes!
8
Pot has been the biggest cash crop in America for a long time, even though it is illegal. Cash starved states are finally waking up to the fact that the pot money is there, legal or not, so why not grab some of it. Then you see that pot is infinitely safer than the legal hard drug alcohol, and there's not much to think about.
In the big picture, it doesn't matter much where the government pot money goes, as long as it is put to good use. The crucial factor is that pot becomes legal, and worst mass injustice since slavery is finally ended. Millions of innocent Americans have been totally screwed because of lies and ignorance.
28
I don't understand why fixing the subways needs to depend on a new gimmick, whether it be a millionaires tax, congestion pricing, or pot legalization. Work out the balance between city and state funding and just pay for it with regular old income tax. We've been debating this for years and the system is only getting worse - it's past time to grow up and get to work.
7
@dave. Likewise, pot should be legalized because it's the right thing to do, not as a source of tax revenues.
6
How can you convince New Yorkers that the politicians are going to fix our subway with drug profit, when they have a record of deliberately taking away money that was designated for subway improvements???
21
Decades of MTA mismanagement and Albany robbing the MTA budget to pay for other state projects may be the impetus to legalize pot.
And NYers are supposed to believe that pot tax dollars would be used responsibly?
What are you smoking?
19
A solid idea.
Remember the demonized "numbers game racket" when people bet nickels and dimes on a daily number taken from the final random digits of the racetrack parimutual betting totals.
Then politicians got the bright idea.
Can you say LOTTO, and see the glamorous advertising for this once criminal activity.
(What's more, the government payoffs are smaller, percentage-wise.)
By the way, how do you get a casino licence like multi-billionaires Steve Wynn, Sheldon Adelson, and Donald Trump.
Profiting $1,000,000,000 is a lot more than the wages of the nickel and dime "number runners" who often ended up in prison. Such is history. Such is justice.
Legalize weed and allow tokers to ride for free in their own smoking car. Sell weed in dispenser machines at stations. Standing ovations for stoners on the platforms. After capital repairs are done, marijuana subsidies applied to lower the fare, eventually to zero for NYC residents. Now that would be mellow.
8
Carl Hultberg, you should write for ZAP! Comix. Legalization is a good idea, though. NYC eventually started a recycling program after much public urging and some demonstration projects convinced the government it made sense and was feasible (I'm glad to say I worked on one of those). Let's hope the time has come for cannabis.
4
This makes so much sense that it probably won't happen.
26
I'm all for legalization. All the comments that equate pot with harder drugs like heroin are simply out of touch with reality. To be certain it is a drug, but Americans self treat themselves with drugs everyday from the coffee they drink in morning to aspirin they take for headaches to a martini they have at the end of the work day. And let's not forget probably the most harmful all of drugs: nicotine.
But as soon as someone who lives 60 miles north of the City any revenues collected should be distributed throughout the state.
4
Watch out what you wish for!
Next thing you know, you’re going to have all these freaks from Santa Cruz ‘free-digging’ these unregulated tunnels all the way out and under NYC for some harebrained “Rastafarian tight-as-dreadlocks” tunnel system … Just because of legalization - The ‘L’ word.
Anyway, I thought the Rastafarian religion considered the white man a DEVIL, so it’s kind of like looking at an oxymoron when you see a white guy with dreadlocks, Smoking something odiferous from a hookah, planted in the center console of his automobile. But hey, he’s like “l may be stoned man, but can maintain dude”
No way. The mta should not get marijuana money. The mta is a mob that answers to no one. They have zero incentive to renegotiate the overpaid union contacts that are insane. The pay scale in overtime means many at the top write themselves 6 figure checks and the tax payers then have to figure out how the poor will afford to get to work. Marijuana revenue needs to go to our horiffic mental health services. This city simply cannot afford to keep ignoring the elephant in the room which is our homeless problems. A massive percentage of our homeless population has mental health and addiction issues. This is a subclass of people with zero hope and laughable help. This thug union needs to be put in its place.
1
You want revenue? I’ll give you revenue!
Lower the drinking age. If you can smoke pot and get high because it is harmless then there should be no issue lowering the drinking age. We are consumed by sports so let the breweries and distilleries advertise to all ages. Think of the revenue!
Lower the gambling age. Lotteries are legal gambling so let everyone join in. Sports betting encourages tv revenue and participation. It’s as American as apple pie.
Encourage the use of all drugs. That’s what big Pharma wants so let’s tax the daylights out of it and make even more revenue. Free enterprise at its best.
Smoking. Isn’t the answer obvious if you want to create revenue?
Join in. Help make America even more drug dependent and addictive today! Write your congressmen if you can find the time after drinking, drugging and gambling. No need to be clearheaded, thoughtful and self directed. The government and business will look out for YOUR best interests.
What’s the harm? We need revenue.
4
@ArtM Whoever you are, thank you.
1
@AC
You're welcome.
I doubt many who read the comment think I'm serious or dismiss it as a rant. Neither is true.
I hope people will be able to enjoy their toke ON the subway. That's the only thing that will make it more tolerable. It certainly isn't going to provide the billions that Andy Byford needs.
3
george eliot, actually I think it can provide a couple of hundred million at least. As for smoking ON the subway, THC doesn't agree with everyone -- not me for instance -- and people would smoke tobacco too, and second-hand tobacco smoke doesn't agree with anyone.
1
@Thomas
No tobacco smoking on cannabis cars. We don't like cigarette smoke, either.
Great! I don’t smoke weed (prefer gin, thank you) so others will pay for infrastructure upgrades that I use! At long last I, a middle class homeowner in tax-happy NY, get somethin’ for nothin’, just like rich folks with their loopholes!
6
@MWR. You're already paying some pretty steep taxes on that gin.
1
New York City's budget is currently 90 billion dollars. New York State is currently 170 billion.
New York City is the crown jewel of tax revenue and economic growth.
Neither entity needs more tax revenue. Both need to place investment in the subways at the VERY TOP of budget
priorities for the next decade.
I am quite sure that state and the city could each move 2 billion each of their
respective budgets over the next five
years and show us what kind of improvements they can make. Then come back to us and ask for more money if we see progress.
10
@Joe Barron Albany has been robbing NYC of earmarked subway funds for decades. It was the first place state legislators went when they needed funding for their pet projects, and now the crows have come home to roost.
1
Taxing a vice or dangerous object should be down the list of reasons to legalize something and should be looked at as a deterrent to buy the said product and not to gain revenue.
History has taught us a policy of legality, regulation, responsibility and non promotion is the best way to handle a vice, dangerous object.
We were most successful with drunk drinking and cigs smoking as to dramatic drop sin deaths and a dismal failure with guns since we have not yet employed the formula.
2
Tying together revenue-generators and money-burners sounds better than it is.
It's very much of a piece with the ever more frequent votes in Congress to "keep the government operating." "We'll fund food stamps at last year's level, but only if a billion is earmarked for prototypes of a wall between Texas and Mexico."
Both are a kind of horse-trading, and it epitomizes the "I held my nose and raised my hand to vote Aye" aspect of gov't that has given us Trump and Europe even scarier - hard to believe, but it's true! - individuals atop countries.
Only a Koch or a Putin can RELISH a situation in which one pits one group of Americans against another.
But here in almost solid blue NY State and NY City... now that it might actually be possible to advance a liberal agenda WITHOUT Republicans (AND CUOMO) killing or watering down everything meritorious, we're about to squander what may be a once in a generation opportunity.
The only thing more disgraceful than the sweetheart deal Amazon just got... is the fact that many of the world's WORST citizens - Russian oligarchs among them - now own property in NYC without remotely compensating NYC and NYS for Police, Fire, Sanitation - items that make their investment (co-ops or condos) better than even gold or diamonds.
A "millionaire's tax" is probably almost as tough to pass as "congestion pricing" - the former because these ARE rich & powerful people - but it IS the only "right way" to fund the needed improvements to mass transit!
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Sitting downtown in the subway station... one toke over the line.
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It's HIGH time this was considered.
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Don't bet on it! Remember when they said that the state lottery was going to improve the public school system, but, all it did was allow them to siphon money out of the school system to pay for their pet projects? How about back in the seventies when the question was posed- "would you pay for television if there were no commercials?"... how did that work out? I'm not against the legalization of marijuana, but this sales tactic is just a distraction as they reach for your wallet. First, insist that they improve the subway system with the revenue generated by the subway system; THEN, legalize marijuana!
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Maybe when you’re high, you won’t realize how bad the service is.
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JEG, being high will actually make the poor state of the subways appear worse. At least for me, I become hyper aware of my surroundings and paranoid. That's the reason I don't indulge.
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Does NYC have the "hutspa" (sp?) to get the money to fix the subway AND relieve vehicle congestion?
Yes. Form a task-force of traffic cops and strictly enforce NO DOUBLE PARKING laws. Ticket anyone who breaks those existing laws. Ticket FEDEX, UPS, USPS, construction trucks, taxis, all of those food delivery service trucks that bring cartons of over-priced groceries to all those social media mellennials... any vehicle double parked or standing in a bus stop... even if there is someone sitting in it. Two results...big influx of cash and a clearing of traffic congestion. Yes, we would have to increase the traffic cops by 10 fold (or more) but that's another bonus! Job creation!
Want still more public transportation money? How about a non-resident tax on all those who do not live within the five boroughs yet work "in the city". Levy an income based tax on the suburbanites who clog our streets, use our services and don't pay city income tax. Why should New Yorkers pay to have the "bridge-and-tunnel" crowd use and abuse OUR CITY!
Tax the users and abusers!
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@John Paul Esposito What do you propose for the NY City residents who come to NJ to buy cheaper gas and take advantage of the no sales tax on shoes and clothing, etc? Maybe ask for proof of address and charge NYC residents NYC prices for these items?
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@John Paul Esposito
Or skip this whole set of REASONABLE ... but never-gonna-happen proposals - hard to know how serious you are, of course! - and just push for NYCexit, what used to be called the 51st state movement!
OK, Staten Island would probably be our Scotland, voting to stay while the other 4 boros agree on your many valid points! Heaven knows that Cuomo and Trump have all too much in common - turning their backs on their native New York City - so watch how Andy works on upstate (starting at NYC's northern border, b.t.w.) legislators to cut NYC transit spending to the bare minimum - or a little bit less.
Am I the only one who sees that he all but put his picture on all 5 new stops on the 2nd Ave. line ... at a time when the other 98% of the subways were "going to he!!"
How about we collect Trumpy's taxes? That monies can be used for the subway.
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Perhaps it's puritanical to say why not legalize prostitution instead, that used to be so endemic in Manhattan that the pimps put up graffiti along the commuter train lines advertising their units and services. Legalizing pot and then milking it as a groovy cash cow, what a mistake. Federal laws about drug proceeds--and cannabis remains a scheduled substance--have not changed and don't permit the use of monies made by its sale for anything. Even the might of New York cannot overcome Federal sovereignty. Once pot is legal, its price drops considerably, undercutting revenues based on its sale. And who wants a stoned city to wade through, anyway, where working New Yorkers are famously demanding of intellectual acrobatics at every turn?
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@Tournachonadar
Come on. As if a substantial fraction of New Yorkers- including some of the most talented and sharp-witted people in the world- aren't already regularly using cannabis purchased from illicit sources.
As if that hasn't been the case for decades.
As if any substantial number of current nonusers will suddenly take up the practice in the event that it's legalized.
In regard to the rest of your objections, they make a good argument for legalization at the Federal level.
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The Volstead act in the prior century created a culture, same as the current situation with marijuana. Yes, there will be cases of marijuana abuse, same as alcoholism, over use of tobacco products, opioids and other addictive compounds.
I am in favor of high taxes on all these products, give us the freedom to decide to become a alcoholic, a pain pill junkie, or a pot head. The country and the states need the tax revenue, New York needs to renovate the aging subway system, other cities and states need to improve infrastructures.
My conservative nature says. sure you want to smoke a joint, sure go ahead, it’s you life , no one should tell you how to live or ruin your life.
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I'm confused about something. Everywhere in New York I go, there's a huge construction project. Don't they pay taxes? Will all of these massive construction projects going on, how is it that the state lacks the capital for financing the subways?
While we're at it, when are the surface roads going to get fixed? In the immediate vicinity of every massive construction project, the roads are rubble; shouldn't the city require that the owners of construction projects fix up those roads and more as compensation, especially to all of the traffic they cause during the construction period?
This is supposed to be a time when the stock market is doing well and the economy is strong, yet we don't have enough for basic needs--what will happen when the economy softens in New York? Will everything collapse? It's pretty obvious that cutting taxes hasn't worked out for the 99.9999%.
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As we wait for NY to legalize marijuana, the surrounding states will be receiving tax dollars that could have gone toward infrastructure. As Nike says, "Just Do It".
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And lottery money all goes towards education. Sure. We all know that this means that NYS just takes away other funding from education, not that there is more money for education. Certainly guessing that the same thing will happen if there was dedicated funding for the subway.
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@David We were inundated with ads extolling how the lottery would benefit education. Lottery came; money went elsewhere. Same will happen with this. Marijuana will come; money will go up in smoke. Subways will creak along. No tolls on East river bridges but some how congestion pricing is ok. Go figure.
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This idea has been touted for years with no action ever being taken. If not the subway do it for education, health, or road subsidy's or 100 other useful things. The feds especially (who still have weed as schedule one drug) ought to consider it for the national debt. The time is nigh America.
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Like gambling, it's a tax on the poor, as I imagine, maybe incorrectly, that educated, highly-paid professionals smoke less often. Instead, we should be getting more of our tax dollars back from Albany. In the same way that 'blue' states send a disproportionate amount of money to 'red' ones, NYC gets back much less than it pays in taxes. Even then, a better solution is to tax road vehicles.
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@James Igoe
I agree with everything you said but the tax on the poor part. When the taxes on things like alcohol and cigarettes went up, the poor slowed their consumption significantly, giving them fewer health-related problems and giving everyone else additional means to pay for the outcomes to those problems. So it is with pot, the largest cash crop in the US. Yes, legalize it and tax it already--no one more person will buy pot that hasn't already and the state will have lots of money to fix big problems.
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I'm all for legalization. However, the notion that years of debate on marijuana legalization based upon its potential harm to citizens are totally set aside for a purely transactional consideration highlights the disingenuous quality of the fundamental debate and the debaters
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As someone who currently has a NY Medical Marijuana license but procures elsewhere - I think it is important to ensure that we don't look at this as a panacea.
Medical in NY is regulated to the point that it costs 4-6x that of other states - making it impractical (I was spending $700-800 a month to get my regulated NY supply, whereas I get the same quality and quantity for around $200 a month from out of state).
Most states have put fairly modest taxes on recreational marijuana and it has been a boon for them - but if we try to peg NYC sales towards fixing many-billions of dollars needed to repair our crumbling infrastructure, the price point will be too high and people will continue to use "illicit" networks.
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@N Weber
This is absolutely true.
Not sure why this is the case, but hopefully recreational legalization will reduce this scam pricing.
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Would the taxes collected from marijuana sales outside the city go toward the subway? I could imagine people in other parts of the state raising an eyebrow about their taxes going toward a uniquely NYC project.
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@Chuck in the Adirondacks, When i worked in NYC they had a city tax on income. Same thing. Even a dollar from every sale is a start.
@Chuck in the Adirondacks, considering that the lifeblood of NY state depends on NYC and its ability to function as one of the largest economies in the country, I think it's in every NY state resident's best interest to fund NYC's public transportation infrastructure.
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