By Larry Penner, Long Island Weekly; January 6, 2020
No one at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) or any elected official, including Governor Andrew Cuomo, Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, ever wants to talk about the real costs for the LIRR’s east side access to Grand Central Terminal. These may be closer to $15 billion, rather than $11.2 billion.
The original full funding grant agreement between the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and MTA was approved in December 2006. The $2.63 billion of FTA grant funding remains unchanged (virtually all of which has already been spent) with the MTA serving as a local sponsor to cover the more than $6 billion in cost overruns. Ten years later, in August 2016, the FTA amended agreement was signed off by both FTA and the MTA. After years of negotiations, the MTA and FTA agreed on a deal that would reflect the current cost and schedule.