New Yorkers who oppose congestion pricing say they want aid — from MTA boss Janno Lieber’s fats wage.
Lieber raked in $400,999 final yr from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, greater than the US president and virtually as a lot as Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams have been paid mixed, based on payroll records compiled by See By NY.
“The MTA could be the most profligate company in America, and it begins with Janno Lieber’s exorbitant wage,” mentioned Joshua Bienstock of Preserve NYC Congestion Tax Free.
“He’d be fired from any personal sector place for the billions of {dollars} he and the MTA have wasted lately,” mentioned Bienstock.
“If this company have been run even half competently, transit fares can be decrease and New York drivers wouldn’t be dealing with a small-business-killing congestion pricing tax. The MTA is an absolute shame.”
It’s the appointees of the governor and mayor on the MTA board who set the company CEO’s wage, which was achieved in 2022.
By comparability, President Biden’s wage is $400,000, whereas Hochul is paid $250,000 and Adams $258,700, information present.
Lieber’s juicy wage is now a goal for opponents of the looming $15 congestion toll to enter the Midtown enterprise district south of sixtieth Road, deliberate to take impact June 30.
Lieber, 62, has grow to be the face of the congestion pricing program, which polls show is deeply unpopular amongst each demographic in New York.
He’s merely implementing a legislation that was accredited by then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the Democratic-led state legislature in 2019, and the pricing scheme continues to be championed by Hochul.
The congestion plan imposes a $15 toll on vehicles touring wherever under sixtieth Road between 5 a.m. and 9 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekends. It drops to $3.75 off-peak.
Small vans can pay $24 throughout peak hours and enormous vans, $36.
The company mentioned the brand new tolling will generate $1 billion annually to pay for brand new subway trains, sign overhauls, a brand new enlargement of the Second Avenue subway into East Harlem and different main initiatives, whereas decreasing Midtown congestion.
Critics argue the toll will divert visitors and air pollution elsewhere — and have mounted courtroom battles in a last-ditch attempt to stop it.
In keeping with the Empire Middle for Public Coverage’s See By NY payroll information, Lieber’s compensation in 2023 included a base pay of $386,999 plus $14,000 in different payouts.
An MTA spokesman mentioned Lieber’s annual compensation is $365,000.
“That’s unchanged since he was confirmed by the State Senate in early 2022. See By NY seems so as to add retroactive pay and another non-salary gadgets,” the rep mentioned.
Lieber runs by far the most important transit system within the nation, which incorporates NYC Transit, the Lengthy Island Rail Street and Metro-North Railroad.
The MTA factors out he makes lower than the $485,000 paid to Washington DC Metro Space CEO Randy Clarke, and the $458,923 paid to Jacksonville Transportation Authority CEO Nathaniel Ford.
Amtrak CEO Stephen Gardner makes $735,129 and Transport Staff Union Worldwide President, who reps New York Metropolis transit employees, is paid $384,075.
