Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman railed in opposition to rival Gov. Kathy Hochul for hovering MTA spending — however he stood by the “hardworking individuals” within the transit company labor unions after a Put up report on hovering additional time spending.
Blakeman, who’s serving because the elected Nassau County government, mentioned the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s forecasted finances gaps — estimated at $295 million in 2027 and $507 million in 2028 – needs to be blamed on Hochul and her MTA boss Janno Lieber’s administration and unchecked spending.
“We don’t have a income downside. We’ve bought a spending downside,” Blakeman instructed reporters at a press convention in Penn Station Wednesday, the place he rode in on the Lengthy Island Rail Street.
“And what Kathy Hochul has carried out is she’s blaming the hardworking individuals who work for the MTA who do a superb job,” he claimed.
A Put up report on Wednesday confirmed that the transit company is on monitor to blow previous its 2025 additional time report of almost $1.5 billion this yr — having already spent $764 million yr to this point on OT, or $176 million over its budgeted allotment.
The report mentioned almost 1,000 MTA staff raked in additional additional time in 2025 than their total base salaries.
Blakeman has stood by the high-earning LIRR union staff after they went on strike in Could of this yr — regardless of being provided a beneficiant 4.5% elevate to their already profitable six-figure salaries averaging $136,000 per yr. The salaries don’t embrace OT.
“It’s similar to the state authorities,” Blakeman mentioned. “They hold taking increasingly more cash from individuals, from taxpayers, from individuals who pay the fares, and from electrical payments.”
The MTA faces monetary dangers with ongoing contract negotiations for union staff and rampant fare evasion — with paid weekday prepare riders declining 8.1% to 1.2 million since January 2025. Paid bus riders have additionally declined 7.7% yr over yr since June 2025, in response to not too long ago launched figures.
The grim future monetary image was revealed at an MTA board assembly Wednesday – the place CEO Lieber accused Blakeman of being a “no-show” on transit points in Nassau County.
“He’s identified by New Yorkers largely as a man who makes a speciality of shedding elections for a very long time,” Lieber quipped. “I’ve nothing to say about Bruce Blakeman’s knowledge on transit as a result of I don’t know something about it.”
Blakeman hit again in opposition to the MTA head, who’s paid $400,000 in wage, for making an attempt to resolve cash troubles with a congestion pricing toll that went into impact in 2025 that costs drivers getting into Midtown Manhattan a minimal of $9.
The GOP candidate known as the congestion toll a “tax on the center class” and blasted Lieber as a “joke.”
“This can be a man who’s presided over a transportation system that has persistently deteriorated,” Blakeman mentioned. “He’s raised fares, and he even admits that there’s going to be an enormous deficit.”
A ballot launched this week by a pro-Blakeman tremendous PAC discovered that Blakeman is trailing his Democratic incumbent opponent by solely 4 share factors, although he trails by bigger margins in different surveys. The ballot additionally discovered respondents gave Hochul an unsavory 38% approval ranking.
“Individuals are sad, and alter is about to come back. And on Jan. 21 I anticipate to be the subsequent governor of the state,” Blakeman mentioned.
A spokesperson for Hochul didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
