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MTA officials have spent the last three years waiting for a mountain of COVID-19 relief cash from the feds that may never arrive, leaving a hole in the agency’s budget that must be filled by riders and taxpayers.

Financial reports show the MTA seeks $600 million over the next two years from FEMA as reimbursement for contracts issued 2020 and 2021. The contracts covered supplies, equipment and workers who cleaned the subways during the darkest days of the pandemic, when former Gov. Andrew Cuomo shut down the transit system overnight for the first time ever to disinfect trains and kick out homeless people.

State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli highlighted the budget hole in a report released this week.

MTA Chief Financial Officer Jai Patel wrote in a statement that the agency is “constantly exploring new ways to find efficiencies wherever possible” to cover the budget gap. She said the push to crack down on fare evasion could help, but noted the FEMA application was still pending.

Patel didn’t state the obvious: President Donald Trump’s administration is in the midst of a fight with New York over federal funding cuts that could affect the Gateway project to build new train tunnels beneath the Hudson River, the construction of the Second Avenue subway and counterterrorism efforts on the subway, among other transit initiatives.

FEMA representatives did not respond to a request for comment.

The application for the funds dates back to President Joe Biden’s administration, but the federal government never made good on the request while he was in office. Watchdogs aren’t hopeful the FEMA money will arrive anytime soon.

“I think that is [time] for the MTA and the state to answer as well as be upfront with the public and the [MTA] board that these funds really are at risk and can cause some fiscal pain in the short term,” Ana Champeny,  vice president for research at the nonprofit Citizens Budget Commission, said.

Next month, the MTA is expected to deliver its 2026 financial plan — and the agency will have to figure out how to fill a $300 million budget hole left by the FEMA money during each of the next two years. The MTA board is required by law to pass a balanced budget by the end of the year, and the group has limited options to fill the gap: raise fares, reduce service or cut jobs.

The MTA had previously asked for upwards of $717 million from FEMA, but over the last year reduced its request to $600 million.

Many of the contracts the agency is asking to have reimbursed came under scrutiny because several of the companies brought in by the MTA to clean subway trains and stations paid their workers far less than is legally required.

The money requested from FEMA is separate from the $15.1 billion in COVID relief the federal government awarded the MTA when it was on the brink of financial ruin after fares fell by more than 90% during the pandemic.

NYC transportation news this week

A Hudson River Greenway fix. A section of the pathway near 54th Street and the Manhattan Cruise Terminal, which had long caused annoying bottlenecks for cyclists, tourists and joggers, has finally been updated. Cyclists can now travel under an overpass thanks to a renovation that’s part of a $350 million project to build new film and TV studios on Pier 94.

Counterterrorism funding sustained. A federal judge this week extended a temporary order blocking the Trump administration from withholding more than $33 million in anti-terrorism funding meant for the MTA.

Queens bus crash. Police said 16 passengers and one bus driver were taken to local hospitals with minor injuries Monday after two MTA buses hit each other in Flushing.

Kristi Noem blackout. Gov. Kathy Hochul and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said local airports won’t air videos featuring the U.S. homeland security secretary blaming congressional Democrats for the federal government shutdown.

Curious Commuter

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Question from Robert in Queens

Why are there congestion pricing scanners on the uptown side of Broadway at 60th Street? Since when are you charged for leaving the zone?

Answer

The MTA has 1,400 cameras all across the city, both in the zone and outside the zone. The agency wants to be sure that vehicles entering and exiting the toll zone are being charged once a day. The cameras catch you on the way into the zone, as well as on the way out. The setup also aims to eliminate any potential toll workarounds. A weisenheimer went viral on social media last year after he found a parking garage that straddled the congestion zone. He believed if he drove into the garage the cameras wouldn’t capture him entering and he could cruise around toll-free. The MTA’s array of cameras is designed to ensure he’ll still be charged.