Text size:

MTA: We'll go to court over EZ passes

By Matthew Sweeney | msweeney@am-ny.com

7:14 PM EDT, May 28, 2008

The MTA will go to court before it will force its current and retired board members to relinquish their free lifetime MetroCards, E-ZPasses, and commuter rail line passes.

Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has declared the perk to be illegal compensation for what are unpaid, politically-appointed positions, but Metropolitan Transportation Authority Chairman H. Dale Hemmerdinger insists the agency has done nothing wrong.

"We have never seen it that way, and we don't see it now, and we're going to let a court make a decision," Hemmerdinger said.

The MTA's practice of giving board members free access to the transportation system to its board members dates to the 1950s and has never been challenged, Hemmerdinger said.

"We believe that given the practice has gone on for years we ought to let somebody who's a judge determine this, as opposed to the Attorney General," Hemmerdinger said. "We're not fighting anything. We want a declaratory judgment."

Cuomo also asked the state Thruway Authority to revoke free transportation passes for its board members. The agency obliged and cancelled the seven E-ZPasses given to current and past board members.

"If the MTA wants to litigate, we are totally prepared to do so," said John Milgrim, the Attorney general's press secretary. "Public integrity is a top priority for the Attorney General and he will continue to pursue government waste, fraud, and abuse."

There are some 60 MTA board members, both current and retired, holding E-ZPasses, the Daily News has reported. It was not immediately clear how many have MetroCards and commuter rail line passes and how much money these privileges total.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg called Cuomo's actions an "excellent idea."

"I see no reason why they should give free MetroCards," Bloomberg said.

Assemblyman Richard Brodsky, chairman of the committee on authorities, said he had little sympathy for a board comprised of wealthy appointees getting a free ride, but wrestling over a few dozen E-ZPasses seemed silly when the agency is staring at a $200 million deficit in its 2009 budget and a $15 billion shortfall in its $30 billion capital plan.

"It doesn't much matter whether this is legal or illegal, a fight about two-dozen E-ZPasses passes is dopey," Brodsky said.

It may not seem like much money but the passes are quite valuable and qualify as compensation, said Gene Russianoff, senior attorney for the Straphangers Campaign.

"They expect their customers to cough up hundreds of millions of dollars in tolls but the rules are different for them," Russianoff said. "It makes people very cynical about government."

Michael Frazier contributed to this story.