5 ms·

The NYC subway system started as 3 organizations; only one of which was city owned. I am normally not for privatization but it is probably the only thing that c

The NYC subway system started as 3 organizations; only one of which was city owned. I am normally not for privatization but it is probably the only thing that can save the MTA. The NYT points out a lack of funding but really their funding has not dropped tremendously. Politicians do not have the right mindset to run this. Sure Democrats tend to spend more on infrastructure, but then support obscene union contracts. MTA police make 130k + The LIRR has conductors that clip tickets getting paid 80k base with tons of overtime and benefits. The maintenance workers are (un)lucky if they work more than 3 hrs a day. There is nothing that is going to change with this unless someone goes in and rips it apart as the union is politically powerful and politicians have other interests than running the subway properly.

gggvvh 9y ago
> MTA police make 130k+ Do you actually know a real person who makes that much, or are you just parroting?
- beisner 9y ago
  Article from 2010. Apparently a major chunk comes from overtime. https://www.newsday.com/news/new-york/mta-police-bring-in-big-money-through-overtime-1.1897480 https://www.newsday.com/news/new-york/mta-police-bring-in-bi...
- L_Rahman 9y ago
  My uncle is one of those people who sits in subway booths. He does almost nothing. He makes 80k a year. My political ideology is deeply in favor of the working class. I believe in strong worker protections, in the unionization of labor in most industries, and that capital controls a disproportionate amount of wealth and power in this country. But I must also insist that these costs are unfair and insane.
  - pravda 9y ago
    He makes a lot more than 80k a year! He's also getting about another 70k in benefits, for a total compensation well into the 6-figures. People wonder "why is the subway so filthy?" Well, if you wanted to hire people to keep the subways clean, they would have to be paid $100K+ in total compensation. Ok, so why not hire a private company to keep subways clean? A private company would be able to pay free-market compensation to hire cleaners. Can't do that either! Subways must stay filthy!
    - JumpCrisscross 9y ago
      > People wonder "why is the subway so filthy?" Because we run our system 24/7. We can’t flood our stations with bleach like they do in D.C.
      - pravda 9y ago
        From the NYT article comments: "In terms of cleanliness, which is also an issue of public health - why doesn't MTA have a dedicated crew of 4 or 5 people with a power washer, soap and squeegees to move methodically through each station, working on the weekends or overnight? " Can't have it, because the MTA is not in the moving-people-business, they are in the wealth-transfer-business.
        gggvvh 9y ago
        You clearly have an agenda dude. Don’t think it’s worth discussing anything with you.
        cr1895 9y ago
        In fact, MTA have been investing in vacuum cleaning systems for the tracks with the aim of reducing fires that lead to delays. You're being disingenuous. Here's an article: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/24/nyregion/with-new-vacuums-mta-workers-make-grimy-subway-tracks-shine.html https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/24/nyregion/with-new-vacuums... So it's frankly absurd of the commenter to say that just 4-5 people could manage this task. One manager mentioned in the article leads a team of 300(!) cleaners.
- JumpCrisscross 9y ago
  The average MTA employee made $70 thousand in 2010 [1]. That’s nearly $80 thousand today [2]. In those data, one sees Mr. Arthur Harkin, a Long Island Rail Road conductor, made $195,000. ($220 thousand in 2017 dollars.) [1] https://www.empirecenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/MTA-Release-June02-20101.pdf https://www.empirecenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/MTA-... [2] https://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl?cost1=69.489&year1=201012&year2=201710 https://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl?cost1=69.489&year1=2...
  - ForHackernews 9y ago
    > The average MTA employee made $70 thousand in 2010 So about the same as the average CRUD app developer? This doesn't seem outrageous to me.
    - geodel 9y ago
      But CRUD app developers are most precious resources on earth. Other people should not really exist after providing services, food, security and on demand rides etc.
- jcranmer 9y ago
  I don't doubt that such people exist, but it's definitely not the norm. If you start with a base salary of 70k or so (not terribly unreasonable if you've got seniority), you rack up overtime (usually at 1.5× multiplier), and you work lousy shifts like nights and holidays, making 130k isn't impossible.
- tooltalk 9y ago
  Why is that so difficult to believe? https://nypost.com/2015/07/16/heres-why-your-subway-fare-keeps-going-up/ https://nypost.com/2015/07/16/heres-why-your-subway-fare-kee... I used to work for a far less offensive agency in NYC, a public library system, and IT managers there make a cool $200K -- though most librarians who are in unions make much less. I wouldn't feel too bad if they were competent folks who deserve the market rates, but many of them didn't really deserve what they were getting.
- specialp 9y ago
  Yes I know a real person that works for MTA police but no he didn't make 130k, he made 195k. Go on seethroughny.net and look it up. Try to find MTA police NOT making over 130k. Keep in mind this also includes 20 yr retirement with state tax free pension.

gggvvh 9y ago

> MTA police make 130k+ Do you actually know a real person who makes that much, or are you just parroting?

beisner 9y ago
Article from 2010. Apparently a major chunk comes from overtime. https://www.newsday.com/news/new-york/mta-police-bring-in-big-money-through-overtime-1.1897480 https://www.newsday.com/news/new-york/mta-police-bring-in-bi...
L_Rahman 9y ago
My uncle is one of those people who sits in subway booths. He does almost nothing. He makes 80k a year. My political ideology is deeply in favor of the working class. I believe in strong worker protections, in the unionization of labor in most industries, and that capital controls a disproportionate amount of wealth and power in this country. But I must also insist that these costs are unfair and insane.
- pravda 9y ago
  He makes a lot more than 80k a year! He's also getting about another 70k in benefits, for a total compensation well into the 6-figures. People wonder "why is the subway so filthy?" Well, if you wanted to hire people to keep the subways clean, they would have to be paid $100K+ in total compensation. Ok, so why not hire a private company to keep subways clean? A private company would be able to pay free-market compensation to hire cleaners. Can't do that either! Subways must stay filthy!
  - JumpCrisscross 9y ago
    > People wonder "why is the subway so filthy?" Because we run our system 24/7. We can’t flood our stations with bleach like they do in D.C.
    - pravda 9y ago
      From the NYT article comments: "In terms of cleanliness, which is also an issue of public health - why doesn't MTA have a dedicated crew of 4 or 5 people with a power washer, soap and squeegees to move methodically through each station, working on the weekends or overnight? " Can't have it, because the MTA is not in the moving-people-business, they are in the wealth-transfer-business.
      - gggvvh 9y ago
        You clearly have an agenda dude. Don’t think it’s worth discussing anything with you.
      - cr1895 9y ago
        In fact, MTA have been investing in vacuum cleaning systems for the tracks with the aim of reducing fires that lead to delays. You're being disingenuous. Here's an article: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/24/nyregion/with-new-vacuums-mta-workers-make-grimy-subway-tracks-shine.html https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/24/nyregion/with-new-vacuums... So it's frankly absurd of the commenter to say that just 4-5 people could manage this task. One manager mentioned in the article leads a team of 300(!) cleaners.
JumpCrisscross 9y ago
The average MTA employee made $70 thousand in 2010 [1]. That’s nearly $80 thousand today [2]. In those data, one sees Mr. Arthur Harkin, a Long Island Rail Road conductor, made $195,000. ($220 thousand in 2017 dollars.) [1] https://www.empirecenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/MTA-Release-June02-20101.pdf https://www.empirecenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/MTA-... [2] https://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl?cost1=69.489&year1=201012&year2=201710 https://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl?cost1=69.489&year1=2...
- ForHackernews 9y ago
  > The average MTA employee made $70 thousand in 2010 So about the same as the average CRUD app developer? This doesn't seem outrageous to me.
  - geodel 9y ago
    But CRUD app developers are most precious resources on earth. Other people should not really exist after providing services, food, security and on demand rides etc.
jcranmer 9y ago
I don't doubt that such people exist, but it's definitely not the norm. If you start with a base salary of 70k or so (not terribly unreasonable if you've got seniority), you rack up overtime (usually at 1.5× multiplier), and you work lousy shifts like nights and holidays, making 130k isn't impossible.
tooltalk 9y ago
Why is that so difficult to believe? https://nypost.com/2015/07/16/heres-why-your-subway-fare-keeps-going-up/ https://nypost.com/2015/07/16/heres-why-your-subway-fare-kee... I used to work for a far less offensive agency in NYC, a public library system, and IT managers there make a cool $200K -- though most librarians who are in unions make much less. I wouldn't feel too bad if they were competent folks who deserve the market rates, but many of them didn't really deserve what they were getting.
specialp 9y ago
Yes I know a real person that works for MTA police but no he didn't make 130k, he made 195k. Go on seethroughny.net and look it up. Try to find MTA police NOT making over 130k. Keep in mind this also includes 20 yr retirement with state tax free pension.