The L shutdown has nothing to do with funds - it's mostly covered by federal Sandy money. The issue is the tunnel needs to be essentially gutted and replaced af

The L shutdown has nothing to do with funds - it's mostly covered by federal Sandy money. The issue is the tunnel needs to be essentially gutted and replaced after being submerged in salt water for days post Sandy. There's no reroutes available so the only option is a shutdown. It can either be done all at once in less than 18 months (and MTA actually has a good track record coming in under time for repair work) or done one direction at a time over three years with a fraction of the current brooklyn-manhattan service level. A full shutdown is absolutely the best option as much as it sucks for people dependent on the line (like me and my neighbors).