> So people in Upstate New York don't care about mass transit in NYC, and so the representatives they elect to NY state government don't care about it. That wo

> So people in Upstate New York don't care about mass transit in NYC, and so the representatives they elect to NY state government don't care about it. That would make sense if there were no political subdivisions below the state level with the power to tax and spend, but there are. NYC has both its own revenue sources, including income, sales, and special excise taxes, and its own (quite vast) governmental apparatus with which to spend that revenue in the service of its residents. They ought to have more than the tools required to get projects done -- it's a government on scale with many smaller countries! NYC also has structures in place like the Port Authority, set up specifically to solve intra-jurisdictional problems (and IIRC with its own funding from tolls). None of this seems to have helped stop costs from spiraling out of control.