NYBC & Leading Officials Discuss The Capital Question

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In April of 2004, the New York Building Congress published a groundbreaking report, The Capital Question: Financing New York City’s Future Infrastructure. In it, the Building Congress advocates dedicated funding sources and greater inter-governmental coordination to ensure that the City’s vast and growing infrastructure maintenance and expansion programs are fully realized.

The report, which for the first time laid out all public infrastructure investment in New York City, identified $15 billion in total spending in 2002 by a multitude of government agencies functioning in New York City. These include the City of New York, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and New York State agencies, as well as the federal government.

The Building Congress designed the report, which was prepared by Carol O'Cleireacain, an economist and former New York City Budget Director, to serve as a starting point in discussions with a wide range of City, State and Federal agency and administration officials.

As part of this mission, the Building Congress Public Agency Council recently hosted MTA Executive Director Katherine Lapp, the Mayor’s Office of Management and Budget Director Mark Page, Lower Manhattan Development Corp. President Kevin Rampe and the Federal Transit Administration’s Executive Director for Lower Manhattan Recovery, Bernard Cohen, to discuss the report’s implications and recommendations.

The guest speakers, most notably Rampe and Cohen, pointed to the restoration of services to Lower Manhattan as a model for future cooperation and collaboration, and suggested the approach should be adopted citywide. The City, State and Federal agencies involved in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 were able to proceed efficiently in large part because each shared a vision for the region’s future, participated in the decision-making process and expedited bureaucratic procedures.

Such commitment, the panelists also noted, is evident in other shared interests, such as the development of Hudson Yards and Governors Island, as well as the ongoing bid for the 2012 Olympics.The City should use these examples in crafting a long-term and shared vision for all infrastructure needs, such as the MTA capital program.

While the participants cited the need for increased investment in and dedicated revenues for
infrastructure maintenance and expansion at all levels of government, each acknowledged that there are limitations on how much debt service could be accrued, how much taxpayers are willing to pay and how to arrive at an appropriate balance of spending among the various City, State and Federal agencies. Overcoming these hurdles, they said, is a key to New York City's future growth.

Building Congress President Richard T. Anderson closed the session by asking the public sector guests to discuss how the building community could be of assistance. It was suggested that the organization could serve as a vocal advocate about the need for infrastructure investment, using such tools as support letters, conversations with elected officials and increased media
attention.