The Money Pit

When Dick Ravitch went before a room full of reporters on the 38th floor of the governor’s midtown offices in December to present his plan to save the M.T.A. from fiscal upheaval, transit advocates who closely followed the process were surprised at an omission.

As expected, the former M.T.A. chairman called in his 21-page report for East River bridge tolls, a new payroll tax and structural reforms to the agency. But missing was a call to seize a $2 billion unallocated chunk of transportation money belonging to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Mr. Ravitch had told many close to the debate that he wanted the money, earmarked for New York but uncommitted to any specific project, saved for the M.T.A.

Governor Paterson, who commissioned the report and monitored its findings, apparently had different plans, keeping segregated the authorities’ budgets, and thereby throwing the Port Authority’s board and its executive director, Chris Ward, $2 billion to spread as they pleased.

But now, more than two years after the money was initially allocated with the intention of funding a New York–based regional transportation initiative-to-be, the question has become whether the cash has sat uncommitted for so long that it will be completely swallowed by one existing project: the World Trade Center redevelopment.

If the funds all go toward the troubled, overbudget Lower Manhattan site, it would mostly betray the original intent of using the money for transportation. But if the funds go toward another project or list of projects—which would include an expansion of Penn Station—the Port Authority’s capital plan would need to be expanded or stretched out, likely causing friction with New Jersey officials, who have previously warned against changes to the plan.

IN 2006, the vantage point was different.

On many capital projects, the Port Authority tends to divide its commitments dollar-for-dollar between New York and New Jersey. In crafting the agency’s 10-year plan at the time, New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine set aside $2 billion for a new rail tunnel under the Hudson River, and Governor Pataki, without committing to any specific project, saw that his state’s matching share, another $2 billion, was reserved for a New York transportation project.

Ideas abounded for a use of the money. Stewart Airport, also owned by the Port Authority, could use a rail link to Manhattan; a new rail tunnel could be built connecting Lower Manhattan to John F. Kennedy Airport; Penn Station could get a long-planned renovation and expansion.

But with a changing cast of governors ever since, New York officials have equivocated, never making a decision on any specific use.

For at least a while, the leading idea seemed to be to use the money to accomplish a major redo and expansion of Penn Station, a project on the books for years and known now as Moynihan Station. After the project stalled in the Spitzer administration, Senator Charles Schumer made a public push for the Port Authority to put its money there and take over the project, an idea embraced by the agency’s leaders. But the project fell apart amid a complicated real estate deal, making a complete makeover of the station mostly impossible.

When Governor Paterson tapped Mr. Ravitch back in April to craft a plan to rescue the M.T.A.’s finances, many transportation advocates expected his final recommendations to call for transferring the money. Mr. Ravitch was in favor of the concept, as the M.T.A. currently has no hard funds for its upcoming five-year capital plan, which is likely to cost in the area of $30 billion. Ultimately, Mr. Paterson oversaw the report, and Mr. Ravitch’s final recommendations did not include a request to transfer the funds.

Mr. Ravitch said on Monday that he acknowledged the Port Authority’s financial problems, particularly at the World Trade Center, but the $2 billion could have helped out an agency in need.

“I was fully aware of that fact, and understand all the demands on the Port Authority’s money, but the Port Authority, in my day, bought a lot of buses for the M.T.A., and they could do it again,” he said.