Could a new real estate fee solve the city’s subway crisis?

A fee on office buildings below 60th Street could be key to fixing New York City’s beleaguered subway system, according to a top former MTA official.

Michael Horodniceanu, the former head of MTA capital construction, said creating a transit-maintenance district that would pay money toward keeping the subway in good shape could be an effective way to solve the system’s funding issues, according to Crain’s.

Office buildings in Manhattan are the biggest beneficiaries of the city’s mass transit system, so Horodniceanu pitched putting a $1.50 charge on rents in Office Space Below 60th Street, which generally go for between $60 to $70 per square foot. This would raise more than $1 billion per year, he said.

The subway system has lately been plagued by maintenance issues and delays, and there was almost universal agreement at the Crain’s event, called Fixing Mass Transit, that transportation infrastructure in New York needs more funding to succeed. [Crain’s] – Eddie Small