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November 19, 2020

Mitch McConnell
Majority Leader
United States Senate
317 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510

Nancy Pelosi
Speaker
United States House of Representatives
1236 Longworth HOB
Washington, DC 20515

Re: Need for transit funding

Dear Leader McConnell and Speaker Pelosi:

I write to you on behalf of 8.4 million New Yorkers who expect and deserve help from leadership
in Washington, DC at this critical moment for our city and our country. New York City was hit
harder by the COVID-19 pandemic than any other city — and now we are facing another second
wave of shutdowns and spikes in infections.

In order to protect the health of our people and our fellow Americans, the residents of New York
City have borne the brunt of losses in the fight against the novel coronavirus. This is nothing new
for New Yorkers, who often bear the burden for our country. In 2018, the New York metropolitan
area accounted for $1.772 trillion in gross domestic product (GDP), the largest GDP of any metro
area in the United States by more than half a trillion dollars, and a GDP that was roughly equivalent
to that of Canada. In short, the New York City metropolitan area is the engine of the United States
economy, and the lifeblood of that economy is our city and regional transit network.

Since March, millions of New Yorkers who regularly went to and from work or school, or to shop
or eat at a restaurant, are for now staying mostly close to home to stop the spread of COVID-19.
As a result, ridership on our City’s mass transit system has plummeted by 70 percent, costing the
Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) billions of dollars in lost revenue. Now the MTA
has announced that, unless the Federal government steps up with a relief package to help offset
these losses immediately, it will be forced to drastically cut service by 40 percent across subways
and buses in addition to 50 percent cuts to commuter lines, as well as fire more than 9,000
employees.

That cannot happen. Not only would draconian service and labor cuts adversely affect our city’s
ability to recover from the economic effects of the pandemic, it would also devastate the families
of thousands of hard-working, dedicated transit workers. These workers are mostly Black, Brown,
and working-class New Yorkers, who always seem to be first in line for government cuts. They
are also the workers who risked their lives to keep the subways running and ensured first
responders could continue to get to and from their jobs at hospitals, nursing homes, precincts, and
fire stations to protect us at the height of the pandemic.
As a former first responder I am speaking for those folks now, who all too often do not have the
power or access to make their voices heard. I want to make sure you think about them as you
consider any new spending, and understand what it will mean to them, all New Yorkers, and the
country, if the MTA is forced to go through with its plan.

There is no time to waste. I urge you to take swift action to deliver for the working-class families
who depend on government to stand up for them.

Sincerely,

Eric Adams
Brooklyn Borough President

EA/rl

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