Hevesi Details MTA Failures On Security
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As Eliot Spitzer prepares for a likely battle to replace Peter Kalikow as chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the Democratic state comptroller is releasing a report showing the MTA is rapidly falling behind on projects to bolster security against terrorist attacks.
The comptroller, Alan Hevesi, found that 10 of 15 capital projects in the works are more than a year behind schedule, and 11 projects have lost even more time in the past six months. The overall costs of the projects have also risen by more than $100 million in that time, Mr. Hevesi’s report showed.
In a sign of progress, Mr. Hevesi noted that the MTA had moved an additional four projects into the construction stage since March, but “the system is still not as secure as it should be,” he said in a statement.
The initiatives are part of a $591 million capital program aimed at securing the transit system in the wake of the attacks of September 11, 2001. Under the program, the MTA is installing surveillance cameras, motion detectors, and other electronic security devices, as well as enforcing the system’s infrastructure to withstand explosive devices. Plans also call for increased fencing around MTA facilities and safety improvements to speed emergency response time and evacuation.
The authority has launched 15 different projects under the first phase of the program. Officials say the delays have come in the design stage and that the nine projects now in construction are moving along more smoothly. The total cost is now pegged at just under $720 million.
“We are moving in the right direction,” the MTA’s director of interagency preparedness, Lewis Schiliro, said. He said officials were overly optimistic in setting the timetable in 2003 and that many of the engineering aspects of the projects proved complicated. The technology and designs were not “off the shelf,” he said.
“We’re investing time to make sure that what we are doing is the right thing,” Mr. Schiliro said. He added: “If we could do it faster, we certainly would.”
Mr. Spitzer, the front-runner to replace Governor Pataki in January, has said he would try to oust Mr. Kalikow if he took office. Mr. Kalikow, who was recently appointed to a new six-year term, has said he does not intend to step down.
