Paying to improve the New York City railway system is getting too hard for Mayor de Blasio. If Governor Cuomo or Joe Lhota of the MTA won’t help him, he’s going to have to find a new source of funding – big money. De Blasio is on the path to taxing the wealthy in New York City to get the transit done as quickly as possible. In order for the tax to be implemented a change would have to be approved by state lawmakers. However, the concern by Cuomo and Lhota when it comes to funding is that the city cannot wait for the next legislative session to approve of a new source of revenue. On top of that, the Republican majority in the state Senate will have a say in how they should be allocating money to fixing the transit system. The idea is not only supposed to speed up the process for the new railway system but to also pay for half-price MetroCards for low-income riders.

This should not shock anyone. As a progressive mayor who is up for reelection, he needs to attract his voter base more than ever. De Blasio is back on the campaign trail to secure his seat, trying to end the criticism of his recent mayoral policies. Not to say this initiative is pure politics, it will help not only demonstrate his ability to get a job done for the subway system but his toughness on the wealthiest New Yorkers. The proposal has not only been introduced by the mayor himself, he is piggybacking on the idea from a state senator from Queens.

New York City commuters have seen the effects of the rollercoaster ride of Penn Stations build up. Currently, it has gotten much worse in jam packing the train cars and some subway lines that don’t go to their end destination. Delays are at an all time high and several recent accidents have raised safety concerns. Will taxing the wealthy be worth the effort in getting the subways done in time for New Yorkers this upcoming year or will the summer of hell become the year of hell?