The United States Department of Transportation has threatened to withhold up to 25 percent of federal transit funding from New York City’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) over safety risks to its maintenance workers.On Tuesday, the federal department announced it had issued a final warning to city officials, calling on the local government to conduct a third risk assessment and take steps towards remediation.“I am disturbed by MTA’s failure to reinforce safety measures following serious accidents — one resulting in the death of a transit worker,” said Marc Molinaro, the head of the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) under President Donald Trump.The warning was the latest tit-for-tat between the Trump administration and state and local officials over funding for public transportation.It also marked another instance of the White House seeking to leverage federal money to ensure compliance with policy priorities.Years-long question of safetyBut the federal government’s complaint stretches back to the administration of President Joe Biden.In August 2024, the transit administration issued a special directive (PDF) calling on the MTA, the nation’s largest transit system, “to take action to address an escalating pattern of safety incidents” involving its workers.That directive followed the death of an MTA track worker, Hilarion Joseph, in November 2023. Joseph, a 57-year-old veteran, was struck by a northbound D train as he monitored the rails during a track cleaning.Another MTA worker was seriously injured in June 2024. Advertiseme …
