Transportation advocates, business groups and the governor are all taking shots at the Senate majority leader's just-announced plan to address the M.T.A.'s budget shortfall.

Near as I can tell, Wiley Norvell of Transportation Alternatives struck first, via e-mail. "The Senate Democrats' so-called MTA rescue plan is a deferral of responsibility that postpones tough decisions and threatens to make the Authority's financial situation worse," he wrote. "What the City, State and millions of straphangers need are the long-term solutions offered by the Ravitch plan."

A bunch of the reporters who had watched Smith unveil his proposal on the third floor of the Capitol went to catch Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, who was speaking at an event on the concourse. He called Smith's plan a "stopgap measure." His own plan includes a lower payroll tax, an eight percent fare increase, and $2 bridge tolls. He was asked if Smith's proposal was a step forward.

"I only consider it...I consider it a step forward in that they have come out and basically said, as we've said, that the termination of the board to cut services and raise fares by 31 percent is unacceptable. That, I consider a step forward. I think it's only a partial step forward in that it doesn't get into place the vision of Dick Ravitch and having a long-term plan in place, one-shot, not having to be revisited six months from now, a year from now, two years from now. We should put this to rest," Silver said.

As Silver addressed the scrum, State Senator Marty Golden walked past. I waved to him with my notebook. He was conveniently lingering for reporters a minute later, smiling, as Silver slapped him lightly on the face and asked him to be nice in his bashing. Golden kept smiling at the first question.

"You've got to be kidding me? Which plan is this now, plan A, B, C, D, E, F, or G?" He began. The smile didn't fade. He said he was involved in forming no plans ("this is supposed to be the week of open government - I've never seen government more closed") and that the Democrats were "punting."

"They're punting for another year," he said. "That's irresponsible for the taxpayers of the City of New York it's irresponsible for the Senate not to be able to come to a conclusion and do their jobs. They are not functioning; they are not doing the jobs the taxpayers sent them here to do."

Walking toward his office, Golden told an aide to make sure John McArdle - the spokesman for the Republican conference - was going to put out similarly strong rhetoric. Golden turned left, and I walked alongside State Senator Pedro Espada Jr. I asked for this thoughts.

"I'm elated," he said. "Today's a great day for Pedro Espada, the M.T.A. ridership and the State Senate."

I asked if I should read anything into him listing his own name before the M.T.A ridership. He slapped me on the back and replied "only that you're very imaginative."

David Paterson gathered with a group of people who have been behind the Ravitch plan, which balanced a payroll tax with a fare increase and bridge tolls, and held a special press conference from his Manhattan office to say he was sticking by it.

"When you have a crisis, you have to address it immediately," he said.

Richard Ravitch was next. "If we don't continue the capital investment," he said, "this system is going to slip back to where it was in the 1970s."

He described his plan as "a balancing of interests" including riders, the business community and others. One of those at the table was Kathy Wylde, president of the Partnership for New York City.

"It is extremely disappointing that the Senate Majority is out today with a last-minute, slapdash plan," she said.

A few others piled on, and then Paterson took questions. He said "we still believe in tolls" and felt the Assembly's plan was solid.

"The problems don't go away," Paterson said. "They have questioned the March 25 deadline for the fare increases, not just for fare increases, but extreme fare increases. Not just service cuts but real things are going to happen."

M.T.A. Chairman Dale Hemmerdinger said that the Senate Democrats didn't correctly do the math would leave the authority "about a billion short."

"They didn't take the time, as best we can tell, to do the math," he said.

"The mathematical methods can be corrected," Paterson jumped in. "They were probably just oversights. We don't want to make a big deal of it."

Paterson is on his way to Albany now, and will meet with Smith because, he said, "maybe we're just misunderstanding each other."

Gene Russianoff of the Straphangers Campaign took the opportunity to seize the microphone and say he was "deeply disappointed" with the Senate plan, saying that capital and operating expenses, fares and tolls are "all different sides of the same Metrocard."

Not exactly a warm reception, but one that's not necessarily unpredictable. I asked Smith about the business community's position on the payroll tax as he unveiled his plan, and he said, "The business community doesn't vote on this plan. We do."

"What we do say to them, is being sensitive to their concerns, that we did drop that down," he added.

I asked State Senator Kevin Parker about the inevitable pressure from Russianoff and other advocates.

"That's fine, pressure bursts pipes," he said. "This conference is built for that."

A few minutes after Paterson's event had ended, Espada called my desk.

"I think the advocates, the governor and all the critics. I ask one question: where is the capital plan?" He asked. It has not yet been introduced; normally the M.T.A. submits a wish list every five years (this year it happens in October), which must be approved by a board consisting of Smith, Silver, Paterson and Michael Bloomberg. So it's a moving target.

"When we don't think and we write these blank checks, we get service that ranks them just above Mr. Madoff in terms of accountability," he said. "This is a new day, and all kudos to Senator Malcolm Smith. He's taken on the permanent government."

-- Additional reporting by Eliot Brown.

Transit advocates—including the Empire State Transportation Alliance, which has also been lobbying in Albany—testified about the need to act as quickly as possible as people holding signs urged action in the State Senate.

Yesterday, Senate Democratic Leader Malcolm Smith accused the M.T.A. of "holding the public hostage" by pushing a deadline he has called "questionable."

"As guardians of the transit system that is the lifeblood of the region's economy, we cannot and will not allow it to wither on critical maintenance and repairs," said M.T.A. Chairman Dale Hemmerdinger during the meeting, which was available via webcast. "There have been questions raised about the urgency of our fiscal problems, and whether March 25 is a firm deadline. Believe me when I say, the bottom line is that if we don't act on March 25, we will not be able to implement the fare and toll increases and service cuts in time to meet the revenue targets required by law to balance the budget. I continue to hope, along I'm sure with all of you, that Albany will act in time. But there are no assurances, and putting off our obligations would be irresponsible."

Advocates are taking the fight to the districts of some of the holdout senators. This photo, sent along by a coalition pushing for better transit in communities of color, shows dozens who demonstrated outside the Bronx office of State Senator Ruben Diaz yesterday.

"We wanted him to know that when he really thinks about his constituents needs, he will change his mind," said Elena Conte, an organizer for COMMUTE, which led the demonstration.

Austin Shafran, a spokesman for Smith, said in a brief phone interview, "Our members appreciate the severity of the M.T.A.'s budget shortfall and our conference continues to work to address that while protecting taxpayers and straphangers."

"A large percentage of outer-borough residents live in areas that are inaccessible to mass transit," said State Senator Carl Kruger, whose district is in southern Brooklyn. "For these residents, an East River toll isn't just a toll. It's an additional $10 co-pay for a doctor's visit, an additional cost for buying a new TV, an additional charge for bringing a child to school."

Yesterday, M.T.A. Chairman Dale Hemmerdinger told people they should take transit to avoid the tolls. Several state senators have taken positions against tolls, and yesterday Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith said he would do something to help the M.T.A., but was not clear what.

“I think I speak for all the board members when I say, ‘Wow,’” said Chairman Dale Hemmerdinger after hearing the full slate of proposed cuts.

Without specifying the amount of a fare hike for New York City transit—besides a jump in express bus fare from $5 to $7.50—the 500-odd-page budget proposal includes a raise in “yield” of 23 percent, factoring in resulting reductions in ridership. Significant cuts include 2,269 jobs; the Z and W subway lines (with some corresponding line extensions to compensate); the entire station customer assistant program; and weekend service on 37 bus routes.

The board won’t take a final vote on its proposed budget for 2009 until its next meeting in December. But the proposal’s fare hikes and route cuts, leaked a few days ago by the Daily News, already had people hopping mad.

First up to take a turn at the whipping post, before the full budget had been distributed, was Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer.

“The proposals I believe you’re going to announce today are not the ones I was hoping for; I was looking for big, strong, revenue-generating proposals,” he said, deviating from prepared remarks.

“What you didn’t talk about is getting the people outside the city to contribute to the city they use every day,” Mr. Stringer continued. “Someone’s got to go to our suburban brothers and sisters, and shake them, and say, ‘If New York City goes down, the whole state goes down.’”

The public viewing section filled early to capacity, with people spilling into overflow rooms two floors down. Shouts from the audience derailed MTA executive director Elliot Sander’s delivery of his sobering news, and one agitator had to be removed by security.

Speeches before the budget presentation came from your typical testifiers—the Straphangers Campaign, the Amalgamated Transit Workers, the Empire State Transportation Alliance—and a few public hearing characters, featuring allegations of corruption, a Mr. X, and a woman who broke down at the stand.

“How am I supposed to be a good mother?” she said, drawing sympathetic glances and applause. “If fares are increased, how am I supposed to get food to eat? How am I supposed to get clothes to wear?”

Commissioners expressed frustration at the position they’ve been put in by the state, with no ability to change a financing structure supported by revenues from a depressed real estate market (although City Councilman Larry Seabrook spent several minutes proposing a 30 percent sin tax on alcohol and cigarettes to make up for the shortfall).

“I don’t believe it’s the MTA’s fault. We were doomed from the start,” said Commissioner Jeffrey Kay.

“This place is structurally set up to stick it to the rider,” added nonvoting member James McGovern.

The proposal pushes all fare increases off until June, Mr. Hemmerdinger emphasized, leaving time for elected officials to come through with a bailout.

Long before the meeting, protesters had lined up peacefully outside the Authority’s Madison Avenue headquarters, holding “Bail out the People!” signs left over from protests on Wall Street about the bank bailouts. In their minds, it’s all connected.

“It just seems like the banks are getting all the money right now,” said Leilani Dowell, 31, an administrative assistant at NYU who lives in Bay Ridge. “Why are the people always called upon to make these sacrifices?”

"Think ol' Dale [Hemmerdinger, M.T.A. chairman and also Damon's father] can hook me up with a closer subway stop?"

"Funny!" she said. "But the bus stop right in front is relatively new so consider yourself lucky!"

Luck is one way to put it. Some city officials call it fishy.

According to Friday's Metro, City Council members are upset about the new bus service, accusing M.T.A. of playing favorites in sending extra shuttles to and from the Hemmerdingers' far-flung shopping mall:

Councilman John Liu is quoted as calling the three-bus service to Atlas Park "overkill."

The article also noted that the Shops at Atlas Park now appears on bus maps.

But! NYC Transit planning chief Peter Cafiero suggested that expanded service to that part of Queens was greatly needed, anyway, noting that requests for extra buses were received as early as 2005, prior to the elder Mr. Hemmerdinger's tenure as M.T.A. boss.

On my own trip back from Atlas Park, I hitched a ride on the Q54 -- and it was packed, albeit only picking up a handful of passengers at the shopping mall. This reporter had to stand the whole ride back to the L train.

The son of MTA Chairman Dale Hemmerdinger is handing out $50 bills on Friday afternoon to patrons at his Atlas Park shopping center in Glendale.

Ironically, Manhattanites looking to cash in should be aware of bus delays.

Within the next two months, Mr. Hemmerdinger plans on giving away a total of $20,000, as part of his "Atlas Solution," a sort of private-sector economic stimulus plan. He is also challenging other mall owners around the country to do the same. If they join the effort, he estimates, the plan could infuse as much as $340 million into the economy.

Read the full announcement:

QUEENS RETAIL CENTER, THE SHOPS AT ATLAS PARK, JUMPSTARTS ECONOMY WITH $20,000 CASH GIVEAWAY; HOPES TO INSPIRE UP TO $340MN ECONOMIC STIMULUS FROM MALL INDUSTRY

Glendale, NY – February 21, 2008 – With the nation’s economy worsening by the day, The Shops at Atlas Park Owner Damon Hemmerdinger is announcing the official start to ‘The Atlas Solution,’ a $20,000 cash giveaway taking place on the streets of Queens and on-site at Atlas Park. The new initiative is designed to infuse up to $340 million into the economy and encourage consumer support for our economic future.

This Friday, February 22^nd, at 2 pm, Hemmerdinger will host a press conference to formally launch the initiative and issue a challenge to our nation’s shopping centers to take steps to boost the economy between now and the arrival of the federal government’s economic stimulus package. Following Hemmerdinger, Seton Hall University Professor of Economics, Frank D. Tinari, will discuss how this new initiative will impact the economy.

Beginning Friday onsite at Atlas Park, and running for 60 consecutive days, Atlas Solution representatives dressed as Lady Liberty and Uncle Sam will hand out money ranging from $1 bills to $1000 per day. The initiative is also ongoing off-site, throughout Queens.

As an added benefit for Atlas Park shoppers, anyone spotted wearing an “I Support the Economy” sticker or with an AtlasSolution.com sticker displayed on their car parked at The Shops at Atlas Park will be eligible to win an instant cash prize. Atlas Park will also offer free parking through April, plus many giveaways on-site, including gift certificates redeemable at its stores as well as Monopoly games and play-money sets for younger children.

Says Hemmerdinger, who is personally withdrawing the $20,000 from savings to inject into the economy, “the Atlas Solution is really my way of showing that individuals can make a difference, and that the industry I am a part of can make a big difference if we join forces.”

Daily updates and video content will be uploaded on The Atlas Solution website, as well as the MySpace profile and Facebook group, “100,000 Strong In Support of The Atlas Solution to the U.S. Economy.” For more information on The Atlas Solution, visit www.TheShopsAtAtlasPark.com or www.theatlassolution.com.

Stone emails:

He also said, “I admire what Jeffries did.”

In another email, Stone wrote:

And yes, the Zuckerman he's referring to is Mort. In this New York Times story, Zuckerman said "I don't just come here to play. I come to get my minimum daily requirement of kibitzing. I like to tease. I like to be teased.''

From the story:

UPDATE: A spokesman for Hakeem Jeffries just emailed me to deny the suggestion, made in the Weekly Standard cover story, that Roger Stone tipped him off to the fact that Eliot Spitzer’s dad and nominee to head the MTA were members of the controversial Harmonie Club. From Jeffries' spokesman Nicholas Moore:

“Assemblyman Jeffries does not know Roger Stone and has never spoken with him about Hemmerdinger, or any other issue. The information that Hemmerdinger was a member of an exclusive social club that Bloomberg resigned from was not presented to the Assemblyman by Roger Stone, or to his knowledge, anyone connected with Roger Stone." Asked how Jeffries first learned about the issue of Hemmerdinger's membership in the club, Moore declined further comment.