Hardball and homeruns

Daily Point

The MTA makes its move

Congress hadn’t agreed on a COVD-19 stimulus deal – but the Metropolitan Transportation Authority board assumed it would Wednesday, when the board unanimously approved a 2021 budget.

The budget balances only because the board assumes it will get $4.5 billion in federal aid.

In doing so, MTA officials avoided serious conversations regarding layoffs, service cuts, or fare increases, putting off those issues until January.

Meanwhile, a series of hearings regarding potential fare increases has been ongoing, with the final hearing scheduled for Monday.

While no details were discussed, if the board meeting is any indication, a fare increase is anything but certain.

"I maintain there should not be a fare increase in 2021 because of the COVID pandemic," said board member Kevin Law, who heads the Long Island Association, adding that he hoped there would be "an opportunity to discuss any and all fare increases in January after the public hearings."

Law’s comments were echoed by Nassau County board member David Mack, and others.

"On a global level, this is not the time to raise fares because our riders can’t afford it and there’s no way we’re going to close the gap on ridership," said board member Neal Zuckerman. "I do not support a budget that increases fares… We cannot close this gap on the backs of riders."

Board member Larry Schwartz, who has served as a top adviser to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and is a Cuomo appointee to the board, spoke of the board finding ways to "make the agency as effective and efficient as possible."

But he, too, alluded to the debate over fare hikes, saying there will be "plenty of time" for that discussion going forward. But he also recognized that the board might have tough decisions to revisit at the start of the new year.

Said Schwartz: "Whatever decision the board makes, come 2021, we’ll have to make, if we need to, any adjustments to the budget at that time."

—Randi F. Marshall @RandiMarshall

Talking Point

Meanwhile, back at the ranch ...

As the MTA talked money in New York, the state’s congressional delegation was fighting for money in Washington, for the MTA and for other New York needs, with much of the potential success flying under the radar.

The broad details of a $900 billion stimulus package coming together Wednesday were leaking all day. The discussions include checks to most Americans of $600 or $700 per person; enhanced unemployment at perhaps half the $600 a week that was part of the CARES Act passed in March; money for small businesses and education; and testing and other COVID-19-related spending.

If the deal moves, it will be because the two most contentious issues, aid to state and local governments and a liability shield against COVID-19 lawsuits for businesses, have been kicked down the road.

But under the radar, the plan has other items crucial to New York.

A source close to Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who is one of the "four corners" members negotiating the legislation, told The Point Wednesday that in addition to securing another round of Paycheck Protection Program money for small businesses and restaurants, New York State will receive $4 billion for the LIRR and the rest of the MTA, billions in education funding, vaccine distribution and COVID-19 health funding, as well as emergency rental assistance that would help state and local budgets.

Additionally, potential assistance in the form of FEMA relief and highway grants will also help local governments as part of what is being called a "bridge to Biden," where more funding is expected to be secured once the president-elect takes office.

—Lane Filler @lanefiller

Pencil Point

'Tis the vax season

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Final Point

From the Argyle Hotel to the Hall of Fame

When Major League Baseball announced Wednesday that it would add statistics from seven Negro Leagues operating from 1920 until 1948 to the major league records, a journey that began in Babylon in 1885 finally wound its way up to Cooperstown.

It’s long been clear that Negro League players were often as good as or better than top white players, as the top Black teams were often competitive against high-profile white clubs, and at times dominated them. But the accomplishments of Black players notched in those leagues were never recognized as being on par with the six white circuits the MLB considered "major leagues."

Now they will be, and although the players who formed the nation’s first Black professional team at the Argyle Hotel in Babylon 135 years ago would not be eligible for inclusion, they would likely be gratified nonetheless.

The team was called the "Cuban Giants" though it sported not a single Cuban player. The name was adopted because it was believed to appeal to white fans more than the idea of a Black team, and because the team barnstormed in Cuba. The team appears to have been composed of waiters and other workers at the Babylon hotel built just as Babylon’s time as a tourism destination was fading. But the historical record is unclear on whether these were hotel workers playing baseball in their spare time or baseball players working in a hotel to pay their way.

What is clear is the quality of the team, which was crowned the "black world champions" in 1887 and 1888. The team was founded by headwaiter Frank Thompson, who told reporters many of the players were recruited from Black amateur teams.

The team only played in Babylon for a couple of seasons before Walter Simpson purchased the team and moved it to Trenton, New Jersey, and it solidified its status as the first truly professional Black team, just 16 years after the Cincinnati Redlegs became the first white professional team in 1869.

A plaque at Argyle Lake, dedicated 10 years ago, now commemorates the founding of the Cuban Giants. And the MLB record books will now commemorate the extraordinary exploits of the Black players who followed in the Cuban Giants’ Babylon-based footsteps.

—Lane Filler @lanefiller