On Monday, Mayor de Blasio thought that he met the MTA's capital budget request, until additional amount of $2 billion was asked by the agency. According to the mayor, he was increasing Metropolitan Transportation Authority funding from $100 million to $125 million a year over the next five years and also added a $32 million one-time cash to the budget in an attempt to help pay for high cost projects.

However, MTA President Thomas Prendergast sent an email, in which he demanded $2.5 billion on the day Blasio unveiled the $657 million plan. According to Gov. Cuomo, Prendergast would be nominated to serve for a full six- year term at the agency.

The request created confusion among city officials; they were all prepared to have their budget books. Such a high request and its timing were surprising and it received objections. The request came from MTA, which is controlled by de Blasio's frenemy Cuomo.

According to Jeanne Zaino, a political science professor at Iona College, "It seems like a slap at de Blasio. You have to speculate it's coming from the top. But Prendergast insisted the agency - grappling with a $14 billion capital budget hole - was desperate".

Prendergast wrote in the Monday email to de Blasio's top aide, First Deputy Mayor Anthony Shorris that the MTA and its transport systems are at a crossroads. He added that increased ridership, up to 6 million straphangers a day, and city population growth have become reasons behind crowded trains and platforms, and delays.

He wrote that some say that the subway built the city. He added that increased investment is required for the city's future.