[bradleyjg]

This article is about why it is so expensive to build new infrastructure in NY. Debt service comes out of the operating budget.

If the question at hand was why the MTA provides such poor ongoing service with such a high budget, debt service would be part (but only part) of the answer. However, in terms why construction costs are so horrifically expensive as compared to literally anywhere else in the world, debt service plays no role in answering that question.