New York MTA’s $35 million “no-brainer”
In 1626, Peter Minuit and Peter Schaghen of the Dutch West India Company purchased Manhattan Island from the Lenape Native Americans for 60 guilders’ (roughly $1,120 in 2018 U.S. dollars) worth of goods. Minuit conducted the transaction with Seyseys, Chief of the Canarsees, who accepted the merchandise in exchange for an island that was mostly controlled by the Weckquaesgeeks. Nearly 400 years later, the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority—for a mere $35 million—is purchasing Grand Central Terminal and Metro-North Railroad’s Harlem Line and Hudson Line from Midtown Trackage Ventures LLC, a private holding company.