The MTA board holds off on approving a $430 million lease of the agency's former Midtown headquarters as the city questions a term in the deal. NY1's Jose Martinez filed the following report.

The MTA moved from Midtown to Downtown last year, putting up the "for rent" sign on its old headquarters, three buildings occupying an entire block of Madison Avenue that could provide hundreds of millions of dollars to help rebuild the transit system.

"At this point in time, we do need that money. It is an important part of our capital program,"

But on Wednesday, the MTA board postponed action on leasing the buildings to a prominent developer after Mayor Bill de Blasio's only current representative on the board balked.

"In this deal, they're giving a 99-year lease to a private entity that now, according to the MTA, will be exempt from city property taxes. I think there's a question about whether you can do that," said MTA board member Polly Trottenberg.

Boston Properties, the company of billionaire Daily News owner Mort Zuckerman, would be cleared to redevelop the site, though the property would still be owned by the MTA, a state agency that does not pay property taxes.

The MTA says the money generated by the lease ultimately would help New Yorkers by helping to finance the rebuilding of the bus and subway system, from replacing tracks to buying new trains.

"This is an action item that if we work together and resolve with the city, we'll be able to get those finances," said MTA Chairman Thomas Prendergast. "And they're critical. $400 million is $400 million."

But the objections by the city's MTA representative were enough to get the vote suspended for at least another month.

Trottenberg warned against seeing the city's objections to the deal as another battle in the long-running feud between Mayor Bill de Blasio and Governor Andrew Cuomo.

The proposal managed to highlight the city's reduced influence on the MTA board. The city is supposed to have four representatives, but the Republican-controlled state Senate has not voted to confirm three people nominated by de Blasio months ago to fill the city's vacancies.

Boston Properties, meanwhile, did not respond to a request for comment.