By EMMA G. PITZSIMMONS and PATRICK MCGEEHAN
MAY 23, 2017
Facing a torrent of criticism for failing to address New York City’s deteriorating transit system, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo on Tuesday acknowledged that the region’s mounting infrastructure problems had reached a crisis level and said he would shoulder the responsibility for addressing them.
But Mr. Cuomo’s proposals, outlined at a speech in Manhattan, showed how much he is still grappling with the scope of the problem. He offered a $1 million prize for new ideas to improve the subways; he ruminated on different ownership of Pennsylvania Station in Manhattan, from a private operator to New York State; and he warned that in the next few weeks the transportation situation was going to get much worse.
Mr. Cuomo said the looming track repairs at Penn Station, a consequence of age and neglect, would create a “summer of hell” for commuters that required a level of regional coordination on par with the response to Hurricane Sandy in 2012.
“We have six weeks to prepare for a potential crisis,” Mr. Cuomo said, referring to the Penn Station repairs set to begin in July and continue into August. “Our obligation as elected officials is to provide the leadership.”
A short time later in New Jersey, Gov. Chris Christie revealed that the repairs meant that New Jersey Transit’s second-busiest line could not use Penn Station, the nation’s busiest railroad terminal, which Amtrak owns and shares with New Jersey Transit and the Long Island Rail Road.
Mr. Christie, at a news conference in Trenton, raised alarms about how his state would cope with the disruption, and he mounted a blistering attack on Amtrak, calling the organization dishonest and incompetent.
“We know we can’t trust Amtrak,” Mr. Christie said, several hours after Amtrak had closed an additional track at Penn Station with no warning, causing delays of up to two hours.
In Manhattan, Mr. Cuomo outlined plans to address ballooning subway delays, an issue that he has largely been able to skirt, in part because many frustrated riders do not know that the governor controls the agency that runs New York City’s subway system.
Both Penn Station and the subways have reached such a breaking point, and the anger among riders has risen to such a level, that Mr. Cuomo finally felt compelled to weigh in. His wide-ranging speech was a recognition that neither problem was going away, that neither would be easily fixed and that failing to take them head-on could damage his political fortunes.
Mr. Cuomo, a Democrat and a source of speculation about a possible run for president in 2020, had received criticism for remaining mostly silent over the city’s subway meltdowns. He controls the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the agency that runs the subways and the Long Island Rail Road, which will also suffer delays at Penn Station this summer.
Mr. Cuomo proposed a series of ambitious ideas: New York State should consider taking over Penn Station, or the station should be run by a private operator, or by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. As it happens, the Port Authority runs the one transit hub, the main bus terminal in Manhattan, that many travelers find at least as unappealing as Penn Station.
Mr. Cuomo also announced an international competition to solicit ideas about how the subway could run more trains and buy new cars more quickly. Winning proposals would earn a $1 million prize. And Mr. Cuomo said that if the authority needed more money for its five-year capital plan to address subway delays, he would help fight for it at the state and local levels, even though as governor he already has a lot of power over the state’s finances.
An array of elected officials joined Mr. Cuomo onstage and praised his plans, including John J. Flanagan, the Republican State Senate leader, and Melissa Mark-Viverito, the Democratic leader of the New York City Council. Noticeably missing was Mayor Bill de Blasio, a frequent nemesis of the governor, although the city’s transportation commissioner, Polly Trottenberg, did attend.
Some transit advocates have called on Mr. Cuomo and Mr. de Blasio to work together to fix the subway. But Mr. de Blasio, a Democrat, slammed Mr. Cuomo last week, saying that Mr. Cuomo ran the subways and should “just own up to it.”
After Tuesday’s speech, Ms. Trottenberg, who also serves on the authority’s board, struck a softer tone. “The city is obviously interested in being part of the discussions and being helpful,” she said. “This is all our constituents. We want to make sure they can all have a great transportation system.”
John Raskin, the executive director of the Riders Alliance, an advocacy group that has criticized Mr. Cuomo’s leadership of the authority, welcomed the governor’s attention to the problems.
“Governor Cuomo is taking a vital step, which is to declare that it’s squarely his responsibility to fix the subway,” Mr. Raskin said. “The next question is: What is the actual plan, and where will the governor find the money to pay for it?”
As for Penn Station, Amtrak has proposed its own plan for a private operator to oversee the station’s concourse, but it wants to continue to oversee the tracks. On Tuesday, Amtrak announced that it would use HNTB Corporation to assist with the track work at Penn Station this summer.
“Amtrak is taking every step to ensure that we accomplish this work on schedule over the summer,” Charles W. Moorman, Amtrak’s chief executive, said, adding that Amtrak was not the only one to blame and that all three railroads had underinvested in Penn Station.
Amtrak, the Long Island Rail Road and New Jersey Transit are drawing up schedules that will reduce service during rush hours by as much as 20 percent; New Jersey Transit issued a summary of its plans for modified service on Tuesday night.
On Tuesday, Mr. Christie said that all of the trains on the Morris & Essex line that usually run directly to Penn Station would be diverted to Hoboken Terminal. All of those passengers would then have to board PATH trains or ferries to cross the Hudson River into Manhattan.
About 23,000 passengers ride the trains that will be diverted to Hoboken Terminal, said Nancy Snyder, a spokeswoman for New Jersey Transit. Mr. Christie said discounts of up to 63 percent would be offered to rerouted passengers.
On Twitter, Kim Mullaney, a New Jersey Transit commuter, wrote: “At least it’s a discounted fare. I guess I better stock up on sunscreen — I’m gonna need it for that ferry.”
Mr. Cuomo sent a letter to President Trump on Sunday asking him to recognize the situation as an emergency and provide funding for construction and transportation alternatives for commuters. On Monday, Mr. Christie said he had not decided whether he would join Mr. Cuomo’s appeal to Trump.
For Long Island commuters, Mr. Cuomo said he was considering several alternate travel options, including park-and-ride facilities along the Long Island Expressway and high-speed ferries. He said he was creating a task force to examine both short and long-term solutions for Penn Station.
With the coming disruptions at Penn Station, Mr. Cuomo said he was concerned about the impact on the city’s already overburdened transit system.
“The truth is that the subway system is already at its breaking point,” Mr. Cuomo said, “and now trying to compensate for the dysfunction of Penn is just too much.”
No comments:
Post a Comment